BWW Interviews: Independent Filmmaker John Putch on the ROUTE 30 TRILOGY

Outside of south central Pennsylvania, John Putch is a well-known movie director who's also directed any number of episodes of popular network television shows. He's responsible for the mini-series POSEIDON ADVENTURE remake, parts of the BEETHOVEN and AMERICAN PIE film franchises, and for episodes of SCRUBS, UGLY BETTY, and COUGAR TOWN. He's also known for a series of well-received, quirky, independent films - VALERIE FLAKE and MOJAVE PHONE BOOTH among them.

In the central Pennsylvania area, however, the son of legendary actor Jean Stapleton and her husband, Totem Pole Playhouse producer-director Bill Putch is more like a friend of the family. Everyone remembers or knows of the Putch family, remembers when they met them, has stories of various kindnesses by them - John Putch is, to many in the theatrical community, including audiences, the favorite cousin who moved out to California, but who's always welcomed with open arms when he comes home.

And come home he does, to Franklin County and its environs - sometimes, as recently, to direct theatre (he's just off a stint directing Robert Picardo and Lee Wilkof in THE SUNSHINE BOYS), or, as will be upcoming, to direct the third installment of his independent ROUTE 30 TRILOGY - ROUTE 30 3. We caught up with the busy director during a rehearsal break from THE SUNSHINE BOYS to discuss his life in the movies - and in theatre.

BW: You made your acting debut at Totem Pole Playhouse when you were five, I'm told. Do you remember it?

JP: Yes! It was SHOWBOAT, and I totally remember it. I had to ride around on Captain Andy's shoulder in the opening. The next show I did was GEORGE M. I played little George in one number.

BW: So, with such an early start, when did the actor decide that what he really wanted to do was direct?

JP: (laughs) I never uttered those words - but in fourth grade I was in a really progressive school in California and filmmaking was part of our career day. My father gave me an 8 mm movie camera then, so he was really responsible.

In my documentary about my dad [THIS IS MY FATHER, available on streaming video at www.billputch.com], all that early film footage of him was mine from when I was a kid, and there were clips of a long movie I made with him about Totem Pole. It was so great to have my dad's own words about his theatre.

BW: You've directed TV, TV movies, studio films, and indie work. Is THE SUNSHINE BOYS your first theatrical directing?

JP: No, it's my second. In 2010 I directed 45 SECONDS FROM BROADWAY, right here at Totem Pole. It's another Neil Simon play. Because I sat here and acted here and watched my dad here as a kid, I wasn't nervous. It fit like a glove. It's crazy, how easy he made it for me.

BW: Which is the greater challenge for you - theatre or film directing?

JP: Film, so far, is a greater challenge. Theatre's easy, but I haven't done anything complicated. The hours are better in theatre. But it hasn't been a big adjustment.

BW: One of your longest filmed pieces was the POSEIDON ADVENTURE mini-series. No pressure remaking a classic, I'm sure.

JP: Yeah, I loved that. The producers destroyed it in editing. I felt like I was the only person who cared about the history, about the book.

That is the movie that was my epiphany about needing to do independent work, to make small stuff.

BW: In talking about television, should we address the challenges of making BIG BAD BEETLEBORGS?

JP: (laughs) That was fun - it was my first TV job. It was non-union, and you did three shows in nine days. We had kids, monsters - it was a great experience, kind of the summer stock of filmmaking. No money, no time - it was great training.

But I'd done a lot of Grade B, Roger Corman-type work - you'd make an end of the world movie for a million bucks, with stock footage and no effects, so I already had a foot in the door to that kind of work.

BW: Obviously there's a huge difference in budget between Hollywood films and independent work. What are the rewards for you of doing independent film?

JP: It's getting exactly what you want across. There's less stress, fewer cooks in the kitchen. It's not watered down by a bunch of people's opinions. And you can't be lazy. You have to figure things out yourself.

My films hold up and people enjoy them, but no one in a metro area gets them. People from rural areas, countryside, Iowa - they get it. People who are from Prairie Home Companion country, across the country from here - they get what I'm doing with the ROUTE 30 films. People outside these areas don't enjoy it like the people of this area do, because of what they know.

After POSEIDON ADVENTURE I quit making movies for other people. I'm making movies that entertain me and make me happy. They've made me a more pleasant human being in my career.

BW: You've done two movies in the ROUTE 30 TRILOGY already, and you're beginning work on the third shortly. Will there be a unified vision of all three films, or is the real point just to tell ripping yarns of life on the Lincoln Highway?

JP: Good question! There is a closure coming, but some's not tied up at all. There are some threads through all three, but they're really random. This one will be fun. It will have a different vibe from the other two. I'm trying some new things.

BW: When the third film is done, will you really have exhausted your plans for the Lincoln Highway?

JP: No, but I won't be making any more films titled ROUTE 30. I plan to come back here to shoot, and I have dramatic ideas in mind, not all comedy.

I love it out here - there are so many beautiful places and locations. I reverse-engineer my scripts. I see a place, and then I come up with stories. There's an unbelievable chapel in the woods near here. It has to be in a movie.

BW: You've acknowledged that your commercial work exists to fuel your independent filmmaking.

JP: TV fuels my films. Now I'm not upset about my work in Hollywood - I don't worry about egos or budgets. I go into the coal mines, I save up my money, and I use the money to make my films. It's like when I was a kid and I saved my allowance to buy cartridges of Super 8.

I think I've got five or so more films in me before I'm too old to go out and do this any more.

BW: We've seen parts of your sister [NBC executive Pam Putch] - her lips and her head - in the first two ROUTE 30 movies. Does she have plans to return to any more of your films?

JP: I had her all set to go in this one but she can't get away from her job. I'll throw her in if she shows up to visit. I think she'd love to do it.

BW: How many of the rest of the prior cast will be returning? Will any be in the same parts as before?

JP: A few cast members from the first and the second - and there will be new people, too. Old cast members will be playing new roles. Like summer theatre, it's totally repertory.

ROUTE 30 3 will be filming in the late summer of 2013. The two earlier films, ROUTE 30 and ROUTE 30, TOO are available on-line at www.route30trilogy.com. John Putch's official website is www.putchfilms.com.

Photo courtesy of John Putch.