With the exception of Stalin, Typhoid Mary and maybe Justin Bieber, most parents are proud of their children. Few, however, are ‘my-son’s-movie-is-on-Netflix’ proud as Mike and Janet Miller of Sun City Center.
The Miller’s son, Todd, is a professional filmmaker based in Brooklyn, N.Y., who is excelling in the notoriously difficult movie world. His movie, Dinosaur 13, premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 2014 and is currently showing on Netflix. In addition, the film can be downloaded online. It was also purchased by Lionsgate Films and broadcast by CNN.
The film chronicles the discovery of the largest Tyrannosaurus Rex fossil ever found, and the battle over its ownership. It was a New York Times Critics’ Pick and alternatively described as “engrossing” by Variety and “a rich story of discovery and heartache” by The Los Angeles Times.
“We never told him he needed a backup plan,” said Mike Miller. “We talked to our kids about doing something they loved. We also told them that they might want to judge their economic expectations on whatever they decided to do.”
The Millers always knew their son was talented, but a film he made at college about a youngster who had developed into a mascot for a high school football team sealed the deal. “It was self-financed and [when I saw it] I thought ‘you know, this guy has really got it together.’ Not just the directing and production, but he really knows how to map out a strategy,” said Mike.
“Starting out, it was not a full-time job, so I always had something on the side,” said Todd, who now runs his own independent film production company, Statement Pictures, based in Brooklyn. “But they have always been amazingly supportive”
Mike Miller, a lawyer, is glad his son never followed his footsteps. “I love the law and it was very good to us, but I didn’t suggest law school, which was probably a wise decision (since) there are thousands of lawyers being turned out almost every year (by law schools).”
Todd is currently working on a new documentary, Operation Lunar Eclipse, the story of a mid-’90s undercover NASA sting operation to recover stolen and missing moon rocks. It is expected to be released later this year.
How does he find his stories? Research and reading. Lots of it.
“We don’t have agents so we go out and actively search ourselves for stories,” Todd said. “We have a ton we want to make right now but getting them to fruition and produced takes a lot of work.”
“It’s just as hard to make a bad film as a good one and no one sets out to make a bad movie,” said award-winning director and producer Alan Parker in an oft-repeated Hollywood line.
The secret to a good film?
“If you knew the answer to that you would make a billion [dollars] in Hollywood,” said Todd, laughing. “It’s just such a collaborative effort. On one hand, you can blame the producers or directors for a bad film, or maybe you can blame (something else), but you can never put it on one person.”
Todd chuckles when he hears someone at a movie theater say the writing is bad. “Maybe it wasn’t bad. Maybe it just wasn’t executed properly. Maybe the director didn’t film it the way he should have, or maybe the actors didn’t say (the lines) the way they should have.
“The flip side to that is what makes a good film good. There are bad ideas, but in the hands of a good filmmaker they can make it something so it goes both ways,” said Todd.
For more information on the film, visit www.dinosaur13movie.com.