“Kayfabe,” which is carnie speak for “maintain the illusion,”
‘Kayfabe’What: “Kayfabe,” a film that centers on a fake pro wrestling team, will screen at the Eugene International Film Festival When: Saturday, Oct. 6 at 1 p.m. Where: Regal Valley River Center Stadium 15, Theater 13 For more information, visit www.kayfabemovie.com |
is what professional wrestlers whisper to one another when a fan enters the room.
It is also the film title that labels itself a fake real movie about a fake real sport.
Eugene International Film Festival selected “Kayfabe” this year, but that does not represent the film’s only tie to the Emerald City.
Pete Smith, one of “Kayfabe”‘s three directors, has wrestled with indie shows here as his alter ego “The Rocket Randy Tyler.”
In an interview with the Emerald, Mike Raven, Smith’s co-director and legal colleague – Smith is also a lawyer – said the mockumentary gives away “bunches of wrestling secrets.”
“Kayfabe” centers on a fictional, independent wrestling promotion called TCICWF that Raven said is typical of these types of groups.
“They are losing money and their audience is getting smaller,” he said.
TCICWF has only two shows left and wants to go out with a bang.
“And there’s jokes,” Raven said.
Raven, Smith and Mike Scully, co-director and Vancouver Film School graduate, were all long-time fans of professional wrestling.
“I’ve been watching off and on since I was six, and the other Mike is in a similar boat,” Raven said. “Pete Smith has not only been watching wrestling since he was a kid, but he’s been a wrestler since he was 17.”
The directors scheduled just 11 days to shoot the entire film in the summer of 2006.
In a press release, Scully said they could not afford any mistakes or “the movie would have died right there and then.”
“It was a marathon and sprint at the same time,” Raven said.
The three had little experience and had to juggle their jobs with rehearsals and filming.
“You can do it cheap or fast or good,” Raven said. “We tried to do all three at once.”
Most of the cast were not even actors.
“We thought it would be a lot easier to teach wrestlers how to act than to teach actors how to wrestle,” Raven said.
Despite poking fun, Raven said the film crew and cast have a lot of respect for professional wrestlers.
“They get paid $50 to get hurt; they sweat and sometimes bleed. These guys aren’t doing it to get rich.”
Raven said he believes the movie will appeal to everyone.
“It gives fans a different perspective on what they have been watching for so many years,” he said.
“We think it is equally as interesting to people who aren’t fans to see the inner workings of pro wrestling.”
Raven’s favorite part of the film-making process was the end.
“I don’t know how we did that but we did it,” he said.
[email protected]