ISSUES was amazingly shot over a period of eight shooting days for principal photography (June 20-28, 2004 and one day off) and one extra day needed to be scheduled for a re-shoot due to a camera error, which damaged the footage for one scene. The film was shot in Super 16mm format.

Van Elder wrote the original draft of the script over a period of six weeks and eight additional drafts of the script were written until the final shooting script was reached. Fresh off of writing, directing, and producing three successful short films back to back, Van felt that not only was he ready to take the step to the next level, but he also felt a sense of urgency to get a feature film done. "I had made three fifteen minute short films so I figured that a feature would basically be six times one of those films and I came up with a 90 page script". As a result, he put all of his resources together, contacted co-producer/actress Lisa DeWitt to assist him and he set his course to accomplishing his dream.

The concept of ISSUES began with Van wanting to make a raw and honest film that addressed everyday problems that most people can relate to, specifically relationship problems. After deciding which topics in particular he wanted to address in the film, Van wrote the best character driven script that he could come up with, knowing that he did not have much money to work with.

Van took the typical route to "low-budget" filmmaking by limiting the number of locations in the script, but having just enough to break up the monotony and raise the production value of the film up a notch. The film was shot predominantly in one location, the house where the three main characters reside. This was done primarily with the handheld camera cinematography of director of photography, Roger Chingirian. "I not only chose to shoot the interior house scenes with handheld camera movement for budgetary reasons, but also to give the story a more realistic and intimate feel". Once the film was shot, Van immediately went into post-production and began editing the film in his apartment on his Avid Express Pro system.

The Birth of the "Anti-romantic Comedy"

Always wanting to go against the grain in his style of story-telling, Van crafted what he calls the "Anti-romantic Comedy" or the "UNromantic Comedy". "It has some elements of your typical romantic comedy, but it builds upon candid humor, honesty, and real emotions, without all of the fluff". With inspiration from the early films of Spike Lee, Edward Burns, and Kevin Smith, Elder felt that he could take his original idea and potentially duplicate the success that his predecessors had in their feature film debuts, not only overachieving from a budgetary stand point, but also by exhibiting a unique storytelling perspective as well.

ISSUES is a male driven film, with the focus being on two cousins, Royce and Damien, and the story centers around the male perspective. "I think that people will appreciate the characters’ honesty because they show real emotions and speak their minds, just like in real life. And as in real life, nothing is pretty and perfect and all of the characters in the film show vulnerability and flaws, with the humor being bold, truthful, and not too scripted". Elder takes the unapologetic approach to combining comedy and romantic/dramatic elements to storytelling in ISSUES. "Too many times I am watching a film and see situations or characters’ dialogue play out in a way that you know would not happen in a real life situation. You can still be funny without sugar coating things because that’s how life is, one moment you can be depressed and the next minute you can be laughing and you can find humor in both instances, especially if you have personally experienced what the characters in my film are going through".

Cast and Crew

Elder cast the film in a relatively short amount of time. He wanted the right fit for each character and wanted to work with up and coming talent and actors who may have been seen in different arenas but were not fully known on a mainstream scale. The one lone exception to this might be Todd Bridges of Diff’rent Strokes fame. "I had an idea already of who I wanted to work with for the most part and some roles just fell into place". Most of the roles were filled by previous friendships or professional referrals. "I had always wanted to work with Ben Watkins and felt that he was perfect for the role of Royce and Laz Alonso was recommended to me by a director friend of mine and once he was brought to my attention, I instantly knew that he could pull off the role of Damien". The only roles that were auditioned for were the roles of Nicole, played by Barri Whittaker and Amber White, played by Sarah Strandberg. Elder auditioned close to two hundred actresses for those two roles that went to Whittaker and Strandberg.

The Issues film crew primarily consisted of seven to eight people (Van, the director of photography/camera operator, gaffer, two or three camera assistants, one sound mixer/recorder, and a script supervisor). Director of Photography, Roger Chingirian was referred to Van from DP Byron Werner, who photographed two of Elder’s short films, Sigmund the See Monster (2002) and A Tale of Two Sisters (2004). Van had previously worked with most of the other crewmembers on other film shoots of his. All cast and crew had the "independent spirit" and agreed to work for a "low budget" rate to help aid in completing the production.

About the Filmmaker

Van Elder is a native of Compton, California. Issues is the fourth film from Director Van Elder and serves as his feature film debut. Additionally, he served as writer, producer, and editor on Issues. He has previously directed three award winning short films; Sigmund the See Monster (2002), Out-of-Body Experience (2004), and A Tale of Two Sisters (2004). Elder holds a Master’s degree in Film & Television and has authored numerous screenplays that he plans to develop.