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MARTY SHEA “The Funk Brothers are the coolest people I have ever met,” says TRAP producer Marty Shea, but it was meeting James Bonner on a film shoot that made him want to produce a movie. Marty, who is producing Offshore with Diane Cheklich, has also worked in various capacities on projects like Standing in the Shadows of Motown and 61*, has seen Boricua, for which he was assistant director, play at such film festivals as Tribeca and Chicago International, and even directs and edits his own short films. However, it was reading Jim’s script that sold him on spending “two months in a really dirty basement” in order to shoot it. “The script is amazing. There is such a tragic longing in these characters. It’s structurally innovative, hypnotically paced, and changes directions over and over without losing its focus.” Marty found his way into filmmaking via the Michigan State University film program, the same program (and local hero / film professor, Bill Vincent) that taught Jim Bonner before him, and Sam Raimi before them both. Marty’s work as a Detroit and Chicago area production coordinator, production manager and first assistant director provided him with the skills and courage to produce a low budget independent film. Both the good and bad experiences of his previous efforts helped prepare him, he says, “but the bad ones more than the good – although the good ones are the ones that keep me here.” The multi-hyphenate loves working in Michigan, where there is “a spirit that is lost in the competition of the bigger cities.” And Jim fits right in: “Just talking to Jim is enough of an experience to get that he thinks like no one else.” In assisting the alchemy between director, location and cast and crew, Marty feels he’s achieved his ultimate goal as a producer on TRAP: to provide “the freedom to discover and create something amazing.” |
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