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Bill Millios, The Director
by Seth Hoy
Local writer, director and producer Bill Millios recently “called a wrap” on his latest film, Dangerous Crosswinds. The movie follows the journey of an award winning journalist as he befriends his old professor at Hampton Beach. The story evolves as the journalist finds himself faced with the mercy killing of the professor’s wife who is dying of Alzheimer’s. Millios sits down to give us his take on the journey of filming an independent movie in New Hampshire.
What Dangerous Crosswinds is about?
It’s a story of a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, Alec Holbrook, who returns to his hometown of Hampton Beach from New York City. He befriends his old professor, Harry Toland, who is more like a father figure. No sooner does he return than he finds himself as an assistant to the mercy killing of his professor’s wife, who has Alzheimer’s. Harry, the award-winning journalist, uses his keen reporter skills to find out what happened. A lot of people There are many twists and turns so I don’t want to give anything away, but it’s more of an investigative drama. We leave the euthanasia thing behind and explore the investigative plot to talk about blind faith and trust.
Why did you choose a newspaper reporter as your main character?
I have a lot of friends who are reporters. My best friend, who grew up with me in Manchester, is a reporter who was always around. For one of the earlier versions of the script, I visited my friend’s office in Connecticut and checked out the newsroom setting with the bulletin boards and what have you. He was always mad about movies involving newspapers because everything is seen as big headlines, news breaks and exclamations marks. I thought a reporter would made a wonderful character. Reporters have to be versatile.
Did you cast only local talent?
We put a casting call throughout New England. I filled in some blanks with actors from my first film, Old Man Dogs, but we got a few more actors. We auditioned for two weeks. I must have received at least 300 head shots. Our cast involves at least one actor from every New England state.
Why did you shoot the film in New Hampshire?
I just love shooting here. New Hampshire is an underused and visually interesting state. There are so many different areas in this small state with so much variety—from the seacoast to the mountains and farm land. Maybe it’s because I’ve always lived in New Hampshire that most of my stories are rooted here. And I mean, really, how many more crime movies can you film in New York City?
How do you think the recent Schiavo case played into the film?
It’s a natural connection, but it really has nothing to do with the script. The tone is different. Schiavo was in a vegetative state and Toland’s wife has Alzheimer’s. When I wrote the original script, I think Jack Kevorkian was in the headlines—so my script has more to do with the quality of life issue than the legality of it.
This isn’t your first film. Tell me what happened with Old Man Dogs?
Similar to Dangerous Crosswinds, we also shot that one in New Hampshire with a regional cast and crew. At that point, this was the first all-New Hampshire indie film, so it was a little more groundbreaking. We had some of the best talent in state in involved. We played it regionally in film festivals and at more traditional indie theaters like the Coolidge Corner theater in Boston, an indie theater in New York and really any theater that would have us. It was a slow dialog heavy movie and I knew when we were making it that it wasn’t for general public. You have to enter the world of that film to accept it. It was moody. I’ve always enjoyed it though. We had some good reviews, too, like in Variety magazine. We based the model for Dangerous Crosswinds on what did and didn’t work for Old Man Dogs. This time we created a self-contained entity without going through a distributor. We need to recoup our production costs first. You would think you just need to get your movie out there and have people see it, but it’s so much more difficult than that.
How many unfinished screenplays do you have sitting around your place?
Once I know what type of budget we have for next film, I start going over my scripts. Two scripts, The Murder of the Lake and Pierce and Hawthorne have overlapping characters and I’d like to shoot them back to back. One is a drama and the other one is a black comedy. It will be crazy and ambitious if I shoot these together next spring.
Are you completely happy with the outcome?
I think I am. I am still too close to it though, so I’d have a better answer in a year. ... I think people who like the script will love the film.
—Seth Hoy
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2005
HippoPress
LLC | Manchester, NH
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