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Filmmakers hope their upcoming movie boosts the industry in Washington

Some say that for every negative there is a positive, and for every door that shuts, another will open. Sean Burke’s story backs that up.

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Burke was working as a welder when the Great Recession of 2008-2009 crashed the economy. When he lost his job, he opened a different door for himself and followed his dream of working in film. Now he’s hoping to encourage more filmmakers to shoot movies in Washington.

Burke worked on some big studio projects, including the 2012 version of The Three Stooges, finding industry mentors along the way. By 2014, he felt ready to go out on his own.

The first film that he led, “As You Are,” won a Special Grand Jury Prize Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2016.

Sean Burke is co-founder of 222 Pictures and the producer for a film that will begin production this fall called “The Absence of Violet.” His first film that was presented at Sundance in 2016 won the Special Grand Jury Prize Award.

“That was a wonderful experience,” said Burke, a Gig Harbor resident. 

Absence of Violet

He co-founded 222 Pictures and never looked back. He has already produced two films this year, one in Japan and the other in Los Angeles. Burke is now working on a third film with writer and director Jack Chakerian, a Gig Harbor native. 

Chakerian graduated from Gig Harbor High School, and went on to earn a master’s degree in film direction in Spain. He lives in Seattle.

While in Spain, he wrote “The Absence of Violet,” a feature-length mystery film about three misfits trying to find a friend who vanished seven years ago.

“I really wanted to make a love letter to Washington state,” Chakerian said. “Also, I really like magical realism. So books like Haruki Murakami books and movies like Picnic at Hanging Rock — stories that are grounded in reality, but have a hint of surrealism — I really like.”

Jack Chakerian, left, is the writer and director of “The Absence of Violet,” a  feature-length mystery film that will begin production this fall. He is pictured here working with cinematographer Albert Casademunts on location in Barcelona, Spain. Photo by Maria Sales Moragues

 Chakerian needed a producer for his film and found Burke on LinkedIn.

“I was looking for the best,” Chakerian said. “I went to LinkedIn and Sean was like the most qualified, competent producer in the area by pounds, so I’m very happy that we connected.”

Making films in Washington

Filmmakers can qualify for tax incentives by filming in rural areas of the state. Burke hopes Washington state will continue to provide incentives to independent filmmakers and draw more to the area.

“A friend of mine in Portland said that independent film is just like blowing up right now,” Burke said. “They’re begging people to come and work on projects, and that’s good, so I think that the industry is making a really good turn.”

Filming will begin in the fall, with most of it set in Port Townsend. They plan to shoot a few days in Gig Harbor.

It helps that Chakerian envisioned a rural area for “The Absence of Violet.”

“If we film 50% of the film in a rural county in Washington state, you can qualify for higher tax incentives,” Burke said. “Washington’s (incentive) is really unique because we have 39 counties and 30 of those counties qualify for an extra 10% that you get back from the state. So if we film half of the movie in Port Townsend, we get back 40% of whatever we spend in Washington state, which is really nice for us. It’s good incentives for investors. It’s good incentives for filmmakers to bring projects here.”

And November in the Pacific Northwest provides not just a mysterious setting that Chakerian said will work well for the film, but also a window of opportunity for crews who are in a lull between the busy commercial season.

Sean Burke and Jack Chakerian presented information about “The Absence of Violet” during a fundraiser for the independent film. Photo by Janet Steiner

“We time it out so that we aren’t competing with those busier productions,” Chakerian said. “Visually, November is so nice for a mystery film. We’ve done a schedule, and it’s 20 days to shoot the movie. When you break it down, the filming portion of the movie is actually the easiest part about filmmaking. It’s the most fun. It’s the most expensive.”

Fundraising

Chakerian and Burke said they’ve raised 90% of what they need to make the film. They’ve been fundraising by hosting dinners for friends and they’ve found support from private equity.

“You find there are people who really love film, and then you can make it happen,” Burke said. “We have enough to get through production, but we still need funds for finishing and for marketing the film.”

Burke sees this as a perfect opportunity for locals to be a part of production.

“It’s time for Washington to really build this infrastructure around an industry that I think is really lucrative,” he said. “A lot of TV shows that take place in Seattle don’t actually film up here. They film in Vancouver, or elsewhere.”

Specifically, Burke and Chakerian said that they’d like to see more filming in the Puget Sound area.

“People always pitch Leavenworth as kind of the cute town that people want to go filming, but I think that Gig Harbor would do really well with that stuff, too,” Burke said.