If you are going to enter the world of production, it has to be something you love to do. However, a lot of times when you are filming for a client, you do not get to express your creative side to the fullest or execute your vision. So, in order to make sure you get better and scratch your creative itch ... you must do Passion projects. Another great part of passion projects is experience, no one will pay you to film something until you prove you can do it.
Last year, I met Ray Robinson while filming Eddie Alvarez for UFC Embedded. After hearing Ray's story I felt compelled to give him the exposure he needed. The fight game is obviously a lot about skills in the ring/octagon , but there is also a huge factor that effects a fighter's career and that's marketing/exposure.
Thanasis Petrakis and Eddie Alvarez | UFC Embedded, 205
When discussing this doc idea with Ray, I knew we would have to film re-creation scenes in order to capture his story, because he was so poor there were few to no pics from his childhood. As of now, I mostly get hired to film documentary style content, not re-creation scenes or with actors at all. But for this story, it was imperative and it would also allow me to practice those skills for the future. Even though the recreation scenes were fairly simple, there were many details I never had to deal with before. Whether it be the actors, locations to film or even props. When filming documentaries , its usually just following the action. Now, in this scenario I had to think like a Director, Art Director, Props Designer, etc. Tapping it into those other areas of filmmaking will only get you better.
Prop bought off of eBay for neck brace in re-creation scenes with 13/14 yr old Ray.
While filming this doc, the biggest challenge was distance. Doing a project with no budget, and living across the country from the subject is extremely difficult (LA/Philly). The first thing I did was when I met up with Ray in February of 2017 was film the master interview. Again, no budget on this project, so I would be editing the documentary myself ... doing the interview first was crucial to getting the process going. Sometimes just getting started is the toughest part. The reason the interview was so important to start was that I needed to start editing, this way I can figure out what I need to film down the road.
Left to Right: Rob Carbuccia (Director of Photography), Ray Robinson, Thanasis Petrakis (Director). 1st Day Filming 'The New Ray Robinson'
Once, the edit was underway I had figure out his story and what needed to be filmed to tell his story (both recreations and new current day scenes). I went back to Philly in July to film all these scenes, but again no budget. So, I had to be extremely efficient with my time. I created a shoot schedule for 2.5 days (pic of Day 1 below). With the help of 2 colleagues (Anthony Kuzviwanza, Brian Collins) we shot enough in those 3 days to finish a 30 minute documentary on Ray.
The biggest thing I learned from this process was ORGANIZATION. You must organize by location, time of day, actors availability, etc. Obviously with smaller budgets you must be flexible in all those areas. We became very flexible, we had to scrap the initial plans on the first day because we found out one of the actors was only available for one day. Again, no budget so hard to be upset or not understanding. Everyone involved was essentially apart of the project to help Ray and get his story told. At this point, I had a rough cut/storyboard of the documentary, so I prioritized the scenes I absolutely needed for the doc to be complete.
Left to Right: Ray Robinson, Semaj Alston (Actor) , Brian Collins (Camera Op), Thanasis Petrakis
Below is a full documentary on Ray Robinson, whose story is a great lesson for people to continue to work hard to become successful. Ray's upbringing was a homeless shelter, with an abusive father, who was addicted to drugs, a recovering drug addict mother, its easy to say Ray should not be the success he is today.