ST. LOUIS FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE INTERVIEW – Daniel Blake Smith, Writer of SAFE AND HAPPY

By Movie Geeks | July 11, 2019

SAFE AND HAPPY screens at the ST. LOUIS FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE as part of the Narrative Shorts – Drama: Volume 2 Sunday July 14th at 6:15pm. The films screen at Washington University’s Brown Hall. Ticket information can be found HERE

Daniel Blake Smith took the time to talk to Stephen Tronicek about SAFE AND HAPPY and his other films.

We’ve all read and seen examples of films big and small being created in the large film capitals of the world. We know what it is like to read about the creation of a film in Los Angeles, New York or Europe and many other locations around the world. We know the trials, tribulations, ups and downs of productions outside of St. Louis…but what about St. Louis? There are a few articles speaking about it, but not many that give a film the same respect that a higher production value film would get. In this business, unfortunately, attention is respect. 

So that led me to want to explore the history of a smaller production in St. Louis. It would need to be something bigger than my own productions (which for all transparency, are also playing in the Showcase), made by somebody who knows the difference between St. Louis productions and other locations, and further it would need to highlight the work of St. Louis filmmakers that deserve the credit for how far they’ve come. It would need to be Safe & Happy. 

Safe & Happy focuses on Ray (Clayton Bury), who following some horrible news must face a secret he’s been keeping for years. Writer/producer Daniel Blake Smith called it a story of telling lies in order to reinvent one’s self. He was also the source I had for the information concerning production. 

Safe & Happy was written by Smith in 30 minutes, something any writer should be familiar with. That fit of creative rage that tells you that you must write, create and show the world what you’re thinking. 

Following the necessary revisions that come with writing a short, Smith finally had a finished script by October of last year. But a finished script, a short film does not make. Once that is over, the difficult part begins: the pre-production. 

Or it would be difficult if not for Smith’s savvy ability to read the St. Louis market and his previous experience. Smith has produced seven feature-length projects including Texas Heart (Mark David, 2016) and is currently in pre-production thriller Blood Born (Mark David). On top of this, his first produced short film, Memory Box ( Karl Shefelman, 2018) is also playing in the Showcase.

 I asked him why he decided to start doing shorts after having produced as many features as he did. To the layman, it would seem to be a step backward and to Smith it also seems to be: “Festival shorts are disturbingly seductive,” he mentioned, speaking of the people he’s seen get trapped in the circuit. “Shorts are a wonderful appetizer, [and] I love em’ but you need more in there to tell a fully explored story.” 

With all this experience and more Smith set out to get the film made. 

Production in St. Louis has an interesting give and take, but according to Smith, there’s a, “…strong talent pool and a large crew if you can find the right people.” That strong talent started to show when Smith started looking for people in November of last year. It was then that he brought on Richard Louis Ulrich to the project to direct. Ulrich, fresh off the success of his 2018 short Steve ( the continuation, Who’s Paisley?, is also debuting at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase) always seemed like not only the best choice but the most interesting choice. Whereas Ulrich’s last film was an ethereal glimpse into the life of a man who barely even spoke, Safe & Happy was dialogue laden and only set in a few locations. With Ulrich comes Jesse Bader, one of the best cinematographers in town. Smith recalled the contribution of Bader, “I loved his hand-held camera work and design which helped amp up the urgency and sense of precariousness that we wanted the audience to feel about Ray’s mental and emotional state.” 

The next step was to bring actors into the mix. This was another place where the, “..strong talent pool…” helped Smith. Two actors of three leads were cast quickly, Jessica Ambuehl having worked with Smith on Memory Box and Don McClendon just being a charismatic legend, meaning that the only role to cast was the main character: Ray. This led to auditions which led to Clayton Bury. Bury is a St. Louis actor in a couple of projects this year, who apparently, “…didn’t so much play the role as he did inhabit it.” With this, Smith and the team had their cast. 

Production lasted only one day in March at the Medici Mediaspace, but that day would be one to remember. When you’re on set, the name of the game is to stick to the schedule and try not to fall behind. A few minute delays could mean an exponential amount of time spent on set. So, when you get to set and realize that there’s a party in the room next to your shooting location that is going to be heard on the microphones, that becomes a large problem. What was there to do but wait? For almost two hours. For a director it’s mind-numbing, for a producer it’s an anxiety attack, for the crew it’s a time crunch but for the actors…it’s an advantage. Smith recalls that “When we finally began the hallway sequence…I noticed that rapidly vanishing available time and the palpable tension surrounding all those limitations actually HELPED [the] performances.” The anxiety of Safe & Happy could be perfectly captured thanks to the anxiety on set. 

That intensity fell significantly with the post-production process which stretched itself comfortably over the next two months, ending in mid-May. The biggest challenge that arose in this section was the edit, where the dialogue-heavy piece proved difficult to whittle down to its base elements. Eventually, footage shrank to a 15-minute film, which shrank to a 9-minute film. This paired with the strong work of Sean Kilker (a brilliant St. Louis soundman) and composer, Tyler Wilkins, eventually delivered the final film. 

And that’s where you, the reader, comes in. One of the most important parts of any films life is who sees it. You can see Safe & Happy, playing in a shorts program on July 14th at 6:15 pm at the St. Louis Filmmakers Showcase. Come support this film. Support St. Louis filmmakers. Support festivals because, as Smith would put it, “The graveyard of all short films is Youtube.”