Encino Filmmakers Pick Up the Pace

Independent movie producers John Suits and Gabe Cowan, owners of New Artists Alliance in Encino, hate the word “cheap.”

The successful low-budget movie makers prefer inexpensive, innovative, creative and fun to describe how for seven years, they’ve shot movies in three weeks or less on budgets that probably wouldn’t even cover the catering costs for most major studio productions. Their roster of locally shot films, many sci-fi or thrillers, has earned them growing recognition as makers of quality films.

They’re now attracting and working with name actors like TV-series veteran Milo Ventimiglia and Wes Bentley, of The Hunger Games. They’re shooting in 3-D. And they recently scored the rights to the cult graphic novel, The Scribbler, by London-based author Dan Schaffer.

“In Hollywood, people say they’re going to do a low-budget movie for $5 million,” said Suits during an interview in the company office. “I say, “Good luck, getting that money.’ ”

“Our goal has always been to make something that looks big budget,” added Cowan. “And our attitude has also been, just don’t take no for an answer.”

Not taking no for an answer began early for the pair when they created a 30-minute feature in two days as film students at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) in Valencia.

“We thought, ‘Hey! We did 30 minutes in a weekend; we could do a feature film in a week,’ ” Cowan said.

Although instructors advised against it and urged them instead to start as production assistants for other filmmakers, the two pressed ahead. They secured an Azusa warehouse to shoot in and, when they discovered that noise from surrounding manufacturing plants was deafening, switched to filming after 5 p.m. and slept in the warehouse. Their resulting first feature, Breathing Room, scored international distribution, entry into several film festivals and made a profit. 

That eagerness to jump in and tackle anything characterizes them both.

Cowan grew up in Brentwood and was interested early on in filmmaking but instead went on to earn a living as a musician after his rock band acquired a recording contact with Geffen Records. But he became discontent when he found himself writing ad jingles to earn a living. Hired to score the music for a Roger Corman film, Cowan observed the low-budget process and decided then-and-there to switch careers.

Suits single mindedly pursued his desire to be a movie director. The Michigan native made video films and acted in high school and college, coming to CalArts after graduation from James Madison University in Virginia.

The pair continued working together after CalArts, officially creating their company about five years ago and working frequently out of Cowan’s Encino home. About 20 months ago, they decided to take offices on Ventura Boulevard to become more professional, have on-premise sound and editing equipment and develop a team. The company also instituted profit sharing to give their crew members a small piece of the profits and encourage them to return to work on future NAA projects.

Their team also now includes David Groom, who previously produced live TV shows for the Disney Company and worked as COO for a company that converted 2-D movies to 3-D, including Captain America and Titanic.

Groom said NAA is on track to produce four or five movies a year, made possible by evolving technology, such as digital cameras and 3-D technology that enable low-budget filmmakers to raise the quality of their productions;

“Low budget doesn’t mean low quality anymore,” Groom said.

Currently, NAA is working on distribution for their newest feature, Extracted, shown at the South by Southwest film festival in Austin, Texas, and favorably compared to Inception. Plus, they’re finishing work on their newest thriller, Static, and a modern coming-of-age drama, 3 Nights in the Desert.

“It’s often a 20-hours-a-day job,” Cowan said of their pace. “It’s really exhilarating and really meaningful, but it’s really, really hard work.”