Rondo and Bob Film Spotlight
Today’s film spotlight focuses on the feature film Rondo and Bob directed by Joe O’ Connell.
What is the title of your film and what inspired said title?
When we started work on the film, Rondo and Bob was the working title, but it stuck! The film is about Robert A. Burns, the art director on the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and his obsession with cult actor Rondo Hatton. I always assumed when we got distribution the title would change to something flashier, but that never happened.
Tell us a little bit about the story and origins of your film.
I met Robert Burns in the year 2000 when I was writing a film column for the Austin American-Statesman newspaper. Burns was a serial blood donor and had reached the five-gallon level. The honored him with a celebration. I interviewed him for my column that day. Before leaving he handed me a script he’d written called Rondo and Mae–a love story about Hatton and his wife.
When I finished my first film Danger God, about B-movie stuntman Gary Kent–the partial inspiration for Brad Pitt’s character in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood–I realized that my editor was on hand that first time I met Burns and had actually filmed the blood center event! He shared the footage with me. Then the story came into focus. Burns created the look of classic horror in films including The Hills Have Eyes, Re-Animator and The Howling. He surely rated a film just on his career. But that wasn’t what intrigued me. It was his obsession with Hatton.
I realized Burns was a normal-looking guy who was “weird” inside. Rondo was a very normal guy who looked strange on the outside because of a condition called Acromegaly. They were both seeking connections and love. That was my story.
Any films or filmmakers that inspired this film?
I write about film, and I was assigned to cover the biodoc Becoming Bond about George Lazenby. I was intrigued by the style, which was half traditional documentary with Lazenby sitting on a well-lit set and the other half recreations with an actor who didn’t look all that much like Lazenby. I realized with both Burns and Hatton no longer living, I need to follow a similar pattern with actors local to where I live in Austin, Texas. For Burns, I was told by the head of a college drama department that he had two options for me: One looked more like Burns and one was a better actor. Because of Becoming Bond, I knew to choose the stronger actor!
What is the goal of the film for you?
I wanted to honor both men’s stories, but tell them truthfully–warts and all. The film has been called a love letter to horror fans, and I like that, too! Overall I’m a storyteller, and my goal is to tell human truths. If I do that I’m satisfied. Rondo and Bob is a collage of a film. Some viewers will want more of Burns, some will want more Hatton. But the story is in the narrow intersection of the stories of two men who lived in different time frames and never met.
What has the journey been like getting the film into production?
The film was like a living creature and changed as we moved through production. Every recreation was like a mini movie covering a different time period. I wrote all the scenes and approached each separately.
As an independent filmmaker I had to write the script, find the sets, cast the actors, get wardrobe and vintage cars for the set. In the editing process, all the pieces fell together.
One thing you learned from this project?
I entered this film project having already done this successfully once. I knew the ropes, but every project is different. With this one I refined the scope and stretched myself. Each of those mini-movies was a great challenge. But we pulled it off. I learned that it is possible.
How can folks find you and your film online?
Rondo and Bob will be released widely VOD on June 7. That will include services like Amazon Prime and iTunes as well as on cable and satellite video on demand. I got schooled by my distributor in how this works. The second stage will see the film released on subscription-based VOD services like Shudder and Netflix. The final stage in ad-based video on demand services like Tubi.
Any last pieces of advice for fellow filmmakers?
Don’t give up. Don’t wait until you have a sack of cash. Begin now in whatever small way you can. Don’t assume you’re going to make a lot of money right away. You should be doing this because you are compelled to tell stories. As one writer once told me, we didn’t get drafted into this army. We volunteered. Jump in and enjoy yourself.
The business side is going to always be important, too. Creatives are like people yelling in a crowded room trying get attention for their projects. Be humble. By the time people are criticizing your first “baby,” you should be working on the next project.
Keep going. That’s all you can do. Creative works by their very nature are going to be imperfect. Accept that, but don’t give up the drive toward perfect.
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