FROM THE VAULT! “Dangerous Liaison”

My second attempt at making a music video for one of my songs. On “Taught to Lie” I collaborated with Tiago and co-directed. With Dangerous Liaison I directed and choreographed on my own. I was lucky that two of my talented friends, Samantha Matsukawa and Kate Overholt, were available and willing to star in the piece. To this day Dangerous Liaison remains one of my favorite things I’ve ever made.

The song never made it onto an album. It’s so different from my other music I could never find a place for it in a larger collection. The video, shot and edited by Jake Holt, has a tone and a quality that I still find beautiful and surreal. But I think the unsung shining star of the piece is the location. It was this video that instilled in me the idea that a photogenic location is a massively underrated cinematic tool, and something any indie filmmaker should view as essential. Want to make a short film that feels epic and cinematic but you don’t have any money? Find a cheap location that looks like the kind of thing you could only get if you spent big money. A location that looks like it’s just dying to be photographed.

I was hunting for somewhere to stage this duet and one day while walking around downtown Salt Lake City I wandered past this dusty, raggedy old boxing gym inside of what looked like an abandoned warehouse that was ready to collapse. I walked in and immediately asked the owner what it would cost to shoot there for a day. He told me if I brought a case of water bottles to donate to the gym that would cover it. We used all natural light that filled the space from the massive front windows.

I love finding a location that feels like a liminal space from a dream. A location that doesn’t need to be dressed or lit to work. It just works as is. When I find a location like that I know I can make something special there.

I think the total budget for this one ended up being a little over $600. I paid my dancers $150 each and bought them lunch after the shoot, I paid Jake $300 to shoot and edit, and I bought a case of bottled water for the gym. As an indie filmmaker work like this was an important proving ground to my central belief that I could make effective, high quality, unique cinema with very little money. I believed then that a strong, simple concept, matched with a visually striking set, and a small, passionate team could make magic.

I still believe that.