On the Bus
A moving portrait of mental illness

by Alex A. Kecskes

On the Bus, an award-winning short film by Fat Man Media, a New Mexico-based film production company, unites art, craft and creativity in its no-holds barred exploration of mental illness. Written and produced by Jonathan Harnisch and Maureen Cooke, and directed by Willie Ford, On the Bus tautly reveals the psychological aftermath a traumatic experience can have on an individual during something as routine as riding a bus.

In the film, Mark Schrier (Sex and the City) plays Larry, a deeply disturbed man who has suffered a devastating loss. His interactions with bus passengers convey the isolation and detachment experienced by the mentally ill. On the Bus indicts us all, especially those charged with the care of individuals who have become untethered from reality due to tragedy.

I recently had the opportunity to interview the film's Executive Producer, Maureen Cooke, who revealed details and aspects of the film I wanted to explore. But first, the obvious question.

Why did you get into film making?

"My husband was involved in film and my background is writing. I was editing his scripts and so we took on the challenge of starting our own film company."

What prompted you to make this film?

"We've always been interested in topics and issues dealing with mental health and this piece had been written by him about 10 years ago. As an editor, I had gone through a couple of his pieces and I thought this one was particularly poignant. It was primarily monologue originally but it still had the character Larry on the bus. To add to more interest, I put it in dialog form. Our passion was to explore the human psyche with a little more depth than some pieces do."

Your film deals with senseless violence, rage, attempted suicide. Why did you pack so much into the film? You could have made a film on each of these aspects?

"That's a real good question. Yes, that's very true. What I was looking to do, and I think what Jonathan was trying to do originally, was to explore the impact that grief can have on the human psyche, especially grief that's brought on violently. So, you're right, we probably could have just used just one of those. Honestly, in the rewriting process, I wasn't even looking at how many of those elements were there. I was primarily looking at structure."

It all dovetails together in an interesting narrative. Why did you use a bus?

"That's an interesting question. When people read the script, they thought it was an attack on the American medical system, but it wasn't. Jonathan had it originally set on the bus, and we liked that as a metaphor for Larry not being able to get off his journey of grief."

Why did you pick the characters you did for Larry to interact with on the bus?

"Originally, what I was trying to do - and I'm not sure it came across in the finished film - was to imply that medical care providers were going through their day. Some were just tired, others were irritated or aggressive and controlling. My approach was circular in exploring how people respond to the mentally ill."

The concept of loss is really powerful in this film. What motivated you to have Larry lose his wife and daughter in a senseless act?

"I think that reflects my own psyche. I've dealt with a lot of loss at a young age, so I think that just re-occurs in my own writing and in the editing process with Jonathan's original work."

The film starts out with Larry talking to different people, then we go the psychiatrist, then you back flip to what seems like just minutes after his violent loss. Why did you reverse the narrative like that?

"I wanted to suggest that for Larry at this point in his life, he's not going to get off that bus metaphorically. So that it kind of told a story in reverse to show why he was in the predicament he was in now."

Why did you show Larry staring at the gun shop billboard? Are you telegraphing that he may later try to kill himself. What's Larry's life like after it the story ends?

"It could go either way. With his choosing to commit suicide or that he progressively gets worse. I don't think he'd be able to enter into therapy and deal with these losses. I thought that the loss caused a psychotic break. I would say that projecting the story forward a year, it would not have a happy ending. Larry would be confined to a psychiatric institution for attempting suicide or he would have succeeded."

What lessons have you learned in making this film?

"The very first thing I learned, and this is sort of funny to learn, is that shooting on a moving vehicle especially a bus is unbelievably difficult. Originally, Willie Ford, who's a great director, had wanted to have the same things passing by the window’ to do that we could only drive east. Then we were worried about the light because the light would change. The other problem was that he had really wanted to shoot from one of the windows inside the bus, which sounds like a great idea, but there was too much reflection on the opposite window. Just because it's good on paper and it's a great story doesn't mean that you can shoot it easily and if you can't shoot it convincingly, you're going to have a problem. We also learned keep production costs in mind and your ability to produce something on film. Stay on budget and also be aware of what might increase your budget."

How difficult was casting?

"Casting for the lead character couldn't have been easier because we had done another film that was co-produced with a company back in California and Mark was cast in that. Both Jonathan and I both fell in love with Mark on screen. I've always thought of him as a Paul Giamatti character, so there was absolutely no question in casting him in the lead. I'm a huge fan of Mark. He can really do great work. The woman who played his wife, was someone who my daughter knew and so I didn't know she would look as good on screen as she did so I was very happy with that casting as well. It was a bit more difficult to cast the intruder. And it was very difficult to cast the little girl, since New Mexico doesn't have the pool of child actors that Los Angeles has."

How difficult was financing to obtain?

"Not too difficult because our backers believed in us. That wasn't half as difficult as shooting on that bus (laughs)."

When you tried to get financing, did you send people the script or did you show people previous work?

"It was with previous work and with our script."

How will winning the Accolade Award of Excellence help you in your film and your career?

"First, it will ensure that even more people see On the Bus, which is great because films, and filmmakers, need an audience. In addition, Thomas Baker, the founder of the Accolade Film Awards, is really proactive about helping filmmakers find distribution, so winning an Award of Excellence not only helps On the Bus but distribution for our upcoming work. Second, winning the Award of Excellence helps reinforces our credibility as filmmakers, and it's absolutely terrific that Mark won for lead actor. He is an outstanding performer, and I hope this win helps bring attention to his talent. We're hoping to use these short films and eventually to go into features."

Where is On the Bus currently being shown?

"It's on the film festival circuit, it was just shown down in Orlando, Florida. Prior to that, it was shown in Tampa and Sarasota before that. For some reason, we seem to be hitting it really well in Florida. It was also shown in Georgia."

How do you promote your films? How do you handle that when you're sort of an unknown?

"We actually hired a publicist. We were lucky enough to have a little money, and the publicist wasn't as expensive as I thought. He's done really good work for us."

What's next for you? Any new projects?

We're working on two features right now. One is a PG coming of age story and the other is an R-rated film similar to Lock, Stock and Two Smokin' Barrels. It's more black humor."

The good work exemplified by On the Bus underscores both the passion and talent of these fine filmmakers. Their exploration of a subject that touches millions of lives every day is a reminder that violence in one person's life ripples through and touches us all.

Contact:
Maureen & Jonathan Harnisch
Fat Man Media
Post Office Box 959
Corrales, NM 87048
Maureen@fatman.net
jonathanharnisch@gmail.com