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Your new movie Rent-a-Man
- in a few words, what's it about?
Rent-a-Man,
in short, appears to be about two strangers hiking the desert, but as we
delve deeper we'll discover neither of these men fit a normal mold and
instead there's more than meets the eye in terms of deception, cunning,
visual symbolism -- a mystery in need of piecing together.
Its
logline: A gangster hires a mysterious rent-a-man for a subtle game of
cat-and-mouse in the desert until an ultimate future-changing twist!
Since Rent-a-Man is
at its heart a crime thriller (however abstracted) - is this a genre at
all dear to you, and some of your genre favourites?
I love crime-thrillers, thriller-mysteries, thrillers of all types as I find
them filled with much more psychology than other genres, except for
perhaps sci-fi. They usually teach me something new or show me something
from a different perspective than I would be able to experience first hand
through living a mundane life - resulting in excitement and a form of
human competition. If a film forces the viewer to say, "whoa, what is
going on?" -- then usually, there's something special, unique or
original about it.
(Other)
sources of inspiration when writing Rent-a-Man? Two
main inspirations for Rent-a-Man
were a video & article about a rent-a-man ad out of Japan via China Morning Sun about a man who
listens to lonely women while sharing a beverage. The second were patents
that I list in my credits. Off the record, and unlisted in the credits
beyond the articles & scientific journals mentioned about
brain-on-a-chip developments for decades, was a live news story I watched
several years ago that frightened me to my core. It was surveillance
footage of a person carrying a weapon inside a building in DC and then
being apprehended by police in a deadly shootout. Prior to the so-called
criminal's demise, he shouted, "don't shoot, don't shoot" and
tried to warn the authorities that something was wrong. The weapon
recovered plus the surveillance footage showed that the man scratched
'help me' or something to that effect onto the weapon using his hands. It
appeared, as if he didn't have control of any other parts of his body
beyond his fingers and tongue. Even the way he walked, his gait, was that
of a computer game character hunched over in a soldier-like pose as he
creeped along the corridor moments before his end. This news story didn't
need to tell me that this was the original rent-a-man, and the footage
seemed to be perhaps a public test to demonstrate the remote abilities of
brain-on-a-chip technology. Observing this struck me as very shocking to
say the least. As a result, the documented scientific literature and all
of the talk now on AI from shore to shore should give the public warning
that this isn't a fairy tale any longer. My film is entertainment, but
it's also a cautionary warning for those who think while it's still legal. Among
many other job, you were also responsible for Rent-a-Man's
very avantgarde camerawork and editing - so do talk about your approach to
these aspects of your movie for a bit!
The camera style is purposeful, as it is symbolic of the rent-a-man's true
identity, unearthed by those that delve deep.
I always tell people believe it or not, when I was editing the film, I felt
that something was helping me to do so, either God, the universe, angels,
ghosts, or merely the powers of the unconscious. In an other-worldly way,
I'm really fortunate that -- however crazy this may sound -- whatever
decided to help me -- actually did, and for reasons I may never
understand. I myself never feel like I can take full credit for the
editing even though I like to joke that Jesus from the Bible wandered 40
days and nights in the desert, and so did I while editing Rent-a-Man,
because it took me 8 to 12 hours of editing per day for forty consecutive
days to complete the final edit (in comparison, late director Terrence
Malick's editors took six months or more). I knew that if I stopped for
even one day, I'd quit. That's how hard this was for me. That's also why I
credit some invisible force for helping me. I just couldn't have done it
on my own.
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I
only had previous editing experience creating simple YouTube videos, so
when it came to editing a feature film, I was totally unequipped. My
budget was too lean to pay for the professional quote that I had received
for a complete edit, which included sound and color add-ons. Therefore my
actor, Jomri D., would call me everyday to talk me into doing the edit myself
-- which I thought at the time was beyond ludicrous, even impossible. I
started researching anything online that I could about editing, which
scared me that much more when I found out I'd need to purchase a custom
built computer to create a rendered feature film file that would be
professionally acceptable. I called up owners and employees of computer
shops to pick their brains about graphics cards, memory, ram and, most
importantly, prices. I'd compare the answers I received with different
experts and vice versa, as I couldn't afford to make a mistake like buying
the wrong equipment. Once I summoned the courage to make the purchase, I
realized I had blindly leapt into the role of editor without any training.
This was a very overwhelmingly rude awakening, and I believed that I'd
made the wrong decision, because owning the equipment didn't mean I knew
how to operate the additional software that I needed to utilize, nor did I
know anything about sound or color. All of these hard realities were
accompanied by a tsunami of emotions, but I battled through. Jomri kept
calling me daily, sometimes more than once per day, encouraging me,
telling me not to worry, that I'd be able to figure it out, asking for
updates when there were none! I had to learn the basics of the software,
and I knew that if I let one day slip by without working toward this
feature goal, I'd give up under the sheer magnitude of stressful weight I
had naively taken on. Before any of this transpired, I called a casting
agency owner to pick her brain and ask for advice. She was considerate
enough to speak with me, a stranger, and offered her knowledge about the
industry, only to finish by telling me that I couldn't do it alone and
that I shouldn't. I answered her, "believe me, I don't want to do it
alone, but I don't have any other choice." I didn't have any funds to
hire anyone to help me who knew what they were doing. I forced myself over
three days to learn editing software by trial & error and through
explanatory YouTube videos, which I would've been stuck without. I list
these people in my credits. The feature film credits thank a few people
who were instrumental in my education of technical art. I felt like I had
achieved a bachelor's degree in film from a university after the entire
process -- from writing to producing to directing to editing to
post-production and all of the other roles that I'd blindly jumped into.
Truly, this was an insane endeavor of which there's only one quote to
encapsulate it, "where there's a will, there's a way." Also,
another quote comes to mind, "hell on earth." A part of me says
never again, while my imagination can't wait to get started once more.
A few words about
your overall directorial approach to your story at hand?
I watched numerous YouTube videos on directing, directorial styles and
really was impressed by Terence Malick's flare for his abstract visions
while directing landscape cinematography in his catalog of films. I even
found a director who offered to do the camera work, direct and edit one of
my other features for a small amount more than what my custom editing
computer cost. At the time, I jumped on the opportunity, and we agreed to
it and his fee. I created a Kickstarter and promoted it to my friends.
Yet, after waiting for his schedule to open up, he basically vanished
without communicating with me and started on another project as an editor.
I didn't understand what had happened, but after a short time I realized
he couldn't direct in the way that I had asked him to. I had him consider
through a pitch deck a Terence Malick style or something similar to that
of what an abstract visionary could create, and therefore, he vanished, I
believe, out of fear -- as his girlfriend-a potential actress in the this
proposed film project had once mentioned in her message to me that he
didn't know how to film certain scenes.
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This
was a blessing in disguise for me as an artist, as it forced me to
consider directing on my own and fulfilling a childhood dream that I had
eliminated decades earlier from my mind. I didn't believe that I could do
it and never had a budget for learning it nor trying it professionally
until this parting of ways with the director opened my eyes to its
possibility. So when a negative situation arrives, it can have positive
ramifications by showing alternative avenues of progress, even if you have
to pull yourself up by your own boot straps. Additionally, David Lynch was
a huge inspiration in my education of how-to-think like a director. His
approach of using ideas from the subconscious and chasing them to where
they lead helped me develop my own abstractions and visual layers that
communicate symbolism for the story and add clues to the true identity and
functionality of the rent-a-man. Sometimes, I had to film specific visuals
first and then later see the big picture, the larger pattern taking place
and understand what it was saying and how it perfectly fit into the story.
These were marvelous moments for me as both a director and editor. Moments
like these are when I believe something else is at work. I think this
crosses David Lynch's mind as well. Although he credits the subconscious,
and I do too, I still believe there's room for unexplained phenomena
here.
What
can you tell us about Rent-a-Man's
key cast, and why exactly these people? The
moment I finished writing Rent-a-Man, which took record time -- as I was
inspired to write a no-budget idea in the parking lot of a seafood grocery
store after shopping there -- I thought, who could I ask to play the
gangster character of Jackie? Not five minutes later, Jomri, the actor in Rent-a-Man, called me out of the blue to invite me to a mutual
friend's birthday party, as he couldn't make it. I thought, what a
coincidence and pitched him the role. He replied it was great timing, as
he contemplated becoming a commercial actor after watching a dad sell
laundry detergent on TV and figured he could do the same. He made a split
second decision and agreed to try the role of Jackie. Jomri and I were
competitors in the Las Vegas nightlife industry. We were both promoters,
hosts and marketers working at the Bellagio. I made all of my competitors
my colleagues in order for a smoother working relationship with everyone
within the industry. This way there would be positive word of mouth in
cultivating working relationships. Jakub Baranski, who plays the rent-a-man
Dillon, was a childhood friend of mine. He was my first real-lasting
friend from age seven as he and his family immigrated to the United States
like my family did and ended up living in the same apartment complex. He
and I were only friends for about five years before he moved away to
Chicago with his family, yet we remained connected through other family
friends over the years. We hadn't seen one another nor spoken to one
another as adults for a very long time, but we managed to revisit twice,
years prior to coming together and filming Rent-a-Man. Jakub always wanted
to do something within the film industry as he read books about it
throughout the years as a hobby, and once this opportunity crossed his
path, he immediately said he was in.
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You of course
also have to talk about the film's desert locations for a bit, and what was it
like filming there? There
was someone in my circle that loved to travel, explore all of the local
areas each weekend and post about them. I inquired about one of the posted
images, its location and had a few follow up questions. This person
inspired me to look further into Valley of Fire State Park as an option,
so I listed an abbreviated credit in the special thanks section. Another
person accompanied me as an unofficial scout to the park, so I also listed
an abbreviated credit in the special thanks section. The vast park was
gorgeous with many areas ending up off limits to professional filming, I
found out after meeting with the park rangers. They allowed filming in
certain populated areas and other back areas - out of tourists' view.
These back areas took over a mile hike in each direction, and my actors
weren't the outdoorsy type. The rangers even asked if the actors were
hikers and when I told them they weren't, but that I was experienced, they
laughed about it. Jomri and Jakub wore suits in the desert. The
temperature forecasted was supposed to be around 72 degrees Fahrenheit,
yet surprisingly it reached 86. They were good sports about it and
insisted on carrying their own suits, backpacks, and water. I brought them
food, but Jomri even insisted on his own. Hiking over two miles round trip
from a restroom presented some time difficulties as I had to break filming
to hike back to use the facilities. Jomri didn't even make it to set the
first day due to his uncle passing, so Jakub had to pretend to interact on
his own, which he was not too pleased with as this was his first acting
gig. He didn't get the direct feedback from playing off of
another-opposing actor that he needed, and this made for a challenging
time, especially for me, to come up with ways to motivate him toward
particular directions. Do talk about the shoot as such, and
the on-set atmosphere! This
production tested how creative I could be as a director and how much
perseverance I had. Luckily, I pieced everything together into an edit
that worked despite physical tourist interruptions, tourists asking for
pictures, tourists starting conversations about their own related film
projects, bus tours, noise, distant talking, wind whistling, sand blowing,
the beating down of the hot sun, my arms cramping, Jakub's shoes falling
apart, Jomri being reminded of lines, flies buzzing, the uneven path of
sand and rock, having to improvise on the fly due to terrain, body
positioning, lack of shadows, brightness, batteries overheating, all of
our frustrations, staying focused while the actors socialized and
improvised, novice acting mixed with novice directing, positioning a
tripod while operating a camera and holding sound as I read the script off
my phone through a glare, time constraints leading to limited single or
double takes at the most, using the landscape as my cinematography
palette, brainstorming persuasive ideas to direct the actors and trying
not to hear the voice in my head asking what have I gotten myself into.
But somehow, someway, with the help of another dimension, it actually
worked. We shared some laughs and were proud of our work despite not
having time to review dailies on location, but we led by faith.
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The $64-question of course, where
can Rent-a-Man be
seen?
Links: www.justwatch.com/us/movie/rent-a-man
Stream FREE on Tubi: tubitv.com/movies/100001347/rent-a-man
Stream with multiple subtitles on Reveel: reveel.net/search?query=rent-a-man
www.mysterianfilms.com
Anything you can tell us about audience and
critical reception of Rent-a-Man?
The
film festival theater premiere was in Ely, Nevada, spring of 2023, where a
good friend lived and worked part time. He had invited me to join him as
an audience member the year prior, but I had a scheduling conflict.
The
premiere experience was a mixed bag of emotions, and when I returned home,
I learned of the death of one of the audience members that I had met while
dancing at the film gala. It was a fantastic, peculiar, and uniquely
strange premiere until the shocking conclusion. I networked with many
locals in hopes that I could film my second feature in their town if a
budget came together. Unforeseen circumstances delayed a producer of mine
from helping with this goal.
Rent-a-Man won an Audience Award at the
Amsterdam Lift-Off Global Film Festival and a
Best Director Award from Vesuvius International Film Fest out of Campania,
Italy. The film received a semi-finalist nod for cinematography from the
European Cinematography Awards.
Film
Threat wrote an outstanding review of Rent-a-Man:
filmthreat.com/features/rent-a-man-a-high-stakes-game-of-cat-and-mouse-in-the-age-of-cyborgs/
My friends, expecting the film to be a pure gangster drama, admired its
social commentary. Others were surprised or impressed by its unique
dialogue. Unanimously, the scenery enthralled viewers. Some went as far as
falling in love with the cinematography. The few who dove deep to
understand the layers, symbolism and message said it was "very
heavy, profound, compelling, grounded in actual science."
"Rent-a-Man delves
into the concept of pitting imagination against technology and challenging
the boundaries of human potential." --FilmThreat
"As Rent-a-Man takes
audiences through a world where man and machine dance perilously close to
one another, the movie contemplates the consequences of technological
innovation and humanity’s perpetual quest for freedom." --FilmThreat
"As
the narrative unfolds, it underscores society’s disdain for the winners,
who defy the rules of the game." --FilmThreat
"The
lead performances are great and keep the audience engaged with their
conversations. This ends up being an interesting story that keeps you on
tender hooks about what is really going on." --Moviesreview101.com
This
is an interesting thriller that keeps us guessing as to what the meeting
is truly about. It has a feeling similar to the Matt Damon and Casey
Affleck movie Gerry. --Moviesreview101.com
Any
future projects you'd like to share? My
website mysterianfilms.com showcases
feature scripts ready for production once initial investments roll in. A
few low-budget projects, each under $20k, that would be great to produce
& direct are Synthetic Kale, Adam & Eve Go Hiking
and The Drink. I
also have a project that producer Keli Price is finding cast & equity
for called The Executioner. Another project, Ballet of Baboons, is founded
on the bio of one of the world's renowned chefs and is open for initial
donations to get it to its next stage.
What got you into
filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on
the subject? I
began as a dreamer, writing screenplays as CoverageInk gave me a 'Strong
Consider for writer', Universal Distribution Executive (November 30, 2020)
verbally gave me a 'Recommend for writer.' I had written several feature
length screenplays on spec in the mid 'OOs and late '1Os, Rent-a-Man was
my first standalone feature-length film. I was about to give up the
thought of participating in film in 2021 before my friend, who turned
himself into an talent agent, who I met in LA as a fellow writer at a
writer's conference in 2015, told me to produce and direct my film myself.
He persuaded me that I'd have a better chance to sell a finished feature
than to sell a screenplay in today's marketplace. That kickstarted my
film career. I have a Publications Design M.A., Dutch foreign exchange,
and a stint at UCLA's advanced screenwriting under Richard Walter that
evolved my perspective to own Mysterian Film
Group. I'm now turning
stories into produced content through executive producing. What can you tell us about your filmwork
prior to Rent-a-Man? Rent-a-Man
was my first standalone feature-length film. Prior to that, I was an
aspiring screenwriter who received feedback from industry players, a few
of them highly noteworthy. How
would you describe yourself as a director? My
actor, Jomri, describes me as a blend between Tarantino and Robert
Rodriguez because of the one-man-army and verbal 90s styles that I employ.
I think of myself as a technical blend of those, but deeper in, I look to
Lynch, Malick and Hitchcock for their psychological influences.
Filmmakers
who inspire you?
All kinds, all types, even the not-so-worthy, obscure ones who help me learn
details along the way. J. Horton is a director whose YouTube channel
helped indirectly mentor me in preparation for producing. I thank him in
my credits, because without him, I wouldn't have had the film education I
needed to create a film in today's environment. David
Lynch, Terrence Malick, Quenton Tarantino mainly inspired my directing
style on Rent-a-Man. Robert
Rodriguez, whose films remind Jomri of Rent-a-Man's style.
Darren Aronofsky, whose film Pi I watched at Sundance in 98 when Sundance was
on its tail end of being about independent film and showcased Darren doing
a Q & A after the viewing. Tom
Tykwer, who directed Run Lola Run, Cloud Atlas, The
International. Eric
Roth, who wrote screenplays for Forrest Gump, The Insider,
Munich, A Star
is Born, and series episodes for Berlin Station & House of
Cards. Rod
Serling, the man behind The
Twilight Zone. Obviously,
Coppola & Scorsese, the gangster experts. Michael
Mann with The Last of the Mohicans, Heat, Collateral,
The Insider. Many
more such as Roger Avary, Robert Altman, Hitchcock, Spielberg, Daniel
Attias... I
listened to a Hitchcock interview that a friend of mine sent me in
preparation for my directorial debut to try to alleviate nerves.
Your favourite movies?
In
no particular order: Forrest Gump, Shawshank Redemption, Matrix
Reloaded, La Femme Nikita, Day of the
Jackal (original & modern), Rope, The Manchurian Candidate
(original
& modern), Triple Frontier, Snow White and the Seven
Dwarves, The
Gold Rush, Wedding Crashers, Silver Linings Playbook, Top Gun:
Maverick, Inception, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Born in East
LA, 8 1/2, American
Psycho, The Wolves of Wall Street, Midnight in Paris, Casino,
Rent-a-Man,
13 Tzameti, Diner, The Power of One, Brighton Beach
Memoirs, Made in Heaven.
...
and of course, films you really deplore? If
I was 10 years old again, I'd be in heaven with Marvel's dominance. My
tastes have changed since then... Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else? www.mysterianfilms.com Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
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If you're an artist, then you'll always have a personal way of seeing things,
a unique perspective, a different viewpoint, a curiosity about life that
others may not relate to or have come across or even understand. Your
vision will always be there inside you, you just need to decide if as an
artist you want to share these points of view with your family, friends,
or the greater world and if so, the journey merely takes one step at a
time and it's always in a state of flux, influx. I believe artists are
blessed with vision and the pursuit to make them realities. I think
artists are lucky that they have abstract goals. I also have a great
gratitude for the actualization of art and understand not everyone is able
to have the same options in their lives as artists. Because of this I
think it's important that people know that there are ways to support not
only artists, but others in need of help. Here are two links for
charities:
I hope that you can contribute toward opening a window of help and foster
joy for an ill child's life at the link: https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html
Help give life-changing educational opportunities and other necessities to
impoverished children and families. Together, we can bring love and hope
to the world’s neediest among us: https://salesianmissions.org/act-now/give/give-now/
Thanks
for the interview!
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