40 years later, Brown brothers produce a sequel
In 1986 brothers Doug, left, and Nicholas Brown made a home movie. Doug was 10, and Nick was 12. It was a murder mystery called "Connected with the Case." Now 40 years later, the brothers have produced a sequel: "Reconnected with the Case."
In 1986 brothers Doug and Nicholas Brown made a home movie. Doug was 10, and Nick was 12. It was a murder mystery called "Connected with the Case."
Now, 40 years later, the brothers have produced a sequel: "Reconnected with the Case."
With a family video company, the kids grew up around tripods, cameras and video gear. "We had a VCR and old, heavy camera," Doug Brown said. "I was quite the little film maker."
Nicholas Brown said he was always into movies. That love of film continued through their childhood.
Doug Brown said their father introduced the brothers to the classics. "He took us to see 'Star Wars,' 'Jaws' and more," he said. "I was hyper aware of Steven Spielberg and other film makers."
The movie took one afternoon, filmed in the basement of their childhood home in Wooster. "I dressed the basement up into an office and hotel," Doug Brown said. "The hallway was perfect to simulate a hotel look with the different rooms."
When neighbor kids stopped by to play, they ended up as extras in the movie.
"We had a big RCA VHS player that the camera attached to," Doug Brown said. "Anytime we made a mistake, we would have to rewind the VHS tape to the spot and try again. I took our basement and turned it into a film set. Our parents had no idea what we were up to."
Where did they get the idea for the movie in the first place? "Not too sure where the idea came from," Nicholas Brown said. "But we were both pretty creative on a quiet weekend with not much to do."
The movie made in a basement on a quiet afternoon in 1986 developed an unlikely following. The original film developed some fans initially through sharing a VCR copy and then with the rough cut original on YouTube. Later Doug Brown cleaned up the copy, added sound effects and reposted it.
Through the years the brothers joked about one day making a sequel, never planning on actually doing it. "It started to get some interest for a sequel, which is crazy to me," Nicholas Brown said. "It's quirky, more like a home movie."
Nicholas Brown explained the story line for the recent movie. "It's about the search for a missing killer by a detective who the killer used to work for in the original movie," he said.
In many ways the approach to the sequel was the same as with the original, though there was much more planning and much different equipment. Doug Brown said he knew in order for the sequel to work, they would have to take it as seriously as they did the first time around.
Doug Brown was the writer, editor and director for "Reconnected with the Case."
"The cast was a big help as well, lending ideas and sharing in the process," he said.
The movie was filmed locally in Wooster, Rittman and Norwalk.
The film-making process took two weeks. "Because of my schedule, final scenes were done pretty quickly on a Sunday evening," Nicholas Brown said.
This time the cast expanded a bit to include a few others in addition to the brothers. Erin Brown, Lea Dean, Tina Tuttle and Vivien Starcher round out the cast for the sequel.
The short film was about more than making a sequel. It provided a way for the brothers to spend time together and reconnect.
Doug Brown said, "This film has really made us closer."
"Talked more to (my brother) in the few weeks prior to production than over the past few years," Nicholas Brown said. "Always a good excuse to get together and see each other and catch up."
"It's been fun seeing people get excited about this sequel to a movie we made in 1986," Doug Brown said.
Now the Brown brothers are already talking about making the series into a trilogy at some point.
"Reconnected with the Case" can be found on YouTube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyc05HJPLZU.