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Hartsell and Shirley have been friends for about three years, and like most friends they have quite a bit in common as well as quite a few differences. Hartsell has a degree from Auburn University in film/television/broadcast media and Shirley has a degree in broadcast journalism from Troy State University. Outside of filmmaking, Hartsell's creative flow runs toward writing, while Shirley is an accomplished and popular local musician who plays drums and guitar. But it was Shirley who wrote The Seven Year Switch.
Shirley is more outgoing and talkative while Hartsell is a bit more introspective. Hartsell grew up near Birmingham, Alabama while Shirley grew up in nearby Montevallo. They both now live in Birmingham, and the Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival there this past September was the first significant showing of their joint work. Hartsell had done some student films at Auburn, most notably a short, The Clock. Shirley had previously been involved in making a 20-minute indie titled Goodnight Springton.
"I'm a big Kubrick fan, and Chuck is too," says Shirley. "We both love film and watch a lot of movies. We've got laserdisc, DVD, a big-screen TV. The main thing about making Switch and doing what we're doing is to learn."
How did the name 'Crewless Productions' come about? Shirley answers: "It was inspired by the Robert Rodriguez book
Rebel Without a Crew, where Rodriguez talks about his early, no budget, days. You can learn a lot of cool stuff from him. Also, on Switch, at least, we pretty much shot without a crew. I don't think we ever worked a day with more than 5 people - including actors - on the set. Sometimes, we worked with 3 people - actor, cameraman, soundman."
Hartsell has previously worked in broadcast television: working in the newsroom, running camera, operating a teleprompter. "I just didn't enjoy it. I mean, this is local news, and these people are not some kind of gods, but sometimes it seemed like they didn't realize that." And asked about his writing: "I've had a couple of short stories published in some small press magazines. The first was a story titled The Last Flight, which was a horror
story about a pilot who literally becomes one with his airplane. That was in a small sci-fi, fantasy, horror magazine called STARSONG, which is long since defunct. Another was a darkly comedic crime story titled Chance Meetings, about a serial killer picking up a hitchhiker who turns out to be another serial killer. That one appeared in THE CIRCLE, Auburn
University's literary journal. I also wrote a children's fantasy novel about 5 years ago, which I shopped
around to a number of publishers. There were a couple I remember who didn't like it, but for the most part I got very positive response, though no one actually made an offer to publish. A number of editors told me they liked it a lot, but there really wasn't a market anymore for children's fantasy. Then, lo and behold, a few months later, the Harry Potter phenomenon takes off. Needless to say, I'm still bitter." (smiling) " Ok, I'm not that bitter. I think, by in large, I'm an average fiction writer, so I don't really have anyone to gripe at. My major strength, in terms of writing, though, has always been dialogue. That's one reason I feel that I'm better with scripts than short stories or novels."
Another thing these two have in common is that, for now, they both earn their primary income in the IT field: Shirley is a computer programmer and Hartsell is a network administrator. "I'd love to get into a situation where I could write, shoot, and edit movies during the day and write, play, and record music at night", says Shirley. "That would be ideal for me." Hartsell agrees that working in IT is not his ultimate goal: "(my job) pays the bills and doesn't stress me too greatly, so I can't complain...", but he says there is still "ample motivation to try and find some way to earn a living with my creative endeavors."
Michael Shelton, a longtime friend of Shirley's, gave an excellent performance as Donnie, the time machine inventor's friend, in The Seven Year Switch. "This is something I've kind of always wanted to do, but never had the opportunity. It was even more fun than I thought it would be. I'm looking forward to doing more." Michael is also a musician. He plays guitar and is a singer/songwriter. He and Shirley have played together in various bands, off and on, over the years. What about the Crewless Productions partners? "Chance is more of a people person. We kid Chuck that he's kind of shy. He's quieter, more of a reader and a writer. They're both great guys."
If a debut effort like The Seven Year Switch is any indication, someday they may be great filmmakers as well.
click here to visit the Crewless Productions / Seven Year Switch website
click here to read the wholmmovies review of The Seven Year Switch
random notes: The Seven Year Switch was shot using a Sony VX-1000 DV-format camera. Stacey Sessions, who appears as Janet in The Seven Year Switch, was Chance's girlfriend at the time. Patrick Sheehan, who appears as the police detective, Lt. Gordon, is a local musician (bass player) and does a lot of sound work in and around Birmingham.
Shirley's musical connections paid off with original music for The Seven Year Switch provided by Kenn McCracken, Daniel Farris and 'Tim Boykin & the Shame Idols.' Tim Boykin's band "The Shame Idols", is now defunct and he is with another band.
(Jay Enterkin)
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