This article has been a long time coming, but I got a chance to sit down with Ankilla Productions creative director Tim Spanagel and ask him a few questions about the process of creating the group’s first full-length movie Somnium.
JH: So Tim, what spurred you to wanting to film and produce a full scale movie over the course of a single season?
TS: Well I had to complete a project for my senior year at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, so doing a ski movie sounded like a great way to ski everyday and still graduate.
JH: How did you end up filming with Ankilla?
TS: Ankilla was the brainchild of a few friends from high school and myself, but we didn’t really put any media to the name until this last season. The core high school group has moved all over the country and made it difficult to film with, but we’ve also brought in a lot of younger Midwest talent in the last couple years. So we all just filmed as much as possible and ended up with a huge amount of footage.
JH: Any particularly hard days shooting?
TS: We were shooting an urban C rail and we had a crew of six guys out. We spent about five hours at this spot and the rail was only slid out twice, and one of the guys even destroyed his phone slamming into one of the supports, so that was a long day.
JH: So what was the hardest part about the whole process?
TS: Well I know why premiere season is in the fall now. There were so many long nights leading up to the premiere in April, I would often find myself waking up at 4am, sitting up at my desk with my hand still on my mouse after having fallen asleep after hours of editing. In the future when I don’t have an academic deadline to meet, our premieres will definitely be in the fall.
JH: So that means more projects in the future?
TS: Absolutely, we want to do a team trip or two outside of the Midwest to get some variety; and really step up the filming to keep putting out quality content.
You can watch Ankilla Production’s premiere film Somnium for free on Vimeo here:https://vimeo.com/125479710
JH: So Tim, what spurred you to wanting to film and produce a full scale movie over the course of a single season?
TS: Well I had to complete a project for my senior year at the Art Academy of Cincinnati, so doing a ski movie sounded like a great way to ski everyday and still graduate.
JH: How did you end up filming with Ankilla?
TS: Ankilla was the brainchild of a few friends from high school and myself, but we didn’t really put any media to the name until this last season. The core high school group has moved all over the country and made it difficult to film with, but we’ve also brought in a lot of younger Midwest talent in the last couple years. So we all just filmed as much as possible and ended up with a huge amount of footage.
JH: Any particularly hard days shooting?
TS: We were shooting an urban C rail and we had a crew of six guys out. We spent about five hours at this spot and the rail was only slid out twice, and one of the guys even destroyed his phone slamming into one of the supports, so that was a long day.
JH: So what was the hardest part about the whole process?
TS: Well I know why premiere season is in the fall now. There were so many long nights leading up to the premiere in April, I would often find myself waking up at 4am, sitting up at my desk with my hand still on my mouse after having fallen asleep after hours of editing. In the future when I don’t have an academic deadline to meet, our premieres will definitely be in the fall.
JH: So that means more projects in the future?
TS: Absolutely, we want to do a team trip or two outside of the Midwest to get some variety; and really step up the filming to keep putting out quality content.
You can watch Ankilla Production’s premiere film Somnium for free on Vimeo here:https://vimeo.com/125479710
