If you haven’t heard yet, my friend Jeremy Beasley’s film is officially available on iTunes and the Small is Beautiful Movie website.
It’s a touching first hand look at some of the lives that have been moved to try on tiny. It follows their journey, pain and accomplishment with personal reflections and moving inspirations. This is one to see!
Q&A with Jeremy Beasley, Director of Small is Beautiful
What the film is about
Small is Beautiful is a documentary thats follows four people as they build their own tiny houses, to try and live a mortgage free lifestyle. Through the process they discover that living tiny is about much more than just the house.
What inspired you to make the movie
The idea of having a 30 year mortgage is not something I’m comfortable with, so I started researching alternative ways to live. How could I live with less material possessions, in a smaller space and I thought what better way to learn about it than to interview the people in the process or already doing it.
How does your documentary differ from other tiny house films?
I wasn’t aiming to glorify tiny house living in ways that has already been done. I explored what it is really like to build and live in a tiny house, sharing the subjects struggle and triumphs. We see them question their motives, their partners, their relationships with their family and their past. I wanted the film to go deeper than trends or aesthetic. To explore the real human aspect of choosing to live this way. The stories and the people are real. Varied, full of joy, hardship, and humanity.
How can people watch the film?
It’s available for Download via our website SmallBeautifulMovie.com which is the best way to support us directly. There is also loads of bonus content in different packages with hours of great info and footage that we couldn’t fit in the film.
It’s also available on iTunes (USA, Canada & Australia), Vimeo on Demand, Amazon Instant and Google Play.
itunes link: http://bit.ly/SmallBeautifulMovieiTunes
Website link: http://ift.tt/1AfitwL
Did you have previous movie making experience in the past?
I’d been a professional photographer for 6 years, having shot a whole series of short films as well. This was by far the biggest project I’ve ever undertaken though.
Explain the characters you met
A lot of people want to know if people willingly choosing to live in a tiny house are introverted? The thing that surprised me the most is they’re the exact opposite. The community is so strong, people are constantly helping other people build their own tiny houses or find land to park it. Like when Ben was trying to finish his house, over two days 20 people came to help him work on it and try and finish it. He had people banging nails, painting walls, sanding cupboards – everyone chipped in.
Do you have a tiny house?
I got so caught up on the research of tiny houses and in making the film that I haven’t actually been able to make my own yet. Who knows, hopefully after we’re finishing touring the film around I’ll be able to build one then. I have definitely learnt a lot about it through the process of making the film and how I’d do it differently from what I originally planned.
Things you learned making the film
I learned a lot about what goes in to building a tiny house, but the biggest take away for me is that when taking on a massive project, like building your own tiny house, or making a feature length film on them – the projects are a marathon, not a sprint. Ask for help along the way and when you’re setting a time line, multiple it by about 8 and that’s how long things really take.
Personal relationship with the characters
I’ve developed friendships with all of the people involved in the film. It’s really hard not to. I know we’re meant to kept a journalistic distance when making documentaries, but when you watch someone struggling to build their house over the course of a year it’s really hard to not put the camera down, pick up a hammer and help bang some nails into their house.
If you haven’t been so luck to have seen it yet, there is still a handful of tickets available online for the Seattle Showing, this Tuesday night at the SIFF Film Center. Following the Screening, there will be a Panel Discussion with some special guests. See you all there!
Special guests will include:
Jeremy Beasley, Director of Small is Beautiful: A Tiny House Documentary
Chris and Malissa Tack, The Tiny Tack House, in Snohomish WA
Hannah Rose Crabtree, Maiden Mansion, in Seattle WA
Brittany Yunker, Bayside Bungalow, in Olympia WA
Kerry Alexander, Hope Island Cottages Bed and Breakfast, in LaConnor WA
via Blog – The Tiny Tack House http://ift.tt/1K14rjh