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Your new movie Enter
the Room - in a few words, what's it about?
It's about two brothers, who have both been greatly affected by a tragic past
incident, with opposite personalities clashing inside of a tight living space.
What were your sources of inspiration when writing Enter
the Room, and is any of this based on personal experience?
My relationship with my roommate during my freshman year of college is
what gave me the idea for Enter
the Room. Almost all of the various things that Brian gets on Jeremy's case about were actual
things that my roommate accused me of. And there were other
things he said/did to me that I wasn't able to fit into the film.
Living with him was a very unpleasant experience for me, and I felt
that I needed to get this story off of my chest. In addition to
Brian being based on my college roommate, I added a disturbing and
tragic backstory about him and came to the conclusion that Brian
and Jetemy being brothers would make for a more interesting
narrative. I also took pieces of myself (I can be a bit uptight at
times) and injected them into Brian in order to make him more layered.
In general, I believe that creating complex characters often requires
giving them flaws that can sometimes make them unlikeable, and I
always do my best to try to walk in the shoes of the anti-hero or
villain in order to portray them in a more genuine manner. Do
talk about your movie's approach to horror! While many horror films out there focus on the visual aspects of
horror, Enter
the Room is more focused on the psychological
side of the genre. I believe that what the film lacks from a visual
standpoint, it makes up for with a tense atmosphere, up-tempo
script and strong performances, leading to a film that is more real life horror than
horror. At least to me, there are also moments of comedy in Enter
the Room, especially in the first act - so would you at all agree,
and if so, do talk about your movie's brand of comedy for a bit? I definitely agree! I initially
didn't think that some viewers would find it to be funny, but I also
didn't really focus on making it funny or scary.
I just had a story that I wanted to tell and I hoped for it to challenge
the audience intellectually and emotionally. After screening it at some
festivals, the film has received a handful of laughs. After making
a few short films, I have come to learn that I have a distinct writing
style that hovers in pitch black comedy quite often, particularly with
at least one of my characters. (Usually the one who is the most
unhinged, as is the case with Brian in Enter the Room.)
What can you tell us about your directorial approach to your story at hand? And
given you only had limited locations and a cast of two, what were some of
your techniques to keep things interesting throughout? This is my first professional film, and I didn't want to get too
ambitious with the setting. So I decided that it would make it
easier for me to write a script that could be shot in my apartment.
Due to the limited setting and lower budget, I knew that this film was
going to rely heavily on the script and actors. I was fortunate
enough to have two individuals on the team, Lance and Mo, who both
really helped me with casting, which was key for this film. Peter Mastne
and Rich Holton really shined in their respective roles, and ultimately, that
is the reason why I think the film works. I also chose static
close-up shots for most of the film to convey a claustrophobic feel,
used heavy blue, green and red colors during certain scenes to enhance
certain moods, and spent a lot of time researching music in order to
further elevate the film. Do talk about Enter the Room's
cast, and why exactly these two? My producer Lance Eliot
Adams helped me post a casting notice online. With
Peter and Rich, it was pretty apparent that both of them were great fits
for their roles when they came in for their auditions. I also
decided to hold 3 rehearsals before the shoot to make sure that we could
all work out the kinks and be fully prepared for the shoot. A few words about the
shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere? It was nerve-wrecking for sure, especially considering that I had never
directed a film before and don't have a film background. But the
actors were prepared and performed well, Mo kept things on time as the assistant
director and the rest of the team did a really good job
overall, so we ended up finishing our scheduled 4 day shoot in just 2 1/2 days.
The $64-question of course, where can Enter
the Room be seen? Enter
the Room is currently on its festival run which is
likely to end in the fall of 2025. I don't have specific
distribution plans as of now, but the plan is to have the film stream
online after its festival run. For more updates, please feel free
to follow/subscribe to my YouTube and Vimeo pages for updates in the future.
Harry's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsZ2cMMN2wCYoC5IptbvemQ .
Harry's Vimeo page: https://vimeo.com/harrywaldman
Anything you can tell us about
audience and critical reception of Enter
the Room? It's definitely not for everyone, but the overall reactions have been
pretty positive. Enter
the Room has screened at a number of
festivals and I have received plenty of compliments from others about
the film. The production values leave a lot of room for
improvement, but I already feel that I have improved on that front since
I have made Enter
the Room and hope to continue to do so in
the future. And overall, it seems that many people who have
watched the film seem to forgive the technical flaws because they became
engaged in the characters and the story, which has been a huge relief
for me, as that was the main focus of the film. Any future projects you'd like to
share? I have another short film, Bay For Blood, that is in the
middle of its festival run. The Corridor Crossing, my
debut feature film, is currently in post-production. I am working
on color correction and hope to hire a composer for the final score in
the near future. I have another feature film, Incautious. The outline is complete and I am currently
writing the script for that one. I hope to put that film into
production next fall. And my dad and I are also working on an
animated short film called Slivered. We are currently storyboarding for that one.
What got you into filmmaking in the first place,
and did you receive any formal training on the subject?
I have loved movies for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest
memories involve me watching movies when I was just a couple years old.
While I have loved watching films forever, I was always someone who was
a bit too "practical" when it came to my career, despite the
fact that my dad had been a successful artist since I was young. I
assumed that you were supposed to graduate college and then work at a
job that you weren't passionate about in order to pay the bills. The
thought really depressed me, so I tried not to think about it too often
and focused on my hobbies, which included watching movies, playing video
games, sports, listening to music and hanging out with friends.
I studied business in college, which ultimately taught me how to be a good
leader as a film director/producer, but the actual content didn't
interest me much. I assumed that I would get some business marketing job
out of college that I wouldn't really be passionate about. I started to
have these fantasies about finding myself working a marketing gig on a
film production during my junior year of college, and while the fantasy
excited me, it also depressed me because it didn't seem realistic
considering my situation.
During the second semester of my senior year of college, shortly after watching
The Social Network, which is one of my favorite films of all
time, and which I believe had an influence on what I have written below,
I had a dream that I was going to a prestigious film school, taking
various filmmaking courses, collaborating with other students to work on
film projects, etc. Near the end of the dream, I met a psychic who told
me that one of my closest friends (Inspired by Mark Zuckerberg stabbing
Eduardo Saverin in the back) would steal my film idea, but despite this
awful fact, I would become a successful filmmaker.
While I believe that I get along pretty well with most people, I can be a
vengeful person if I feel that I was wronged. What truly shocked me
about this dream was that I was so excited about the prospect of being a
successful filmmaker, that it completely overshadowed my distress over
having my film idea stolen by my best friend. Suddenly,
I woke up, jumped out of my bed, grabbed my backpack and jacket and ran
to the front door of my apartment, getting ready to go to one of my
"film classes". Then, I realized that it was 12:10 p.m. on a
Saturday; that I had just been at a bar the previous night with friends;
and that I wasn't a film student at a prestigious film school, but a
marketing student at a business school; and I would graduate college and
find some job that I hated; and that would be the rest of my life...
this
was the single most depressing moment of my entire life.
I stared at my bedroom wall in horror for about 20 minutes and then a
lightbulb suddenly popped on inside my head. I told myself, "So you
finally figured out your passion as you're graduating college. That's
unfortunate, but you're still only 21 years old. You have plenty of
time." I immediately came up with a plan for my filmmaking career.
I would graduate college with my business marketing degree and find a
decent paying job in business after college during the day while
pursuing my filmmaking career during the evenings and weekends. This
plan launched the beginning of my exciting filmmaking journey, from
watching YouTube videos on filmmaking and working as a production
assistant on film sets while working in insurance to pay the bills to
being able to direct and produce my own films as my main passion, while
working for a post-production company, handling video editing and video
ingest. What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to Enter
the Room? Enter
the Room is my first professional film. I did
make one amateur film called 515 before Enter
the Room. I bought a cheap camera at Best Buy, a tripod and
made the entire film by myself. It was a challenge for sure, but I
had a blast doing it, and the film turned out better than I initially
anticipated it would. This was such an important milestone for me
because not only did I want to continue to make films after working
on this project; I learned how much I liked editing from making 515, something that I thought I would hate before I ever tried it.
How would you describe yourself as a director? I would call myself a writers'/actors' director as those are my main
two focuses. I tend to have a very specific attention to
detail with my scripts and characters, which is one of the reasons
why I spend so much time on casting and rehearsing. And while I
value those aspects of filmmaking so much, I have also learned of the
importance of all aspects of filmmaking. Editing and music
are two areas of the subject that I have really been focusing on lately,
and while my understanding of cinematography was lacking when I began
filmmaking, it is also an area that I have really focused on improving
at recently. Filmmakers who inspire you? Christopher
Nolan was the first film director who I specifically followed. I first
watched one of his earlier films, Memento at a friend's house in
7th grade. It was actually his parents' recommendation, and I was a
rebellious kid, so I was skeptical. I was quickly proven wrong, and
while I was confused by the twist ending, I was also very intrigued and
immediately wanted to watch it again. I forgot about the film for some
time, and about 2 years later, I stumbled into it at a Blockbuster. I
became so obsessed with the movie that I watched it 5 nights in a row,
learning something new every time as Christopher Nolan dropped so many
Easter eggs throughout the film. In general, I really prefer to watch
new films and I often get tired of repetition, but Memento
is one of the few films that I can revisit over and over without ever
becoming even slightly bored with it. Due to the ingenious plot
structuring, smart script, incredibly complex characters and insane
twist ending, Memento is the first film that I became
obsessed with and is still my favorite film to this day. When I saw Batman Begins in theaters a few years later, I was blown away by
the darker, more serious tone that the film went with and saw
Christopher’s name in the credits as the director shortly after the
film ended. That was the moment that I learned of the influence that a
director can have on a film, and I have followed Nolan closely ever
since.
There are so many other directors who I follow, but I would say that some of
the others who have definitely had an influence on my work include Danny
Boyle, David Fincher, Gaspar Noe, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick,
David Lynch, Akira Kurosawa, John Carpenter, Satoshi Kon, Michael Mann,
Brian De Palma, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. I have had a number of
family, friends and acquaintances compare my filmmaking style to David
Lynch after watching Enter
the Room, which I take as a gigantic compliment Your favourite movies?
There are so many. Memento is the first film I truly
became obsessed with. Some of my favorite blockbusters from my
childhood include The Dark Knight, the Lord of the
Rings trilogy, the Star Wars trilogy, Alien,
Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Jurassic Park, etc. I have expanded my tastes over the
years and some of my other favorites include Ex Machina, Hereditary,
127 Hours, Collateral, Annihilation and so many more. I have also become
quite obsessed with animation and have really enjoyed a handful of the
classic Pixar films, many Japanese animated films, and I recently
watched Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which
absolutely blew me away. ... and of course, films you really
deplore? While there are plenty of films that aren't necessarily for me, I try
to be positive and find something redeeming in each one I see.
Unfortunately, with Hallmark Christmas/romance films
I can't find anything. I understand that many people watch movies
for comfort, but I just find these types of films to be so cheesy and
formulaic. And regarding comfort, there are an endless number
of "comfort" films out there that do more for me than those
types of films. Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever else?
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Here are links to my website and a few of my social media handles:
Official website: https://edgewaterfilmproduction.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/harry.waldo.3/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hwaldman18/
Filmfreeway: https://filmfreeway.com/HarryWaldman
Harry's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCsZ2cMMN2wCYoC5IptbvemQ .
Harry's Vimeo page: https://vimeo.com/harrywaldman
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
I think that covers it! It's been great chatting with you about Enter
the Room and my filmmaking career!!! Thanks for theinterview!
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