Boise State alumni Jacob Ronnow and Justin Buss believe in local cinema. After graduating from the Film and Television Arts Program at Boise State, they wanted to tackle something new: a feature-length film shot in Idaho. The result is their new film, “NALOX,” shot entirely in the Treasure Valley with locally sourced equipment and an all-Boise cast and crew. “It was a huge collaborative effort from people across the local film scene,” says Jacob Ronnow, who directed, co-wrote, produced and edited the film. “I’m really proud that we were able to make a feature film shot entirely here in Idaho.”
Behind-the-scenes on the production of “NALOX”
They will screen “NALOX” at The Flicks in Boise on September 12 at 7 PM, with tickets discounted 20% for Boise State Students.
Passion for the story and the work
“NALOX” tells the story of a woman grieving her brother’s death from overdose. When she takes the man she believes is responsible for his death captive, what began as a personal reckoning spirals into a tense collision of grief, denial and competing truths. “‘NALOX’ was shaped through growing up during the fentanyl epidemic and seeing how overdose deaths are often reduced to numbers and statistics,” Ronnow says. “I wanted to tell a story about the people left behind, and the lasting absence that remains long after public attention has moved on.”
Behind-the-scenes on the production of “NALOX”
With no outside funding, the filmmakers knew they needed to rely not only on their own resourcefulness, but also on their passion for telling a meaningful story. That attitude set the tone for the production. “This film came together purely through the intense passion and dedication of the cast and crew,” Ronnow says. That culture on set also stemmed from the close-knit nature of the production. Most of the crew members graduated from the Boise State Film Program, resulting in trust and familiarity. That community, and the meaning of the story, helped Ronnow immensely. “Getting your first feature film completed is a massive undertaking, and I’m not sure I would have been able to do it if I didn’t truly believe that the film was my way of spreading a deeply personal message to others who may be or have been dealing with the same thing,” Ronnow says.”
The most important element of film production
Both Ronnow and Buss understood that making their first feature film would be a new kind of challenge. As film students at Boise State, they completed numerous short-film projects, experiences which supported them in this ambitious endeavor. “We treated this film in a similar fashion to how we treated a lot of our senior year projects in the BSU film program,” Ronnow says.
“Without our time at Boise State, the process would have been much more difficult,” says Justin Buss, the Director of Photography and Ronnow’s close collaborator. “While a feature film is much larger than the projects we completed as film students, our education gave us an advantage regarding the most important element of film production: collaboration.”
Ronnow agrees: “The collaboration process on this film was crucial, especially given our budget,” he says. Before shooting began, Ronnow and Buss visited the locations they wanted to use to work out the blocking, lighting and framing. Months before the shoot, Ronnow held extensive rehearsals with his actors, shaping and refining performances together. This collaboration pre-production also served a strategic purpose: working within a very tight budget, Ronnow and Buss knew they would have limited time during the actual shooting, so they worked diligently to make sure shooting days proceeded as efficiently as possible.
Shooting on location for “NALOX”
The collaborative nature of the project continued into post-production, with Ronnow seeking feedback on the edit from crew members. “As I worked my way through the edit, I wanted perspectives from different departments and collaborators on which scenes were working, which were falling short, and where we could make adjustments to better serve the story.”
“Applying our education”
The Boise State Film and Television Arts program emphasizes collaboration between students, and seeks to provide experiences that are unmistakable from working on a real-world film. “My time spent at BSU really helped me prepare for this project by teaching me how to collaborate with others,” Ronnow says. “The group projects, shooting scenes with other people in the class, and helping out on classmates’ short films in departments I really had no prior experience with all helped me consider the production from multiple angles. It helped me interact with the crew in a way where I felt comfortable working with others and coming together to make something bigger than one single department.” Buss agrees, adding, “Applying our education to this project required us to culminate all the knowledge and experience we had gained, then apply it to every scene to tell the story as effectively as possible.”
Setting up for a shot on location for “NALOX”
As film students, both Ronnow and Buss worked on the Narrative Television Initiative–now called the Short Film Lab–which they credit with preparing them for working with a large crew on long shoot days. Each of them shared specific memories of every film professor in the program and how that professor helped shape them artistically and professionally. For Buss, Ryan Canon “provided a monumental shift in my mindset towards film as a career.” Ronnow credits Professor Daehwan Cho with teaching him to consider lighting as a source of mood and tone, and Jim Wareck’s class on producing as “pretty much the only reason I was able to produce a feature film. The things I learned in his class are the foundation of how I was able to produce a feature film on my own.” For Ronnow, his Auteur Series class with Professor Rulon Wood provided the most profound impact on his first feature. “I remember Ru pushing the notion that you shouldn’t make a movie just to make a movie,” Ronnow says. “You should be trying to say something with what you create, and that’s exactly what I did with NALOX. The message of the film is deeply personal to me, and that was a huge motivator in getting past every roadblock on the journey from the first page of the script to the first screening of the film.”
“Just Start”
To end things, we asked Ronnow and Buss if they had any advice for current Film and Television Arts students.
Jacob Ronnow: “Just make the damn thing. I feel like I wasted so much time waiting for the right moment, the right script, the right opportunity, etc. Make use of your friends, make use of the local film community, make use of what you have available to you, and just start. No one is going to make it happen for you.”
Justin Buss: “My advice towards current Film and Television Arts students would be to focus on the fundamentals: learn to light scenes with the gear you have, not the gear you want. You don’t need the newest, shiniest tools to create a great image. Practice practice practice, and continue making films so you can always apply your previous experiences to future projects.”
“NALOX” will screen at The Flicks in Boise on September 12 at 7 PM, with tickets discounted 20% for Boise State Students.