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Your new movie 73
Minutes - in a few words, what is it about?
It’s the story of a lawyer who is on her way home after an after work
rendezvous with her married boyfriend, when she gets a call from an
unknown number. The caller tells her that she has to take a client’s
file to him at a location 73 minutes away, or he will kill her daughter.
She spends that time trying to figure out who the caller is why he wants
the file.
Your
sources of inspiration when writing 73
Minutes? It was the middle of the
pandemic, and I was watching the film Locke with Tom Hardy. I
couldn’t believe how invested I was in the character. And then I
thought, can you imagine if he actually had a mystery to solve? My mind
just went into overdrive at that point, and I had finished the first draft
of the script three days later. Given 73
Minutes is somewhat restricted in its locations and has its
characters interacting mostly over the phone, have you conceived the
script for your movie as a direct reaction to the limitations the pandemic
has imposed on filmmaking or was this a pre-Covid script that could be
adapted to the conditions rather by chance? I
wrote this in May 2020, right in the middle of the lockdown. All the
productions had stopped, and it looked like the world would never be the
same. I honestly thought this might be how we would need to do films from
then on. To put the
last question on its head, in what way has the pandemic and the
restrictions that came with it affected your filmmaking?
I was living in a studio apartment in Downtown LA and I couldn’t leave my
apartment for anything besides groceries. Like most people, I was going
crazy inside these small four walls, and I lived by myself. Writing the
script gave me a creative outlet that helped me stay sane through that
time. And I knew I would not be alone in that need. So I contacted good
friends who I had worked with before and offered them the opportunity to
actually make the script into a film. We had no idea how it would turn out
but we needed to make it just for ourselves. Nobody expected it to come
out as good as it did. Least of all me.
Making 73
Minutes, what were some of the biggest challenges to overcome?
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We had actors in four different states: Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and
Texas. The main car driving scenes were filmed in Florida. But this was
June 2020. No government offices were open so we could get filming
permits, and the entire film takes place outside. So we already knew that
we would have to film guerrilla style, with a car on a trailer, driving on
public roads. Then as we start filming, the riots that led to the Black
Lives Matter movement broke out. We were in South Florida, and now the
government issued a total curfew after nine, and our film takes place at
night. So after postponing filming for a few days, we decided to chance
it. We defied the curfew and started filming in the Florida Everglades
away from the Downtown Fort Lauderdale area where the riots were
happening. The drawback is that the Everglades in June are extremely hot,
not to mention home to a million mosquitoes. Our lead actress, Aniela
McGuinness [Aniela McGuinness
interview - click here], then had to pretend to be driving while worrying of getting
busted, with all the lines being read to her by actors in other states.
And I had to direct all these different actors who are simultaneously
recording their own lines over a group call on Skype. It was the hardest
thing I’ve had to do since I started making films.
Do talk about 73 Minutes'
approach to the thriller genre, and what do you think makes your film
stick out of the crowd? Obviously,
the style of how it’s filmed is what is most original. It’s hard
enough to make a suspenseful film when you have multiple characters and
multiple locations. But the real challenge is how to keep a story that
takes place almost entirely in a car suspenseful. I’m really proud to
see the audience’s reactions to it so far. ;
A few words about your overall directorial approach to your story at hand? More
than in any other film, my biggest challenge was to find actors who I knew
could make this believable. It only works if you really believe that there
is this impending danger. So I was over the moon when all these really
talented people agreed to do it. Then, we had to rehearse, rehearse,
rehearse. I don’t get too many rehearsals normally because of budgetary
reasons. But in this situation, I knew that I would not have a chance to
do much directing on the day of the actual filming, because I wasn’t
going to be in the same room with any of these actors. Even Aniela was in
the car by herself. I had to work out all the performances ahead of time. What can you
tell us about 73 Minutes'
cast, and why exactly these people?
I honestly resisted the idea of asking Aniela McGuinness, just because I’ve cast her
so many times that people are going to start thinking that we’re
involved. But I’m glad I did, because not only was she amazing in it but
she did so many things to help the production happen. The film would not
have been made without her. And she is a rock star. She was doing the
slate herself (which actors never do) on top of staying in character and
remembering the lines. She had all these people talking into her ear, and
she still performs so believably that she knocked it out of the park.
Mike Stanley [Mike Stanley
interview - click here] was in my mind when I was writing the script. He just has a great
voice, and I knew he would make a very sinister caller. He’s so
immensely talented and so great to work with, too.
Christopher Millan, who plays the married boyfriend, had auditioned for me years
before. I had always wanted to work with him, so although I didn’t know
him very well, I reached out to him for this role. I was pleasantly
surprised when he agreed to do it, and boy did he deliver. After that I
cast him in my next film, so obviously that worked out well for both of
us.
Megan Rosen and Sheril Rodgers are dear friends who I knew were immensely
talented as well. This gave me a great opportunity to work with both of
them.
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Lou Simon |
The hardest role to cast was the daughter because I didn’t know any child
actors. So we put out a casting call on Facebook and someone sent us a
picture of Izzy Herbert. She looked just like Aniela so we were hopeful.
And she just blew us away. She’s going to be huge one day. I just know
it.
Do talk about the
shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere! First,
there was the general concern about what would happen if the police
stopped us. But also trying to comply with the distance mandates was
difficult. There were 4 people in the truck that pulled the car on the
trailer. The driver, the DP, the sound person and I. We all had our masks
on and it was hard to hear the sound sometimes. The cameras would need to
be stopped and started remotely but that didn’t always work. And
everyone was doing the job of like ten people on a regular set. It was
truly crazy, but the fact that these people that I was working with are
not just the ultimate professionals but also my friends made it run so
much better than it ever should have. The $64
question of course, where can 73
Minutes be seen? It
is now free to stream for free (with ads) on TubiTV. It’ll be available
to stream on Amazon soon, but I know that people are paying so much for
subscriptions these days that they don’t want to pay for rentals. Anything you can tell us about
audience and critical reception of 73
Minutes? Everyone
is blown away by what we were able to accomplish with such limitations,
and how engaged they were in the story. We won the audience award at the
Sin Film Festival last September. Any future projects you'd like to
share?
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We just finished 9 Windows, which is the first feature film to be
filmed entirely in an extended reality stage using the Epic Unreal Engine.
It is a modern retelling of Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window. Your/your movie's website, social media, whatever
else? I’m @mslousimon on all social media, and the film is @73minutes on
Instagram and 73minutesfilm on Facebook Anything else you're dying to mention and I have
merely forgotten to ask? Just
that we need to remember that entertainment and creativity serve a purpose
in our lives. Most of us survived those months of isolation by watching TV
series and films. And I know for those of us that were involved with this
film, staying creative was a way to stay sane in those crazy times. And of
course, thank you for helping us promote our film and supporting
independent films! Thanks for the interview!
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