Filmmaker, Ramin Serry is at an important point in his life. He and producer, Shauna Lyon are about to self distribute their film, Maryam. If it goes well, it could make Serry an important voice in independent filmmaking. Ramin was nice enough to talk to me about his experiences over the past few years with Maryam, and his hopes for the future of his debut film.

For those who don't know what Maryam is, please tell us a little about the film.

"Maryam" is the story of an Iranian-American teenage girl and her family living in the U.S. during the Iranian Hostage Crisis of 1979. During that time, there was a huge backlash in America against Iranians and Middle Eastern people, much like what hapened just after September 11th. In my film, the lead character, Maryam, thinks she is a typical American teenager. But when her friends start treating her differently because of her race and when her cousin comes from Iran to stay with her family, Maryam's world is turned upside down.

When did you complete the film?

I started writing the film in 1995, just after graduating from Columbia University's Graduate Film School in New York. I wrote the film, off-and-on for about three years. Because the script dealt with historical events, I spent months at the library, doing research. I shopped the script around a little to film companies but nobody was interested. Nobody wanted to touch this subject matter. At the time, that was frustrating but when I look back on it, I don't blame them. The lead characters are Middle-Eastern so because there aren't many famous Middle-Eastern actors, there was little chance of casting a star. But I was determined to tell this story so we raised the money among friends and family and shot it in October of 1998. The shoot lasted 25 days which is a very short schedule but pretty typical for a low-low-budget film like ours. The shoot went pretty well. We had a great crew and production staff. We ran out of money while editing so we had to shut down for a while. The film was finally finished in November of 1999. Then we played festivals for about a year and a half.

What film festivals has Maryam played at?

We had a private screening of the film at the Tribeca Film Center's First Look Screening Series. The day after the screening, we got a call from Miramax. They wanted to show the film to more people in the company. I thought, "wow, this is it. They're going to buy the movie." But we were advised to not let them see it and to wait to premiere the film at a big festival. We were told that it's better for everyone to see it at the same time to create a sense of competition. So we waited to get into a festival. Sundance and Toronto and every major European festival turned us down. It was starting to look bleak. But we were finally accepted by the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival, which has just been bought by the IFP. The LAIFF was great because a lot of industry people attend. We had a great premiere. We sold out our shows and got an amazing review in Variety. But nobody was interested in picking us up. Everybody passed. We spent the next couple years going to festivals and trying everything we could to get people interested but it never happened.

Do you ever regret not showing the film to the others at Miramax?

I don't regret not letting Miramax screen the film. We made the best decision we could knowing what we knew at the time. Also, I don't think they were as interested in buying the film as they were in tracking me as a director.

How important have film festivals been for Maryam?

I think film festivals have been a mixed blessing. The best single thing that happened is that Roger Ebert saw our film at the Hawaii Film Festival and gave us a great review. That lifted our film up and gave us a new life. Roger Ebert's Overlooked Film Festival was an amazing experience, because Roger treats every film as being so special. He sets a great tone and the festival is very well-run. The LAIFF was good because it exposed us slightly to the film business community and we got our Variety review. But otherwise, festivals haven't been much help at all. Most of the time, they're disorganized events and the people running them would rather not have to deal with the filmmakers at all. Sometimes, they don't schedule enough time for a Q & A, so I get pulled off the stage after only a couple questions. I usually pay my own way to get to there, spending tons of money on travel and food...and then the festival keeps all of the box office. It starts to feels like a big scam. I probably wouldn't be so bitter had we been picked up. It would be nice to go to a festival and not be so worried about distribution. The best part about festivals is seeing other films and meeting the other filmmakers...and the parties if they're good. But as far as trying to attract serious industry and press interest, there's really only Sundance, Toronto and the major European festivals.

At what point did you decide to self-distribute Maryam?

A lot of people thought that Roger Ebert's support would help us get a distributor. But companies still told us that there wasn't a market for it. That's their standard reply. Sometimes they're right but sometimes not. After September 11th, many of our friends urged us to get the film out there. So we decided to forget about distribution companies, raise more money and put the film in theaters ourselves. We felt like the story was too important not to be seen. With Ebert's support and our niche audience, we feel pretty confident about a limited release.

What cities are you looking at as target markets?

We're scheduled to open in New York on February 22nd and Los Angeles March 15th. After those markets, we'll play the film in Chicago and San Francisco. Depending on how well we do, we're talking about possible runs in D.C., Houston, San Diego, Seattle, Boston and maybe more.

What problems have you run into with the self-distribution process?

I'm still in the middle of the process so I'm still learning. The biggest fundamental problem is trying to package your own film. Because I'm so close to it, it's hard for me to be objective and think of it as a product. This problem affected everything we did, including making the poster, the trailer and all of the press materials. But once you get into the marketing mindset and come up with a single message or identity for the film, then everything falls into place. The other really hard thing is booking the film into theaters. We hired a consultant who has been booking films for years so he knows everyone. That's why we've been able to book such good theaters. But without him, we'd have a really hard time convincing theaters to play our movie.

When does the home video (VHS, DVD) market come in to play?

We didn't get a good initial offer for our video/DVD distribution...and we didn't pursue it very aggressively. We were more focused on theatrical distribution. Some films are able to get a video deal going that helps them pay for a theatrical release. Again, it helps if you have a star when trying to make that deal. I know some filmmakers who have done very well with their Blockbuster or Hollywood Video deals. We still don't have anyone handling the TV/video or foreign rights to our movie. But now that we're going to self-distribute, there's been new interest. We'll probably have some new deals in the next few months.

What hopes do you have for the theatrical release of Maryam?

I know people will be entertained. After many festival screenings, I'm confident that the film has a good solid story with a lot of humor. But I'm hoping it will make people think. I made "Maryam" partly so the historical period it covers would not be forgotten. A theatrical release for the film will help accomplish that goal.

How have your experiences with Maryam affected your view of filmmaking?

That's a tough question. I've learned so much about every aspect of the business. Especially because I've now done everything from writing the script to preparing the marketing materials. I guess I'm just grateful that I got a chance to make the movie. There's no substitute for actually going out there and doing it, no matter what the results.

To find out more about Maryam, please visit the Streetlight Films official page.