Chasing the American Dream, One Corpse at a Time

Director: Chris Smith

Starring: Mark Borchardt, Mike Schank, Bill Borchardt

"I'm broke. I've got to buy gas tomorrow and I'm worried about making a feature film." -Mark Borchardt

Truth is often stranger than fiction, and for audiences of American Movie it's a hell of a lot more entertaining.

American Movie documents two years in the life of no-budget, aspiring film director Mark Borchardt as he attempts to complete Coven -- his direct-to-video feature film debut - pay his bills, and keep his sanity in the rust-belt suburb of Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Such a challenge would be difficult for anyone, but for slasher-film aficionado Borchardt and his inept but lovable friends and family (who reluctantly double as Mark's producers, actors, and cameramen), this task often proves as difficult as it is hilarious.

Mark Borchardt is not your typical film maker. Then again, Mark Borchardt isn't much typical of anybody you've ever met. A high-school drop out, Borchardt began making short, gory films with his Milwaukee classmates at age 14. No mere hobby, Borchardt's adolescent reels of blood-soaked celluloid were a manifestation of his dreams to become a big-time movie maker. Twenty-five years later, little has changed. The hard-drinking, dope-smoking Borchardt (who one brother describes as a potential serial killer) is still producing backyard horror films with his buddies and dreaming of a life beyond the dismal, frigid Wisconsin winters.

In this respect, American Movie is not so much about Borchardt's quest to finally complete the seemingly snake-bit Coven (The title of which he stubbornly refers to as "Coa-ven" because its proper pronunciation sounds "too much like oven.") as it is a testament to one man's pursuit of the American Dream. Sure, we may laugh at Borchardt and his unusual cast of real-life characters (one of whom fondly recalls awakening in a hospital bed from a drug-induced coma and immediately wishing he had the time to drop his remaining three hits of LSD), but deep down we are silently rooting for him, admiring his passion and unsinkable spirit. Almost immediately, we gain a sense that Borchardt will one day achieve the success he so desires. Why? Because above all else, Mark Borchardt believes in Mark Borchardt. As a result, we have little choice but to believe in him too.

Director Chris Smith met Borchardt while both were editing film projects (Smith's first feature film American Job and Borchardt's Coven) at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee and was touched by the fellow director's attitude and perseverance. "Mark and I were both sitting on the front steps and [he] told me about this film he was [working on]." Smith recollects. "And he had this passion and enthusiasm for the film that just seemed so rare. ... There are so many people I know who have turned 25 or 30, who went to art school or film school, who had the intention of going on to do other things. But right now they're just doing their day job. What's inspiring to me about Mark is that he's someone who was actually making films, and he was going to make it come hell or high water. ... It seemed like with Mark, anything was possible."

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