'Rebellion' proves to be a lot of fun

SANDPOINT — Bottom line: making "The Fade" series is a lot of fun.

Sure, the film may take place in a dystopian society several decades in the future, involving a plot to create an army of child drones as part of a twisted effort to create their version of a better world.

But filmmaker Tim Bangle and his son Lukas — the driving forces behind The Other Dog Films — said the movies, as well as the next installment, are about much more than that; they are about hope and not giving up.

"That really kind of ties into the [the plot of] the final film," Bangle said. "In the end, the overall message between all three of them is to just be mindful of the decisions that you make. There are a lot of emotional decisions that are made, and they kind of have this ripple effect on the kids. 

"As a parent, that scares me; the decisions that I make every day ultimately affect him, passively or directly. So I think that's kind of the biggest takeaway from all three: Just, as parents, be mindful of the decisions you make because they're going to affect your kids."

"The Fade: Resistance," the second installment in what the pair plan to be a trilogy, premieres at The Panida Theater today, including a red carpet treatment starting at 6 p.m. and the film at 7 p.m.

Bangle took film classes in California for several years before becoming burned out. He then switched to business, which got his complete focus before he again started to get burned out. It was then, he said, that he realized he needed to blend both sides of his personality — the business side and the artistic side. That decision led to the formation of The Other Dog Films and forays into productions such as "Into the Woods" with Lake Pend Oreille Repertory Theater.

"The Fade: Rebellion" picks up where "The Fade: Resistance" left off. Set in 2052, in "Resistance," Sam (played by Alora Weisz) is kidnapped by what Bangle describes as "nefarious characters." After she escapes and makes her way home, she finds that two friends have also mysteriously disappeared and sets off to find them — and bring them home.

In "Rebellion," Siberia (played by Holly Beaman) is trying to reconnect with her daughter after disappearing for six years, despite Sam's resistance. The teen distrusts her mother and is focused on finding her friends Tyler and Coen, refusing to have them go through what she went through as part of a plot to create an army of child drones. 

"Rebellion" dives deeper into Sam's abduction and its cost to her. Forced to work with her estranged mother, the youth finds clues to the reasons behind her abduction and those of her friends and other youths.

In pursuit of her friends, Bangle said Sam's efforts to find them reveal a new villain, Absinth (played by Meredith Field), who has taken the pair. However, the relationship between Sam and some of her friends is fractured, leaving the youth all by herself.

"The first movie is primarily about not losing hope," Bangle said. "Sam was put in a position where she decided to try and commit suicide, and she failed, but it left a lasting scar."

While the movie has some dark, more adult moments, nothing graphic is shown, and Bangle said the underlying message is clear — never give up.

"That was kind of the underlying theme, I think," he added of the first movie, also filmed with his teen son, Lukas. "Never give up; never lose hope."

The second installment of what Bangle hopes will be a trilogy carries that theme forward while adding in conflicts between nature and technology, various means of control and manipulation, and the impact they have.

"It's pretty relevant to today's society," he told The Daily Bee. "There were also some past-life things within my own life that kind of sprung out of how do you parent your kids without overburdening them with different layers of control and giving them the freedom  to make mistakes and that kind of stuff. A lot of it stemmed from that, about being a parent to a child, but there's also layers of control in society as well."

While "Resistance" was only about 30 or 40 pages of script, "Rebellion" is nearly three times that in part, Bangle said, because he combined plot lines from the third part at the request of his young cast. Bangle reached out to friends and fellow writers — Keely Gray, Lori Anchondo, and Lexi Christie — to help write the script.

After brainstorming in a virtual call, Bangle said he told the trio to have fun and let them get to work.

"It was a challenge to let go of the control, to trust that they knew the characters and knew the story and the direction that we were going," Bangle said. "I did make a few minor tweaks, but for the most part, the content is completely untouched. It was a lot of fun, and we're going to do it again on the next one."

Filming on the second installment of "The Fade" series, a film trilogy he launched with his son Lucas as part of their shared love of filmmaking, went well, although snowy weather forced the cast to reshoot some of the scenes.

Bangle estimates they had to reshoot about 10 to 15 pages of script because of the weather, and because in the six months of waiting for the weather to return to conditions suitable for the script, the young actors had grown up a lot.

Bangle said shooting the movie was a lot of fun, with the same cast returning for the sequel — as well as many of their friends. Where there were six young actors in "Resistance", Bangle said that number increased to between 20 and 25 out of the total cast of 32.

Being around the cast was a lot of fun and made shooting the movie memorable, Bangle said.

"I think the laughter of the kids," Bangle said of his favorite memories from shooting the films. "There was a lot of laughing, a lot of fun. I'm told you can tell the culture of a set by how much fun people have, if they're laughing and having a good time, or if it's kind of tense and serious."

Informaton: theotherdogfilms.com

    The cast of "The Fade: Resistance" are pictured at the premiere in 2022.
  

    Alora Weisz (Sam), Natalia Lemley (Coen), Sophia Taylor (Sybil), Torah Horton (Piper) are pictured in a scene from "The Fade: Rebellion" which premieres today at The Panida Theater.
  

    Holly Beaman (Siberia) is pictured in a scene from "The Fade: Rebellion" which premieres at The Panida Theater today.
  

    Ellie Dickman (Eveleen), Megen Vasquez (Ivy), Kinsley Vasquez (Willow) are pictured in a scene from "The Fade: Rebellion".