"A FILM SHOOT IS A COMMUNITY OF IDEAS AND DECISIONS.: AN INTERVIEW WITH "NEVER ODD OR EVEN'S FRANK M. YOUNG

Frank M. Young captures the experience of working on a film, even though it's a one of a kind experience he writes about in Never Odd Or Even. In the early sixties, fresh UCLA film school graduate Charlie Jerome comes up with the idea of shooting his first film Summer and Sandy in a small Oregon town as a cover for his real project a cinema verite style flick with his crew and actors, including a real thief, filming a story about criminal with real crimes being perpetrated on camera. Mr. Young was kind enough to take some of our questions about the book, film, and the creative process,

SCOTT MONTGOMERY: How did the idea for Never Odd Or even come about?

FRANK M. YOUNG: The idea for "Never Odd or Even" came from some graffiti I saw on a wall in Southeast Portland. Every time I took the light rail, I passed the wall, with this phrase painted several times in a row. The obvious takes its time to dawn on me; a few months passed before I realized it was a palindrome--same forward as backward. It seemed to suggest a story, and a bunch of elements bundled together in my head. I do much walking and thinking before I begin to write. I take mental notes and once I have enough, connections begin to form, and the overall story comes to me. 

I got to know the main characters and decided on the settings; I was still new to Oregon and found the town of Oregon City, which is about 10 miles from downtown Portland, a fascinating place. It was a great setting. Its main street still looks like a small town from the 1950s or '60s, and it was once considered the state's main city until Portland's commerce and growth overshadowed it. It's an underdog kind of place and I explored it, took photos and did some research into his history. 

S.M.:How did you decide the early sixties as the setting?

F.M.Y.: The early 1960s seemed right for the story and its characters. I like the lack of immediate connection, social media, cell phones, etc. that are a part of modern life. The isolation from the larger world brought people closer together on a local level. I grew up in that period. I feel it's helpful to capture that period of American life; its slower pace--and the inability to instantly look something up, check on someone or make a call from anywhere at any time makes the stakes different. The characters are in the dark much of the time, and slower to realize the effects of their actions. I drew from personal memories and anecdotes I heard as a youngster. Newspaper and magazine research helped fill in the gaps. The story really works in the 1962/63/64 period, and I knew the last part of the book brought the main characters into the present, so I could offer that contrast.

S.M.: As someone who worked on film sets and was a film student, I thought you captured the work and personalities well. What did you want to convey about the art form?

F.M.Y.: I'm a huge film lover, and have been since I was a teenager. I am drawn to film noirs--the Hollywood movies and the terrific French films made in that period. I have some minor experience working on film shoots, and I admired how democratic that process is. No one person is in charge. The director can't do it all. The union of talent and experience impressed me. One person's specialty can have a large effect on how a film turns out, but that skill must work in concert with other specialists. Charlie Jerome learns that a film shoot is a community of ideas and decisions, and I wanted to show his change from a haughty, pretentious self-styled artiste to someone who gets that it takes many people to realize a movie project. I don't think he was prepared for the level of commitment a feature film requires, but he gets it and discovers it works for him.

The relationship of Charlie with Artie, Sam, Owen and Charlotte came alive for me as I wrote and I enjoyed spending time with them. I got a bit sad when I finished the first draft; I think they're fascinating people and I wasn't prepared to let them go. I liked how Artie's pragmatic nature balances Charlie's initial loftiness, and how Charlie realizes he needs that balance and that it makes his work better. Ditto for how he gets Owen out of his shell and helps him become more communicative and self-assured.

S.M.: You give Charlie Jerome a list of credits. Is he based on any director in their early years?

F.M.Y.: I think Charlie Jerome would be considered an intriguing cult director, were he real. He's more of an independent director who chose projects that appealed to him, rather than obvious blockbusters. He worked just enough within the system to keep making movies, but aside from "Summer and Sandy," most of his work was under-rated or overlooked. I didn't model him on any one director; he's a composite of personalities. I've read a mountain of film books--biographies, director studies, books on genres of films--and absorbed a lot of knowledge over the years. 

Charlie doesn't want to repeat himself or grow stale. He takes risks with his work, and sometimes those pay off. He's the kind of creator I admire in real life. They don't get stuck in a rut.

S.M.: I completely bought the cover movie, Summer and Sandy. Did you have the plot of the movie before you wrote the book?

F.M.Y: I based "Summer and Sandy" on several of those sensitive Hollywood films from the early 1960s. Aside from what's discussed in the novel, I didn't go into depth--but I hoped the reader had enough information to imagine this low-budget, black-and-white production, with its gentle feeling and New Wave-ish vibe. A good comparison might be the 1962 film "David and Lisa." Such movies were Hollywood's reaction to the new trends in European moviemaking and were attractive because of their low costs and lack of special effects, crowd scenes, etc. They were ideal films for a new director to make, and Charlie is a fictional part of that phase of American films.

S.M.: This is your first novel. Did you draw from any influences?

F.M.Y.: I have written nine novels to date. Some are in mystery mode; others are just novels. I think by now I've found my voice, and I enjoy writing. My happiest moments are when I get in the zone, and all the thinking I've done turns into scenes, character relationships and conflicts. 

Three writers I admire are Richard Russo, who I think is the best mainstream novelist of our time; Georges Simenon, whose studies of human behavior are riveting; and Donald Westlake, who is a master of the point where drama and humor intersect. These three writers impress and inspire me. I'd add Peter Rabe to that list. He's an acquired taste for some people, but the blunt elegance of his prose, and his own mix of the bleak and the absurd, really get to me.

"Never Odd or Even" is my first published-by-a-real-publisher novel. I've self-published all my others. Some of them I'd like to get into for-real print, and perhaps if this book does well, that can happen.

S.M.: The last line in the book is hints at a sequel. Do you have further plans for Charlie?

F.M.Y.: There's always the hope that a book gets optioned. I think "Never Odd or Even" might make a good television series in the Hulu-Cinemax-HBO vein.

I hadn't thought of it until now, but the experience of Charlie and Artie, as they return to their roots in the digital era, and work with younger filmmakers, might go somewhere. I'd be happy to work with them again; they're like friends to me.