While residing in Los Angeles, actor and filmmaker Scott Coffey
was bothered by the way entertainment industry hopefuls wander from
audition to audition looking for a break. But he decided to channel
his frustration into his latest film, “Ellie
Parker.”
The film, screening tonight courtesy of Melnitz Movies, reflects
Coffey’s belief that Los Angeles is a fragmented metropolis,
a place where the weather seems to be the only constant and the
people change their personalities as often as they change their
clothes.
“I always wanted to capture the bizarre existence most
people experience in L.A., living in their cars, alienated from
each other in their cubes of steel,” Coffey said.
“Ellie Parker” is named after its protagonist
““ a young actress played by co-producer Naomi Watts ““
who drives from audition to audition, changing her look, her accent
and her persona. Coffey believes people in Los Angeles are
compelled to change their facade based on who they’re around.
He figured showing an actress traveling from one audition to the
next, going between diametrically opposite characters and altering
her personality, was a good way to illuminate this outlook.
For Coffey, who moved to Brooklyn upon completing “Ellie
Parker” and is now working on a script about living in New
York, the film wouldn’t have been possible without Los
Angeles.
“I drew a lot of inspiration from L.A., and it was an
interesting place to live,” he said.
People-watching provided the biggest inspiration for the film,
which began as a short in 2001. Coffey noticed how often people
were having to put up fronts and different aspects of
themselves.
“A job interview is a personality that you have to put
on,” he said.
Coffey feels this shape-shifting is a manifestation of Los
Angeles itself; in such a spread-out city, isolation can become
intense. Whereas other cities are condensed, the neighborhoods of
Los Angeles are not within walking distance, and one gets the
feeling that it is not one city but many that happen to be close
together. It is this remoteness that inspired his film.
Coffey was also inspired by such great filmmakers as Robert
Altman and Woody Allen, whose films “Nashville” and
“Annie Hall,” respectively, he greatly admires. Like
Altman’s film “The Company,” “Ellie
Parker” was shot in digital video, imbuing it with a sense of
reality not always common in films. The shots are gritty and
sometimes shaky, reflecting the protagonist’s unstable
emotional condition.
Coffey wrote, directed, co-starred, co-produced and co-shot
“Ellie Parker.” With so many roles in the production of
the film, it truly became his own, he says.
“It’s made of rice paper, balsa wood, paper mache,
scotch tape and spit,” he said. “It was made with human
hands.”
Of all his different functions as a filmmaker, Coffey
undoubtedly prefers directing.
“I have a great eye for truth and honesty and I’m
really great at being able to spot a false moment,” he
said.