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Your new movie Cheat
- in a few words, what's it about?
Cheat follows the character Zoe who is in the midst of an affair with
Adam while trying to hold out hope that her and her slightly unhinged
husband Chris can work things out even though there is some sort of
personal trauma between them that we’re not sure about. When Adam’s apartment is broken into they begin to suspect that
Chris might know about their affair, and that’s when things start
going off the rails for Zoe and she is thrown into hellish situation
after hellish situation not knowing who she can trust.
What were your sources of inspiration when writing Cheat?
This one was definitely inspired by 80’s Brian DePalma films such as
Body Double, where nothing is as it seems. I thought it was a great
base for telling a twisty story about someone who was having an affair
where the reasons weren’t so cut and dry… more complex and
nuanced, and what would happen if they wronged the wrong person who takes things to extremes.
What can you tell us about Cheat's
approach to the thriller genre? We wanted to make sure that first and foremost we could get the
audience behind our main character Zoe, after all she is the
“cheater”, which I think we’ve done, and then make a
“whodunit” that keeps the audience guessing, even maybe confident
on who they think it is without “jumping the shark” story wise. A few words about your
overall directorial approach to your story at hand?
I’m a firm believer in leaving room for actors to bring their
craft to the table. I try not to over-direct, let things happen
organically to a certain degree. So much can happen on set and I like to
stay open to that. Some of the best moments in our films happen that
way. Do talk about Cheat's
key cast, and why exactly these people?
We were very fortunate with this cast. Shelby Handley, who plays
our lead Zoe, was an absolute revelation, she gave 110 every day,
and we honestly put her through pure hell. She has this wonderful
strength and vulnerability about her which the character needed. I think
the world will be seeing a lot of her in the years to come.
Ry Barrett, who is one of my go-tos, plays Zoe’s husband, Chris
and I love working with him, which is obvious since he’s been in three
of my films. He has that ability to convey so much without saying a word
when you frame the camera on him. I wish I had ten Rys for every
film. Then there’s Rodrigo who plays the lover Adam. Rodrigo is one of those
double treats as he is also a Latin pop singer, and his chemistry with
Shelby’s character is amazing to watch, he is just so genuine in his
performance. Overall I couldn’t have asked for a better cast, right down to the
supporting actors such as Jay Wong, Arthur Boan, and all the others,
they all bought into this story and gave it their all.
What can you tell us about the shoot as such, and the
on-set atmosphere? We always run with small crews and we keep it very chill and have fun.
No egos allowed. Everyone multitasks and wears multiple hats, and
we’ve developed a lot of shorthand over the years together and have
become a fairly well-oiled machine. Sets are wonderful things, you
kind of develop an instant family vibe pretty quickly. We always make
a point of just hanging out for a drink after every shoot day and
decompress together. That was something great we started during the
pandemic, and we'll continue doing but not 6ft apart. The $64-question of course, where can
Cheat be seen?
Starting September 17th Cheat
can be streamed in the US and
Canada on-demand on all the major cable companies as well as platforms
such as Amazon Instant Video, Googleplay, Vudu, iTunes and
Vimeo.
Anything you can tell us about audience and critical
reception of Cheat?
It’s just getting out there now, and so far the reviews have been
positive but we’re really excited to see what the audience reactions
will be to this one. Cheating is a devisive topic and I’m interested
to hear people’s take on it. "What would you do?"-kind of
conversations I love.
Any future projects you'd like to share? We’re just in early stages of pre-production on Jane, which we
will hopefully be shooting this coming spring. It’s one of my
favorite scripts I’ve ever written and excited about finally willing
that one into reality. Like Cheat it’s full of twists and
turns with a Girl with the Dragon Tattoo-vibe. What
got you into filmmaking in the first place, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject? I was one of those
Star Wars babies, when I saw it I was 7 and
knew immediately I wanted to make films. So for the next 25 years I
self-taught myself everything I could and volunteered as much as I
could on productions just to learn what I could. During all
that time I was always reading and writing screenplays, just learning
and getting better. It’s a never ending process and I still have
work to do but couldn’t imagine doing anything else. What can you tell us about your
filmwork prior to Cheat?
Matchbox Pictures, the production company we formed in 2009,
started with the horror-possession film Devil Seed, which was the
first feature I ever directed, and that got the ball rolling and has a
special place in my heart. We had pretty good success with that one, and
since then we’ve went on to make 4 more feature films and hope to make many more.
How would you describe yourself as a director? Ooh, that’s one of those questions to better ask the actors I work
with, but I like to think I’m one of those directors who’s able to
set the tone on set and be open to ideas from the people around me. In
front of the camera and behind. I come in with a plan, a framework but
always ready and willing to toss something out if we come across a
better way. We are here to serve the story, and to me that’s what
is most important. Filmmakers
who inspire you? Ridley Scott and David Fincher are my gods. Also love DePalma as I
mentioned as well as Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino of course. I
just love movie making. Good films and even some bad films can inspire
me. Once you’ve been through the process of making a movie it still
amazes me how anything gets made and kudos to those that do it. Your favourite movies?
Seven has to be at the top of my list, but I also love Alien,
Zodiak and Sicario. To me movies are like music, it really can depend on my mood.
Some are just comfort food for me like Forgetting Sarah Marshall and the
Star Wars films. ...
and of course, films you really deplore?
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Uh oh, I’m going to probably get backlash for this one, Longlegs. I was actually angry coming out of the theater. It was
beautifully shot and amazing performances but I felt they wedge in a
whole lot of stuff to make the story work and try to be too original
with the whole supernatural angle when it would have worked much better
as a straight-up hunt for a serial killer film. I’ll definitely give
them an A+ on the marketing, it got my ass in a seat opening day. Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else? Our website is matchboxpcture.ca and
our socials are @Matchboxpicture on Twitter, @matchboxpictures on
Instagram and Threads, and my personal Instagram is @gregasager Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Not at all. Thanks so much for all the questions and the help
promoting our little indie film! Thanks
for the interview!
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