D-Movie: You made your first movie at the age of 13 - how did that come about?
Shelton: My social studies teacher, Mr. Guillermo gave us the option to write a paper or make a short film as class assignment. We could make the film on anything in the textbook. So I opened up the textbook and found 2 sentences about the Children's Crusades. And I made a film about it. It obviously wasn't "film", but we used Compact VHS I think. It was before digital editing, so we edited it on two VCR's with a jog shuttle. And we made this silly video, based on the true story of kids that went on a pilgrimage from France and Germany to the Holy Land. We spliced in clips of Indiana Jones, and used Star Wars music, and I got a 99 out of 100 on the project. Now, I was a good student, but I never got a 99 on a paper, so from that point on, my films got better, and my essays got worse.
D-Movie: In 2007 you and your brother collaborated on "My name is Lisa" - who had the idea of making a film about the Alzheimer's disease?
Shelton: I had studied Alzheimer's as a student at the University of Puget Sound. I was a Theater major, and part of my senior thesis project was to act in a play called "The Tales of the Lost Formicans" by Constance Congdon. In that show, I played an Alzheimer's patient. So that stayed with me. Years later, I wrote the first draft of "my name is lisa" with that experience in mind. The first draft of the script was entirely web-cam. And it was my brother Josh, that helped write the scenes of Lisa coming home from school every day. That really helped the story, because it showed how "coming home" is always different to someone who is a caregiver. You never quite know what you're coming home to. The film was not based on any personal experience, but it wasn't until later that I realized that I'd been in denial of my grandparents dementia, and how it really affected me. We made "Lisa" for a film contest, and we ended up winning 3rd Place, and then it went on to win many other awards. But the most important result of the film have been the numerous emails we receive from people who have dealt with the disease and express their gratitude to us for making the film.
D-Movie: How can I imagine the collaboration between you and Josh - do the people call you the "shelton-brothers" just like they're talking about the "coen-brothers"?
Shelton: Josh and I have both always shared a love for films. But I was more of the filmmaker at a young age, while Josh was excelling in music. He is a very gifted and talented composer, and has composed all the music to our films. But he's also a very talented writer, and working with him has been a blessing and a challenge. He's able to turn a good idea into a great idea. And that's been a lot of fun. I've never seen the Coen Brothers work, but I think we're similar. When we are working on a project together, we're always on the same page, and that is extremely vital to filmmaking. But at the same time, we also have our own projects we work on individually, so we don't have to always work together.
D-Movie: The performance of Carlie Nettles in "My name is Lisa" and "Running" is very impressive - how did you get to know this young actress? And what kind of director are you - the "author-director" who sets a great value on the adaption or the "actor-director" who pays the most attention to the actores performance?
Shelton: I met Carlie Nettles on the set of "Everybody Hates Chris," where she was guest starring. She was absolutely fabulous and she blew everyone away. I knew immediately that she was someone I wanted to work with. And on the set, she was excellent. She's a natural and will have a long and amazing career. You can check out her website at www.carlienettles.com. I'm not sure if I fit into either of the categories "author-director" or "actor-director." I spend most of my time as a writer, writing the next project, and figuring out the best way to tell a story. But I was an actor in college, and I respect actors very much, because they have a gift to tell stories that non-actors don't understand. When I have to direct non-actors, it reminds me right away the value of great actors and what they bring to a film. As you know filmmaking is a collaboration, and so everyone needs to bring something to the table in order for the product to be something great.
D-Movie: Your latest movie "Shakespeare with fries" seems to be a lot of costlier than your other works - is this because you can raise more funds now? Do you have any sponsors?
Shelton: I'm glad that you felt "Shakespeare" had a higher production value. In all honesty, it didn't cost much to make, but we did rent the theater and hand-made all the Booth Burger props. We didn't have any sponsors, but we had a dedicated cast and crew that shot the entire film in three days.
D-Movie: And last but not least - is the next project already in process of planning?
Shelton: Josh just finished producing a feature film called "Homecoming" in Florida. And I'm currently directing a kid's TV show in the bay area. We also have a feature screenplay that we're sharing with producers right now, and hoping to make in the next year. I also have a TV pilot that I'm sharing with some cable channels. There are no short films in production, but we're always keeping busy with projects. And people can keep up with us at www.sheltonfilms.com and at http://Facebook.com/SheltonFilms.