From the Pool to the Studio
An Interview With Milwaukee Swim & Dive Alumni Corey Kupfer
-Written by Will Montreal

After two and half years of filming, Corey Kupfer put the finishing touches on a project that he hopes will propel his career forward. His seven-part anthology titled Seven Days was recently featured at the Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison in April.
 
Kupfer, a former member of the Milwaukee swim and dive team, graduated in 2007 with a pair of Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Film and Creative Writing. He competed on the boards all four years with the Panthers, earning several top eight finishes at the Horizon League Championships. After Milwaukee, Kupfer received his Master of Fine Arts in Film at New York University's Tisch School and saw a short film premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival and earned a Best Short Award at the Wisconsin International Film Festival.
 
Seven Days features seven short character studies, all starring the same actress, Ellyn Jameson. Kupfer and Jameson bring to life these seven young women portrayed in the film at a turning point in their lives. Some of these characters include a homeless teacher living out of her car, a single mother with her hands full, and a social activist exploring the bounds of social media. From Kupfer's press kit, the experiences throughout the film produce a foundational truth: "That we all begin equally innocent, and it is the causes and conditions that surround our growth, birth, and life in this world that make us who we are."
 
MKE Communications staff recently discussed with Kupfer his path to making films along with the process and inspiration of Seven Days.
 
"How did you discover your career path, was it in college or before that?"
 
Corey Kupfer: "It was as early as middle school that I knew I wanted to make films; but growing up in a small Wisconsin town, that's not a career path that's particularly encouraged. I remember sitting in undergraduate orientation at UW-Milwaukee, when everyone was called to separate into their respective majors, my plan was to join the sciences and a pre-med path, but my heart wanted so badly to follow those in film. It wasn't until halfway through my sophomore year I finally surrendered to my own desires and switched to a double major path in film and creative writing."
 
"What was the inspiration for the film?"
 
Kupfer: "My inspiration for Seven Days was meeting lead actress Ellyn Jameson. We fell in love professionally, and immediately knew we wanted to make something together. We bonded over, among many other things, a shared frustration about where we were in our careers, and our struggles to get where we wanted to go. The collaboration began with the idea for one short; but we didn't really want to make any more shorts as that felt like repeating what both of us had already done. We also did not have the money to do a traditional feature. I think passionate artists thrive on limitations, and so we did. We decided to make seven shorts that work together as an immersive anthology, where we could shoot one, go broke, and then save up to do it again. We wanted to show fully realized female characters free from anyone's expectations of them. And during a time when we are experiencing the worst division this country has seen in many years, we wanted to offer audiences a simple profound truth: that any one of us could just as easily have been born any other one of us."
 
"How were you able to stay focused and on track through two-and-a-half-years of filming?"
 
Kupfer: "Ellyn and I were so caught up in making this film, completely free from the chains of anyone else's expectations because we funded it ourselves, that everything in our lives simply revolved around it. When I was directing a bad corporate video, or she was cooking or nannying for a paycheck, we knew what we were really doing was directly funding more of Seven Days. I was more focused in that two-and-a-half-year production period for this film than I have ever been."
 
 "What are your hopeful next steps?"
 
Kupfer: "I am taking Seven Days through as much of a festival run as I can, with a hopeful next feature film screenplay in hand, looking to sign on with a manager or agent to assist in getting that film into development. I hope that seeing what I made possible for a mere $40,000 will be a testament to the potential of my future as a filmmaker."
 
Further information regarding Kupfer, Seven Days, and his other projects can be found on goldenmilefilm.com.