Security Plan

The original idea for Security Plan came from watching Sidney Lumet's final film, Before The Devil Knows You're Dead. In the movie, the two desperate brothers conspire to rob their parents' jewelry store. I believe in the old saying that as an actor, it's important not to judge your character's morals and to ask yourself what you would do under the extreme circumstances of the script. I started thinking about what would happen if I was a desperate single dad and my more successful brother ratted me out and contributed to sending me to jail. Then I find out that he's been doing illegal activity himself and get offered a deal to wear a hidden camera for an FBI sting. The story kind of evolved from there.

I was very fortunate that my wife at the time's aunt and uncle own an electrical wire facility in Portland that I could use for the location of the successful brother's security business. Later, after moving back to Central Oregon, I completed principal shooting in Bend at a privately owned hot tub servicing company that my childhood friend works for. I also was extremely lucky to find a song through a Google search with a tone and lyrics that seem tailor-made for the film. Steve Kaul, the leader of the band, The Brass Kings, was very gracious in letting me use the song. Local musician, Colten Tyler Williams volunteered his time to do the score in the middle.

We had a shoestring budget and a crew of two people. My friend, Nate Hoss did the lighting, set up the mics on static boom poles, and ran the cameras, which are dinosaurs by today's standards (Panasonic GH2, Canon C100 mark I). I wrote the script, did the all the of art department roles, and directed. I made the FBI uniforms using paintball vests and generic hats from Amazon that I ironed on cut-out letters from a Cricut machine. The FBI agents were family and friends, in addition to Nate and I subbing in as agents where you couldn't see our faces. Scott McMahon, who also stars in the film, did some contributing writing as well. My friend and producer, Aaron Amuchastegui, supplied funds for props, food, and some financial compensation for Nate and Scott. But it was mostly a project of friends and family volunteering their time for free.

Prior to the project, I'd always wanted to shoot some kind of a brother scene with Scott. As actors in Portland, we both were often cast as generic, mixed-ethnicity guys in local ads and corporate videos. I wanted us to have a chance to do something a little darker and more complex. When we shot the main scene in the office, it was Thanksgiving week and Scott had to get up at 4:00 AM the next morning to fly to San Diego to see family. But he stayed up with us until after midnight to make sure we got everything we needed.

This film was such a fun learning experience. I am very grateful for all the people who helped me and I hope viewers enjoy it.