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Your new movie Birdcall
- in a few words, what's it about?
Birdcall
follows two survivors of a global ecological disaster - a world in which
an avian-spread disease has forced humanity into secluded cities. Jon, a
foolhardy scientist, has recently been infected, and he plans on testing a
potential cure at a secluded cabin. This is all unbeknownst to his wife
Rosie, a steadfast survivor in her own right, who has accompanied him on
his getaway.
Birdcall
is a story about our relationships with nature and with our individual
understandings of what it means to be human.
How did the project come into being in the first place, what drew
you to it?
I had put a lot of pressure on myself when it came to making a horror
film. I was very interested in the genre and didn’t want to mess up my
first go at it. Then Fantasia 2025 rolled around and a bunch of other
Montreal filmmakers I knew got in. Their success inspired me to finally
take the leap into horror. So I started brainstorming low budget concepts
and kept coming back to analog horror. I really wanted to take a stab at
making a creature for the film as well. Writer Halle Kott and I were chatting about it
one night and I was talking about this ARG series
Weird Birds -
https://dinodadreviews.com/2023/10/08/weird-birds/.
I am a huge dinosaur nerd so I was really into this idea of mixing found
footage and dinosaurs. Not even 24 hours later, Halle comes to me with a
full outline for Birdcall.
We both said, “this seems a little ambitious… screw it let’s do it.”
What can you tell us about
Birdcall's writer Halle Kott, and what was your collaboration
like?
Halle and I are actually partners! Halle works in anthropology - they have
always had a unique and impressive understanding of people, which they are
much better at translating onto the page than myself. It was our first
time collaborating on a creative project, so we were figuring out our
rhythm as we went. I am prone to talking about work at all hours, so we
developed a work schedule that we would stick to. Outside of those
allotted times, no talking shop. That system took a while to get used to,
but I think it has actually helped me a lot when it comes to managing my
own schedule now. We both drew inspiration from very different things.
Halle was very interested in the dynamics of human relationships, whereas
I was focused more on the world and visuals. I think that ultimately
strengthened the story because we were able to focus on individual pieces
and then combine it all together to form the larger picture.
Do talk about Birdcall's
approach to horror!
There is obviously a lot of body horror in the film. It was always a core
part of the script, but Catherine Hamel, our special effects artist, did
such a good job that we wanted to highlight her work as much as possible.
Our production designer, Dina El Sabbagh, also did a great job of
transforming the cottage location into an abandoned outpost. She also
worked tirelessly on the creature head up until the last minute. For our
first go at creating a creature from scratch, we were very happy with the
results! Story wise, a lot of the horror is implied. We were trying to
evoke the feeling of being trapped and hunted. There is also an
overarching narrative of our futile attempts at trying to control nature,
and the existential dread that comes with realizing the insignificance of
your existence in the grand scheme of life.
You shot Birdcall
the found footage way - so what are the advantages but maybe also
challenges of making a movie that way?
Found footage naturally works well on a low budget because you can hide
imperfections behind grainy footage or shaky camera work. The camera
becomes part of the story, however, so you have to have some reason for
the characters to be filming everything. We were trying to strike a
balance between interesting cinematography and realistic manipulation of
the camera. Our DoP, Josh Popovsky, operated the camera the whole shoot.
He was often right in the middle of the actors, and they would grab hold
of the camera and essentially swing him around. During Jon’s final
monologue, for example, he holds the camera at a low angle at one point
and looks down at it, then stands back up, still holding the camera. Josh
was on the ground for that shot, then Sam (Jon) pulled both Josh and the
camera up and continued with his monologue.
Do talk about Birdcall's
cast, and why exactly these people?
Sam Beaton has been involved in all of my projects in one way or another. He’s a
fantastic actor and both Halle and I knew he would play Jon from the
start. Originally, I had a different actor in mind for Rosie. However, due
to a scheduling conflict, we had to find someone new. Vassiliki
Gicopouolos played a
supporting role in my first short, and I wanted to work with her again
ever since. She was super into the script and we were immediately on the
same page. Casey Marie Ecker’s role of Avery, the puppet narrator in the intro, was
actually a last minute addition. We found our original intro wasn’t
intriguing enough, then Halle came up with this PSA video that fit right
into the analog horror vibe. I knew Casey would be perfect for the voice
and they nailed it. And of course, everyone was willing to do it for free.
A few words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
It was a 3 day shoot with a couple of overnights, and we all slept on
site. We were around 15 people sharing the space. Some of us (including
myself) did a little backyard camping since there wasn’t enough room in
the house for everyone. We cooked and ate all together and sat around the
fire pit after wrapping each night. I could not have asked for a better
group of people to share the experience with. It was kind of like a mini
sleepaway camp, except with a lot more blood and gore.
The $64-question, where can
Birdcall be seen?
Birdcall
will be premiering at Fantasia International Film Festival on
Friday, July 31st at 9:30pm. It will be playing at Cinéma du Musée
as part of the Horreur All-Dressed short film program, under the
section Les
Fantastiques week-ends du cinéma québécois.
Anyhing you can tell us about audience and critical reception of
Birdcall?
The film hasn’t been publicly released yet, but early reviews have been
pretty positive. We were worried we went too big with the world and some
of it would get lost, but so far every reviewer has understood everything.
So that has been great to see! We’re very excited to watch the film at
Fantasia with a full audience.
Any future projects you'd like to share?
We are interested in expanding on the
Birdcall
universe for a potential feature film. It is still very early stages,
however. What got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you
receive any formal training on the subject?
I was rejected from every film program I applied to back when I was
applying to universities. That ended up being a blessing in disguise,
however. It forced me to look for opportunities elsewhere, and I started
out as an intern at Beanduck Productions here in Montreal. They taught me
so much and got me on set for the first time. We still work closely to
this day! My interest in film started with editing, which I still love to
do. I am very fortunate to be able to work full time in the industry,
especially in Canada.
What can you tell us about your filmwork prior to
Birdcall?
Birdcall
is my fourth short I have directed. Prior to that, I developed a comedy
series and shot a proof of concept for it. I learnt the hard way how
difficult it is to pitch a story set in the industry. That project has
still received a lot of positive feedback, so I am not abandoning it just
yet. But I am very interested in continuing in horror for the time being
and seeing where it leads me.
How would you describe yourself as a director?
As a director, I merely assemble a team of people with actual talent, then
proceed to brain dump my mess of ideas onto them. All jokes aside, I
believe communication and collaboration are key in any creative job. I
love working with other creatives and witnessing how much they are able to
do with the bare minimum.
Birdcall
taught me a lot about decision-making as a director. When to trust my
colleagues, but also when to trust myself and stick to my guns. My biggest
hurdle as a filmmaker has been learning to trust my gut, and while there
Birdcall
was a great step in the right direction. I’m lucky to have such talented
friends to work alongside with.
Filmmakers who inspire you?
Robert Eggers is probably my favourite director currently. He truly never
misses as far as I’m concerned. Martin McDonagh is also fantastic. You can
tell they both have such clear visions of the kinds of stories they want
to tell, each in their own right. I think I’m still finding my voice as a
director, so it’s something I think about pretty often.
Your favourite movies? Jurassic Park
(1993) will always be my number one. Again, I’m a huge dinosaur nerd, but
it is also just so well paced and sucks me in every time. Other favourites
include The Thing
(1982), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
(2017) and Children of Men
(2006). Also anything Robert Eggers releases!
... and of course, films you really deplore?
Boring answer, but I just like good stories told by passionate people. I
try to avoid anything that was clearly made with no love.
Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever else?
You can find me on Instagram: @cala.justinator. And check out the trailer here:
https://youtu.be/5xI5SBW4LDE
Thanks for the interview!
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