by Carolyn Noel, intern, UMass ’19
Some members of the cast and crew of the movie, ‘Interim’ are seen on the set of a recent film shoot in Westfield. (Photo courtesy CJ Santiago)
WESTFIELD – If you’ve never thought of Westfield as a movie-making city, you would be wrong. Director C.J. Santiago is bringing the production of his new independent film Interim to Westfield and many other places in Western Massachusetts.
Santiago is a 32 year old producer and director originally from Miami, Florida who now lives in western Mass and works at a local production and T.V. company while also making short films and movies.
Santiago has grown up around movies having witnessed directing and producing in action from a young age, which he said originally sparked his passion. Interim is his latest project, which is being shot in Western Massachusetts in locations such as Ludlow, Holyoke, Amherst, and even our own city of Westfield.
Producer/director CJ Santiago works on the set of the movie Interim. (Photo courtesy CJ Santiago)
Though Santiago is originally from Florida, he has relatives, such as his mother and sister, that live in Western Massachusetts. He originally set out to make films in Miami, but when he returned to Western Mass for family reasons, he was inspired to produce something here instead.
“The area is beautiful. We all take things for granted because we are so used to it, but it really is a beautiful place. I love it out here. Nobody around here really had the opportunity to be involved in movies, so I wanted to do something where we can involve the community and Western Mass,” Santiago said.
The entire cast of Interim is from Western Massachusetts and the surrounding New England area and the movie is being shot completely in Western Mass as well. Santiago said that he knew of many films shot in New York, Los Angeles, and even Boston, but none out here in the Western part of the state. Filming in the area was a good opportunity to bring a change of scenery to the film industry and give local aspiring actors a chance to live their dream.
The film itself, Santiago said, is a “broken script” meaning the entire plot of the movie is revealed to no one except Santiago, his producers, and the main actor. This keeps things exciting, surprising, and suspenseful until the big premiere.
Some members of the cast and crew of the movie, ‘Interim’ are seen on the set of a recent film shoot in Westfield. (Photo courtesy CJ Santiago)
Though there isn’t much of the movie being explained quite yet, Santiago did supply a general overview. Interim is about a high-end poker player named David Bailey and the struggles he faces coming to terms with decisions and mistakes he’s made in the past. It will talk about the struggles he’s been through, what he is going through now, and how he will overcome.
“It’s compact with a lot of different messages. If you try to ask me the genre, I honestly wouldn’t know what to tell you. I might say sci-fi, because there’s an element of a world that doesn’t exist. It is also a thriller, there’s drama, and there’s good messages that I’m really trying to put out in the world for people. Especially with how crazy the world is right now I feel like we could all use these messages, something to get us to think a little bit harder before we act,” Santiago said. “I’m hoping people can watch this movie and take a little something from it, learn from it, and hopefully be able to relate. I’m hoping we can all take a look at what we do and how we treat people.”
According to Santiago, many big and eventful scenes were shot in Westfield. Though the circumstances of most of these scenes are being kept secret, one scene in particular Santiago disclosed was a funeral scene. Santiago said that the original plan was to go to Holyoke for this scene, but thanks to connections in Westfield, it was able to be shot instead at a local resident’s house. It ended up being much longer than anticipated and, due to their willingness to help out and be involved, now features many Westfield residents.
Producer/director CJ Santiago works on the set of the movie Interim. (Photo courtesy CJ Santiago)
Santiago says that the location of Western Massachusetts will play a big part in the film itself. Many prominent Western Mass locations and landmarks will be used and seen, and the area will have an impact on characters in the movie.
He wants people to be able to see the movie and know that “This is a real place and if you liked the way it looked in the movie, go to it! Have dinner there, take a trip there, things like that.”
Interim is still being shot, but Santiago hopes to have it finished by the end of September. He hopes that the Interim story will extend beyond one movie and into a trilogy. Future movies may not all be shot in Western Mass like the first, but Santiago stresses that the location will still always hold an impact to the story.
Santiago is also planning to submit Interim to many movie festivals, big and small. Some festivals he will be submitting his movie to are Sundance, Cannes, the Boston Film Festival, and the Vermont Film Festival. In total, he hopes to submit to 14 film festivals.
Given that Interim is an independently shot film, it is all non-monetized. The actors are not compensated and the film runs entirely on Santiago funding it himself and through donations from their IndieGoGo page. Donations from the IndieGoGo page will be used to fund shooting locations, submitting to festivals and traveling to festivals, feeding the cast, and buying necessary movie props.
If you would like to see more info, sneak-peek videos, and behind the scenes looks, be sure to check out the Interim Facebook page.
With this film, Santiago hopes to inspire people and get them thinking. He hopes that bringing movie-making to Western Massachusetts will be new and exciting for all and that more films will be shot here in the future.
“I didn’t do anything spectacular. I didn’t do anything out of the norm. You just have to have that drive, be vigilant. The trick is just to go for it. If you have a dream, go for it. When you push yourself and when you really try to do it, everything will just fall into your lap. The connections, everything.”
