Read the Jan. 9, 2008 interview in The Desert Sun.
Extended version:
"Everyone thinks you're nuts," said director Thomas Whelan of his habit for filming in rugged, global locations. "But you haven't lived until you've called a Hollywood agent and told her where you're shooting and that you want her client to work for scale."
Whelan's most recent effort — The Art of Travel, which premieres in North America today — was shot in five countries: Bolivia, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and the United States. It focuses on a recent high school graduate who finds himself a lone traveler, leaving the secure path towards college for a journey of unknowns, culminating in a year-long expedition crossing the Darién Gap between Panama and Columbia.
Whelan is no stranger to trips that require a passport and a sense of adventure. "I've been everywhere from Afghanistan to Russia," Whelan said. "My parents would strap me on their backs and see the world. I never wanted a car in high school — I wanted a trip to Europe."
Half of the rush for Whelan rests in the unexpected. "I love not knowing what's around the next corner," he said. "One second I think I'm in hell, the next is the best moment in my life."
Unlike a spontaneous trip, shooting a film requires planning. Following their Malaysian romance Somewhere, Whelan reunited with two Palm Springs High School graduates: co-writer and second unit director Brian LaBelle and the man in charge of impossible tasks and quick translation, Emyr G. Graciano. LaBelle first made his cinematic mark by directing the 1997 Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films entry, "Drift." The short led to an expanded screenplay that found its way onto the Matt Damon and Ben Affleck-produced TV show, "Project Greenlight."
Whelan, LaBelle and Graciano acted as producers on The Art of Travel and met on the set of "Malcolm in the Middle," where they also met the film's star. Christopher Masterson was approached for the role during the TV show's wrap party.
"(Masterson) also came on as one of the producers," noted Whelan. "He really cared, he really labored and he pulled a lot of resources."
It was not hard to gather the remaining cast, including another Palm Springs High School graduate, Angelika Baran, in her feature film debut. The alma mater connection was not realized until after she was hired, when LaBelle and Baran discovered that their parents had worked together at Desert Regional Medical Center.
Though many of the deep jungle scenes were filmed in close proximity to Panama City, the shoot was not without its trials.
"For three days everything went really well and everyone was clicking — then a monsoon hit," said Whelan. "We went from shooting three to four pages to shooting one-eighth of a page for three days straight as the rivers of mud carried equipment away."
"(The actors) signed up for an adventure," he said. "And boy, they got it."
Other days were easier. A scene in Machu Picchu was shot in half a day, from the moment the gates opened at sunrise until the first tourist bus arrived. No one else was there.
Whelan said that it often surprises people how cheaply he can film outside of the United States. "Any location that I land at is ready to shoot," he said. "Whereas the scenes we shot in Sacramento for two days cost more than the entire week in Nicaragua; (international settings) make your budget look huge."
Whelan's goal is to motivate filmgoers to get out of their theater seats and into plane seats. "I want to inspire anyone who's never left the country," he said.
Whelan's next film stays within American borders as it follows friends traveling from Los Angeles to Vegas. But following that project, he will return to Masterson's character with the second in The Art of Travel trilogy. He and his cohorts will scout locations in New Zealand, Spain, Morocco and Turkey.
Said Whelan, "There's something about traveling."