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Your new movie Summer
Issues - in a few words, what is it about?
Summer
Issues
is about a group of young adults basically trying to figure out
what they want to do in life, and attempting to break through that awkward
stage of not knowing what to do with your life, and which direction to
head in.
What
were your sources of inspiration when writing Summer
Issues, and is it in any way based on your personal experiences? A
lot of the characters in Summer
Issues
are based off of people I knew.
I think that was one of the ways it was exciting to write, because I
knew these characters so well going into it, that they kind of just did
their own thing and wrote themselves at times. It's unfortunate we
had to cut several scenes out, because they were fantastic and developed
the characters more, but it’s just one of the things you encounter when
making an indie film. To
turn the last question on its head, to what extent can you identify with
Sean ... or any of the other characters for that matter? I
think I would be lying if I didn’t say I do to some degree identify with Sean.
Sean is living miles away from home, lost, and the only really true
grounded factor he has for him are his friends. Are they positive
influences, or are they negative? I guess that is subjective, but at
the time when I was living in Los Angeles, and feeling like I was wasting
away by simply just waiting for the phone to ring, one of the things that
helped me make decisions was coming home and being surrounded by those
people who could help shape and craft decisions that were running through
my mind at the time.
Now
how did the project come into being to begin with? The
idea to make a feature film really came about from me and my really close
friend Matthew Berke just getting tired of the whole “rat race” thing
in Los Angeles. Matt is a close pal, and we were kind of running
around the whole Los Angeles scene together, and while it could’ve been
a lot worse, we just wanted to “act”. And so, we came up with
the idea that I would head back to the East Coast, and if I left I would
make a feature film and not essentially just “throw in the towel” to
the whole film scene, which is exactly what we did. You
have written the story for Summer
Issues together with Rory Cardin - so what can you tell us about
him, and what was your collaboration like? Rory
was fantastic. I met Rory years prior, and he was really one of the
first “film” people I met once I entered the real working world at 16.
We worked at the same place, and we would just talk movies and film all
day. I reached out to Rory, knowing he loved movies as much as I
did, and asked if he was interested in this crazy journey that was about
to take place. What were the
challenges of bringing Summer
Issues to the screen from a producer's point of view? I
think the most challenging thing, and you could say this for any movie
really, was making it interesting enough that other people would give
their attention to it. I think it goes the same with any movie these
days, is that you have your story, but making sure it's engaging for
others, and a key thing going into it, is I wanted it to be relatable to
anyone and everyone, and that was one of the things I/we really tried for.
You
also appear in front of the camera in Summer
Issues - so do talk about your character, what did you draw upon
to bring him to life, and have you written Eddie with yourself in mind
from the get-go? I
always wanted to be an actor first and foremost, and that was one of the
reasons I wanted to put this together, and any of the films I’ve done
for that matter. I am not a 1000% confident here, because some time
has passed, but I believe Eddie was originally just written based on me,
and when we were auditioning people, no one really got close to what we
were looking for. Playing Eddie seemed like a perfect balance
because there was too much to do behind the scenes, and it didn’t take
away from any of that, while still allowing me to play a character.
It just happened to be the character I was most similar to.
What can you tell us about the rest of Summer
Issues' cast, and why exactly these people?
A
lot of times when you make an indie film, you have to cut corners in terms
of quality regarding anything. I just lucked out that the people we
found for the movie were absolutely perfect. That is not a bullshit
response either. They were really fantastic, and I go back to watch
that movie often and I always say I am beyond happy we got everyone we
did. Vasilios Asimakos (Sean) was such a solid actor and carried an entire
feature, Matthew Berke (Patrick) steals the show. There are moments of the
movie I truly have never heard, because I laugh the same amount as I first
did for his scenes, and I always miss the next couple of seconds of
dialogue whenever he finishes talking.
The
two girls (Ana Marie Calise and Alyssa Di Rubbo) were absolutely perfect, and likewise with the
two sports guys (Mike Brais and David R. Reid). For both sets of characters, I had
many more scenes written that would’ve expanded upon their characters
and what they were going through. That is one of the reasons I knew
in the back of my mind that I always wanted to turn this into a series.
You have all these great characters who are in a similar position, but
they deal with things their own way. Look at David R. Reid's character
Frank for example.
He is the oldest employee in the store, and going through a divorce, and
he is lost/angry/confused, and he feels like his life is reverting back to
where it was 20 something years ago.
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Mr.
Jenkins, played by Tom O’ Donnell, was originally written for Richard
Jenkins, who we had a connection with at the time. I was a massive
Richard Jenkins fan and couldn’t imagine anyone but him doing it.
We sent him the script and he got back to us and basically said “Listen,
if I do this movie, it’s going to turn into my movie, and I don’t want
to take away from you guys with that.” Which I completely
understood from his point of view, but it was a shame, because he
would’ve been great. But back to Tom: Tom never had an audition
booked. He literally walked in off the street, and was one of the
best actors of the day, and we instantly knew he was Jenkins. And
for Eric Kelly, who played The New Kid. I always had him in my mind for
that. I thought Eric was the perfect character. He just amused
me and made me laugh by not doing anything, and I told him when I met with
him to offer the director's chair, I think I said “I would love for you
to direct this thing, but if you do, you have to act as well.” I
think he was taken back a little by that, but I wouldn’t change that
role for the world. He is perfect in the movie.
It’s
just one of those things where it worked out perfectly, and everyone
brought their A-game.
Do
talk about Summer Issues'
director Eric Kelly, and what was your collaboration like?
Eric
was a pal of a pal who I had met previously, and I just enjoyed his
perspective and outlook. To me, he was one of those people that
didn’t know how talented they are. So I wanted to give him the
opportunity to do something that he might not otherwise get at the time,
and hopefully it would open some doors for him, like it would hopefully
for everyone involved.
Eric
was great though. He showed up, acted and directed, and just did a
bang up job. My only regret working with Eric was cutting some of
his scenes, because he was FANTASTIC as The New Kid, and it's just another
character that whenever he takes the screen, he has me laughing instantly.
You
of course also have to talk about your main location, the comicbook store,
and what was it like filming there? A
dream come true. I never in a million years thought I would be able
to make a movie at the store. I occupied that store so much as a
kid, and spent a lot of time in there. So it was fantastic. I
think we did 2 straight weeks of overnights, from like 8pm-8am, if I
recall properly? So by the end of it, I was ready to get out.
But that as a location was perfect. A few words about
the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
The
on-set atmosphere was the reason why I wanted to come home and make my own
stuff, because it was just a fun time. I know that seems cliché and
predictable as a response, but it’s the truth. I was surrounded by
incredibly talented and like-minded individuals, and every day was a great
time. You
have to remember, on these sort of productions you're not just rolling up
and starting. There is a ton of work that goes in before the day
begins and ends, and most of us were doing a million tasks at once, but no
one complained or had any issues. I think the second week of
shooting we were getting like 2 or 3 hours sleep at most because it was so
much, and the days were long. You’d always find someone sleeping
in their car when they could. But it was great. No one
complained. Everyone showed up and had a blast, and I think that
one of the things that makes Summer
Issues
watchable is you can tell
everyone was having a good time making it.
Anything
you can tell us about audience and critical reception of Summer
Issues?
It’s
just like anything these days. You have people who enjoy it and
support it, and then you have others who want to try to tear it apart.
It’s so easy to hide behind keyboards these days and write whatever, so
I have always tried to reflect on how the stuff I have done affects people
in the real world. I once showed the film at Boston Comic Con, and
we had a last minute screening and I thought no one was going to show up -
and the room was packed. The
movie finishes, and this guy comes up to me in near tears and explains
that he was with his son who is deaf, and he brings his son to these cons
to try and bond with him and get him to open up. He said it was his son's suggestion to go and see the movie, and he said he hadn’t seen his
son laughing and interacting with him like he was in years, and that the
movie literally brought them closer together. That
moment meant a lot to me and has stuck with me over the years. I
tell that story often because it was so impactful. At the time I
was just trying to get any eyes in front of the movie, so to hear that it
positively affected someone to that degree has been something I have
never forgotten.
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Any future projects you'd like to share?
Well, we're about to jump back into the feature film world. We made Summer
Issues
in 2014, and since then I’ve produced dozens of short films,
industrials, some commercials, but we’ve never gone back to features
because it really is just so much work on the scale and level that we are
on. I
am not sure if I am happy or scared to announce that we will be starting
our next feature that I spent 2 years writing, so be on the lookout for
that starting real soon.
What
got you into acting in the first place, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject?
The
truth of this is I just loved movies, and it was around senior year in
high school that Joe Carnahan's Smokin’ Aces came out, and I saw
that movie and it changed my life. I was always big into movies
and them being an escape for a lot of people, and I wanted to contribute
to that aspect. Smokin' Aces had so many things going for it, and all
these incredible and talented people involved, and it just looked like
everyone had fun making it, and that’s the movie that really inspired me
if I am being honest. A lot of times people are surprised when I
don’t mention some arthouse film or some Criterion collection movie, but
Smokin' Aces did it for me, man.
I’ll
never forget it either. It was a couple months before Summer
Issues
would kick into high gear, and we were in the middle of a blizzard, so I
decided to take a break from pre-production stuff and throw on another one
of Joe Carnahan's films called Narc, and the phone rings while I am
watching this movie and it was the man himself. I had written him a
couple of letters previously and never heard back, and then he reached
out. He spoke to me on the phone for a good amount of time, and you
could just tell this guy was different. He had this unique outlook,
and was just a really smart individual. You could tell he loved
movies, and his enthusiasm was infectious. At one point I mentioned
I was making my own film that I was inspired to do by his work (cliché,
I know), but he was very receptive and had a lot of support. It was
honestly from that moment on I never looked back. I kept telling
myself that I would continue to push forward and not give up, and I would
set my own stage.
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In recent years, you've also
increasingly branched out into writing and producing - so what prompted
that move? And which side of the camera do you actually prefer? It’s
just one of those things that I kind of fell into really. I produced Summer
Issues
to be able to act in something, but when people see the film and see what
we did and pulled off for under $2000.00, their jaws
hit the floor. I got good at producing and writing, and I enjoy it
for the most part, so it just kind of evolved. People were coming to
me/us with ideas for commercials and videos and stuff, with really small
budgets, and there was no one around the area that could turn out a high
functioning product like we were doing. What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Summer
Issues, in whatever position?
Well,
during my time in Los Angeles, I spent a lot of time doing extra work.
I know there’s this negative aura about doing it, and it's sort of looked
down upon. But I loved it. I didn’t mind it. I showed
up knowing exactly what I was supposed to do, did it, and left, and was
just happy to be on a filmset. I never tried talking to people or
crossing any lines, so I enjoyed it a lot and was fortunate to work the
amount I did.
I
had some small bit parts in Grey's Anatomy and The Amazing
Spiderman, but I wanted to be doing more. I was never the type of
person to just sit and wait by the phone. I was hungry, and wanted
to be involved in movies and the filmmaking process in any capacity I
could.
How would you
describe yourself as an actor, and how as a writer? Meticulous.
I think that’s the best word to describe it. No matter how big or
small of a project I was doing, I always gave it my all. I think
that’s why at the end of the day I was always happy with a lot of the
decisions I’ve made.
Actors,
writers, filmmakers, whoever else who inspire you?
The
most well-known filmmakers who inspired me are the people like Joe
Carnahan, John Carpenter, S. Craig Zahler, and George Miller. These
guys that made fantastic movies on simple stories that just elevated the
storytelling because they were naturally talented people.
I’ve
always enjoyed the talents of actors like Mads Mikkelsen, Vince Vaughn,
Sean William Scott and Crispin Glover. That might be the most mixed
bag of actors I’ve ever seen together, but its truthful.
Another person who inspired me was a relatively well known producer named
Chris Mangano. He was doing his thing for years, and then decided to
start his own venture, and he’s been doing his thing, and doing it well.
When I met Chris I instantly knew he was into movies and just loved them
as much as I did. At one point, he watched Summer
Issues and was
very positive about it and just beyond supporting with it. He was
really into the idea and the concept, and it was pure joy to see someone
as enthusiastic about the film as I was. He offered a lot of
insight, help, and knowledge, and I am lucky enough to call him a friend
these days.
Your
favourite movies? That
is quite a long list these days, but I really enjoy Smokin’ Aces,
The
Road Warrior, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Polar (Netflix), and I really was
blown away at S. Craig Zahlers last two films Brawl in Cell Block 99 and
Dragged Across Concrete. I still to this day wonder why those
movies weren’t bigger, because they are fantastic and amazing stories
with some wonderful performances. ... and of course, films you really
deplore?
There
aren’t too many movies I am excited for these days. I think the
shift in movies is a little concerning, but what can you do. I am
not into Marvel and that whole scene, but I still completely respect it.
I don’t want to badmouth those movies, because what they’ve done is
beyond impressive, and if I was into them, and had all those different TV
shows and spin-offs and movies, I would be in heaven.
Unfortunately, they don’t really do much for me, but I still highly
respect them and everyone involved with them. They’ve elevated a
lot of new talent, broke through some old traditions, and given a lot of
people opportunities, so I think that is pretty cool. Your/your movie's website, social media,
whatever else?
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The
film company I am part of is Another Theory
Productions. We are on
all the “social medias”. My
own personal social media would be @amasnyk on Instagram. I have to
be honest—I’m not too into the whole social media things these days.
I use it occasionally but it's mostly for my film stuff or something
positive. Haha.
Anything else you're dying to mention and
I've merely forgotten to ask? Thanks
for all the support and everyone who's been on this journey with us, and
more importantly thank YOU Michael for checking us out and
allowing us this moment. We are excited to announce and get into the
next film really soon!!! Thanks for the interview!
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