Longmeadow native realizes dream of being a filmmaker

Jan. 9, 2020 | Sarah Heinonen
sarah@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW – Garo Setian has been working in the film industry for more than two decades, but just recently realized his dream of making a movie. The Longmeadow native, who works at Lionsgate in Los Angeles as a movie trailer editor, produced and directed a horror movie, “Automation.”

“Automation” is the story of a robot that has replaced people at a business and fights back when the company plans to replace him.

“The trick is keeping the robot sympathetic,” the filmmaker said.

Setian’s interest in making movies began as a childhood captivation with special effects.

“I was fascinated by making dinosaurs come to life,” Setian told Reminder Publishing.

While at Longmeadow High School in the 1980s, Setian filmed local government meetings for the town’s public access channel. Working at the station allowed him and a friend to begin making a show, “Valley of the Shadows,” that Setian described as being in the style of the Twilight Zone. He said the channel was still airing the episodes until a few years ago.

After graduating from film school at New York University, Setian moved to California in 1992 to earn his MFA from the University of Southern California.

“Automation” didn’t begin with a screenplay, but with the desire to make a film.

“I’ve been trying to make a movie for almost 20 years,” Setian said. Unfortunately, though companies expressed interest in his screenplays, the funding couldn’t be secured.

Setian said he and his wife had saved enough money to invest in making their own movie. Over his time in the industry, he had made many contacts on which he drew heavily in the making of “Automation.”

Setian wrote the script “around things that already existed,” and contacts he had made. “I’ve been very involved in the horror community [in Los Angeles].”

He had a friend who worked as a prop-maker and had built a robot, which became the focus of the movie.

“I thought about robots in the workplace,” Setian said. That led him to another person he knew who worked at a shipping business and was willing to let him film the project at the location when it was empty at night. This gave Setian the setting for the story.

In the end, the screenplay took about six months to write and the majority of the movie was filmed in 12 days. The shooting location was about an hour and 10 minutes from Los Angeles. Setian shot at the film at night and then drove back to Los Angeles in the morning to work his day job.

After the filming was complete, Setian spent another six months editing the movie at home for a few hours after work each night. About three extra days were spent at Titmouse Animation Studios filming re-shoots and “pickups,” fragments of a scene that are reshot.

When asked if he would make a movie again, Setian said that he would, but not at that frenetic pace.

“We made a movie with a killer robot and paid genre actors [on the] budget of a typical found–footage,” horror movie, Setian said.

While he said that “Automation” has received good reviews, he noted that some reviewers have pointed out that the movie doesn’t fit in any one box. Setian said that creating a plot that was part–horror, part–love story was some of the fun of making the movie.

After finally having the chance to make a movie, Setian said it was meaningful for him to have his mother come out to Los Angeles to see the movie in the Lionsgate screening room.

Looking back on the process, Setian said, “It’s funny how – every failed project came along to help make this movie.”

“Automation” is available on VOD and on Blu-ray from Amazon.

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