Your new movie Perfect
- in a few words, what is it about?
Jeremiah
Kipp: I thought of it as a retelling of Frankenstein with a
female creator objectifying the perfect male assembled from the finest
body parts. Ashley, what do you think?
Ashley Tyler: A troubled young
woman is consumed with the yearning to find the perfect man in a crowded
NYC dating scene, even if it means building one herself, piece by piece.
How did the project
come into being in the first place, and how did the both of you get
involved with it? Ashley Tyler: I worked with Jeremiah in
the past on a feature film and I loved his directing style and how he
brought out the very best of the actors on set. He isn't afraid of dark
material, so when I started crafting the idea of Perfect
I
knew he was the only one that could take this script and transform it into
the film it is now. Jeremiah Kipp: I'm grateful Ashley sent me the script.
I'd enjoyed working with her very much on my second feature, Theresa
& Allison. This felt like a fantastic role for her: edgy,
complicated, thoughtful... and she gave such a wonderful performance. This
was a real joy to create, which is funny considering how brutal the tale
is as it unfolds. Ashley, you're credited as the
co-writer of Perfect's
screen story - so what were your sources of inspiration? Ashley Tyler: I absolutely love horror films, but I noticed
it is mostly male driven killers and female victims. I wanted to create a
female killer that turned the tables and men were the victims. And when I
would read almost daily on social media a lot of dating horror stories
from women, I thought that would be a great motivator to a woman who had
had enough, and the story went from there. What
can you tell us about your collaboration with Perfect's
screenwriter Anthony Guilianti? Ashley
Tyler: I had been talking to a few writers about the story and where I
wanted it to go, but when I had video chatted with Anthony the first time
I knew he was going to write this film. He is a fellow horror lover and we
bounced so many ideas back and forth with each other that just felt right
when developing the screenplay.
Do talk about your
movie's approach to horror for a bit! Jeremiah Kipp: Spare, minimalist and
bloody... I felt
like it was a classy date. The film is odd but we never dived into the
weirdness; we treated it as a normal day in the life... which perhaps is
weird in and of itself. Ashley Tyler: Morbid but with hints of dark
humor... Jeremiah, what can
you tell us about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand? Jeremiah Kipp: Keeping it simple and
character-driven was the way to go. The story is lurid, but I wanted to
film it as if we were telling a relatively naturalistic story. Flashbacks
in black-and-white allowed us to separate the past and present, and felt
elegant... or as elegant as anything can be when you're chopping people up. Ashley,
you also play the lead in Perfect
- so what can you tell us about your character, what did you draw upon to
bring Audrey to life, and have you written her with yourself from the
get-go? Ashley Tyler: I had
already planned on portraying the lead when I came up with the concept of Perfect. What is so fascinating about Audrey is that she goes
about these day to day killings like it's a normal routine, it doesn't
faze her at all. And in her mind she is absolutely justified in her
actions. I drew from my own bad dates in New York and desire for my
perfect match but took it up a notch, what would it take to drive a woman
to kill since historically there have been very few women serial killers.
Do talk about the rest of your cast, and why
exactly these people?
Jeremiah Kipp: The body part victims were all actors I had worked with
before, and were signed off by Ashley. They were all so game for showing
up and getting splattered. Cole Critchell got off easy; he breezes in,
gets rejected at the bar and walks away after getting the last word in.
The others had to get bloody or naked to various degrees, which was so
brave of them. Ashley Tyler: All of the body part actors and Cole
Critchell were recommend by Jeremiah and I trust his input and ideas so
signed off on them. Very glad I did! None of them were afraid to get
bloody and took the roles head on, which I loved! And Logan Roberts who
plays "Eyes" saved the day, the night before shooting our
original actor could not film because of an Illness so we were searching
for our blue eyed bartender and stumbled on Logan. He called off his job
to be a part of this film and he has such natural charm and likeability
that I'm happy we ended up with him. A few words about the shoot as
such, and the on-set atmosphere?
Jeremiah Kipp: It was messy with all the
blood and smoke, but I greatly enjoyed the camaraderie of the actors and
crew. Dare I say it was a lovely and loving set as we were making dead
bodies and killing folks.
Ashley
Tyler: It was definitely a messy set, but all the actors and crew were
ready to get bloody and dark so the energy on set was palpable. It was
such a great time on set, wish we could've filmed longer!
The $64-question of
course, where can Perfect
be seen?
Jeremiah
Kipp: Follow our social media and we'll be announcing forthcoming
screenings - https://www.facebook.com/Perfect-Short-Film-100261198185127/
Anything you can tell us about audience and
critical reception of Perfect
yet?
Jeremiah
Kipp: We'll have a festival premiere soon, and thus far the reviews have
understood the themes and morbid satire of the film, which is nice. Any future projects you'd like to share?
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
Jeremiah
Kipp: I'm currently in post on my sixth feature film, the monster movie Slapface. We have a wonderful cast including August Maturo
(The Nun) and Dan Hedaya (Blood Simple, Mulholland Drive). We look forward to sharing it with
audiences later this year. And of course developing the feature length
version of Perfect.
Ashley
Tyler: Right now we are developing the feature length script of Perfect
once it starts making its festival run. We have been
sending it out to many festivals and are very excited for audiences to
check it out! Visit
our Facebook page for updates on the film and where it will be shown next!
https://www.facebook.com/Perfect-Short-Film-100261198185127/
Thanks
for the interview!
|