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Your new movie Undatement
Center - in a few words, what is it about?
It's a short comedy/drama about a man who attempts to come back into
the dating world, only to find out he must have a résumé in
order to do so. What
were your sources of inspiration when writing Undatement
Center, and is any of this based on your personal dating
experiences?
It's
very much based on my own personal dating experiences. I was trying out
online dating last year, which I was extremely dissatisfied with because
of how impersonal it was and every date felt as though I was on a job
interview. In fact, one of the humorous interactions that happened in the
film had actually happened to me with a woman asking me where I see myself
in five years. It was questions like that which prompted the idea of the
film and I began writing it. Ultimately, I'm a big fan of surrealism, be it
a drama, horror, comedy, etc. I find my films tend to lean towards that
style one way or another these days, so it felt right to write it in a
kind of surreal setting with offbeat and absurdist humor to both satirize
the society of dating along with the drama underneath it all. I'm a firm
believer in comedy being played as though it's a drama with subtle writing
and performances.
Undatement
Center is mostly restricted to just one location - so do talk
about your location for a bit, and what were the advantages and also
challenges making the movie there and keeping things interesting?
The
location we shot in was at the River South Center in Quincy, MA. It's
owned by the fine folks at Stories by the
River, who had co-produced the
film (Mikel J. Wisler & Kristina Kaiser). I approached them with the
idea and script. They really liked it and decided to collaborate with my
own company, Stories in
Motion, to produce the film. With this
collaboration, they had this location which they use for events, film
screenings, etc. It had the right look of an office-like setting or DMV,
which is exactly what I wanted for the film. So, it was nicely convenient
to have at our disposal. That was one advantage, and also the major
advantage was being able to come in the day before shooting to light the
set and pre-rig it and set-design in. We literally walked in the next day
and just began to shoot. It made things incredibly simpler to handle and I
was actually able to focus on directing my story and actors rather than
having to worry about the lighting and waiting for it to be set. It was
done. Then,
each day after shooting, we could walk away with everything still set up
and come back the next day and continue.
The
challenge to keep it interesting, I found, was making sure we kept the
camera moving whenever possible whether it was utilizing dolly shots,
slider shots, panning, tilting, etc. Anything we could do to keep the
energy high throughout. I think the editing also helped in that a great
deal to keep it flowing without the location wearing out its welcome.
What
can you tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at
hand?
My
overall approach was to keep the comedy as straight as possible and focus
on everything under the surface in the script and the drama. As mentioned
before, I think comedy works best when played as a drama. So, it was
important for me to make sure that all the cast members kept it a
consistent tone throughout in how they performed and still get the message
across that I wanted to say.
Do talk about your key cast, and why exactly these
people?
We
held auditions for these roles. What we were looking for were people who
could convey emotion while also carrying a light sense of humor. T
revor
Duke, who played Jack, came in and auditioned for us and really blew us
away. I've known Trevor for a little bit at that time and he had directed
some short films, written some stuff and has worked on sets in the camera
department and also been an editor. I had no idea he also acted and I
believe this was his first speaking lead role. So, when he came in and
read, I was very impressed by his confidence, how emotive he could be, how
well he took direction, and how funny he was able to be. So, it became
clear that he was right for it.
J.D.
Achille, who played Lindsey, I had known for a couple of years and had
seen her acting before and always thought she was talented. We invited her
to audition. She currently lives in New York, so she sent in a video
audition, which I normally find can be very hit or miss because you're not
there giving the actor feedback. That being said, she was wonderful. She
carried a lot of charm and sass, which is exactly what I had pictured the
character of Lindsey to be.
Randy
Veraguas, who played Shelly, came to me as a recommendation from Mikel and
Kristina who had worked with her on a couple of occasions. They had shown
me a film that they did with her that Trevor directed and I thought she
was wonderful. She had this great comic ability about her that felt right.
The funny thing was that the role was initially written as a man, but
there was no reason why it couldn't be female, so I rewrote the role as a
female and Randy gave her the name of Shelly. A lot of the ideas of what
to put on her desk and how she dressed were all of Randy's ideas,
especially the seashell necklaces, which I thought were a brilliant idea.
What can you tell us about the shoot as such,
and the on-set atmosphere? We shot for three days. It was
one of the best times I ever had on a set. The atmosphere was a ton of fun
with lots of laughs and everyone pitching in creativity to help make the
best film possible. Everyone was on their A-game and dedicated fully. Another very recent film of
yours is The Deja Vuers
- so what's that one about? The Deja Vuers
is a short
comedy about a man who experiences deja vu when he spots a woman
sitting on a park bench - a woman he remembers from a dream but has never
met. When their paths finally cross, a portal opens which takes each of
their lives in unexpected directions. Your personal take on
deja-vus, prescient dreams, and everything else that's touched upon in The
Deja Vuers?
I
feel that dreams and deja vus are sort of our perception of how we either
see life that we don't fully express or something that we wish to have,
but never get. Some of these can have a lot of hidden meanings that I
think are very fascinating. I'm also often told that I'm an old soul and
that I was born in the wrong era. I tend to somewhat believe that. In that
sense, I related to the character of Chuck a little bit.
What can you tell us about The
Deja Vuers' writer Jason K. Allen, and what was your collaboration
like?
It's
really funny how our collaboration started. At the time, I was editing a
short film, Beyond the Grid, for a local filmmaker. I had asked him where
he found the script for this film as I thought it was very good. He told
me about a website called InkTip, where scripts are optioned to producers
and directors. So, I signed up and started browsing through scripts and
saw the synopsis for The Deja Vuers and
it sounded really interesting and right
up my alley, so I had to read it. I contacted the writer, who turned out
to be Jason. After looking through his website, I saw that Jason had also
written Beyond the Grid. It was so ironic. So, I read the script I thought
it was quirky, weird, funny and somehow kind of moving with lots of
layers. I was very excited about it. I bought the script from Jason and
later that year, I shot the film.
Working
with Jason was great. I would send him rough cuts and he always gave me
great feedback while also giving me the creative freedom as a director to
try different things that I saw in the story and wasn't afraid to hear my
ideas. He was also very instrumental in sending me different film
festivals to send the film to that he's either had success in or feels
would enjoy the film.
Do talk about your movie's look and feel for a bit! I
really wanted a dream-like look with the lighting being as clean as could
be and the shooting being almost Wes Anderson-like. I had my
cinematographer on the project, Evan Schneider, take a look at some
Anderson films for the visuals and I took some screenshots as well. It was
Evan's idea, for example, to begin with a drone shot from above and coming
in. Looking at it now, it feels right because it brings the audience into
this dream world. What
can you tell us about The
Deja Vuers' key cast?
The
cast for this was outstanding. These were all people whom I either worked
with or knew of and wanted to work with them. These were people I
hand-picked for this project.
Christie
Devine, who played Morgan, is a good friend of mine and I had seen her act a
few times and have always been impressed by her. I had never worked with
her as a director and had wanted to, so I asked her to play the part.
She's wonderfully talented, with a great sense of humor, and an all around
professional.
Kris
Salvi, who played Chuck, I knew for quite a while. He's a very talented
actor and writer and was a great fit for this role. He is a riot. He
always brings a ton of laughs to the set and is a true actor's actor,
especially in how he prepares for a role.
Craig Capone, who played
Elias, I met at a film festival where I had seen a film he was in and
thought he was wonderful. He is a true consummate professional on the
set and also very talented.
JP Valenti, who played the
Repairman, I knew and worked with a few times but never directed him. He
has a background in commercials, film, TV and much more. He brings a lot
of experience and talent to any project he's on.
Again, do talk about the
shoot and the on-set atmosphere?
The
shoot was a lot of fun, but also somewhat difficult because we were
shooting outdoors in the fall. The sun would always leave us very early or
would hide behind a tree, leaving us with very little light to work with.
Then there were times where we had too much light that it was uncontrollable. So, my cinematographer, grip, and PA built this outrageous
rig that was basically a black shower curtain to block all the bright
light and we had reflectors to bounce light. It looked like such a silly
operation, but it worked.
Then, of course, when
you're outdoors you deal with the nature of sound from traffic to wind and
more. We had a unique situation though in that we not only had all of that
stuff but also a nearby zoo, which I didn't think was that close, where
you can hear animals making noises and ruining quite a number of takes. I
thought for sure we would have to ADR the whole film, but to my amazement,
we didn't after all. To combat those issues, we had a boom mic in addition
to a lav mic on each actor. Plus, we were working with dual channels
which gave us the ability to choose which mic to use during editing
based on the decibel we recorded in. So, we had at least 4
microphones recording in one shot alone that featured three characters at
a time. It was thanks to the close proximity of the lav mics and the
number of back-ups that we had that saved us from having to do a lot of
post mixing.
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You've recently also
produced Nathan Suher's Higher Methods [Nathan
Suher interview - click here] - so what's that one about? Higher
Methods is a dark drama feature about fame and the price one pays to
achieve it. Matt, is an actor whose sister goes missing years prior. His
search for her leads to a fanatical theatre group, whose leader
employs horrifying methods in sharing the art of performance. What follows
for Matt is a descent down the rabbit hole until he cannot determine what
is real and what is fiction. How
did you get involved with that project in the first place? I
had been friends and worked with Nathan for a number of years. He's a
great guy and always enjoyed working with him. He and I have a similar
sensibility in filmmaking that seems to make us work well together. He
initially asked me to come on board as a 1st assistant director, but later
felt that he needed further assistance and asked me to co-produce it with
him in addition to my 1st AD duties. It was easy for me to say yes not
only because I would be working with Nathan, but I have been wanting to
produce a feature as I felt it would be a great learning experience for me
for when I make my own feature some day. It was also easy to say yes
because I fell in love with the script when I read it. It was absolutely
brilliant. Being
a director yourself, how hands-on or hands-off are you as a producer, also
when it comes to creative decisions? I would only make
creative decisions when Nathan would ask me or if I felt there was
something important that needed to be addressed. Otherwise, I think I was
mostly handling scheduling, keeping the set aligned, and making sure
everything ran smoothly throughout. I did help a little bit in the
casting, which was one of the few creative decisions I had. My approach
was to be hands-off so that Nathan had the breathing room he needed as a
director to do his job. I would step in only when necessary.
Perhaps related to
the last question, what can you tell us about your collaboration with Higher
Method's director Nathan Suher [Nathan
Suher interview - click here]? During the
pre-production phase, Nathan and I along with our 2nd AD, Evan Schneider,
would meet on a regular basis to discuss the schedule, scout locations,
and ultimately create a unified front where we were all on the same
page and understood how it was best to run the set. On the set, like I
mentioned, I would let Nathan direct and do his thing and would step in
only when I had to like if there was a question that needed to be answered
that I couldn't answer or keep him in tune on the time and also make sure
we have all the shots he wanted. So what can you
tell us about that shoot as such? It was an exhilarating
experience. There were days where we were on fire and had an absolute high
creating magic and some days were tougher, but it was a blast. I learned a
ton in 14 days of shooting than I probably did in the past year doing my
own films. I have to admit that I walked away from the film feeling rather
emotional. I went through a bit of a mourning period as we were all like a
family. We had a lot of laughs but also discovered a lot about the
characters within the story than we realized during the planning process.
I made a lot of friends that I would easily work with again. The $64-question of
course, where can all these movies be seen?
Both The Deja Vuers
and Undatement
Center are on the festival circuit. Undatement
Center was just submitted to various festivals this week, so
we're waiting to hear on those. The Deja Vuers
has been doing very
well on the festival circuit, so far. It has been accepted into 7
festivals and won 3 awards at the West Coast Film Awards (Best Actor: Kris
Salvi, Best Picture, and Best Comedy). It will be screening at the SENE
Film, Arts & Music Festival in Rhode Island at the end of April,
Silicon Beach Film Festival in Marina Del Ray, CA, and at the Short Film
Corner at Festival de Cannes in France.
Higher
Methods is currently in post-production and is shaping up very nicely.
Any future
projects you'd like to share? Currently, I'm in
pre-production on a short crime/drama written by Kris Salvi called Bent,
which begins shooting this month. I'm also planning another project for
the summer. Other than that I've been continuing my writing as well by way
of short screenplays and also my first feature film.
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Your/your movies'
websites, Facebook, whatever else?
Website:
http://storiesmotion.com/
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Stories-in-Motion-316989045002591/
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/Chris_Esper
IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3282917
Anything else you're
dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
I
also have a book that I wrote last year about filmmaking called The
Filmmaker's Journey. That can be found on Amazon both on Kindle and in
paperback:
https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B01F6J3W5O
Thanks
for the interview!
Thank YOU as always for the continuous support!
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