The Bargain Hunter talks one on one with ‘Old Fashioned’ filmmaker Rik Swartzwelder

  • By Jennifer Kneuss
  • May 23, 2011
  • 310
                        
Summary: The Bargain Hunter had the opportunity to spend some time with Rik Swartzwelder, who came back to his home town to talk about his dream of making a movie in Tuscarawas County being fulfilled. The Bargain Hunter was able to interview filmmaker Rik Swartzwelder at a recent invitation only press conference. This is what the Tuscarawas native had to say about returning to the county to make his first full length feature. BH: Welcome home, Rik. You seem happy this evening. Rik: I am excited to be here. It is the greatest privilege of my life so far, and I mean that. It’s true. BH –Would you tell us three different things about Tuscarawas County that really stand out to you, either personally or as a filmmaker? Rik – That’s a deep question that you are asking. First, as a filmmaker, it is visually unforgettable (here). Whenever I think of home, whenever I think of comfort, of heaven – not to get too ‘John Denver’ on you – but I don’t think of West Virginia. I think of Tuscarawas County. That is probably number one. One of my favorite things to do, to this day, is to come home for a visit, and my mom has an old 1980 something convertible LaBaron that barely runs. But to put the top down on that, put some classic rock on, and drive the country roads of Tuscarawas County in fall is a very, very enjoyable thing. So that is probably number one. BH: And the other two? Rik: Number two are the people. To this day, my best friend in the world is Commissioner Jim Seldenright. I did not talk about that tonight, because this is a personal thing. The people here influence my life in California, because California is huge. It is a very big pond, and it is easy to get lost. Tuscarawas County to me is a place to come home, and to be re-grounded into that which I believe is true, that which I believe has value and virtue and what I aspire to do with my life. Even when I fail, which I have, it’s a reminder. Third, there is a commonality of values, people moving in the same direction toward building a community, that whenever I think of what small town America could be, the best of what we could be in this country, for better or worse, my memories are forever linked to Tuscarawas County. BH: You mentioned how much you love autumn here. Was that important in your choice to shoot during Fall 2011? Rik: We wanted to shoot in the fall, but we had to convince people, because it changes the delivery date of our film. If we shoot this in the summer, it wouldn’t be the same. In Tuscarawas, and the neighboring counties, (autumn) is amazing. It is beautiful. This is a romantic comedy, but the story has a melancholy thread to it, so the color palette of fall is perfect. It’s not a story about two twenty-somethings falling in love. These are people in their mid 30’s who try to have an old-fashioned courtship. So they come to it with their own histories, baggage, and their own broken hearts, so it is a melancholy story. BH: What about the movie rating? Rik: This film is not just PG, its themes are PG, but it affirms. Like I said earlier, you can show it to your daughter, you can show it to your grandmother, but it is not Pollyanna. It looks at life realistically. It deals with real people, who make real mistakes, and then try to recover from those mistakes, but you don’t have to be graphic to depict that. BH: You’ve talked about the virtues expressed in the storyline, and the old fashioned courtship it depicts. Are there other films that have influenced you? Rik: The Notebook was a beautiful film. It’s actually one of our reference films, just the look of it. Theirs was a period piece, but ours isn’t. Our film takes place right now, in 2011. When (our characters, Clay Walsh and Amber Hewson) approach this whole dating thing, they try to approach it like it was 100 years ago. What we do (now) isn’t working. It’s so obvious. Our divorce rates are off the charts. I believe we are trained to be good dates in our country. We are not trained to be good mates. We know how to be charming, we know how to have a romantic evening, we know how to create the mood, but that isn’t necessarily the stuff that creates a good life partner, someone to walk through this world with.


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