Magazine, The Immigrant Experience, Entertainment
Australian-American filmmaker of Sri Lankan descent, Viduran Roopan is a rising star in the world of filmmaking and the founder of En Trance Films.
With over a decade of experience in the entertainment industry, Roopan has worked primarily as a producer of documentary programming and reality television, including the series Growing Up Hip Hop (WE TV) and The Fixers.
He has also worked in the production of feature films, commercials and music videos, as well as in live events and broadcast journalism. While producer has been his main role, he has worn many hats, including those of cinematographer, editor, and production manager/coordinator. Currently, Roopan works in the Virtual Production/VFX space with a focus on the research and development of emerging LED volume technology and in-camera VFX. He uses this technology to drive the narrative forward in new and visually striking ways in his current projects.
A graduate of the University of Georgia in communication studies and new media, he honed his craft over the years as a filmmaker and content creator, producing a wide range of short films, music videos, corporate videos, commercials, and docu-series. Currently, he has three completed feature-length scripts in the works and treatments for additional features, scripted TV series, and shorts.
Roopan’s first feature film, the ‘revisionist Western’* The Company of Thieves will premiere on the festival circuit early next year. The film stars Tony Noto (1923, Pam & Tommy, Flight 704), Hunter C. Smith (Lucky), and international actress and opera singer Naomi Helen Weissberg (Into the Wild Frontier).
“First and foremost, I created The Company of Thieves to be a fun and thought-provoking adventure film,” comments Roopan. “My goal was to use familiar Western tropes and shooting styles as well as emerging in-camera VFX technology to drive the narrative forward in new and visually striking ways.” The film challenges the themes found in traditional Westerns and focuses heavily on how happiness is defined and how the institutions that govern us convince us that attaining material goals like fame, fortune, power, or even revenge, will satisfy our hunger for purpose or meaning.
“I think the separation between society and the natural world perpetuates this disillusionment,” says Roopan. “We are products of our environment, after all. Not the other way around.”
The hypnotic film was shot in 21 days over seven months in California, Arizona, and Nevada, featuring beautiful cinematic locations including South Lake Tahoe, Landers/Joshua Tree, Pyramid Lake, Malibu Creek, and Lake Piru, among others. All the interior locations were filmed at White Horse Movie Ranch. The official trailer will be unveiled soon.
“We’ve traveled to some stunningly beautiful filming locations and got the chance to experiment with cutting-edge virtual production tools and LED volume technology. I’m quite proud of what we’ve accomplished, especially for my first film, and I can’t wait to share it with the world,” adds Roopan.
The Immigrant Magazine had a chance to ask Roopan some questions about his immigrant experience.
TIM: How has being an immigrant helped or hindered your career in filmmaking?
VP: It presents an opportunity to distinguish myself from other creators and come up with concepts that people can either find relatable or illuminating. They say to write about what you know. I believe the more diverse and different our experiences are, the better the stories we tell can be. The only way being an immigrant may have slowed me down would be access to the filmmaker network. This is definitely an industry that revolves around “who you know.” Coming from a background where a career in the arts is not often encouraged definitely limited my exposure to peers and mentors who could have started me on this path sooner. This may not be true for all immigrants in this field, but as far as my own family was concerned, they were at first hesitant when I chose this profession largely because they did not know how they could help or who to ask for guidance.
How has your international experience influenced your work, with regard to The Company of Thieves?
The central themes of this film revolve around commentary on, and sometimes criticism of, philosophies like “American exceptionalism,” “manifest destiny” and the untethered industrialization that began in earnest after the Civil War. Growing up both outside and inside the U.S. allowed me to form distinct opinions that were based on history but also on how these ideologies continued to influence the modern world at large. In some ways, I’m able to celebrate the best parts of being American as only a citizen can. In others, I am attuned to how this country and its legacy are perceived from the outside, both positively and negatively, and vice versa. I find these to be interesting perspectives that are seen more and more in the contemporary Western genre and speak to how it has remained an endearing genre to international filmmakers and audiences.
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* The revisionist Western (also called the anti-Western, sometimes revisionist anti-Western) is a sub-genre of the Western film. Called a post-classical variation of the traditional Western, the revisionist subverts the myth and romance of the traditional by means of character development and realism to present a less simplistic view of life in the “Old West”. While the traditional Western always embodies a clear boundary between good and evil, the revisionist Western does not. – Wikipedia
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