Transforming Harry Potter’s fictional competition into a physically demanding,
real-life sport, quidditch has secured its place as one of the fastest growing
collegiate club sports today. MUDBLOODS follows the resilient underdogs of the
UCLA Quidditch team as they make their way to the Fifth Annual Quidditch World
Cup in New York City. Through nail biting victories and losses, the dreamers,
creators and athletes who make up this exceptional community come together to
make this magical sport into something you could’ve never imagined–until now.
How are you today?
Where are you from?
I was born in Iran, and I grew up in San Diego, CA.
Who introduced you to film?
I've always liked movies, but I didn't really think about them in I think the way you are referring until my last semester of university. I needed an elective to take, so I took a film class. I thought it'd be easy, but it was exciting in a way I didn't anticipate. I think that's when I was really introduced to film.
Was there a film that inspired you to peruse film making as a career?
Not really. I didn't think about making films as a career until later in my life. It was more of a gradual process.
Do you have a preference between documentary and narrative features?
No, I prefer both.
Can
you tell me a little about the history of quidditch and the International
Quidditch Association (IQA)?
Quidditch started in the fall of 2005 at Middlebury College in Vermont. The initial idea to adapt Harry Potter’s
quidditch into a real life activity came from Xander Manshel. A friend of Xander’s, Alex Benepe, took the
idea that they started for fun and turned it into an intercollegiate sport that
has grown every year since 2005. For a
more detailed timeline you can go to the IQA site: http://iqaquidditch.com/about/history.
In regards to quidditch at UCLA, it
started with Tom Marks. One of Tom’s
friends went to Middlebury and brought the game back to Tom’s hometown the
summer before he came to UCLA. When Tom
arrived at UCLA, he tried to find and join the Quidditch team, but he
discovered that one did not exist. So he
decided to change that, and started the UCLA Quidditch team.
How
did the filmmaking team come together and when did you realize this was
something that needed to be documented?
I knew the team was something that needed to be documented the first time I saw
it. I was walking by a field and I saw a
group of people playing quidditch. Strangely,
I immediately knew what it was even though I had never seen it before. But, the more important thing for me was that
I noticed there were a lot of people watching them as well. So, I knew right
away that there was something special going on.
Initially, I started filming on my
own. For bigger events, such as the
tournament, bigger games/practices, or other events, I shot with Jason Knutzen—as
well as a few other shooters and friends like Justin Perkinson, Leigh
Underwood, Doug Turner and Sun Kim.
I shot and edited the film for about a
year before Eric Martin came on as a producer.
Shortly after, Jeremy White also came on as a producer. We then brought in a composer, Kevin Matley,
and a graphic artist, Jennifer Sapanski, as I continued to edit and we
continued to refine the story. This whole process took about another year. The final members to join the team were
Rebecca Olson and Jeffrey Fletcher—who came on to complete the animation.
Do
you have a personal involvement with quidditch?
After I came on
board, I played a match with some of the Lost Boys (an LA based team). Alex
Benepe, who was one of the guys who helped create the sport at Middlebury College,
was actually there too. I got completely creamed. I was no good at all. But it
was a lot of fun to play.
What’s
the connection with UCLA and how did you choose to follow their story over the
other 300 college teams?
A lot of people on the filmmaker team, including me, went to UCLA. The first time I saw UCLA’s quidditch team
was when I was at the school.
That connection assisted in creating an
immediate bond and helped us get to know each other initially; however, it’s
not why I choose to follow them. I
choose to follow their story because I found the individual members of the team
to be smart, charming, funny, very creative and extremely self-aware. They’re also great athletes. Ultimately, they are all wonderful
characters in the midst of an exciting journey that I was just lucky enough to
stumble upon.
What
sort of role does the Harry Potter brand play in quidditch today?
The connection to Harry Potter, and specifically the brand, is complicated. Officially, there is no direct connection
between the brand and the sport; however, the sport would not exist without the
brand or the books. So, there are undoubtedly connections—even if they are not
explicit.
What
are the most surprising things you learned about the sport, and filmmaking, during
production?
The most surprising thing I leaned about filmmaking is that editing a
documentary, especially one shot in this way, takes a long time – a lot longer
than you think it will take.
Can
you talk about the role that animation plays in the film?
The animation was really important because it’s a graphical representation of
what quidditch players are essentially doing by adapting a fictional sport into
reality, and it is one of the things that initially drew me into making this
film. As a filmmaker, I’m interested in
the line between fiction and reality.
I’m drawn to these types of films and to filmmakers who explore these
boundaries. So, for the animation, it
was important for us to try to capture one of the ideas inherent in quidditch
that I found so exciting; namely, taking a two-dimensional idea that lives on
the page and turning it into a three-dimensional, real sport. We wanted to
capture this idea through the way the animated sequences and transitions
interacted with the live images, but in a way that reflected the
distinctiveness of the characters and the sport.
More importantly, the animation and
animated transitions are like quidditch itself – fun and unique – thanks in
large part to the talented and creative artists, illustrators and animators with
whom we were fortunate to partner on the project.
How
long did you shoot and what role did Kickstarter play in producing the film?
Kickstarter was very big for us.
Like a lot of documentaries, we started the process of filming not
necessarily knowing where it would take us.
The Kickstarter campaign came in toward the tail end of the post-production
process. We had already shot most of the
movie and had been editing for several months.
So the Kickstarter campaign occurred at a time when we really needed the
help and the resources to get the movie over the finish line and out to as many
people who might be interested in seeing it.
We shot consecutively for about 8
months. However, we also shot pickups
and follow up interviews over the course of the next 2 years. In total, we had about 107 hours of footage.
We
are able to meet so many interesting characters in Mudbloods. Were there any
stories that especially touched you?
One person’s story (that didn’t make it into the film) came from a young woman
who had joined her school’s quidditch club because the organization she thought
she wanted to join was not the right fit for her. This particular person came to university
intent on joining a specific faith-based club because her faith was extremely
important to her. The club had defined
who she was, and it was the field she wanted to pursue as a career after
graduating. Yet, for a variety of
reasons, that group was not the most inviting environment for her and the people
in it did not reflect her views.
But then she found her school’s
quidditch club. There she found a
diverse group of smart, creative and imaginative individuals who shared her
views of fairness and inclusivity. So,
rather than being dejected or isolated because the group she thought she would
be a part of was not a great fit for her, she found an exciting new group of
people with whom she connected and who helped her define who she was as a
person.
Where
are characters such as Tom, Katie and Alex now?
Tom graduated from UCLA and got a job working for a company that makes games.
Alex continues to grow the sport of
quidditch and the IQA.
Katie works as graphic and web designer
and is still a big fan.
What
would you like audiences to take away from the film?
I’d like audiences to take away from this
film the same feelings I experienced while getting to know the variety of
diverse characters who are connected to this new and unique sport. For me, it was exhilarating to be able to
spend time with, and document, such a distinct mix of individuals who are filled
with so much creativity and passion.
Not all of them came to quidditch for the same reasons, but they all
share characteristics that are rare and inspiring.
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