Filmmakers Mark and Lindsay Goffman are bringing their movie "Dumbstruck"-a documentary about ventriloquism-to Atlanta. The movie, which was shown during the 2010 Atlanta Film Festival, makes its theatrical world premiere at Landmark Midtown Arts Cinema on April 15.
"Dumbstruck" follows five ventriloquists that include Kim Yeager, a former beauty queen who performed with her dummy onstage at the Miss Ohio pagent, and Dylan Burdette, a 13-year-old who hopes to become a professional ventriloquist. The film also features Terry Fator, a high-profile ventriloquist who was the winner of "America's Got Talent " in 2007. The other subjects are comedian Dan Horn, who does his act in comedy clubs, at colleges and on cruise ships, and Wilma Swartz, who performs at a retirement home.
Mark Goffman is a 1990 graduate of Emory University. Though he studied philosophy and economics at Emory and got a master's degree in public policy from Harvard, Goffman pursued a career in television and film. He has written for shows like "The West Wing," "Law and Order: SVU" and "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" and is now co-executive producer of the USA Network series "White Collar."
What are you going to do while you're in Atlanta? Mark: There's a lot actually. I'm an Emory alumni, so I'm going to be speaking at an Emory class, a film class, which will be a lot of fun.
Lindsay: I've never been to Atlanta before, so Mark's going to have to show me around.
Mark: I love going to the Highlands. That was always a blast.
The Majestic, late night, good solid eating. I've got to show Lindsay Buckhead. I think that will be really fun.
We have an event at the Center for Puppetry Arts with "Dumbstruck."
We wanted to ask you about the Center for Puppetry Arts. Mark: They've been really supportive of the film. There's actually a really terrific community of ventriloquists in and around Atlanta.
Willie Brown (who lives in Atlanta) is just a phenomenal ventriloquist and stand-up comic. He performs at a lot of churches and does gospel ventriloquism. So we're looking forward to connecting with him again and getting to see the city with him.
Lindsay: He's actually in our bonus DVD material, Willie is.
Did he make the short list of people that you wanted to include in the film? Mark: We followed eight people in the film and only five made it to the final cut, just because of the way the stories interwove. But Willie was really fun to follow.
We wanted to include him and show that part of the community and the culture, so we've been able to get him on the DVD. His scenes are great.
So, what is it about puppets that people find so fascinating? Mark: It's incredible. You're creating this character that can be an alter-ego, that can say things that you might not necessarily be able to say on your own, but people will enjoy it or laugh instead of being insulted, because it's coming from a puppet.
Then, really, playing a puppet is like an instrument. They have eyes that move and eyebrows and you have to make the ears wiggle. You have to make the mouth move perfectly in sync with what they're saying. It takes a real talent.
So are there future puppet projects in the works or are you moving on to something new? Mark: This project was really a tribute to Lindsay's mom, who, at our wedding, was asked to give a toast. She's a bit shy and when she got up to the microphone to give her toast ended up doing it with her hand as, sort of a sock puppet. She was wearing a white glove. She gave the most charming, endearing, funny toast in almost a very different character.
That was what really got us fascinated with it, when we started talking to her about ventriloquism. It was just such a fascinating world that we learned about through her.
Lindsay and I, we'd just been married, and we wanted to do a project together, so she produced it and I got to direct it.
We're looking for other projects. This was our foray into the ventriloquism world.
We're curious about the advice you'll give film students, since you didn't actually major in film yourself. Mark: I think that the broader education you can get about the world gives you a nice perspective and something to write about. I firmly believe that you write from your own experiences, you write what you're passionate about, you make films about things that interest you and the audiences will come.
For me, filmmaking was something that I sort of fell into and I learned by watching other great people. I've been really lucky to get to work for people that I consider to be some of the most talented in the business. Aaron Sorkin ("The West Wing," "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip") and John Wells ("ER," "The West Wing"). Really, really talented people. Jeff Eastin, who is the creator of "White Collar."
How was documentary filmmaking different from working in television? Mark: As a writer, especially on a scripted show, we come up with a beginning, middle and end and you sit down and write the script and then the actors perform exactly what's on the page or very close to it.
Doing a documentary, we started thinking we could do it in a year. After a year, the characters stories just hadn't gotten to the place where we felt they were complete. So we decided to keep filming another year and let them breathe.
I learned very quickly, both of us did, that we can't dictate the stories. We have to let them tell their own stories. It was a good lesson, but I also think it was what made the film so rich and gives you a lot of surprises. A lot of these things I don't think I could have ever scripted.
The Goffmans will answer questions from the audience after the 7:15 p.m. screenings of "Dumbstruck" at Landmark Midtown Arts on April 15 and 16. Tickets are $10. For more about the movie, visit www.dumbstruckthemovie.com.
