Colin Warde
He played in Shawn Lealos’s Dollar Baby I Know What You Need as Tony.
SKSM: Could you start with telling me a bit about yourself? Who are you and what do you do?
Colin Warde: Since early 2005 I’ve been working behind the camera in production, usually as a production assistant, but frequently in art department on feature films and television in Oklahoma and Los Angeles. Before that I wrote a novel and I write whenever I’m not working on a show. I’ve been in LA four months and have just got my headshots so I’ll be looking for representation before I start my next crew gig.
SKSM: How did you become involved in I Know What You Need?
Colin Warde: I worked at Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman, Oklahoma (United States) and Shawn Lealos who directed the short came in to talk to the owner about doing a movie in the café that is part of the shop. I was referred to Shawn by my boss Matt Price because I was taking technical film classes at Oklahoma City Community College at the time and acting almost weekly in front of a couple of classes.
SKSM: Did you have to audition for the part or was it written directly for you?
Colin Warde: I didn’t have to audition. Shawn needed me to do replace an actor who was unavailable for re-shoots due to sound problems I believe. Because the production was small and professional contacts in that part of the country are limited a lot of student projects and shorts are put together based on who is readily available like other students and friends. I’m sure the part was written for whoever had experience enough to fill the role. I happened to be lucky enough that it came along while I was available to work.
SKSM: You worked with Shawn Lealos on this film, how was that?
Colin Warde: Shawn is very motivated to get his work seen and off the ground. He has a network of supporting friends and interested parties who lend aid any way they can. No director can be the full energy of the crew no matter how small it is. He is just starting out and comes from a great part of the United States where people are perfectly willing to help one another and not confined by union rules. There is a bit of trial and error, there are personalities to deal with even in Oklahoma, there are money issues, when can people work? All these things become problems if you don’t have a solid producer who can manage these issues. Shawn can do it. He knows what he wants to get out of his crew and cast, and through his personality, his cooperative attitude, he gets it.
SKSM: Was there any funny or special moment when they made the movie that you would like to tell me about?
Colin Warde: Lots of things were fun and some of it translated onto the screen. My co-star Kevin gave me a lot to work with during our scene when we shook hands and he sort of wiped his hand off mine rather than give me a strong, sturdy handshake. It made for some laughs after the take and every time we watch it.
SKSM: Do you still have any contact with the crew/cast from that time? If so with who?
Colin Warde: Shawn and I talk on MySpace frequently and we worked on another promotional piece several months later with a lot of ground to cover due to a more ambitious script. I’m looking forward to catching up with Shawn when next I am in Oklahoma.
SKSM: What did you do after I Know What You Need?
Colin Warde: I worked on “I Know What You Need” over a weekend and then immediately joined the art department for the feature film “Surveillance” starring Armand Assante, directed by Fritz Kiersch through Graymark Productions. It was filmed in Oklahoma City and actually had its theatrical release there this week. Since then I worked on another film in October with Graymark Productions, “Soul’s Midnight” and most recently on a CBS TV pilot in Los Angeles called “3lbs.”
SKSM: Voodoo is an important part of the story. Do you believe in it, or did you have personal experience with voodoo?
Colin Warde: I have never experienced voodoo. It’s not something I like to think about. I don’t understand it because I’ve never studied it, it makes me uncomfortable. The closest I come to it would be the original form of zombies which I gather are from the Caribbean also. I enjoy zombie movies. I believe in a lot of things that people find superstitious, I don’t like to shut out the likelihood that anything exists. It’s best to be open minded, I don’t have to agree with everything, but I can respect anyone’s opinion.
SKSM: Are you (or were you) a fan of Stephen King’s work?
Colin Warde: Oh, I really think that The Stand is probably my favorite book of all time. It’s such an American epic. The journey goes on and on, the characters are so well rounded, and it builds at its own pace like a good book ought to. I read it just after high school and at one point had to put it down because the revulsion I felt for one of the characters was so overwhelming. Six months later I started dreaming about the collapse of civilization as we know it and trying to survive the first months of an event like the plague just long enough to get away from all the craziness that would be associated to it and then escape to relative personal safety. I had to finish the book after that and I’ve read it twice since then.
I owe a lot to Stephen King due to his style because it’s so honest. I love his opinion columns in Entertainment Weekly. I frequently turn to the back to read that first. I also love his pseudo autobiography, “On Writing,” because it cleared up a lot of things for me while I was writing my own novel and grounds me every time I sit down to write. I always hear a little Stephen King voice in my head saying, “ignore the TV and the internet while I’m typing, work for a solid amount of time, nothing has to be perfect the first time,” and so many other things. I really appreciate that book.
SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything else you want to say to the fans that read this interview?
Colin Warde: I have worked on a fair amount of film and video since I started only a year and a half ago. Before I worked with Shawn I worked with another friend who shares the same motivation to make movies, his name is Damon Blalack. Motivation and inherent talent are what gets us where we need to go in movies and writing. If it’s really something you want to get out there then you have to do it. Maybe you have to take some classes to learn how, maybe you have to make a piece of junk before you make an Academy Award winning feature, maybe you have to have a vision and rely on a crew to get it together. Stephen King gave everyone the opportunity to make movies out of his short stories because I think he understands motivation. That’s what the Dollar Babies are all about. Hollywood can afford to throw out loads of bad movies because they have the money, but independent producers and student filmmakers can’t do that, they have to have an excellent script from the beginning because they can’t have major stars and explosions that attract audiences. Stephen King gives us the opportunity to make something around a great story.
