This February, Mike Formanski `12 returned to the place where he first discovered the magic of filmmaking

Rubin, Julia

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DOCS@RWU

Roger Williams UniversityDOCS@RWUFeatured News Story The Week at Roger3-15-2019A Conversation with Filmmaker Mike Formanski`12Julia RubinRoger Williams UniversityFollow this and additional works at: https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_newsPart of the Higher Education CommonsThis News Article is brought to you for free and open access by the The Week at Roger at DOCS@RWU. It has been accepted for inclusion in FeaturedNews Story by an authorized administrator of DOCS@RWU. For more information, please contact mwu@rwu.edu.Recommended CitationRubin, Julia, "A Conversation with Filmmaker Mike Formanski `12" (2019). Featured News Story. 577.https://docs.rwu.edu/weekatroger_featured_news/5773/29/2019 A Conversation with Filmmaker Mike Formanski `12 | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/conversation-filmmaker-mike-formanski-12 1/2 News ArchiveA Conversation with Filmmaker Mike Formanski `12Visual arts and architecture alum, returned to RWU to debut his feature  lm, The IronWall, describe his artistic process, and inspire future  lmmakersMarch 15, 2019 Julia RubinBRISTOL, R.I. –  This February, Mike Formanski `12 returned to the place where he  rst discovered the magic of lmmaking.Now an MFA student at CalArts, Formanski visited RWU to discuss and debut his feature  lm, The Iron Wall, with hisformer mentor and digital media professor, Murray McMillan and his class.“This  lm has to do with masculine identity,” Formanski explained before the screening. “It explores what’sconsidered accepted roles and ways of conducting yourself – how that in uences homophobia and being a guyworking in the arts.”In The Iron Wall, Dave, a young New England-based photographer working for his father’s construction company,must confront ideals of manhood in his working-class, Italian-American community. When his friend Sean comes ontohim, Dave is challenged to turn him down without damaging the friendship, and also to navigate judgements fromfamily members who witness the interaction. The idea for the  lm emerged from a conversation Formanski had with a friend about a potential  lm project thataddressed homosexuality. Formanski had hesitated, worried that people would think it was autobiographical. A erhis friend questioned Formanski’s hesitation, he asked himself, “How can I accept someone else who has a di erentidentity if I wouldn’t be able to accept myself?”He decided, then, to create a piece that would invoke these types of questions, both for himself and for others.“It’s a palatable way of introducing a lot of these conversations to people that aren’t used to having them,” he said.A er the screening, Formanski chatted with RWU News about the  lm, his experience in the visual arts department atRWU, and advice for future  lmmakers.How much work and time went into creating this  lm?  This was the most substantial and most expensive project I’ve done. It was a three-year project. Eleven days ofproduction. It took a year or so to write the  lm. And then to fund it , it was about two months full-time of preparing aKickstarter, creating an online presence, doing all of your social media, websites, web designs, creating your3/29/2019 A Conversation with Filmmaker Mike Formanski `12 | Roger Williams Universityhttps://www.rwu.edu/news/news-archive/conversation-filmmaker-mike-formanski-12 2/2campaign, and running your campaign which is just 30 days. We made our Kickstarter goal by $6, just hours beforethe closing date.How did you choose the locations for the  lm?This  lm was very speci c to blue-collar New England, which is where I grew up. My mother and father run anelectrical contracting company in New Haven. All of our family and friends growing up were tradesmen. It needed tobe speci c to that cultural place and this New England location. The bar featured in the  lm, for example is the bar mydad goes to when he gets a drink a er work. The house we shot at was my house. The art gallery was Machines withMagnets – that was where I would go when I was living in Providence. So it was a very similar path to me transitioningfrom the blue collar world into the art world. Art is very personal in that way. Every single element of the  lm issomething pulled from real life.How did you select the actors?I reached out to New York, Boston, and Providence, through a casting site called Backstage. I probably had 700applications to  nd four people. Then you kind of have to discover your character in an actor. In the main character,for example, there was something very speci c that I needed. I need someone who could represent this communitywe’ve been talking about and have a little bit of edge, but also a sensitivity because we’re dealing with hisinteractions with his friend.How and when did you discover your love for  lm?It started when I was at RWU. I basically took the route of the camera, where I started doing a lot of darkroom printingin Denny Moers’ class and then started doing some more digital media stu  with Murray McMillan. Experimentalvideo turned into narrative video and I continued narrative on my own a er leaving Roger Williams. What’s nice aboutit is I can have an artistic career but also pay my bills by working in the  lm industry.What advice would you give someone who wants to be a professional  lmmaker?There’s no single road that will work for everyone, but if you continue to go for it you will  nd it. You have to be opento trying new things, looking in places you haven’t thought of, and  guring out what works for you.ACADEMICS LIFE @ RWU FEINSTEIN SCHOOL OF HUMANITIES, ART AND EDUCATIONSCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, ART, & HISTORIC PRESERVATION

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A Conversation with Filmmaker Mike Formanski `12

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