Mark Walsh talks about directing Pixar’s Toy Story Toons “Partysaurus Rex”

Mark Walsh has been animating with Pixar going back to “A Bug’s Life”. He took on the role of Directing Animator for Dorey on “Finding Nemo”. Most recently he has gone behind the camera and directed the newest Toy Story Toons called “Partysaurus Rex”. Personally, I think it is brilliant and my personal favorite of any Pixar short. Media Mikes had a chance to really dive in about the short with Mark and find out some really cool facts about the film.

Mike Gencarelli: You’ve been with Pixar almost since the beginning, how was it stepping away from the animating desk and behind the camera directing the Toy Story Toons short “Partysaurus Rex”?
Mark Walsh: I love it. I have been reading articles about different actors who are turning directors. Largely what an animator is an actor. So to move to directing has been a similar experience. I think it is really fun and I enjoy the collaboration of it, even more than animating. I think animating is trying to create an emotion or feeling and directing is the same thing but on a larger scale. Yes, there are many more things to worry about. Yes, the buck stop with you…but the feeling of creation and collaboration, especially when something works is unparallel. I love it.

MG: Where you nervous at playing with the “Toy Story” brand?
MW: Not really. I am familiar with the characters. I worked with them before on the TV commercials for “Toy Story 3”. Working with the creator of the series, John Lasseter, there isn’t anything that he would let through that isn’t right. John will really be interested in how each director is going to push things. I think that is why “Toy Story 3” feels like a “Toy Story” film but also feels like a Lee Unkrich film. That is because John invites the input of the new director and he still makes sure it stays within the world. So with that support on hand, I felt invigorated to try new things. “Partysaurus Rex” is pretty different than the usual. But it I was happy knowing that the guardians of the franchise, here at Pixar, were there to make sure that I didn’t step out of bounds.

MG: I like that Rex gets a chance to shine. He is a funny character!
MW: Isn’t he great!? Rex is just such a sweet character. What I like most about Dorey from “Finding Nemo” is that she is a comedy relief character. But she is rare comedy relief character that gets a spotlight to see what it is like to be the comedy relief character. In her case, it is kind of sad. Rex is similar in a way. He is so nervous and nerdy that he funny. However what is it like to actually be that guy? I had that experience in school when I was a kid. So I just tapped into that for the movie.

MG: How long did this short take to make from idea to completion?
MW: A long time actually. It took about two years from start to finish, which seems long for six and half minutes. But there are two things that were going on. First, we had to wait for “Small Fry” to get finished. They were both produced by our sister studio at Pixar Canada. They are a really small studio, smaller than Pixar was when I came on during “A Bug’s Life”. They have a really great culture there but they can’t handle five or six shorts at the same time. Both Angus MacLane and I started on our shorts at the same time but I had to wait until they finished. Also it took two years since the itself process is just very long and arduous. There isn’t any stage of the production where the questions aren’t asked “Can we make this better?”, “How can we approve this?”, or “Can we add any more entertainment value here?”. That takes time. I was really pleased though because the shorts at Pixar gets treated the same way that the features do.

MG: Tell us about collaborating with BT for the music?
MW: BT is amazing. You listen to electronic dance music and some people think “How hard could it be?”. You have a drum beat and maybe some synthesizers. BT is not one of those people. He is an artist. What I liked about BT’s work is that it has the most emotion to me compared to other artists and DJs. When you are working in film, especially a short like “Partysaurus Rex”, emotion is what you are after. I wanted music that would be like a second character. I am very glad he found the time for us and that we were able to collaborate. The music gets louder, more intense and a bit crazier as the film goes on along with the party. So it kind of represents the party in a way. The music had to start small and get crazy, so the biggest challenge was reining it in. BT was able to do that so well. He just brought idea after idea and that was the best part of working with him.

MG: How does it feel to be the first Pixar short to not only have a MP3 single but also get a level in video game “Tap Tap Revenge”?
MW: I love it. Usually shorts don’t get this short of reaction. Especially a franchise related short. I was just trying to create this story with fun music that matched it. I wasn’t even sure if people would like it, but the response has just been amazing. It has been positive for all ages, especially young people. There is so much music that BT made, but the film just wasn’t long enough. We kept getting request after request for music from the film. On the single, BT had used “Partysaurus” as the inspiration even including dialogue and created this track, which plays so well on the dance floor. I listen to it every day and I feel that it even works better than the version in the film.

MG: How many hidden Pixar nods are there in this short, like the Sulley toilet cover?
MW: [laughs] Yeah, there is a lot in there actually. There is quite a few “Finding Nemo” references, since I worked on “Nemo” as the directing animator for Dorey. When we cut to the underwater guys and the “What Up Fishes” scene, Mr. Ray from “Finding Nemo is down there as well as one of the dolphins from that film. There is T-Bone from “Small Fry”, who floats by. There are a lot of “Toy Story 3” characters. But I am not going to tell you all of them; I want people to find them out for themselves.

MG: You also voice the new character Drips the Whale, tell us about that?
MW: When you are trying to get the story worked out, you are looking for something that is funny and gets it done. I liked the idea of a faucet cover, so kids won’t hit there heads, and I’ve seen them for sale. I thought it would be funny to have it coming out of his mouth, so he was permanently talking like this [mumbling in Drips’ voice]. We always record our voices as temporary voices when we are developing the story. It helps us find out if the movie is working before you bring in Tom Hanks or Tim Allen, which is great. Drips and also Puffy, aka “What Up Fishes” are my voices. Due to time, the fact that it was already funny and we didn’t have a name star attached to play them, John said “Why not!”. So I felt very lucky it is rare that a temporary voice gets to stay in the film.

MG: Do you have plans to take sight on features next to direct?
MW: I hope so. In Hollywood, everyone always says “I am doing this now, but what I really want to do is direct”. Everyone thinks that it is better, but it is really hard work. This was actually the hardest job that I have ever had but it is also the most gratifying. I am happy to just keep, as they say “doing the reps”, lifting weights to get my skills up. What has always been important to me at Pixar is that my craft is good. So I hope that I still have opportunities moving forward to keep improving on that craft. Until then, I am just building up my biceps [laughs].

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: directing, mark, partysaurus, pixars, rex, story, ...

Rick Alverson talks about directing Tim Heidecker in “The Comedy”

Rick Alverson is the director of the film “The Comedy”.  The film stars Tim Heidecker, known best for “Tim and Eric’s Awesome Show, Great Job!” & “Tom Goes to Mayor”, taking on his first dramatic role. Rick took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about the film and its serious underlying themes.

Mike Gencarelli: Your new film is called “The Comedy” but tell us about the serious themes underlying in the film?
Rick Alverson: The initial plan was to make a film about desensitization. It was a movie about the desire for an idiosyncratic and creative interaction with language and people. An idea of flirtation with the world, antagonism, desire to both connect and potentially irate or change or alter the world or be altered by it. There is a lot of underlying interest in inertness and mortality. Yeah, it is all there [laughs].

MG: How did you end up working with Tim Heidecker with his first dramatic role?
RA: Tim has a very unique set of skills. He has this capacity for a very particular kind of social engagement that I knew would, and did, work very well for the role. He was kind enough to come in, since we did not know each other prior. He saw my previous film “New Jerusalem” and him and Eric were interested in my work after that. We managed to portray Swanson in a way that is very volatile and most importantly ambiguous. It lightly straddles the line between the passive and the antagonistic and between humor and pathos, I suppose.

MG: The film still has some unsettling moments, were you concerned about offending?
RA: Well, that was impulse of the project. It is about the desire of an individual to push envelopes and to activate, whether it is disgust, it is pity or anything. There is a perfect parallel between the way the movie should act on an audience and the way the character acts on the other characters in the film. There is a symbiotic nature between the form and the content that way. It is strange to me how some individuals have been repelled by the movie, which actually isn’t a bad response. I would think to be repulsed by something would mean that it is serving a kind of larger purpose. I think, as American mainstream film-goers  we are used to being playcated and self-affirmed by our entertainment. We would our entertainment to do a very specific thing. We have been conditioned for that. Literally when that entertainment fucks with us, we get angry. This is a very gulf between what some people describe as the institutions of fine art and the mass-marketable, consumable enterprise of commodity entertainment. People go into museums to be perplexed. People go to theaters to be massaged. I think that needs to be shaken up a bit.

MG: This film kind of sticks with you after viewing; was that your intention?
RA: That is what I got to see movies for. If I am going to spend my time and money in something it should change me. It is worth you money that way. It is funny how people go into movies that advertise recreational escape and expect to have a good time.

MG: Tell us about the production; what was your most challenging aspect?
RA: Well, working against New York City. I mean with trying to work with a landscape that is so emblazed and cauterized in our mind as this particular place. I had to figure out how to literally film in that place and do it justice and respect, while at the same time not to be redundant. That was quite a challenge. I think the other challenge – probably the biggest challenge was finding those particular notes and walking that tight rope between the engagement of the thing and the dystopian kind of awfulness of the things, like the antagonism, cruelty, disrespect and obscenity. How do you do two or three things at once while making it palatable to the characters and also palatable to the audiences if the film was couched as a comedy entirely. Also how to also show some real distance where we recognize that as uncomfortable facts. I don’t know but it is a real tight rope to walk. People love to go to movies and to hate the bad guys and love the good guys. I think that it doesn’t help anyone outside the theater and we should likely be the other way around sometimes.

MG: Tell us about what you have planned next after “The Comedy”?
RA: I am making a movie called “Clement” that takes place in 1868. It deals with the early clan and freedmen communities in rural Virginia. It is kind of an anti-epic cruelty tale. It is something that looks at the literal root causes of the dystopian world that we see in “The Comedy”.

 

Related Content

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: alverson, comedy, directing, heidecker, rick, talks, ...

Chris Olen Ray talks about directing films like “Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus” and working with The Asylum

Chris Olen Ray is known best for his work with The Asylum on films like “Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus”, 2-Headed Shark Attack and the recent “Shark Week”.  Chris took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about his work on these films and his love for the genre.

Mike Gencarelli: Tell us how you became involved working with The Asylum?
Chris Olen Ray: Basically a couple of years ago I was trying to get back into the film industry and the only people to give me a job was The Asylum. I did a lot of line producing for them and the rest is history dude [laughs].

MG: Tell us about how you got involved directing “Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus”?
COR: “Mega Shark” was really cool. I heard about it when I was producing “Mega Python vs. Gatoroid”. I had down two other similar films, “Reptisaurus” and “Megaconda” and they thought it was good enough to give me a show on “Mega Shark”.

MG: Where you happy with the final cut of “Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus”?
COR: Once I edited the film, they really didn’t do much to it. I have done though some after this film, which just have been chopped to shreds [laughs].

MG: Going from a directing a Mega Shark to a 2-Headed Shark, tell us about your experience on “2-Headed Shark Attack”?
COR: “2-Headed Shark Attack” was really fun. We shot it in the Florida Keys with a great cast, Brooke Hogan, Carmen Electra and Charlie O’Connell. The problem with this film was that we were trying to do a combination of CGI with the puppets. Initially in concepts the puppets were really cool but for some those damn teeth would stay in the sharks mouth [laughs]. There was quite a lot of CGI outflow, so to bring in the puppet it helped down a bit. It also gives the actor something else to work with.

MG: You are also directing “Shark Week”, tell us about that film?
COR: That film was very hard to make. Everything that you think could go work, went wrong. I was happy and surprised we were even able to get a movie out of it. I can’t talk about what
happened but whatever you see if better than we thought we had. The concept behind this movie was such a great concept for it to turn out the way it did. I am just hoping people enjoy it.

MG: What do you enjoy most about the creature feature genre?
COR: “Shark Week” was a little more serious tone but with “2-Headed Shark” and “Mega Shark” were a lot more fun. For “Mega Shark vs Crocosaurus”, your coming in on an already popular film and just want to keep it going well.

MG: What would you say has been your most challenging project to date?
COR: “Shark Week” honestly has been the hardest for me. In the 30 years I’ve been in Los Angeles and even talking with my old man, it just so wild. It really has to be my worst experience ever for me.

MG: What do you have planned next?
COR: Recently I’ve being doing these episodes for a project called “Silicon Assassins, which stars Richard Hatch. I also got a new film I am producing for The Asylum as well and just trying to stay busy.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: asylum, chris, crocosaurus, directing, films, mega, ...

Alison Klayman talks about directing “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry”

A 2006 graduate from Brown University, Alison Klayman is a documentary filmmaker and a freelance journalist. After graduating college she went to China where she spent four years producing radio and television stories for NPR’s “All Things Considered,” Associated Press Television, Voice of America, Current TV, and CBC. She reported the story “Who’s Afraid of Ai Weiwei?” for PBS’ “Frontline” and currently completed her first feature documentary film, “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry.” Her documentary short, entitled “Ai Weiwei: New York Photographs 1983-1993,” was shown as part of the artist’s exhibition at the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre in Beijing from January through April of 2009. She also adapted a shorter version for the Tate Modern’s online channel. Ms. Klayman recent sat down with Media Mikes to talk about her film and the inspiration she draws from it’s subject.

Mike Smith: What was your inspiration to make this film?
Alison Klayman: I had been in China for a couple of years. And the reason I went… after I graduated from college, my goal was to make a documentary film. And in meeting Ai Weiwei I knew I had found a character who was not only very charismatic and complicated but, after our initial meeting together, I felt he could expand my ideas about China. I thought that an audience would enjoy watching him.

MS: You worked in China for several years. What brought you there?
AK: What brought me to China was a desire to go abroad…have adventures…become a journalist and do foreign correspondence work. The reason I went to China was very random. I had a friend who had family there. I went on a trip with her and ended up staying. I just wanted to go abroad…to anywhere in the world. I ended up in China. But I really threw myself into it. I worked in a lot of different industries. My dream was to one day feel like I deserved to make a documentary film. And in Ai Weiwei I found a great subject.

MS: How did you come to meet Ai Weiwei?
AK: Another story that’s more random than anything else. My roommate at the time in Beijing was working for a local art gallery and she was curating an exhibition of Ai Weiwei’s photographs from the decade that he lived in New York. How I actually initially heard of Ai Weiwei was though these photographs. And in 2008 she said to me that she thought it would be nice to have a video to accompany the gallery show. Something to show in the lobby that offered a deeper story to some of the photos. She asked if I wanted to make it and I said “yes.” In December 2008 I was brought over to Weiwei’s studio along with the gallery team. And on the first day we met I already had my camera in hand. And I started filming right away. I was so lucky that I had this introduction and was given this great opportunity.

MS: This is kind of a two part question. Until he’s detained by the Chinese government you seem to have almost total access to him. Were you able to communicate with him once he had been detained? Also, because of your association with this project, did you have any fear for your safety while in China?
AK: Nobody was really able to be in touch with him during his detention. His wife was brought to visit him once. She was the only person to see him during those 81 days, apart from those who were guarding him. She wasn’t told the location where she met with him and she was only allowed to be with him for 20 minutes. And during his detention I was in very close touch with people at the studio. I was very active on social media…giving interviews on what was happening. I was able to meet with him about two months after his release in Beijing. That was very important because we showed him the film before we headed out to Sundance. As to my safety…it was a good thing that I was already used to living in China and doing work as a journalist. I know there are certain ways to behave so that you won’t necessarily run into trouble. So on the whole, I did not fear for my safety. I did fear for the safety of Ai Weiwei and the other citizens who were engaged in his work. There were the ones that were really taking the serious risks. For me there were a few scary moments during filming, particularly when Weiwei was heading towards the police stations and the court houses. I was along for the ride, one of many cameras. I think when you watch you can see those moments and see that we didn’t know how they played out. Those were the only experiences where I experienced any interference from the authorities….trying to take the camera…trying to take the tapes.

MS: Due to the rather unflattering light that you shine on the Chinese government would you ever return to China?
AK: Definitely. I really hope to do more work there. I’m hoping that life will take me there again.

MS: Do you still communicate with Weiwei?
AK: The best way we talk is very open through Twitter. And what’s great is that he often re-tweets my posts, like, “just saw the film in Europe at a film festival.” He re-tweets that and I know he was able to see where the film had been shown. That’s the main way we stay in touch. We do also text and occasionally will talk on the phone, though it’s not necessarily safe to talk on the phone. I last talked to him about two weeks ago and he was blown away by the reach and the impact the film was having.

MS: Have you decided on your next project yet?
AK: I wish! I’m just developing ideas…not sure if they’re ideas for short films or a series of films. I’m coming off a really exciting project. I had a healthy respect for documentaries in college and I’m constantly curious and fascinated by their stories. I want to find another story that makes me feel the same way.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: ai, alison, directing, klayman, talks, weiwei, ...

Chris Butler & Sam Fell talk about directing “ParaNorman” and working with stop-motion animation

Chris Butler & Sam Fell are the co-directors of Laika Animation’s latest stop-motion animation film “ParaNorman”.  The film is the first stop-motion film to utilize a 3D color printer to create replacement faces for its puppets and breaks all the boundaries which past stop-motion films have faced.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with the directors about working in the horror genre and blending it with stop-motion animation.

Mike Gencarelli: I am a big stop-motion fan but I see a trend with “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, Coraline” and “ParaNorman” all tend to have creepy aspects, why and do you you feel this aspect relates to stop motion?
Chris Butler: I think is the tradition of the medium. If you trace it back to its early days, in the 1890’s the very first efforts in stop-motion were creepy. “The Dancing Skeleton” was one of the first back in 1897. I think what it comes down to is they feature inanimate objects moving on their own accord, which in itself is something like black magic going on there. If you look at the pioneers of this medium, there was a certain creepiness to them. There has always been that slightly unsettling side of it. I believe it is entirely to do with it being real objects moving. When Tim Burton comes along and re-invents with with “The Nightmare Before Christmas”, he is playing on that and having fun with that slightly dark sense of humor. I don’t think it should be the limitation of the medium by any means. “ParaNorman” is kind of spooky but I think there shouldn’t be any real limits to the kind of stories you can tell with stop-motion.

MG: This is the first stop-motion film to utilize a 3D color printer to create replacement faces for its puppets, tell us about about that decision?
Sam Fell: Obviously these things aren’t designed for stop-motion animation. You are always taking a chance. We wanted to do something different on this film. They got a color printer in the studio and we did some experiments with it initially with the character Neil, who is covered in  freckles. When we saw it on the tested it big screen it just looked so promising. It was one of those spine-tingling moments, when you see something you’ve never seen before. We didn’t know if it was going to work on all the characters or if it would literally last over a two year production. We took a risk and went for it but it really turned out so well. When you see how the light fall on those faces or comes through them. I think the characters look less like dolls and are even more tangible and believable.

MG: I read that Norman alone has about 8,000 faces, how does that compare from other stop-motion films?
SF: I think with the numbers of faces, it has increased exponentially. I think Norman had a possible 1.5 million expressions at hand. We would never even use all of them since I don’t even think the human face can use that many expression. But that was at our finger tips. So pretty much whatever we wanted to do with this character we were able to do. It was really freeing because in the past stop-motion has had it limitations. There was replacement heads as far back as “The Nightmare Before Christmas” but they had to be hand-sculpted, so they were limited. Pretty much every limitation has been blown up on this movie. The boundaries in place of previous stop-motion movies, we broke them all. That was how we felt going into this. We thought let’s push this as far as we can and see what we can achieve. Everything we tried to do…it worked.

MG: The film is animated for a younger audience but is quite scary for some kids, how can you reflect?
SF: I think we wanted to make a family movie more than a kids movie. Something aimed at the teens or actually “tweens”. It is about an 11 year old boy and reflects their lives on screen. We wanted laughs, as well as scares and in a way it is like designing a roller coaster ride. We actually think that kids like scares. It is firstly entertaining and it also adds in a dramatic story. The hero, in this case a kid, has real challenges. You take them through it and show the darkness can be defeated. I think it makes for a great ride. We didn’t want to wimp out on the scares. We may loose the toddlers or the preschoolers but that is the risk you take. It is very hard to make a film for everybody…without being bland.
CB: We were specifically referencing an era of movie making that I think was a little braver. The movie that I grew up watching like “The Goonies” and “Ghostbusters”. They weren’t afraid to have scares and show an imperfect world. But they did it with humor and style. I miss those movies and I feel that they are also sorely missed by many people. So it was nice to play in that era again. Even though it was a contemporary movie, it was very much referenced by the films of the 80’s.

MG: I loved the Easter eggs for horror fans like the hockey mask and ringtone, any other hidden gems?
CB: The movie is so dripped with references that I don’t even known where to start. It is not just stuff that was in the script. I wrote in the bar in touch is called the Bargento, in reference to the old Italian movies. The name of Neil’s dead dog is Bub, which is the name of the tamed zombie in “Day of the Dead”. Most of the characters surnames are either horror movie directors or writers, even if they do not appear in the movie. On top of that we have a whole crew of movie fanatics, who were responsible for making the props and locations. They stick all kinds of stuff in there as well. It is difficult to even pin-point how much there is actually in there. Sam’s name even ended up on the old tramps underpants [laughs].
SF: I didn’t ask for that by the way [laughs].

 

Related Content

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: animation, butler, chris, directing, fell, paranorman, ...

Jourdan McClure talks about directing horror film “Rogue River”

Jourdan McClure is the director of the recent horror film “Rogue River”.  The film is a great entry into the genre, it doesn’t re-create the wheel but it kicks some major ass.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Jourdan about his new film and what he has planned next.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you tell us how you got involved with “Rogue River”?
Jourdan McClure: I had the story but I needed someone with the ability to take the screen play in the direction it needed to go. I turned to Kevin Haskin, who I had known before and he then brought in Ryan Finnerty, who is another talented screenwriter. Together they created this little world of contained nastiness that “Rogue River” became.

MG: How do you feel this horror film differs from others that are out there?
JM: I think the film is a bit more hyper-realized in terms of its color and photography. I really wanted to pay attention to the aesthetics of the film. We knew going in that we weren’t making the most original plot. We really wanted to play with the idea that execution was going to be key. This film relies more on atmosphere and tension.  The thought of something really fucked up happening inside this surreal environment was what we were after. I also wanted the craziness of what was going on to look really pretty. For me this was a great way to start with this being my first film.

MG: What was the biggest challenge on the shoot?
JM: Pre-production was very short on the film combined with this being my first movie made things a little difficult, but we were just running on adrenaline. The weather was pretty tough as we had a stretch of days that the temperature was about 9 degrees. I felt bad for the actors who had to be out in that working while I watched wearing a parka.

MG: What do you enjoy most about the horror genre?
JM: The horror genre incorporates everything. You can throw drama, comedy and or action into these types of films. I love when a movie tries to just be a movie. It takes you to a place you may not necessarily be able to go while adding in some real life elements. I like the idea of stylized fiction. Horror is great because you can be thrown in to hell and at the end of the film you can walk out. It’s like when someone cuts you off while driving and you want to stab them in the face. Being a horror directo,r I can write a scene like that, have it acted out and not get arrested. (Laughs)

MG: What other projects do you have coming out?
JM: I have a film titled “Children of Sorrow” which stars Bill Oberst Jr. The film involves a girl who loses her sister to a cult. The film is a POV movie. So you will see the story from each of the characters. It’s not a found footage film, but it takes aesthetics from that. This is a much more sinister film than “Rogue River”.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: directing, film, horror, jourdan, mcclure, river, ...

Lynn Shelton talks about directing “Your Sister’s Sister”

With only three feature films to her credit, Lynn Shelton has built a reputation as a writer with a keen ear and a director with a similar eye. Her last film, “Humpday,” earned her multiple awards, including the prestigious John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Her latest film, “Your Sister’s Sister,” continues her rise as one of the most talented and respected independent filmmakers of her generation. While promoting the film’s release, Ms. Shelton took time out to speak with Media Mikes about her love for the Pacific Northwest and her even greater love: being behind the camera.

Mike Smith: What was your inspiration in writing this film?
Lynn Shelton: The initial kernel of the film came from Mark Duplass. It was a little different. It was a guy and a girl who were best friends and the guy loses his brother. She sends him up to the cabin to be alone and he meets her mother. Her hot, youngish mother. It was going to be a kind of mother/daughter bed switching comedy. It was something he had envisioned making with his brother, Jay. But because it dealt with a dead brother Mark felt that it might be a little too close to home for them to handle as filmmakers. But he liked the idea still so he brought it to me with Jay’s blessing. And I made a few changes. I set it in the Pacific Northwest, where I set all of my movies. I just finished my 5th filmthere. I live in Seattle and I love to work in Washington state. And I also changed the mom to a sister. I always liked the idea of exploring a sister relationship…I’ve had an incredibly fascinating and rich love/hate relationship with my sisters my whole life and I thought it would be rich territory for a film.

MS: As a writer do you encourage your casts to improvise?
LS: I do. Well, in this case, for sure. My last film, “Humpday,” was 100% improvised in terms of the actual dialogue. I knew what was going to happen in each scene but we would talk before hand. Then we’d turn the camera on and they would find their way through the scene. In this film I actually had most of the dialogue written out. But I asked them to just hold the words loosely in their heads…don’t memorize the lines. It was really a quest for naturalism. I wanted the audience to believe that these people were having real conversations.

MS: You kind of touched on the fact that Mark Duplass is also a talented writer/director. Is it harder or easier to work with someone with that experience? Not to the point that he would second guess you but would he step back and offer advice?
LY: Not really. It’s a very open environment on set and everybody is contributing a lot. All of the actors. And I find that his experiences as a writer and director are really very invaluable. His input is really, really valuable. He never tried to overstep his bounds. He’s always an actor. I like to engage my actors…I like them to bring everything they’ve got to the table. I find it an incredible value.

MS: And as someone who also acts it might be easier to see where they’re coming from in certain situations?
LS: Yes. And that’s why I still like to keep my toe in that discipline. If somebody asks me to do a role and I’m able to…if it’s small and not too time consuming…I like to say “yes” because it keeps me close to that process. It also reminds me how difficult it is and what ittakes to do it. So you’re right. I am extremely empathetic with my actors. I try to create an emotionally safe work environment. That gives them the best chance of giving their best performance.

MS: Since we’re on the subject, have you decided to remain more behind the camera or is there still an acting role out there you’d like to do?
LS: I’ll never say never but right now I’m just so in love with directing that it’s hard for me to imagine taking on any kind of major acting role. But there may be something that comes down the line when I have an opening in my schedule that feels like the right thing to do. So I don’t want to put a total nix on that. But I’ve really just fallen in love with directing so it’s kind of hard to imagine taking acting seriously at this point in my life.

MS: You mentioned that you just finished your next film. Can you talk about it or what else you have coming up on your schedule?
LS: Sure. We wrapped shooting about five weeks ago. It’s called “Touchy-Feely.” My other films have been three character pieces and I wanted to get away from that. This one has an ensemble cast. It’s not a typical “Lynn Shelton” film. It’s a real departure. It was a great deal of fun to shoot.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: directing, lynn, shelton, sister, sisters, talks, ...

Garrett Brawith talks about directing “FDR: American Badass”

Garrett Brawith is the producer/director of the upcoming film “FDR: American Badass!”. It is a hysterical comedy starring Barry Bostwick as FDR, as his battles Nazi werewolves. Sounds crazy right? Well it is! Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Garrett about this film and what we can expect from the Blu-ray/DVD release this Fall.

Mike Gencarelli: What was the craziest experience you had working on “FDR: American Badass!”?
Garrett Brawith: The whole shoot was crazy! But there was a day where Bruce McGill and William Mapother had to play an entire dramatic scene standing over a naked man with a squirrel sticking out of his rectum. We’d all agreed not to look because frankly, dead rodents and back balls in your face can be distracting. They pulled it off like pros, but I hear they’re both in therapy now. Talk about dedicated.

MG: How did you get such an amazing cast lined up for this film like Barry Bostwick, Lin Shaye, Bruce McGill, Ray Wise and Kevin Sorbo?
GB: Our amazing casting directors, Dean Fronk and Don Pemrick helped talk them in to it, but with our movies “Poolboy, Drowning Out The Fury” and “Darnell Dawkins, Mouth Guitar Legend” coming out, they knew what they were getting in to; no-holds-barred insanity. And to their credit, they were all for it. Even actors of their caliber enjoy coming to set and just letting loose.

MG: So we got werewolves, Nazis and over-the-top racism is anything safe in this movie?
GB: No. On purpose. But I did wear a condom the entire time. Does that count?

MG: The film crosses over onto Jim Abraham/David Zucker ground via “Airplane!”, tell us about your decision to take the film that way?
GB: It often feels like everything has been done. “The Airplane” and “Naked Gun” series changed all of that by taking normal comedy and going way too far with it. I wanted to go even further. No apologies, no pulled punches, I’d like to kick the planet in the nuts and make them salute the flag at the same time. God bless America.

MG: How did this experience differ for you than your film “Poolboy”?
GB: “Poolboy, Drowning Out the Fury” was an experiment in mass comedy. We wanted to fill every second with something to make you laugh and honestly, I think we did it. FDR is a classier, stylized version, but without the class. The film looks great but it’s anything goes. We took the same philosophy as “Poolboy” and just went bigger.

MG: Tell us what we can expect from the upcoming DVD/Blu-ray release?
GB: We wanted to do something nice for the audience so there’s a special feature, 26 minute music video of me peanut butter wrestling the cast in lifesaver thongs. Because we care. Comes out September 25th, so look for it!

 

Related Content

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: american, badass, brawith, directing, fdr, garrett, ...

Tony Zierra talks about directing “My Big Break”

Tony Zierra is the director of the recent documentary “My Big Break”, which follows the early careers of Wes Bentley, Chad Lindberg, Brad Rowe and Gregory Fawcett.  Tony took out some time to chat with Media Mikes about its 10 year journey to the public.

Mike Gencarelli: How do you feel that “My Big Break” has finally be released to the public?
Tony Zierra: Relieved. One of the great gratifications a filmmaker has is to see their work done and to know that it has a chance to find its audience I’m always deeply touched when I hear someone has seen “My Big Break ” and was affected by it and understood what it’s about.

MG: Was it worth it for the 10 years it took to make and release?
TZ: Was it worth it? Yes. Did I want it to take 10 years? No. Absolutely not. The one thing that I can say is that the length of time it took to take the movie gave me a deeper understanding of the business, the life of the celebrity, the reality of filmmaking and allowed me to convey that in the film. It would be impossible to grasp that in two or three years. As annoying as it is to take that long to do something, when it’s done you really do appreciate all the hard work. That kind of lengthy process creates layers that you can only accomplish with time. Also, time allowed me to follow what would happen to each individual, including myself, before during and after “their break” and created a natural arc for the characters and the film.

MG: What do you think was the most difficult aspect in this road?
TZ: Resources and people’s commitment or lack thereof to the project, and the industry’s fear of exposure.

MG: Do you still keep in contact with Wes Bentley, Chad Lindberg, Brad Rowe and Gregory Fawcett?
TZ: Yes, but in varying degrees.

MG: Ever consider doing another documentary in another 10 years to follow-up on their careers?
TZ: I might, but if I wouldn’t do it if I were them. it’s very difficult for actors or any celebrity to put themselves in that position.This type of “real” reality, not the constructed reality we see on television, is too intense and revealing for them to willingly take part in. Probably the only reason they agreed to do it originally was because they were unknown.

MG: How does “My Big Break” compare to the tossed documentary “Carving Out Our Name”?
TZ: “My Big Break” is more revealing, layered and truthful. “My Big Break” is storytelling and “Carving” was filmmaking. “Carving” was honest to a certain degree, very visual, with a sense of “show-off” because I was hoping that it would be my ticket to working as a filmmaker in Hollywood. I was playing the game to get into the system. When you’re making a film in the business you’re already thinking about your next film so there’s a self-conscious aspect to it. True storytelling, though, is not affected by any of that. You’re only focused on the truth of the subjects as characters in the story. Also, “Carving” had a lot in it aboutrelationships each guy had with their then girlfriends and their friendship with each other but ‘My Big Break” is purely about the each one of us in relationship to the business. There was no narration in “Carving”, I never appeared in it at all. I put my story into “My Big Break” because I felt it was only fair to the actors to expose my own pain, vulnerability and disappointments if I was going to do that to them

MG: What are you currently working on? Ever plan on directing again?
TZ: I’ll always be interested in storytelling and there are different ways to do that outside of the system. For example, I’m working on a documentary about Stanley Kubrick but I don’t really see it as “making movies” in a standard way – I’m telling a story. I’m currently writing a book about my experiences that include, but are definitely not confined to, my time in Hollywood. And there are always other projects in the works.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews Tagged With: big, break, directing, talks, tony, zierra, ...

Kevin Cooper talks about directing “I Heart Shakey”

Kevin Cooper has worked various jobs in Hollywood and has lent his talents to such films as “Armageddon” and “Secondhand Lions.” A Midwest boy at heart, after graduating from NYU Cooper made his way west, working his way through the ranks of both independent film making and the studio system. Cooper recently got behind the camera, writing and directing the new family film, “I Heart Shakey.” The film is currently available via Video on Demand and will open in theatres nationwide later this month. Kevin took a few moments out of his schedule to talk about his new film with Media Mikes:

Michael Smith: You’ve worked on many films in many various roles yet this is the first time you’ve added writer and director to your resume’. What made you decide to take on this film at this time?
Kevin Cooper: I’ve been in this business for a long time and I’m always looking for something “new” to attempt. My wife, who ended up producing the film, and I were talking one night and we said to ourselves, “we know how to make movies…we have relationships with distributors and talent…what’s stopping US?” And we decided that if we were going to go into the battle we should focus on a subject that means something to us. And this film is ultimately about loyalty…about family. So we chose to pursue this project. It had been sitting around for a long time. In a way it’s loosely based on my life. I graduated from NYU film school, which is where I met Steve Lemme. I moved to L.A. When I got there I rented an apartment. And only after I had been there for a week did I learn that I would be able to keep my dog. So the film brought up a real challenge. What do you do when you have to get rid of your dog…to in a way tear your family apart? Of course I had just got to Hollywood so I thought, “Shit, I’ll just give away the dog!” But every time I gave the dog away to a prospective owner….basically the next day they were calling me and saying “come get your dog…he’s way too rambunctious for me!” He was such a fun and crazy dog. And ultimately, after about three or four months, I realized that the dog wants to stay with ME. And it was really one of those life lessons about loyalty. So that inspired a really early first draft. But the project just sat there. I wasn’t really a development guy, I was a studio guy. I was constantly working on other peoples projects. So when I got back to the Midwest I decided to find a project that’s personal…one we could dive into. My directing work had been in comedy. When I lived in New York I directed and produced all of Broken Lizards early sketches. They had a live show in New York City and between sketches, when they had to set up different props or change wardrobe, my video sketches would play while they did their changes. And the film is also a great way to come back together with friends. With dear friends, actually. I mean they came up with “Super Troopers” on the way to my wedding! We go way back, those guys and I.

MS: Why did you decide to add the extra burden of shooting in 3D to your first feature?
KC: (laughs) That’s a great question. One of the things we knew early on was that, for the film to succeed, we had to give ourselves every advantage. It was less about how the audience would receive it and more about our perception of where 3D was headed. I ran James Cameron’s company for six years and some of my best friends are technologists and industry leaders. Now for 100 years the industry has really kept people like you and me out. You really had to be a wealthy guy or come from money…you had to have some kind of connection generally speaking. Nepotism ran rampant in this industry for many, many years. But our production budget was $235,000. And we asked how much it would cost to use 3D. We found a camera house here in Chicago that was willing to foot the bill for it so it didn’t really cost us a ton more…at least not in production. In post it did end up costing us a little bit more money. I explored what it meant, artistically, to make a film in 3D. And it really opens up new worlds and frontiers. Hollywood is such a competitive place. We thought why just do a regular film…why not give yourself every advantage you can? It was important for us to know that we were out front like that. Some of our best friends are indie filmmakers. And I would say that seven or eight out of ten of them don’t get their feature films distributed. So our idea was to do everything we could to make this film appealing. That was our thinking. And once you’ve committed to that you really have no choice. When you grasp onto technology there is really no backing out. Our distributor is very committed to the film. They’d put it out in 2D. But they’re very committed to putting it out in 3D. And you ask about the difficulty of working with 3D…you can say the same thing about working with dogs…working with kids. I teach film at Columbia and I was sort of breaking all of the rules (laughs).

MS: Ironically my next question was: was it difficult to work with the animals?
KC: It was hard! (laughs) There’s a great supplemental bit on the DVD for “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” where they talk about how they rescued all the dogs. It seemed very logical and possible that we could do the same thing here in Chicago with one dog. So we found a rescue dog and trained with him for months. And it just didn’t work. We ended up having to call all over the United States. And eventually we ended up with a dog that was pretty good. Most films use a purebreed dog because it’s easier to find a double. But I wanted to use a mutt. We found a double but he was hard to work with. I would say that animals in general take a lot more time. In some cases we didn’t get all the things we wanted the dog to do. One thing I’m proud of is we came up with ways to further some of the sequences in the film with animation…almost like a representation of the girl’s imagination. Originally it was just a crutch but when we tested the film we found that our target audience loved the animation! It’s interesting how what appeared to be one of our problems turned into one of our strengths.

MS: You have a very solid cast, including Steve Lemme, Steve Guttenberg and Beverly D’Angelo. How did you get them interested in the project?
KC: Hollywood is a funny business. My first job out of college was working at CAA (the Creative Artist Agency). One of my best friends is now running the Motion Picture Talent Department at CAA. Not that he helped me get the cast…it’s just that Hollywood is a very small place. You know everybody one person removed if you’ve been there a few years. And it’s important to understand the mentality behind the talent agent. So a guy like Guttenberg…he wants to get paid. He wasn’t paid a lot but he got paid. Three days of work for several thousand bucks. You make him an offer. “Hey, do you want to come out here for three days?” And he’s also a big fan of Steve Lemme and Broken Lizard, so that helped. And having Steve involved…he doesn’t have a huge fan base but the fan base he does have is very loyal to him. In certain circles he’s a major rock star! If you’re a 45 year old lady you’ve probably never heard of him. But if you’re a 22 year old guy, you’ve probably memorized all of his lines from his films. So having Steve on board was definitely an asset to the project. And then we got Alfonso Arau. Now maybe he doesn’t have a lot of fans but he lent a certain level of legitimacy to the project. He directed films like “Like Water for Chocolate.” And his comic role in “The Three Amigos”…El Guapo…you won’t find a comedian who doesn’t consider that performance one of the top five or top ten…everybody loves that role. We didn’t get a “Prometheus” size push with the talent involved but, like a said, for under a half-million bucks…it was enough to get the investors to support the film. So it certainly helps to know the psychology behind a Hollywood talent agent.

MS: So, in a sense, making this film was your own El Guapo?”
KC: (laughing) Exactly! You know it, man. It was a plethora of fun and problems all at the same time.

MS: Finally, once the film is released and behind you, what are you working on next?
KC: I’m working on a project with Steve Lemme called “My Sky.” It’s a script written by Alex Torres and it’s about a guy with Tourette Syndrome. It’s a very different tone…in the vein of “Awakenings.” It’s something that we can really control the tone of…we can dig in deep and roll up our sleeves. I don’t know if you were suggesting this earlier or not but, if you were, you were right on the money. Making a film with all these attributes…3D and kids and dogs…are definitely harder for sure. Unless I have a lot more money I’m not going to be doing that kind of film for a long time. Not so much that I needed money…it’s just that you need more shooting days…you can acquire more takes. “My Sky” is such a gem of a script that we want to do it justice. A lot of people have said to Steve, “you’re sort of this generation’s ‘Cheech and Chong, what with his films with “Broken Lizard.” But it will give us a chance to make a film that’s really cool.

MS: Thank you for your time.
KC: It was a pleasure to talk with you. I should also add you have a very neat site. I think it’s awesome. You guys do a really great job of working in and outside of the systems. Keep up the good work!

 

Related Content

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: cooper, directing, heart, kevin, shakey, talks, ...

Brad Parker talks about directing “Chernobyl Diaries”

Brad Parker is making his directorial debut with the new film “Chernobyl Diaries”. The film is co-wrote and produced by Oren Peli, known for the “Paranormal Activity” series. Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Bradley about working on the film and what we can expect.

Mike Gencarelli: Can you tell us why you chose “Chernobyl Diaries” for your directorial debut?
Brad Parker: There were two things really. The idea of working with Oren Peli who is a great guy and sort of a master of suspense was very exciting. The other thing was the city itself. It was a place I had been aware of and had collected photos of the location thinking that someday I would shoot a film there. When we first met we hit it off and were instantly able to start talking about the city as a character. We got right into the nuts and bolts of production. The place and the man were the two main elements.

MG: So you had knowledge of the area prior to starting?
BP: Yes I did. I had sort of learned from my friend Mark Romanic that as I came across fascinating photos I should save them on my computer. I created an archive for when I needed a specific look for something. I was able to pull from the knowledge of the place through a photographic sense.

MG: What do you think was this projects biggest challenge?
BP: The biggest challenge I think was the amount of time we had to do the film. I met theproducers of the film about a year ago. I had a rough treatment of the film at that time and we were set to start shooting not too long after that meeting. We really got into production very quickly. We shot the film in about 20 days so that was probably the biggest challenge. It was a lot of fun but very hard at the same time. Some of the locations were challenging and there were a number of things going on in a few of the scenes.

MG: Your background is in visual effects. Did you get involved with any of that for this film?
BP: I did. I got involved by deciding where not to use visual effects. I have being doing visual effects work for so long that I have become aware of where effects work and where they do not. I had a limited budget so I had to figure out how to use that appropriately. I worked with my friend and former co-worker Mark Forker on the visual stuff. It was great to be out there with a friend and an ally. We are very like minded and I trust him. He and I see eye to eye when it comes to visual aesthetics.

MG: What do you think you were able to take from this shoot that you will be able to use in future projects?
BP: The experience of working with this group of actors. It’s kind of semi-improvisational which I really liked. I found it very liberating and it was a great way to work. Working on long takes was another thing I loved. That was a great way to shoot and get natural performances. I think I will be taking that with me for future shoots.

MG: Are you at all nervous about the film opening up against “Men in Black III”?
BP: It’s hard to say. I don’t know what to expect being this is my first film. I am a big fan of the “Men in Black” series. I hope people respond well to the film. I don’t know how we will do but I hope people like it.

MG: Do you know what your next project will be?
BP: I am in development right now with Bad Robot. My friend Matt Reeves is producing the film and it is being released by Paramount. I can’t really say too much about it just yet.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: brad, chernobyl, diaries, directing, parker, talks, ...

Robin Hardy talks about his return to directing with “The Wicker Tree”

Robin Hardy is probably best known for his directing of the classic 1973 film “The Wicker Man”. Robin is back directing and is set to release the second film in the Wicker series titled “The Wicker Tree”. Media Mikes was very fortunate to be able to talk with Robin recently about the film.

Adam Lawton: Can you tell us about your return to directed?
Robin Hardy: Over the years I have been directing everything from documentaries to television commercials. I think I have made over 1000 commercials and have been very successful with those. Directing is something that I really enjoy doing. Having been trained as an artist I am able to illustrate everything I want. As a writer I like to introduce music whenever I can. I suppose that comes from commercials. Music is such an important part for those. These things have tended to blend leading me to use them in the features I have made.

AL: What was it like returning to the Wicker series some 40 years after the first one being made?
RH: It was good. I even had some actors in the new film who were in the first one. The little girl who is watching the beetle go around and around the nail in the first film reappears as a cook in the new film. There are some others who returned as well. It was really fun returning to the genre. To revive this genre is what really drew me to this project. It was great fun working on the songs.

AL: What do you think is the biggest difference between the two films?
RH: In many ways I don’t think they differ all that much. I think the second movie brings in some relative sub-plots that were not used in the first film. The question of being able to enlarge on the idea of the Sun as an object of worship turns up in this second film. I liked doing this in the second film because it brings the whole idea of the current state of religion down to us as a more understandable present day interest or preoccupation. In the first film there were a lot of pagan clues which were ultimately leading a Christian man to his death.

AL: How do you think your book “Cowboy’s for Christ” compares to the film?
RH: I think it’s pretty faithful to it. I made a much bigger deal of the police. It seemed to me when I read the book that in order to keep the sense of disbelief in the whole story and to believe in the police man was getting quite close to understanding what was going on we had to expand on that. This had to be the tail to the film because it was too much of a red hearing and it would have spoiled the flair of the story.

AL: Can you tell us about Christopher Lee’s involvement in the film?
RH: In the case of the first film we were all Hammer film fans. We thought that the Hammer films all though tongue and cheek in their way didn’t begin to do justice to the whole pagan background. We thought it would be a wonderful idea to take someone who was an icon of those films and turn the whole story on its head by making this guy the pagan lord.

AL: Can you tell us about your work on the third film in the series “The Wrath of Gods”?
RH: I wanted to make that film in Iceland because I thought it would be sort of fun to try and make this sort of saga theme park in Iceland. I couldn’t raise the money to make the film there because of the terrible economic shape that the country is in. I chose to shoot in the Shetland Island because originally they were Scandinavian. It was perfectly logical to set this saga there. They also have a most wonderful Fire festival there which is featured in the film. I would like to think this film will be out within the next four years.

 

Related Content

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: directing, hatrdy, return, robin, talks, tree, ...

Xavier Gens talks about directing “The Divide”

Xavier Gens is the director of the apocalyptic thriller “The Divide”.  He is known best for directing films “Hitman” and “Frontier(s)”.  Media Mikes had a chance to chat with Xavier about his new film and working with such an amazing cast.

Mike Gencarelli: How did you come on board to direct the “The Divide”?
Xavier Gens: I was shooting a commercial and received a call from the producer, Darryn Welch.  They sent me the script and said that they were fans of “Frontier(s)” and wanted to get my on board. I told them I really liked the concept but wanted to re-write the script a little to show my vision. I worked with Eron Sheean and Karl Mueller for eight months during casting and pre-production and we came up with the final script for the movie.

MG: The cast is such a broad collection of talent, tell us about how the cast was chosen?
XG: I worked with a fantastic casting director, Lindsey Kroeger.  She has done wonders for a lot of movies and brought us a lot of great ideas.  Since we did the casting only one month before shooting, there weren’t a lot of actors who were available.  I never could have imagined that Michael Biehn would have been available to make this film.  It was a pleasure to be working with such a legend from the 80-90’s, I grew up watching his movies.  I was a little bit impressing in the beginning to direct him on the set.  I put a weapon in his hands and directly I thought of Hicks from “Aliens” and it was really cool.  Everyone on the film was just great.

MG: Like “Frontiers(s)”, “The Divide” is pretty brutal and intense; how do you know when you go to far with your films?
XG: I was frustrated on “Hitman” because I couldn’t do the editing.  For me on “The Divide”, it was very important for me to do exactly what I wanted.  It was like making my first film again.  For me it was important to go much further where I could and bring something new out of this surrounding, almost poetic.  I was great being able to have 100% creative freedom on the project.  It was a great experience for me.

MG: What was your most difficult task in directing “The Divide”?
XG: I think it would have to be shooting in chronological order.  We had our actors on diets during shooting, so they were losing a lot of wait.  For example, Michael Biehn lost 17 pounds during filming.  I also gave a lot of creative freedom to the actors.  I used that a lot to catch the organic tension between the actors on camera.  Lauren German had trouble shooting a few scenes because she never knew what the other actors were going to be doing.  There was some scripted lines but most of it was free-range improv from the actors.

MG: How do you feel that “The Divide” differs production wise from your past films “Frontier(s)” and “Hitman”?
XG: It was a great really.  I got to do exactly what I wanted.  I was really happy with the final cut of the film.  It is hard to get that normally from a studio.  It was fantastic and I look forward to working with those people again.

MG: What do you have planned next?
XG: I am currently working out financing for a movie and waiting to sure what will be next.  I cannot be sure for the moment.  We will see what happens.

Read Complete Article
Filed Under: Film Interviews, Interviews Tagged With: directing, divide, gens, talks, xavier
« sdf
Previous
Page 3 of 3