Your new movie So, You're the
Guy? - in a few words, what is it about?
A guy named Bobby Stallion enters a men's room at the wedding venue he
himself is about to get married in. A few moments later, another
gentleman, named Paulie Smith, enters the same men's room. Eventually it
is discovered that Paulie, in fact, is the ex-husband of Lily, Bobby's
bride-to-be. Even more levels of intrigue are revealed.
What
were your sources of inspiration when writing So,
You're the Guy?, and is any of the movie, however remotely, based
on personal experience?
The piece was originally written for the stage as part of my friend
Michael Gonza's Play in a Day Festival out of Natick, Massachusetts, USA
in February, 2017. For me, I believe the men's room should be a quiet
place with as little speaking between men as possible. It throws me off
my game when people speak to me in the men's room; they should not do
that. I prefer a single server. So, I wanted to make a film that showed
a very compromising conversation between two guys in the most intimate
of areas. With which one of the two leads
in So, You're the Guy?
do you actually identify with more, and why?
I identify probably more with Paulie Smith because he's the guy who's
been "replaced" by the "new model " and is bitter
about it. But I do also empathize with Bobby's compulsion to wash his
hands and his search for privacy. So,
You're the Guy? was entirely shot in a public restroom - so how
limiting and maybe also liberating was it to film there, and what were the
main challenges keeping things visually interesting throughout with this
limitation?
We had access to the men's room uninterrupted to ourselves for the day.
Robert John Canelli (Bobby in the film) is also a producer and secured
us a great location for the day. The challenges were really that we did
not have a lot of physical space for much of a crew, so the whole crew
is basically Tim Labonte (DP/Editor) and myself, with much of the
physical work, including audio, handled by Tim. We had some wall art
that we wanted to hang on the walls but were having trouble with them.
The room had some issues with echoes that Tim was able to fix in post.
For whatever reason, I did not have a great night of sleep, the night
before the shoot which was a bit of a struggle for me personally, but
beyond that, all went well.
What can you tell us about your overall
directorial approach to your story at hand?
My basic approach with this one was to keep it simple and to put the
right team together. From the cast, to DP/editor Tim, and to our
composer Tony Caramadre, who had some great songs we used that really
added something to the piece. I encouraged the actors to run lines
together in the weeks leading up to the shoot; the two guys Bradley and
Robert are friends in real life, so they did a great job in getting
prepared on their own time.
Do talk
about your cast, and why exactly these people?
Robert John Canelli is a well respected, retired principle and teacher
out of the New Haven, Connecticut area where we filmed. Robert aka
"Bobby" is really a great guy and he hosted me and Tim at his
house the night before the shoot and really made us feel at home.
Bradley Rhodes is a great guy as well who's wife Eunice is a talented
actress herself. I just worked with Bradley again on Messier
Peace Theater.
https://mikemessier.com/2019/07/25/messier-peace-theater/
You know what is ironic, Michael, if that's the word... I became
familiar with both of these fine actors back in 2013 when they both
auditioned for a project of mine titled Chris
and the Coffee Girl, that has still yet to be produced. I
mention this because while it is depressing to me that Chris and the
Coffee Girl has yet to be made, it is nice that I've met some good
people and made good friends from the mere fact that we even
attempted to cast some roles for that piece. When things do not happen
as we plan them in the film world, it's easy to get frustrated and even
negative, but sometimes the "bigger picture" takes years to
develop and these personal and professional relationships we begin
"for one thing" end up being used, instead, "for
something else". In fact, I dug up below historic photo of
Bradley and Bobby from that audition.
https://chriscoffeegirl.wordpress.com/audition-showcase/
Bradley Rhodes, Robert John Canelli back in
2013 |
A few
words about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
It was a pretty relaxed atmosphere with just a total of four guys for
the shoot; two actors and two crew. The actors were well memorized so
there was not much stress or anything. I think it was just an eight hour
shoot to get the 11 minute film shot. Afterwards, we went to Applebee's
for a festive, celebratory dinner. The
$64 question of course, where can So,
You're the Guy? be seen?
We are currently entering film festivals now, but for those readers of
this interview who want to see it, email me at
mikemessiermoviemaker@gmail.com
subject
line: "GUY" and I will send a private link so they can enjoy
it. Anything you can tell
us about audience and critical reception of your movie yet?
Not many people have seen it so far but those who have tend to like it. Any
future projects you'd like to share?
I've got several screenplays available, and several of them, like To
Fight or Play Basketball, and Also
Ran, are award winning, so if anyone reading this has the funds to
possibly produce or buy these scripts, please contact me. I also have
several short scripts, like the award winning This
Cold, Still Place, that are also available.
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Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
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Your/your movie's
website, Facebook, whatever else?
https://mikemessier.com/
https://twitter.com/avaloniafest
Anything else you're
dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
First of all, Michael, thanks for your continued support of the
independent film artist! To do my part, I am also working with Avalonia
Festival IV, which will have a new home venue in
December! This is a great film festival for short films 21 minutes and
under with a variety of genres for every filmmaker! Those reading this
interview can use the promo code "searchmytrash" for 16% off
all entries for AV IV!
https://distancefromavalon.com/
Beyond that, I am available as a screenwriter and acting coach online
for hire, so if anyone has a need for either of those, please email me
through mikemessier.com
Thanks
for the interview!
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