(All photos of Rena Riffel in this interview are EXCLUSIVE, provided directly from Rena, and can be made into desktop wallpaper by clicking, Enjoy!)
As 2012 comes to a close, it is time to unleash a new feature on Dan's Movie Report: Interviews with independent producers and directors who take the plunge and make their own film. Forging their own path, at times the road is bumpy, but the journey is NEVER dull, these risk-takers often reap rewards far beyond their dreams. Rena Riffel has been acting for two decades, but recently decided to take on the task of furthering her own character in Showgirls "Penny". Rena has a great attitude, tinged with a salacious sense of humor and sexuality, and she brings her own views on the production of her film Showgirls 2: Penny's From Heaven exclusively to Dan's Movie Report.
Chat about your background, when did you get involved with acting?
In highschool,
I was determined to be a dancer and choreographer. I moved to
"Hollywood" and began auditioning and got on a dance
scholarship. But, then began taking acting class and became an
actress. I always wanted to make my own films, but it seemed
too hard. My friend and I began videotaping what I thought
would be a web series, but then I kept filming and turned it into a
feature film. After I made it though the production process, I
realized that I can produce films. I had taken a few courses on
making films, but I learned the most from being on sets working with
such great directors and producers during my career.
How
did you come up with the idea to continue Showgirls, concept, story?
Well,
Paul Verhoeven had suggested to me that he it would be fun to
do a movie all about Penny, back in 95. Of course, I got very
excited about the idea. I kept waiting for years and years, and
then realized that I would have to make it happen if it was ever
going to happen. I wrote my first script, titled "Stardancer"
and sent it to Paul. But, Paul wasn't interested in directing
it, but wished me luck with the project. I admire him so much.
My story idea was based on things I have experienced in Hollywood,
and when I came up with the plot, it was very free-flow writing.. I
didn't know where I was going with it, it kind of wrote itself.. but,
I wrote many different endings, I think I have about 7 different
endings.. and I wrote 28 different drafts, they all were emphasizing
different characters. I wrote with a bigger budget in mind,
which I had to scale down when I began shooting.
What
was the time frame from concept to pre-production then shooting
schedule of Penny's From Heaven?
I
began writing the first draft back in 2004, but couldn't make up my
mind on the tone.. if it should be a campy comedy or drama, what
theme to go with, etc. When I completed the script, I began
working with my girlfriend to raise millions of dollars, and another
friend in Los Angeles were trying to raise 8.5 million. After a
year went by and no finance was raised, I realized I should just
shoot it the way I shot Trasharella (Trasharella Ultra Vixen), my
Micro-Budget movie I made, almost a No-Budget film. I know how
to make movies for micro-budget, so that's what I did. There
wasn't much pre-production, I pretty much was in pre-production and
shooting at the same time. It was hard to plan things in
advance on a micro-budget. I had a loose shooting schedule, and
followed it pretty closely when I looked back at my filming
calendar, the shoot actually went very smooth. We shot 28 days
over a 4 month time, and we filmed mostly for only a few hours a
day. A few days were longer towards the end, trying to get this
movie in the can.
What
roadblocks did you run into, resistance from others etc?
I
needed a castle, this was the hardest location to find. I
couldn't find a castle to rent. And the day of the castle
shoot, we thought we would shoot just a quick scene outside of a
castle in Beverly Hills which is a public park. We all walked
up in big fancy gowns and immediately the guard told us we have to
leave and we were not aloud to film there, he wasn't very happy about
our guerrilla style ideas and had no sense of humor. We were
later kicked off the sidewalk in front of my apartment, and
eventually made a castle set inside my apartment. That was the
only location we tried the gorilla style, and it didn't work out.
At the Motel Room scene we also ran into an upset motel front-office
attendee, we were accused of being real prostitutes as we were
outside the room in the parking lot, we had to explain to him we were
dressed in fur coats, high heels, and mini skirts because these were
our costumes and we were only playing prostitutes in the movie we had
told him we were shooting there. We couldn't shoot in the motel
parking lot any longer.
We
had so many wonderful people help with the production and assist in
many ways. Tim Taylor really got the ball rolling by locking
down the first location for the first 4 days of filming, and it snow
balled after that. Oh, side note, after we finished shooting, I
finally found a castle I could have rented in Hollywood.
There
were some other problems that came up, post production challenges,
wrong codecs, continuity problems which made editing difficult, and
some other emotional draining things happened, along with some
heartbreaking tragedies. But, I am trying to block that out and
look at the silver lining. I learned a lot on this film, what
not to do and what to do better next time, and what worked.
But, I am lucky I had my great Producers and the crew and actors,
they were all so great, talented, and amazing.
Two
and a half hours is long for an indie film, do you feel David Lynch
influences, Paul V Influences? Was this a story you felt needed to be
told in 2 1/2 hours as opposed to the 90 minute time frame?
Yes,
the actual movie is 3 hours long. I cut 35 minutes of scenes, I
cut out the sub-plot.. the sub-plot is still mentioned in the film,
but these were the scenes that actually show the human trafficking
and fairy tale pagan rituals. I wanted the movie to be a
melodramatic epic saga, more like "Gone With The Wind"
opposed to the 90 minute formula. At one time I was considering
making it a Part 1 and Part 2, or having a formal Intermission during
the ballet lesson scene. I was worried about the long length of
the film, but in my opinion, I think the film moves very fast, and
lots of films are 2 and a half hours long or longer.
How
about additional casting, friends, or was this an casting call
looking for specific people?
All
the actors are my friends, or friends of my friends. I had many
talented friends who fit the roles, and if they didn't exactly fit
the character description, it was actually more interesting to see
what they brought to the character. I am very happy with the
casting.
Are
you happy with the final product (I love it) If you had to change
something what would it be? If given a 20 mil budget how would the
film change, more costumes, lavish sets?
I
am very happy with the final product. I worry that if it would
have gotten a 40 million budget, it may have not turned out as
funny. The financiers (who never came through with finance) had
told me they wanted to have a big star-name actress, Reese
Witherspoon, to play "Penny Slot" and bring in a big
Hollywood director, like Michael Bay. But, I refused the offer
(it was just a suggestion, anyways, no money on the table)... it
didn't make sense to me, I wanted to make my movie, not sell off my
script.
Something
very magical happened with this film, I didn't plan it to be exactly
as it is, but instead, I let it unfold before my eyes. I
trusted the process as we were filming, instead of fighting what I
couldn't control. I think it could have gone either way, one
way being a very serious intense drama, and the other being a comedy
of errors. I saw "The Room" after "Showgirls 2"
was completed, and I love "The Room", it's hilarious.
I think "Showgirls 2" has some of "The Room"
going on in it, "so bad, it's good", but I do love my
script and think my story to tell is very worthy.
The
only thing I would change is the dialogue sound quality. Robert
Rodriguez's movie, "El Mariachi", was released with a bad
temp sound mix and after he got a big distribution deal, he could
afford to go back in and fix the sound, syncing up sound files, ect.
I am hoping I will get the same opportunity.
We
have the perfected sound files, but I ran out of time and money to do
anymore post production. But, I love the sets, I think the
locations we got are lavish and perfect, and I think the film is shot
beautifully. I wanted the shots to be very simple like film
noir, nothing fancy and no shaky camera.
I love the fashion
and costumes in the film. Most are actual vintage 90's dance
costumes, some are right out of "Showgirls", since I
supplied my own wardrobe on "Showgirls". And Shelley
Michelle (Katya) had amazing boas and feathered costumes, she has her
own clothing line. Paula Labaredas(Maria) had very cute skimpy
sexy costumes, very campy couture. Peter Stickles (Godhardt)
had great costumes, we wore matching sailor outfits, mine is a
vintage Gaultier. And Glenn Plummer's (Jimmy) T-shirt and
hoodie business was actually designed by Mark Gray, he paints on the
fabric and adds tons of swarovski crystals and silver, skulls, very
edgy and cool. I love the over the top show girl make up, too.
Oh, one thing I wish I would have had if I had a bigger budget is
more technical help in post, an art director, more production
assistants to help carry things, make phone calls, scheduling, ect.,
this is important to a production, and someone to do craft service
other than me, lol.. I was busy with too much. But, that's
indie film making.. there is also something great about just DIY,
it's empowering and as they say, if you want something done right,
and you can't get someone else to do it right, do it yourself.
That's how it feels when you put your heart and soul into making a
movie.
What
are some of your future film goals either acting and producing?
I
have written a lot of scripts over this last year. I want to
produce them. I have the sequel to "Showgirls 2: Penny's
From Heaven" written, and would love to make that very soon. I might be doing a Kickstarter to raise money for it and offer a DVD
of the 35 minutes worth of deleted scenes along with the short film
"Showgirl" and possibly Penny Slot dance action figures,
ect... I also would like to film my "Marie Antoinette"
script, it needs a bigger budget, so that is always challenging to
get off the ground. And I want to continue as an actress, I
would love to work with Paul Verhoeven and David Lynch again. I
would like to work with a great team and work on great projects that
I am inspired by and that inspire others. Basically, the same
dream I have always had. I hope this dream can come true.
I will end this Q and A with a few special inspirational quotes from
"Showgirls 2 Penny's From Heaven". "There's a
price to pay for success, dues to be paid, sacrifices to be made
at every imaginable level, and it all come down to how bad you want
it?" ... "I'm a dancer!"..... "Goddess power!"...
"I know I got an F in economics, but this doesn't add up very
well."..... "Dancing keeps me sane in this insane
world".... "Next time we'll get the penthouse."...
"Here's bubbles!".... "I don't know what's worse, your
dancing or your camel toe.".... "There can only be one Star
Dancer.".... "You used to call me your love sponge, now all
you call me is a good cook!"... "Tell me, how did you win
it.. a wife beater soak in beer, a bikini, or topless?"...
"Topless."... "See darlin', you are a star f*@$er."...
"Have ever considered becoming a male stripper?"..... "I
need to face the music, the real music."...."snuff, I know
what it is, cowboys sniff it like chew.".... "Frickin'
A!"... "It's hard out there. Everyone's got AIDS and
shit, H1N1 and all kinds of shit, Swine flu.. bitch, I'm dancin' with
you the best way I can.. got arthritis, my knees are bad.. dancing
don't pay no rent!"... "Fire that bimbo!"...."I'm
just some kind of jungle animal now. Which one? A cougar,
Helga!".... "They've called the asylum to take me
away!"..."Tonight, I want you to teach me to be the
whore"... "You're much more than a whore, you're Goddess.
But I'll teach you anything you want." ... "Keep going.
The end of the rainbow, Helga"... "Red hot magic heat!"...
It's actually a story of overcoming obstacles by having faith, but
being led down the wrong path, but then finding your way out of the
dark hole, only to get on a path again.. let's see if she now finds
her way to the end of the rainbow, or once again, gets lost.
