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Your upcoming movie Sin Verite - in a few words, what is it about?
It's about an actress named Abby who, while trying to get back into
the world of independent film, comes across a group of actors who are like
daredevils in the way that they approach their craft, and who court danger
by creating improv scenarios that are often extremely angry. It's almost
like extreme acting, in a sense.
Being the writer and director of the movie - to what extent can
you actually identify with "The Catalyst" ... or Abby's
up-and-coming movie director, or her aging acting teacher?
I think that these three characters are, in a way, can be seen
as fragments of one personality. You have the director character, who is
sort of fresh faced and naive; then you you have the acting teacher, who
is tough but caring; finally, there's the Catalyst, who is all id and
rejects pre-conceived notions. I'd like to think I have all these aspects,
but I probably don't lol.
As wild as your story may seem - is any part of this based on true
stories or anecdotes and the like, and (other) sources of inspiration when
writing Sin Verite? Actually no, there was no basis
in any fact, at least that I'm aware of; I've never heard of anyone doing
this. The idea actually came from me wanting to do a story about an actor
who couldn't shake a character. Then I thought, what if he didn't want to
shake his character? And what if there was a group of these people who
were like minded about this approach? What can you tell us about
the intended look and feel of your movie yet? I have a
specific way I want to do this, and I definitely think it's a cross
between film noir and horror. Technique-wise, it'll be a combination of
traditional and verite; an example would be To Live And Die In L.A. or
The
French Connection. Alien, that sort of thing, stylistically speaking. At
least I hope we can be that good lol. From what
I've heard, you have written Sin Verite's lead character Abby
specifically with your lead actress Jennifer Scott [Jennifer
Scott interview - click here] in mind. So why her,
what made her perfect for the role, and to what extent is Abby based on
the real Jennifer? Ever since I met her, I could tell that
she could really act, and I conceived the movie with that in mind. I knew
it would be something about the craft, but how could we be entertaining
doing a film about actors? Once I had the concept, I felt like I had
something that could excite her. Then I had to write it lol. The character
is based on aspects of her true personality - Jen doesn't mince words -
but very exaggerated. The thing about Jen is that she wants to explore
things in detail, and some people get annoyed by that, but I love it. She
has great ideas, and actually will listen and is very collaborative, but
you better be ready to do your own homework, because she wants you to have
answers for her, or at least be ready to dialogue.
Jennifer Scott |
Speaking of Jennifer, how did she get
on board as a producer as well, and what has your collaboration been like? She
knew she could help it along, because of her extensive contacts, so it
made sense. We talk all the time; we are joined at the hip. I feel like
I'm earning her trust more and more everyday, and that's a good feeling. Anything
you can tell us about the rest of your projected cast yet? Tom
Wright (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0942875/)
is attached to play Francis Vigneri, and we also just signed on Jeremy
Jordan (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0430005/)
to play Grigori. And we also do have other people that may become attached that I'm excited
about. As
far as I know, Sin Verite is still in pre-production as we speak.
So what's the schedule, and any idea when the film might be released yet
(and I know it's probably waaay too early to ask)? Yeah,
we're in pre-production, but we're looking at filming sometime next year,
maybe even in the fall, which is fine; it gives us time to get everything
set. Any
future projects beyond Sin Verite? Yes, actually I
have some more things in the pipeline; I'm really starting to understand
that you have to know what's in the market place and the way the market is
functioning, even if you're not going to do something in that type of
vein. I've got some ideas that I think can work, some original, some
re-makes, etc. What got you
into filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any kind of formal
education on the subject? I didn't go to school, but I've
always wanted to make films. When the cameras got cheaper, I began to crew
on short films, I started writing, but I never put any pressure on myself,
I just kept working and writing, and I'm hoping my patience will pay off. What can you tell us about
your filmwork prior to Sin Verite? I've been doing a
lot of writing; I adapted a novel into a screenplay for a bestselling
author, then I started work on a web-series called 9-7 with Tom Wright
overseeing it - we're finishing up the screenplay now. I've done some
videos and web promos; I even did a fake movie trailer call Diecons, but
I've never had the money or crew to do things on a larger scale. I mean
I've never had a crew of more than five people lol. But Sin Verite
will be the
first project where I'll have the normal standard tools that most
filmmakers have, as far as crew and DP, etc. That's exciting. How would you
describe yourself as a director? I'm not sure yet, I need
to produce a bigger body of work before I can say. But, I do think that
I'm flexible within any vision I have, and I can accept everyone's input
without feeling threatened. Filmmakers who inspire
you? I really like Howard Hawks, and I'm a John Carpenter
nut. I like Roman Polanski, and also Soderbergh. I tend to respond to the
colder filmmakers like Kubrick and Ozu and Herzog, but then I can turn
around and love Ken Russell. There are just so many that are great, it
makes you wonder if you should even enter the race. Your favourite movies? Too
many to name. ... and of
course, films you really deplore?
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You know, it's really
hard to outright hate people's work, because the conditions have to be so
right to make a decent film, let alone a good one.That being said, the
latest Tim Burton stuff has been kind of... cynical. Your/your movie's
website, Facebook, whatever else? You can find out a little
more about the film at this link:
http://www.openeyesprod.com/openeyesprod.com/Projects.html Anything else you are
dying to talk about and I have merely forgotten to ask? Actually,
I also do music( hip-hop), and my group is called 21H2, or 21st Century Hip
Hop; we just put out a new record called 2112. Our website is 21stcenturyhiphop.com, and it has all of our links to
Facebook, Twitter,
etc. Thanks
for the interview! Thanks, man!
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