Broken Leg Producer Case Barden and Director Kieran Thompson Discuss Filmmaking

Case Barden is a 2009 Film graduate and the producer on the film, Broken Leg, a picture directed by fellow Film alum Kieran Thompson. We sat down with him to discuss his filmmaking techniques, and the process of developing the movie.

We asked him what sparked his interest in entering the entertainment industry.

“I’ve always loved film. From an early age I fell in love with film. It was a way for me to experience other peoples lives; lives that I’d never experience.”

Kieran discussed how he discovered The Los Angeles Film School.

“I was attending UW in Seattle and not loving it. I kept thinking of film school but was uncertain. I gave him a call and he said “Just do it.” 9 months later I was in LA.”

Filmmaking has not been an easy pursuit. Kieran expounds on the challenges faced during production.

 “Making a feature film is a staggering amount of work. It’s truly a little miracle. So many things will go wrong along the way but you have to see it through and you have to maintain your standards. It’s easy to let things slip and that’s the real enemy. Real filmmakers don’t see problems, they see the way around those problems. In that, failure doesn’t exist.”

“I knew seeing it through would be an experience of a lifetime. I was making a film with my friends and having a good time, though it was hard. It’s my movie and no one else. And I really wanted to give it to my parents.”

Case discussed one of his favorite recent projects to have worked on, a film called Winning Dad.

 “I produced a second feature a summer later called Winning Dad. We’re out to festivals right now. I’m really proud of it too. I work on a lot of quality indie-films and commercials to pay the bills.”

He went on to discuss how The Los Angeles Film School has prepared him for a career in entertainment.

 “The Los Angeles Film School helped teach the attitude to be in the business and access. There are so many opportunities with the school that are real. It’s not like talking theory, it’s doing the actual work and talking with actual filmmakers.”

Case imparted a few words of wisdom for current student filmmakers.

 “It’s really hard, like really, really hard. And it’s not about one project if you want to make it. It’s about all the projects. I know a lot of people have that one script or story they want to make, but you have to be about more than one thing to make it. You don’t know what’s around the corner and what opportunities or traction you’ll get. So be versatile and flexible.”

The duo expressed the most difficult part of working on Broken Leg.

 “Keeping the expenses low is the challenge. It’s easy to spend money and it’s hard to save. You have to get savvy and creative to make the money go a long way. I know we did that with Broken Leg. We have truly high production value for the budget we had.”