Your new movie Inheritance
- in a few words, what is it about?
In simplest terms, Inheritance
is about the way we struggle with our
own family histories. It’s a story about a man wrestling with the
mystery of his own dark past. What were your
sources of inspiration when writing Inheritance,
and is any of it based on personal experience? While it’s
a genre story, the inspiration for the film is definitely personal. I
wanted to explore the feeling of being trapped by your own genetics
because I sometimes feel that certain aspects of my own character aren’t
fully within my control. Inheritance
is somewhat maze-like in structure and not always in a hurry to explain
itself away - so how much of a challenge to not just lose the story in the
process of making it up that way? The story can feel pretty
maze-like I suppose, but the structure was fairly clear for me all along.
I think you stake out the moments you know and then get clever and
rhythmic about the way you weave in smaller moments and images. Do talk about your
movie's approach to horror, and is this a genre at all dear to you? This
genre is certainly dear to me. I wanted to do something that was a bit of
a hybrid, to bring something new to horror by avoiding gore, telling a
story that is grounded and personal. What
can you tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at
hand? Overall, I was trying to create a very subjective
experience that would pull you into Ryan’s head as he starts to unwind.
You of course have to talk about your main
location, the mansion by the sea, a bit, and what were the advantages and
challenges filming there? And how did you find the place to begin with? We
really lucked out with the location, which belongs to a family friend.
Once we knew that the house was available, the project picked up speed.
Shooting in a single location is limiting but it’s also a gift. Do
talk about Inheritance's
cast, and why exactly these people? Chase Joliet is a close friend
and the first person we cast. Alex Dobrenko and Ashley Spillers are also
close friends, so a lot of this came together organically through my
social life. A few words about
the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? I’m proud
of the fact that we ran a very tight set. My producers JP Castel and Dash
Hawkins along
with our ADs kept things running smooth, and I honestly think everyone had
fun on this one. The $64
question of course, where can Inheritance
be seen?
We’re doing our digital release next week
(6/15), just in times for Father’s Day! We’ll be on iTunes and Amazon
to start, hopefully broadening to other platforms this summer. Anything you can tell us about audience and
critical reception of Inheritance
yet? We had a great festival run, and we were honored to
get over a dozen great reviews from most of the big genre sites. Any future projects you'd like to share? Currently
working on my next feature, a psychological thriller set in the Northwest. What
got you into making movies in the first place, and did you receive any
formal training on the subject? I’ve been making little
movies since I was 7-8 years old. I followed my passion and ended up at
NYU Tisch for Film School. I worked at Warner Bros briefly, but my main
film education came from my four years working with Terrence Malick in and
around Austin TX.
How
would you describe yourself as a director? I’m big on
planning. After working as a writer for several years, I have a fairly
structured approach to directing. I think it helps to envision everything
you want exactly as you want it, but it’s essential to allow room for
surprise and improvisation. Filmmakers
who inspire you? Too many to name, but Kubrick, PT
Anderson, Scorsese, Cassavetes, Fincher. Your favourite movies? I’m
all over the place, but I love noir films and crime mysteries. I watch LA
Confidential and The
Shining too often. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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I think there are
an incalculable number of bad movies made in the genre space. In a time
where there is more content than ever, I wish people focused on quality
over quantity and took more risks. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else? inheritance.film Thanks
for the interview! Thank you for taking the time!
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