ENTERTAINMENT

Jay Craven's new Burlington-made film, 'Wetware,' makes its Vermont debut Saturday

Portrait of Brent Hallenbeck Brent Hallenbeck
Burlington Free Press

Jay Craven began filming his futuristic movie “Wetware” more than two years ago. Its exploration of the ethics surrounding technology has only become a more relevant issue in the meantime.

Cameron Scoggins and Morgan Wolk star in Jay Craven's new film "Wetware," which makes its Vermont debut Saturday in Burlington.

Facebook and Google have come under closer scrutiny for what they know about all of us. 

"There’s a lot of surveillance in this movie,” Craven, the Northeast Kingdom filmmaker, said of “Wetware,” which makes its Vermont debut Saturday in Burlington. “We’ve suddenly moved to a point where we can be observed at any time.”

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The central theme of “Wetware,” filmed in Burlington and Nantucket, involves a company in the near future that genetically modifies people to be better suited for jobs no one wants to do. Craven pointed to a July article in The New York Times by a retired U.S. Air Force major general who said that in the future “the artificial enhancement of soldiers… will threaten to undermine the warrior ethos.”

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If soldiers are modified to no longer be afraid, Robert H. Latiff wrote, “fear acts as a modulator of behavior, and by reducing it we will likely also remove constraints on unethical behavior.”

Director Jay Craven speaking with his crew as they prepare to film a scene from his new movie, "Wetware", behind the ECHO Center in 2016.

“I hope,” Craven said of “Wetware,” “that it stimulates conversations about who we are and where we’re headed and what types of profound changes that the near future could hold.”

Making movies for less

“Wetware” is the latest movie by Craven to use professional film crews working with students hoping to land jobs in the industry. He did the same in 2012 in Vermont for “Northern Borders” starring Bruce Dern and in Massachusetts for the 2015 film “Peter and John” with Jacqueline Bisset.

Northeast Kingdom filmmaker Jay Craven made "Wetware" in Burlington and Nantucket.

“Wetware” features Jerry O’Connell (“Stand By Me,” “Jerry Maguire”) as well as Vermont actors Rusty Dewees, Ariel Zevon and Emmy-winner Gordon Clapp (“NYPD Blue”). Craven made “Wetware” with a crew of 24 professionals and 32 students. That allows him to make an independent film for less than the $2 million he spent on previous films such as “Where the Rivers Flow North.” (“Wetware” cost $850,000, Craven said.)

Craven looks to future with 'Wetware'

Cameron Scoggins, cast as the genetic programmer in charge of the firm that gives “Wetware” its title, told the Burlington Free Press during filming in the spring of 2016 that the students were doing a “wonderful” job. “Everything gets done,” Scoggins said. “Everyone’s here because they’re passionate about learning and getting involved.”

Craven said this week that the students did good work on “Wetware.” “The feeling is so upbeat. The professionals are acting with such generosity to nurture the students,” Craven said, adding that he doesn’t feel he had to make any compromises by working with students. “It maybe slows the production a little bit but I don’t think it results in big gaps where you say, ‘They couldn’t pull that off because they used students.’”

He taught at Marlboro College when he made “Wetware” with students from a dozen colleges around the country. He now teaches at Sarah Lawrence College north of New York City and is touring the Northeast recruiting students to work on his next film, an adaptation of Jack London’s autobiographical novel, “Martin Eden.”

Lead actor, Cameron Scoggins, during a scene walk-through for "Wetware" behind the ECHO Center in Burlington in 2016.

Difficulties of filming in Vermont

Craven doesn’t know if he will be able to make any of “Martin Eden” in Vermont. He expects to film most or all of the movie in Nantucket because of the filmmaking incentives Massachusetts offers that Vermont does not.

Jay Craven's new film, "Wetware," explores the ethical issues of genetic engineering.

Massachusetts put up about 25 percent of the $850,000 for “Wetware,” Craven said, while Vermont contributed $2,500 from its Department of Tourism and Marketing. He said he expects Massachusetts will put $160,000 into “Martin Eden.”

Craven is attending a summit Oct. 12 in Manchester that will discuss the future of filmmaking in Vermont. He hopes to know early next year if he can make any of “Martin Eden" here.

“It wouldn’t take a whole lot for us to be able to shoot in Vermont,” Craven said, adding that he remains “very committed” to making movies in the state he lives in. “I believe there are ways to make production work in Vermont.”

He said the dual-state settings worked well for “Wetware.” Burlington Bay and Nantucket Bay both provided apt scenery, according to Craven, while Burlington has enough back alleys and characteristic architecture to fit the film’s edgier side.

Jerry O'Connell is among the actors cast in Jay Craven's new film, "Wetware."

“We wanted to create a bit of a noir world, sort of dark and a little bit of neon,” Craven said. “There are so many interesting looks in Burlington.”

He has screened “Wetware” only once, in Nantucket. Craven, whose previous films have focused on the Vermont-set works of author Howard Frank Mosher, said his new, futuristic film is reaching viewers similar in age to the college students he plans to continue to work with.

“Younger audiences are tending to like it probably more than my older audiences,” Craven said. “It was really important for me to try to move in that direction.”

If you go

WHAT: “Wetware” screening, presented by the Vermont International Film Festival, followed by Q&A with filmmaker Jay Craven and actress Morgan Wolk

WHEN: 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 22

WHERE: Main Street Landing Film House, Burlington

ADMISSION: $5-$20. www.vtiff.org.

Contact Brent Hallenbeck at 660-1844 or bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com. Follow Brent on Twitter at www.twitter.com/BrentHallenbeck.

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