Her, Him & the Fellas on Balkowitsch
BY SABRINA HORNUNG
Photos courtesy of Her, Him & the Fellas.
Greg Desaye (left); Chelsy Ciavarella (right)
Bismarck-Mandan based filmmakers, Chelsy Ciavarella and Greg Desaye, were tossing around the idea of a web series on regional artists, musicians, and general characters. While pitching ideas, the name Shane Balkowitsch came to mind. Balkowitsch is a self-taught, Bismarck based ambrotypist. Ambrotypes are a photo process that was developed in the 1880s and are produced with a single, 10-second exposure pressed with silver on glass.The community minded artist has brought people together through theatrical collaborations and through his Native American portrait project.
Ciavarella had gotten to know him while he was learning the process and had sat for a portrait. She eventually introduced him to Desaye and from that point, the two were drawn by his dynamic personality, because if you know Shane, or even if you don’t - his enthusiasm is contagious.
“We clicked right away, and he was so welcoming of us and the idea - it just felt right. His art is real and fueled by passion and a mission. As filmmakers, we are drawn to people like that, so right when we left, we knew he would be perfect. From there, it was a quick hug and a handshake, and we got to work,” Desaye said.
After fifteen months, the film, Balkowitsch, came into fruition. On behalf of High Plains Reader, we had a chance to chat with Greg and Chelsy about their film production company, Her, Him & the Fellas, and the making of Balkowitsch, which just received an honorable mention in the Documentary Feature category of the Fargo Film Festival and will be screened in March 2020.
High Plains Reader: What was the turning point when you realized Shane’s story would be more than an artist vignette?
Her, Him & the Fellas: We kept meeting cool people and finding exciting storylines that would prevent us from seriously editing. So, this was a very organic way to tell a story. It began as a 3-5 minute vignette for our web series but quickly turned into trying to keep it under 20 minutes to enter the Dakota Film Festival in our community. After our first real cut, we realized that the local festival with a 20 minute total run time was not in the cards. The first cut we put together came in around 70 minutes, and the final cut is at 58 minutes and flows nicely.
HPR: What do you think about all of the media attention that he’s gotten with his Greta Thunberg plates and how does it feel to know that you have the footage of him capturing that plate?
HHF: We are so happy for him. He deserves admiration for his work. His mission is real, and it comes from his heart. It was cool that we have that footage in our film. But the best part was how we got it. Our picture was locked and submitted to film festivals throughout the country. When Shane told us that he might be able to get 15 minutes with Greta at Standing Rock, our heads spun, knowing how important that could be for our film but understanding where we were in the process of the film. Unfortunately, we were not available that next day to shoot it because of prior work commitments, so it was a tough pill to swallow. Once he got back to Bismarck, we quickly began to see behind-the-scenes footage of the shoot with Greta from Chad Nodland. In one of his photos, we saw fellow filmmakers, James and Angie Kambeitz, there shooting video. We then reached out to James to see if he would be willing to share their raw video with us for our film. We received a quick “absolutely” message back from him. It was super gracious of them to share, and because of it, our film is so much better. It says a lot about our local filmmaking scene. It’s a small group of people willing to help each other out.
HPR: What initially attracted the two of you to filmmaking as a medium? Chelsy, you started out your career as a photographer how did your art evolve from stills to moving pictures?
Chelsy Ciavarella: As a photographer, you have one shot to tell a story. I had gotten really used to waiting for the right moment, and trying to capture it in a frame. Once I started working with Greg more, he encouraged me to start trying to shoot video. As a medium, you have more freedom to tell a story creatively. The fundamentals are the same but you have time, music, angles, composition, movement. It really hit me after we worked on a short story for a local charity. The overwhelming feeling of emotion I got when that was finished, I wanted more. We both enjoyed having a creative outlet outside the corporate world and thought it was something we just needed to pursue.
Greg Desaye: When I was 22, I was taking a break from school, living in Fargo, playing music, and wondering what I was going to do with my life. During that time, I began watching films and looking at the art form from a different lens. I then read RObert Rodriguez’s book, Rebel without a Crew, and thought I would love to do that. I then moved back to my hometown of Minot, ND, to pursue a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Production at Minot State. After school, I took a job as a Lead Editor for a production company in Milwaukee, WI, and spent three years out there learning the craft from a super talented bunch. My wife and I then decided to move back to North Dakota to be closer to family in 2010. Since then, I have been working as a corporate producer honing my craft. I finally felt like I had the knowledge in all aspects of the process to tackle a project like this and went after it.
HPR: What was it like to experience Shane’s creative processes for the past year. Do you feel you’ve seen him evolve as an artist? If so, how?
HHF: The editing process is an overwhelming and intimate experience. After going through Shane’s entire body of work through the editing process, we have seen his artistry evolve. His imagery has always been beautiful and honest, but his work now has more weight. It has a bigger purpose. His technical skills as a self-taught wet plate photographer are off the charts now because he shoots so often. He is really creating a body of work and he is all about archiving it. Leaving something behind is essential to him, and that’s a perspective we admire.
HPR: What was your favorite point of filming - you cover a lot of ground!
HHF: The interviews were fun because we met so many fascinating personalities and good people. But the Lady Liberty collaboration shoot was our favorite and a solid edit in our film. There was an electric energy on set the day of the shoot and it was an addicting feeling. We loved seeing everyone working towards the same goal of nothing more than to collaborate and create an art piece.
HPR: What was the most difficult part of producing this film?
HHF: Managing life with the film and starting a side business at the same time. We are both busy people dedicated to our jobs, family, and friends. So, at times, it was hard trying to find the right balance to do all of it. We got terrific support from those closest to us, which was needed and appreciated. Without it, this wouldn’t have been possible.
HPR: I know you got a lot of really great footage. Was there a particular piece that you regret not adding to the film?
HHF: Not really. I think we did an excellent job shooting what we needed to tell a compelling story. As an editor, I try not to completely drown myself in an abundance of footage. I know there are many that would disagree with me, but we were a two-person crew and responsible for all aspects, so we had to be judicious with what we shot and how we would tell the story. Although, I would have loved to have footage of Shane’s session with Evander Holyfield. Unfortunately for us, that happened so early in his career that he didn’t have a couple of filmmakers following him around!
HPR: How did you know it was finished?
HHF: A goal that was important for us was to meet the Sundance deadline of August 26 (spoiler alert - we didn’t get accepted). We finished our first rough draft for our small focus group in early July. After getting great notes from our thoughtful focus group, we began to rework the edit and were able to meet the deadline. But then the Greta storyline broke about a month or so later, so we decided to rework a submitted and locked picture. Something that I don’t think happens too often but it made our film better, so it was the right choice.
HPR: What’s next for Her, Him & the Fellas?
HHF: To find as big of an audience with this film as we can through festivals, marketing, and distribution. We are trying to learn all aspects of this process so we can find our next project and have even loftier expectations and goals. We are going with the attitude that the sky’s the limit. We learned that from Shane, so I guess we will see. He has been an incredible mentor to us as we are finding our way right now as artists.
For more on Her, Him & the Fellas, find them on Instagram and Facebook.
Sabrina Hornung is the editor-in-chief of The High Plains Reader and has collaborated with both Shane Balkowitsch and Her, Him & the Fellas. She is also a Founding Member of the North Dakota Film Society.
