How We Took Over an Airport to Shoot Our Short ‘But I’m a Shoe’
- Chen Drachman directed the short film "But I'm a Shoe," which was filmed at the Waco Regional Airport with the help of the Waco Independent Film Festival.
Chen Drachman is the writer-director of "But I'm a Shoe," the story of a sneaker enduring the stresses of air travel. In the piece below, Drachman explains how the Waco Regional Airport became the key location for the short, with an assist from the Waco Independent Film Festival. —M.M.
"I'm going to need an airport, aren't I?"
That's the thought that went through my head as I accepted that I was about to make my second short film, " But I'm a Shoe." The wonderful actor and comedian Janet Varney of The Legend of Korra was on board, as well as an excellent animator, Andrew Dittmann.
"But how do I get these scenes in a New York City-area airport?"
The answer became clear shortly after: We wouldn't be shooting anywhere near New York, where I'm based. Instead, we would be going to Waco, Texas, home to the Waco Independent Film Festival.
A few years ago, when the script for "But I'm a Shoe" was part of the festival's scriptwriting competition, I also went on the festival's tour of local shooting locations. While the airport wasn't an official part of the tour, I did see the diversity Waco has to offer: gas stations, arboretums, cemeteries, museums, you name it.
After the tour, I went to the festival's co-director, Louis Hunter, and asked him: "So, what's your airport situation like?"
"We have two gates and two flights a day," he said. It was love at first flight.
To make my short film about a shoe getting on a plane, I had to talk to the Transportation Security Administration, part of the Department of Homeland Security. The two agencies and the Waco Regional Airport couldn't have been more accommodating. I sat on a Zoom call with all these officials thinking, "What is my life?"
After some back and forth where we discussed what we were and weren't allowed to use, we got the go-ahead to shoot at the airport, for free.
Yes, you read that right.
Many NYC-based locations will not distinguish between a small and a big production (like that time I was asked to pay the same for a location that HBO had to pay) But time and again, filming in Waco has paid off.
Background on 'But I'm a Shoe'
The lead character in Chen Drachman's "But I'm a Shoe."
"But I'm a Shoe" is a part-live-action-part-animation short film that tells the story of the woes of air travel through the eyes of a bright, yellow, talking Converse shoe.
If it sounds like it came from the mind of a delirious person, it's because it did.
" Shoe" manifested as I was packing my bags in Arizona, ahead of a 4 a.m. shuttle to the airport. It was in that sleep-deprived state that I started talking to myself.
Whatever is the opposite of psyching myself up is what I was doing, already anticipating muscle stiffness, unfavorable temperature, the likely absence of a meal I would actually want, and many other potential disappointments.
It was then that I said out loud to an empty room, "I wish I could turn myself into a small object for the duration of the flight." And so, the seeds were planted. A few days later, when I was back home and somewhat rested, I started typing one of the most ridiculous notions I've ever had in Final Draft.
I have twice now made my job harder by making a film somewhere other than where I live, with no real ability to see my locations in advance.
The only way something like that can work is if you have people on the ground who have the film's back.
Luckily, we had a dream team. With producer Rachel Jobin (who was recently short-listed for the Academy Awards with
Ado
) and 1stAD Dan Beard from the Baylor University Film Department faculty, I got to go to location scouts via Zoom, and was reassured everything would work well in real time.
With weekly production meetings and updates, I knew I was in very good hands, and did as much work as I could from right in front of my computer, 1,600 miles from Waco.
If there's one thing I would've done differently, it's the animation process. I have never dealt with animation before. I thought that by asking Andrew to work on some of the set designs ahead of principal photography, I'd save some time in post-production.
In retrospect, a bad idea, because things, as I soon learned, are always subject to change.
An Exciting Change at the Waco Regional Airport
Janet Varney in "But I'm a Shoe"
You see, we were right on track for our upcoming shoot. But wait, a surprise!
The airport was still under construction, though we were assured the work was to be completed long before we came down to Waco to shoot. Alas, It was not.
The realization finally, er… landed: Now we're not only filming at an airport, we're filming in a construction area. No airplane noises to mess up the sound because there are only two flights a day to/from Waco? No problem. Today's on-set soundtrack will be provided by this guy and his grinder.
Luckily, the aforementioned dream team was on the case again. Thanks to them, and Rylan McCoy, our DP, we managed to get shots in a way that made the airport seem less construction zone-y on screen. Movie magic if I ever saw one.
The importance of community became even more evident when local friends, including Louis Hunter and his kids, showed up to be extras, be it at the always-uncomfortable gate seats, or the security line.
The road to make "the silly movie about the Shoe" wasn't an easy one. But it was a rewarding one.
The film has now screened at 18 film festivals, including El Dorado, El Paso, McMinnville, Julien Dubuque, and of course, Waco Indie.
I show up to screenings with signed scripts, cool stickers, Shoe enamel pins and interesting stories to tell about the little movie — and airport — that could.
Main image: Janet Varney and her shoes in "But I'm a Shoe" by Chen Drachman.
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