On Oct. 21, Producer Frankey Dey came to Allen High by invitation of the International Baccalaureate Program, and talked to students about his career in film. He talked about his role in co-producing “Words and Pictures”- a movie about an Art Honors teacher and an English Honors teacher and the competitive atmosphere between the two art forms at a high school.

“I thought he was very passionate, he seemed very genuine about what he wanted to do, [and] the way he came off was positive,” Senior Adrienne Cole said.

Dey came to talk about how the movie was produced, and to tell about the work that went into its production. As film producer, Dey was in charge of hiring directors and actors, orchestrating the cameras and the camera angles, handling insurance, trailers, and knowing where equipment goes.

“[I was] in charge of a script, developing the idea, and bringing it to life,” Dey said. “It is like planning a wedding, but the wedding lasts two months. [The producers] are the people in charge of making things happen.”

Despite his busy schedule, Dey made time to come to our school and discuss both the production of the movie as well as how he started out.

“I thought he was very kind to take time out of his day [to talk to us],” Senior Nathaniel Leech said. “There are thousands of schools across the nation, and for him to come to this one [is amazing].”

Frankey Dey began his career in film with a start in the camera industry, and was promoted from there until he received a job as a producer, where he said he can now hire his boss.

“The hardest part is always before the movie is made,” Dey said. “It makes me a better producer because I know what everyone else does. [To produce a film] you have to be organized [to] bring all movie components together, [and get] all the stars aligned. It is like planning a party, but never really getting to attend.”

Dey talked of the importance of every piece that goes into a film and discussed how producing films has changed his view of them, also saying that he finds it fun to analyze movies.

“Imagine a horror movie without music, that would be the most unscary scary movie ever,” Dey said. “Music reflects how you feel at a certain time. [If]  there is something that really stands out to me, [I try] to figure out how they did it, why they did it, what’s the motivation behind it, how is it propelling the story forward, and what [they are] revealing about a character.”

Dey said the production of Words and Pictures, starring Clive Owens and Juliette Binoche, took ten years to make, and the writer had the script for seven years before the project was finally started. The film shooting itself took about 37 days and was shot in Vancouver, Canada.

“Clive is a classically trained actor, every single scene he [was] on point, he [was] like a robot” Dey said. “[Juliette is] more [on the] emotional side. [She is] passionate … and it shows up in her work. … This movie came from a place of passion, and I enjoyed the story and the characters. The crew was fantastic, synergy was really good, everyone was on for the ride. I think it was a story that needed to be told.”

Dey ended the meeting with words of wisdom and a smile as he answered questions.

“My biggest advice for success: networking and having a good attitude; it is also a strong work ethic, you work hard and you will achieve what you want to achieve,” Dey said. “At the end of the day, I get to do what I get to do, how cool is that?”