In Conversation with Fabrizio Federico for Teddy Bears Live Forever

I had no experience whatsoever and I didn’t know what I was doing, it just felt right. But, I wanted to desperately make a DIY feature film at any cost, short films are easy to make. That’s not a challenge, but a feature film is a huge adventure.

Synopsis: April is a young faded ”It girl”. Suffering in exile from multiple personality disorder brought on by Hollywood and a UFO Cult. She decides that one of her 6 personalities must lose her virginity. As April suffers bizarre flashbacks in a solitary room, sleepwalking, telephoning rent boys. Listening to The Carpenters, and terrorizing her old guardian with her dangerous sex appeal. She is ultimately a modern martyr.

indieactivity: Did you start writing with a cast (You or any) in mind?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): I’ve never written a script in my life. I’m not interested in feeding the cast lines. I’d rather see their true personalities based around the films theme. That’s how I pick my cast, if I need a junkie I find a real one. There’s no freedom with a script, I’m in love with improvising. I see myself as a ‘DJ Director’, making a film is very musical to me and sexual. You have to follow the rhythm, similar to when you’re riding. I’m not called the lizard king’ for nothing.  

How long did you take to complete the script? (Do you have a writing process?)
Fabrizio Federico (FF): I pick each films theme first. So, far I’ve covered, wild youth, the evils of money, and social media addiction. Satanism, ping pong champions, earth angels and Ouija boards. The Fibonacci sequence, LSD & Shamanism and recently a folie à deux relationship in my latest film LOON. It takes me three years to make each film because I do everything in-house like a prodigy would. My only contemporary is Xavier Dolan but my style is more of a strung out/scratchy feeling.   

When’d you form your production coy–what was the original motivation for formation?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): It’s very loose but it’s more of an umbrella to just put my films under. I find it kind of funny making underground/cult films under a production company. I don’t take the company side seriously. I’m so wrapped up with making the films because I’m a one-man film city.

The Official Trailer for Teddy Bears Live Forever (2019) Directed by Fabrizio Federico

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What was the first project out of the gate?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): Black Biscuit was my first feature in 2011. Me and some of the cast went to the local university at night and tried to steal some cameras. We failed miserably when the guard chased us out of the university. After that I just decided to make Black Biscuit on old mobile phones and children’s cameras. The whole film is improvised with street superstars and the marketing was all guerrilla style. I’d put my fliers in mainstream cinemas and I exploited the internet as much as I could. This was in 2012 so Facebook was a lot more relaxed then it is now. Black Biscuit also got put onto quite a few top best indie films of the year lists. So, that helped a lot.

During production, what scene (that made the cut) was the hardest to shoot?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): Definitely the scene where an S&M mistress inserted a candle into my cock. I was tied up and she gagged me with a steel ball. So, I just had to go along with it. But, after that I wasn’t afraid to do anything in front of the camera, it was very liberating.

What works in this production that might not have worked so well in the last one you did?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): My newest film that is in post-production is called Teddy Bears Live Forever. This time I decided to have a very small cast, just 2 people. Which I’ve never done before. Usually my films have many different weird characters popping in & out of the film and disappearing. This time I just wanted to concentrate on a very specific character. But she has multiple personality disorder so at the same time Im not working with a smaller cast. She wants one of her personalities to lose her virginity.

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You produced and directed the film, what measure of input did it take to don these hats?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): I’ve always done everything on my films – Directing, producing, casting, editing, cinematography and the music. I recorded an album with the band MAO called Graveyard Music. Which was recorded at occultist Aleister Crowley’s haunted home in Scotland. I have total input on the films, they are complete auteur movies. I’ve always loved films where a single visionary is calling all the shots. Directors such as Dennis Hopper, Vincent Gallo, Stanley Kubrick, Harmony Korine & Julien Temple. I’m after punk misrule cinema. 

Is there anything about the independent filmmaking business you still struggle with?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): Definitely, getting the movies screened in big cinemas is a pain in the ass. But I’m not too concerned about that. Because, the future of cinema lives online in the 21^st century. I find most of the films in cinemas these days very boring and formulaic. Because the programmers are so dull. They are scared to take chances and are too lazy to promote new films. That’s why Amazon and YouTube & Vimeo are a 100% more exciting films. Than these fake Indie films in the cinemas, they have the edge. I’ve had my films screened all over the world at underground happenings. And, at real indie cinemas as opposed to these parent cinemas. At the moment I’m trying to get my films screened in North Korea.  

Where do you think your strengths lie as a filmmaker?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): I’m very good at capturing spontaneity. Cinéma vérité is the purest form of cinema and that’s what I’m after. I also enjoy experimenting with the editing of the film. So, in Teddy Bears the main character April is a faded ‘’it girl’’ who went mad. Either because of modelling industry spitting her out from either childhood abuse. Or she was abducted by aliens as she believes. All this is improvised. She used to like sunbathing until her skin was red raw and doughy. I’m also open to inspiration from books, photography as well as food.   

Let’s talk finance, How did you finance the film?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): On Black Biscuit I financed the film by being a nude life model. Donating sperm and going from door to door asking for £1. But, that was too much of a pain. So, from now on I just go to the bank and ask for a loan. My films don’t cost more than £500 – £1K. So, I’m not enslaved to producers or to film funding organizations like the BBC. That way I can make the film I want.

How much did you go over budget? How did you manage it?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): I’ve never gone over budget, I’m resourceful. If you’re stupid you shouldn’t make a feature film because otherwise it will destroy your life. Be like Malcolm McLaren, William Castle, Tony Wilson or Alfred Hitchcock. You give your film an identity and a theme that offends but also warps the idea of cinema. 

How important is marketing? Do you think a project can make any dent without it these days?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): Marketing can be very fun. It’s so simple these days, but I do radio & podcast interviews. Magazine Q&A’s and I send out death threats to newspapers which usually give the films some publicity. It can be just as creative as making the film. It’s essential to market your film even if you just do one important interview. But, I’ve noticed a lot of filmmakers keep their films private online. Which I don’t understand, it’s as if they are ashamed of their movies, I don’t get it. What’s the point making a movie if you’re not gonna show it to anyone, it’s ridiculous.   

Can you tell us about your marketing activities on the project – and how it’s gone for you?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): My personal life is a bit of a mess at the moment. I’m in the middle of a divorce so that’s taken up a lot of my time. Usually trouble finds me. I heard that someone sued their parents after seeing LOON over their NHS prescription medication abuse. And, then there was the arson charges while making Pregnant. And, the film screening riot which brought a lot of free publicity. I created an alter-ego called Jett Hollywood; who’s my version of a Ziggy Stardust filmmaker from Mars. He committed suicide and when his suicide note was released it went viral. But, usually I just talk about how I experimented on myself while making the films. Such as just eating yogurt and weed every morning for breakfast while making Pregnant. Or trying Past Regression Therapy for LOON. I’m very Zen when creating.

What do you hope audiences get from your film?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): I hope they get inspired and enjoy the weird ride. Life is a sonic experiment. Teddy Bears main character April likes to suck on her bloody tampons in the bath. That’s what brings her joy, so who are we to judge her. She used to be a superstar and a youthquake. She had the world in the palm of her hands and then she destroyed it, that counts for something. She’s very brave, reckless but ultimately honest. Her character was inspired by ‘it girls’ such as Paris Hilton. Marilyn Monroe, Kate Moss, Cara Delevingne, Gia and Edie Sedwick. And by men such as Richey Edwards and Kurt Cobain.

What else have you got in the works?
Fabrizio Federico (FF): At the moment I’m finalizing the Straight Jacket Guerrilla Film Festival. This is our 3^rd year running, screening international cult & experimental underground films. Other than that, I’m finishing off Teddy Bears Live Forever before the divorce. But after that it’s time for some more unpopular ideas.

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