Putting the 'I' in independent filmmaking

PARK CITY, Utah — In the world of independent filmmaking that is the heart of the Sundance Film Festival, consider the story of "Dealbreaker" and "Siren," a sort of "INDIE" versus "indie" tale. One is a 12-minute short co-directed by Oscar-winning actress Gwyneth Paltrow and a friend, Mary Wigmore, and backed by Glamour magazine and Nokia. The other is a self-financed movie from Michele Fiore-Kaime -- a first-time director, actress and "official Sundance reject."

The movies couldn't be much more different save for the fact that both are showing this week in Park City. "Dealbreaker," an official festival entry, began its Sundance run with a star-studded, classy hors d'oeuvres, open bar, velvet rope premiere on Saturday night. "Siren," a musical drama billed as "The Independent Indie," began screening five times a day last Wednesday in a vacant real estate office.

On a mission

How do you get anyone to watch a movie that didn't make the Sundance cut? The 35-year-old mother of two hit the streets -- handing out fliers on Park City's main drag. A full house means all 26 folding chairs in front of her 92-inch television are filled. At the end of each screening, "Siren's" star hands out her business card, emblazoned with the slogan "Dreams Are Real."

"I'm an official Sundance reject," she said. "But the distributors and producers are here. So I came out, walked up and down Main Street for two days, had the doors slammed in my face. I was just looking for space to show the movie. Everyone said to me, 'You can't come here 10 days before Sundance and set up shop. You can't do this.' "

In the role she wrote for herself, Fiore-Kaime, portrays Storm Fagan, a wife and mother who endures the slings and arrows of music industry skeptics to follow her dreams of rock stardom -- Fiore-Kaime's real childhood dream. A script rewrite was done by Robert Gosnell ("Firewalker"), and a cast that includes Erin Gray ("Buck Rogers in the 25th Century") and Gary Graham ("JAG," "Star Trek: Enterprise") was hired. To raise the film's $1-million budget, Fiore-Kaime and her husband, Nat Kaime, and her mother refinanced their homes and pooled their savings accounts.

"She's so driven I can't ever think about holding her back. I never want to do that," said Kaime, who operates a home healthcare business in Las Vegas with his wife. "When she came here and did this, it was just one of many incredible things that she has done that I couldn't even ponder."