WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:09.480 Oh gee is bot It's show tied. People say good 2 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:10.560 money to see this movie. 3 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.560 When they go out to a theater, they want cold sodas, 4 00:00:13.880 --> 00:00:15.960 hot popcorn, and no monsters. 5 00:00:16.120 --> 00:00:20.480 In the Protection Booth, everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring. Got 6 00:00:20.519 --> 00:00:40.600 it off, lover. 7 00:00:42.159 --> 00:00:49.240 I miss you so much. I can sense in my 8 00:00:49.399 --> 00:00:54.200 insides that you are alive and out there somewhere. You 9 00:00:54.280 --> 00:00:55.600 must be very scared. 10 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:02.920 What the people the people of this kind is jobs, handouts. 11 00:01:03.799 --> 00:01:06.159 I'm trying to get just a little further down the road. 12 00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:06.799 Oh. 13 00:01:07.400 --> 00:01:11.000 I know you have to do whatever it takes to survive, 14 00:01:12.000 --> 00:01:16.200 but I think there is another way, one that doesn't 15 00:01:16.319 --> 00:01:23.560 end human lives. 16 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:27.359 Are you okay? 17 00:01:27.799 --> 00:01:33.640 Yeah? 18 00:01:33.719 --> 00:01:38.000 I guess we're gonna have to start assimilating sooner rather 19 00:01:38.079 --> 00:01:38.599 than later. 20 00:01:40.000 --> 00:01:50.480 What happened together, We escaped our dying plans. 21 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:57.920 For our circle. 22 00:02:02.239 --> 00:02:06.000 We found each other before, and I know we'll find 23 00:02:06.040 --> 00:02:06.920 each other again. 24 00:02:26.199 --> 00:02:28.960 Hey, folks, welcome to a special episode of The Projection Booth. 25 00:02:29.000 --> 00:02:31.919 I'm your host, Mike White. On this episode, I'm talking 26 00:02:31.960 --> 00:02:35.280 with Zach Clark and we're talking all about his latest film, 27 00:02:35.479 --> 00:02:38.599 The Becomers. Thank you so much for listening, and I 28 00:02:38.639 --> 00:02:42.520 hope you enjoyed this interview. We've talked before at different 29 00:02:42.639 --> 00:02:46.400 festivals and things, because I've seen, gosh, almost all of 30 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:47.879 your features, I think so far. 31 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:50.800 You've seen Modern Love. Yeah. 32 00:02:50.800 --> 00:02:53.319 I even hung out with your star at a film 33 00:02:53.400 --> 00:02:56.919 festival here in Betton Harbor or something in Michigan or 34 00:02:57.039 --> 00:03:00.319 Waterfront film festivals. So, yeah, that was nice talking about 35 00:03:00.319 --> 00:03:03.879 the behind the scenes of Modern loven is automatic. Yeah, 36 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:06.680 then you know, well, so tell me about the Becomers. 37 00:03:06.680 --> 00:03:08.080 How did this one come about for you? 38 00:03:08.800 --> 00:03:09.000 So? 39 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:13.800 Joe Swanberg and Eddie Linker, who were executive producers on 40 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:17.000 Little Sister, my last movie, reach out to me in 41 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:21.800 February twenty twenty one and so that they were trying 42 00:03:21.840 --> 00:03:25.759 to put together a slate of micro budget genre movies 43 00:03:25.759 --> 00:03:28.520 to be shot in Chicago and asked if I had 44 00:03:28.719 --> 00:03:32.840 any ideas, And this is the idea that I came 45 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:37.639 up with. So the script was written in about three 46 00:03:37.719 --> 00:03:43.400 or four weeks, and we shot the movie pretty much 47 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:45.919 right after that. It was roughly like a three month 48 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:51.800 turnaround from when I started typing the screenplay to when 49 00:03:51.840 --> 00:03:54.599 we had wrapped principal photography. 50 00:03:55.439 --> 00:03:57.240 Where did the idea for this come from? 51 00:03:57.719 --> 00:04:02.439 It was February twenty twenty one, we were eleven months 52 00:04:02.479 --> 00:04:07.639 into the pandemic, not even a year, and January sixth 53 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:12.800 had just happened and Cuomo had just resigned. I live 54 00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:18.000 in New York, and it felt like making a movie 55 00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:23.319 about COVID was the right thing to do. It's what 56 00:04:23.959 --> 00:04:29.959 literally everyone had been going through. So the movie itself 57 00:04:30.040 --> 00:04:35.120 is actually a pretty sincere attempt to capture what COVID 58 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:36.360 felt like for me. 59 00:04:37.360 --> 00:04:40.079 So many movies that were produced at this time were 60 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:43.199 like small, We're going to keep two people in a room, 61 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:45.600 keep them in their bubble type of thing. I liked 62 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:50.600 that this is expansive. I like that you explore places 63 00:04:50.600 --> 00:04:52.360 and have a lot of different characters in here. 64 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:56.959 My sort of clever idea at the time was like, oh, 65 00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:01.319 it's still a movie basically about two characters. Those two 66 00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:04.079 characters are just played by five or six different people, 67 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:09.680 and it's not one location, but each character is isolated, 68 00:05:09.800 --> 00:05:13.800 Each sort of version of the alien is isolated to 69 00:05:13.839 --> 00:05:17.680 one location. The first alien is in that hotel, and 70 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:20.680 then the second alien is in the house, and the 71 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:24.360 third alien is in the sort of mansion. So that 72 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:28.360 was how I brained initially conceived of it. There aren't 73 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:31.759 that many scenes that has more than two people in 74 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:34.519 the movie. There's that sort of big set piece of 75 00:05:34.519 --> 00:05:36.759 a lot of people in it in the middle, and 76 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:39.439 then towards the end there are a few peripheral characters 77 00:05:39.439 --> 00:05:43.439 that are hanging around. But on a day to day basis, 78 00:05:43.480 --> 00:05:47.600 we still were a small contained group shooting scenes and 79 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:49.680 not a lot of people in them. And we had 80 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:54.759 a crew of maybe ten to fifteen people on any 81 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:59.079 given day, and we were all non union obviously because 82 00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:02.040 we could not have before on this budget level to 83 00:06:02.079 --> 00:06:07.199 do any of the actual union SAG protocols, but we 84 00:06:07.480 --> 00:06:11.800 masked up as often as possible, and everyone reported on 85 00:06:11.879 --> 00:06:14.600 their first day with the negative COVID tests. 86 00:06:15.120 --> 00:06:16.759 Yeah, because this was right around the time that the 87 00:06:16.879 --> 00:06:18.879 vaccine was finally being released too. 88 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:23.639 Yeah, I think I got my first shot. I'm trying 89 00:06:23.639 --> 00:06:25.399 to remember if I was even vaccinated when I made 90 00:06:25.399 --> 00:06:29.120 this movie. I was absolutely vaccinated, But I do remember 91 00:06:29.279 --> 00:06:33.399 like the most stressful part of leading up to making 92 00:06:33.439 --> 00:06:38.040 this movie was getting on a plane to Chicago, because 93 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:41.000 I was only in Chicago for less than a week 94 00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:43.600 before we started shooting. When it was if I get 95 00:06:43.639 --> 00:06:49.759 COVID on this plane, then that's that dere goes half 96 00:06:49.800 --> 00:06:50.519 our days. 97 00:06:51.040 --> 00:06:52.639 Tell me a little bit about your crew. Who were 98 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:53.959 some of your key players on this. 99 00:06:54.800 --> 00:06:58.879 Darryl Pittman, who's shot all of my features, shot this 100 00:06:58.959 --> 00:07:02.399 one as well. And Alex Sadlo and Kevin Marshall, who've 101 00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:05.079 also worked with me and who've worked with Darryl. A 102 00:07:05.160 --> 00:07:07.600 Ton also came out to work on this. We were 103 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:11.040 supposed to really only bring in you know, this was 104 00:07:11.040 --> 00:07:15.040 supposed to be almost all Chicago crew, almost all Chicago cats. 105 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:17.360 Was sort of part of the package. I was sold 106 00:07:17.839 --> 00:07:20.519 by Joe and Eddie, but we you know, I was 107 00:07:20.560 --> 00:07:22.800 allowed to bring in Darryl, and then Darryl was sort 108 00:07:22.800 --> 00:07:24.759 of we sort of talked into bringing a few other 109 00:07:24.800 --> 00:07:29.319 people on to work with Darryl. Everyone else was Chicago based. 110 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:34.079 It's our production designer glam Hagg made this incredible movie 111 00:07:34.399 --> 00:07:38.279 called Holy Trinity that they wrote, directed story in that 112 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:41.160 is just like really visually NYE popping, and they just 113 00:07:41.240 --> 00:07:44.600 really got what I was going for. And then on 114 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:46.959 the post end of the things, Fritz Myers, who has 115 00:07:46.959 --> 00:07:50.000 also written all the music for all My movies, did 116 00:07:50.000 --> 00:07:52.160 the score for this one as well, and then he 117 00:07:52.279 --> 00:07:57.360 also designed what the alien voices sound like in the 118 00:07:57.399 --> 00:07:58.120 movie as well. 119 00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:02.160 Were you able to cast them remotely? Were you zooming 120 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:03.160 with them? 121 00:08:03.560 --> 00:08:07.480 Yeah, the cast is all Chicago based, and Molly Plunk, 122 00:08:07.480 --> 00:08:10.639 who plays Carol to the alien habits for the longest 123 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:14.959 time in the movie, is in Little Sister, And that 124 00:08:15.040 --> 00:08:17.120 part was the only part in the entire scroup that 125 00:08:17.160 --> 00:08:21.240 I wrote with anyone in mind. Other folks like Mike 126 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:26.680 Lopez and Frank Ross came through friend recommendations in Chicago, 127 00:08:27.040 --> 00:08:29.240 and then my friend Stephen Cohene, who was also a 128 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:32.799 very talented filmmaker in his own right, teaches acting in 129 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:35.879 Chicago and he sent me a bunch of his students. 130 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:39.320 So Isabelle, who plays the first alien, and Rusher, who 131 00:08:39.399 --> 00:08:42.039 is one of the sort of last incardations of the alien, 132 00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:45.799 both came from Stephen. But I would say half of 133 00:08:45.799 --> 00:08:49.679 this movie was cast on backstage. Dot Com put out 134 00:08:49.720 --> 00:08:54.879 a casting notice and yeah, it was all zoom auditions 135 00:08:55.000 --> 00:08:58.399 and tapes and in Yeah, a lot of people I 136 00:08:58.440 --> 00:09:00.799 met in person for the first time when they showed 137 00:09:00.879 --> 00:09:01.240 up once. 138 00:09:01.919 --> 00:09:03.240 Do you think that's the way that it's going to 139 00:09:03.320 --> 00:09:05.399 be going forward? I know, tape auditions work at the 140 00:09:05.480 --> 00:09:07.360 thing for a little while do you think Zoom is 141 00:09:07.360 --> 00:09:08.480 gonna take that over? 142 00:09:09.159 --> 00:09:12.279 I mean, tape auditions were certainly a thing when we 143 00:09:12.279 --> 00:09:14.120 were making A Little Sister, and that was in my 144 00:09:14.200 --> 00:09:18.679 twenty fifteen so getting a sort of first round of 145 00:09:18.720 --> 00:09:22.080 submissions on tape. It's been a while since I have 146 00:09:22.200 --> 00:09:26.320 sat in our room with other human beings doing auditions. 147 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:28.919 I will say that in is like anything, you can 148 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:32.080 totally have a conversation with Someboddy over Zoom, but it's 149 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:36.320 different when you're in the room with them. We have 150 00:09:36.720 --> 00:09:39.480 and we did pretty well. We only had to reshoot 151 00:09:39.559 --> 00:09:43.000 one scene in the movie because the actor recast off 152 00:09:43.000 --> 00:09:47.399 of Backstage dot Com was not up to snuff. But yeah, 153 00:09:47.480 --> 00:09:51.600 I don't know. Certainly. I think in even the way 154 00:09:51.639 --> 00:09:54.759 we're recording this right now, I think a lot of 155 00:09:54.759 --> 00:09:58.200 the stuff is going remote. But yeah, I do think 156 00:09:58.639 --> 00:10:03.600 a little something has been lost in the audition process 157 00:10:03.720 --> 00:10:05.720 and not being able to be in the room with somebody, 158 00:10:05.759 --> 00:10:11.440 because someone's presence and physicality does matter, and it is 159 00:10:11.519 --> 00:10:14.360 much easier to suss that out and also just suss 160 00:10:14.360 --> 00:10:16.679 out a general sort of like how well I get 161 00:10:16.679 --> 00:10:19.639 along with this person vibe? What were they like when 162 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:23.519 they arrived, what were they like when they were waiting 163 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:25.720 to come into the you know, like that stuff alls 164 00:10:25.720 --> 00:10:29.360 informs what it's like to work with someone in that capacity. 165 00:10:30.000 --> 00:10:34.519 But much like other things post COVID, I don't necessarily 166 00:10:34.559 --> 00:10:38.240 see that coming back super soon. 167 00:10:38.960 --> 00:10:41.000 How many pairs of sunglasses do you think you went 168 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:42.000 through for this production? 169 00:10:42.679 --> 00:10:44.960 This movie had no money. I believe a pair of 170 00:10:45.039 --> 00:10:47.720 sunglasses on every single person in the movie is the 171 00:10:47.759 --> 00:10:48.759 pair of sunglasses. 172 00:10:49.639 --> 00:10:52.159 That's pretty impressive that they didn't break or get lost. 173 00:10:52.360 --> 00:10:53.159 Yeah. 174 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:55.639 I think one of the very last scenes we shot 175 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:59.039 is the scene where they drop onto the which is 176 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:00.840 like the first scene in the movie, but it's what 177 00:11:00.960 --> 00:11:03.360 we ended up doing at the very end. But yeah, 178 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:06.240 I think it's I'm pretty sure maybe there was a 179 00:11:06.240 --> 00:11:12.000 second pair for backup. Maybe, but I don't necessarily remember 180 00:11:12.080 --> 00:11:12.919 their being was. 181 00:11:13.639 --> 00:11:15.559 And then you said this was a pretty quick process 182 00:11:15.559 --> 00:11:18.639 as far as shooting goes. How was the post process 183 00:11:18.679 --> 00:11:20.480 and can you tell me a little bit about your editing? 184 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:24.320 The post process was very long. This is opposite of 185 00:11:24.600 --> 00:11:27.559 how production went on my last movie. Usually you go 186 00:11:27.639 --> 00:11:30.440 through this sort of lengthy process of writing a script 187 00:11:30.519 --> 00:11:33.679 and showing it to people and sitting with it working 188 00:11:33.720 --> 00:11:36.120 on it developed, and you find the money, and the 189 00:11:36.120 --> 00:11:38.679 people who give you the money they have thoughts and 190 00:11:38.720 --> 00:11:40.960 stuff about that, and you get to live in it 191 00:11:41.000 --> 00:11:42.519 and by the time you get around to it, you 192 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:45.519 really feel like you've like you can hold it all 193 00:11:45.519 --> 00:11:50.360 in your head. I had to read the scenes every 194 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:55.840 morning before we shot them so that I could remember 195 00:11:55.919 --> 00:12:01.039 what I The sort of rush of going through production 196 00:12:02.159 --> 00:12:05.240 meant that there was just a lot more unpacking to 197 00:12:05.320 --> 00:12:09.720 do in the editing process. You know, it's a in 198 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:15.240 some ways Chandre is straightforward from an editing standpoint, because 199 00:12:15.240 --> 00:12:18.000 you can't really like, I can't take a scene from 200 00:12:18.120 --> 00:12:20.519 later in this movie and move it to earlier. It 201 00:12:20.600 --> 00:12:23.480 just does it. You can't rearrange stuff as freely, and 202 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:27.159 so you're sort of locked into the timeline, into the 203 00:12:27.240 --> 00:12:29.360 narrative progression that you set out for yourself at the 204 00:12:29.360 --> 00:12:32.799 beginning of it. And so it all just comes about 205 00:12:33.080 --> 00:12:37.799 tone and making sure every moment is as potent as 206 00:12:37.799 --> 00:12:40.759 it can be. And I will say that we shot 207 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:44.519 and then for about a year I was working on 208 00:12:44.559 --> 00:12:47.399 a cut of this movie. But it was very difficult 209 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:49.200 because we had shot so quickly the first time that 210 00:12:49.240 --> 00:12:53.000 we had screwed a bunch of things up. So at 211 00:12:53.000 --> 00:12:55.320 the end of that year process, I sort of got 212 00:12:55.320 --> 00:12:57.759 to a place where I was like, we need to 213 00:12:57.840 --> 00:13:01.519 do some pickup. Three shoots came back about a year later. 214 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:06.759 The original shoot was fourteen days, and we came back 215 00:13:06.799 --> 00:13:09.960 about a year later and shot for six more days, 216 00:13:10.399 --> 00:13:14.799 and those six days were almost all reshoots of scenes 217 00:13:14.840 --> 00:13:17.240 we had already shot. We reshot about a third of 218 00:13:17.320 --> 00:13:17.720 the movie. 219 00:13:18.440 --> 00:13:22.399 In those sixties, that sounds really difficult, especially just to 220 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:25.159 regroup with that cast or any of the people that 221 00:13:25.200 --> 00:13:27.399 weren't involved. That sounds like it might have been a 222 00:13:27.399 --> 00:13:28.759 little nightmarish. 223 00:13:29.039 --> 00:13:33.919 The logistics actually weren't that bad because everybody still lived 224 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:36.600 in Chicago. It was the summer, so I think as 225 00:13:36.639 --> 00:13:39.039 soon as we knew that we needed to do it, 226 00:13:39.159 --> 00:13:42.240 we checked in with everybody and said, what's the ven 227 00:13:42.240 --> 00:13:46.960 diagram of everyone's availability. Okay, it looks like this week works, 228 00:13:47.240 --> 00:13:49.720 let's do it this week. And then it was also 229 00:13:49.799 --> 00:13:53.879 nice because again, we shot an entire ninety minute movie 230 00:13:53.960 --> 00:13:59.240 in fourteen days the first time through, so having six 231 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:03.440 days to shoot to reshoot basically twenty thirty minutes of 232 00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:08.639 stuff was felt like luxurious by comparison. Oh, we got 233 00:14:08.679 --> 00:14:10.919 to live in stuff a little bit more, and things 234 00:14:10.960 --> 00:14:13.080 work is rushed, and we got to take the time 235 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:16.039 that we maybe didn't have for stuff the first time through. 236 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:20.279 It made the movie a movie. Basically. I don't know 237 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:24.120 what would have become of it were it not for 238 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:28.159 those six days. It really did transform it. And then 239 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:31.679 once we had that, we cut that together. This movie 240 00:14:31.759 --> 00:14:35.360 has voiceover in it, but the script that I wrote 241 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:39.559 did not. And I always knew. I knew when I 242 00:14:39.559 --> 00:14:41.480 wrote the script, and I knew even when we shot 243 00:14:41.519 --> 00:14:44.279 that first shoot that this was a movie bad. I 244 00:14:44.440 --> 00:14:47.799 probably wanted to have voiceover in it at some point, 245 00:14:48.320 --> 00:14:52.600 but voiceover wasn't even written until all of that stuff 246 00:14:52.600 --> 00:14:54.360 from the second shoot had been cut in and we 247 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:56.679 could take a look at it. And then I figured, well, 248 00:14:56.679 --> 00:15:00.519 if I'm going to try to put voiceover in this movie, 249 00:15:00.600 --> 00:15:02.919 I might as well give it a shot. And so 250 00:15:03.159 --> 00:15:05.679 I just wrote some stuff, recorded it myself, and put 251 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:08.360 it in. And then that did a whole new thing 252 00:15:08.639 --> 00:15:10.879 to the movie. And so it became a process of 253 00:15:11.080 --> 00:15:14.600 n doing that. And then once all that was done, 254 00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:18.120 this movie has over one hundred v effect shots in it, 255 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:22.120 and so then it became a process of wrangling all 256 00:15:22.200 --> 00:15:24.639 of that stuff and wrapping our heads around all of 257 00:15:24.639 --> 00:15:27.919 that stuff. So Little Fister we worked on for three 258 00:15:28.039 --> 00:15:30.159 years and wrote the script and tried to find money, 259 00:15:30.240 --> 00:15:32.320 and I had a round of trying to find money 260 00:15:32.320 --> 00:15:34.759 and that not really working, and then regrouping and saying, 261 00:15:34.759 --> 00:15:37.120 here's a sort of tighter budget. Was trying to find 262 00:15:37.159 --> 00:15:39.039 money for that. Okay, now we found money. So Little 263 00:15:39.039 --> 00:15:41.840 Sister had a traditional We spent three years trying to 264 00:15:41.840 --> 00:15:45.279 get to make it, and then that post process was 265 00:15:45.679 --> 00:15:50.559 almost instantaneous. We shot in like October November of twenty 266 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:54.000 fifteen and premiered in March of twenty sixteen. And this 267 00:15:54.159 --> 00:15:56.559 was the opposite. It was like the writing and making 268 00:15:56.600 --> 00:16:02.039 and financing process was three months and then everything after 269 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:06.480 that process was another two Yeah, it was another two years. 270 00:16:06.840 --> 00:16:09.200 Wow, had you ever done a film with this many 271 00:16:09.240 --> 00:16:10.279 special effects? 272 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:11.039 No? 273 00:16:11.240 --> 00:16:14.559 I mean Little Sister. They all have some sort of 274 00:16:15.600 --> 00:16:18.639 version of special effects in them, and all the other 275 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:21.080 effects in the other movies are all practical, they're all 276 00:16:21.080 --> 00:16:24.600 in camera. The biggest one is Keith Poulsen and Little 277 00:16:24.639 --> 00:16:28.519 Sisters and Burn Victim makeup for the entire movie, and 278 00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:32.080 the artists who did that, Brian Spears and Pete Gerder 279 00:16:32.200 --> 00:16:36.840 also designed the adult alien looks for this movie, but 280 00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:40.399 that was the most involved thing on the previous thing. 281 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:44.480 But that Keith looked like that the entire time, and 282 00:16:44.519 --> 00:16:48.480 so he was stating with our special effects makeup artist 283 00:16:48.519 --> 00:16:51.519 in the same airbnb, and he would literally just cut 284 00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:54.399 arrive on set looking like that and then at the 285 00:16:54.519 --> 00:16:55.799 end because they would just do it all in their 286 00:16:55.879 --> 00:16:58.799 Airbnb and then they would take it all off back 287 00:16:58.840 --> 00:17:02.240 of the Airbnb. The couple weeks that Keith was there. 288 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:04.880 That's just what he looked like to everybody, because that's 289 00:17:04.880 --> 00:17:07.119 how he showed up in the morning and that's how 290 00:17:07.119 --> 00:17:09.720 he left in the evening. On the weekend, you'd see 291 00:17:09.720 --> 00:17:12.119 when you'd be like, oh, that's regular Keith. But so 292 00:17:12.200 --> 00:17:15.319 the practical effects in this were done while we were 293 00:17:15.359 --> 00:17:19.079 doing other things, and we would have to shoot some 294 00:17:19.079 --> 00:17:22.519 stuff with an actor, release them to get their makeup 295 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:25.039 put on while we shot stuff with a different actor 296 00:17:25.799 --> 00:17:29.319 and then released that. It was real frantic, send this 297 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:31.839 person over, bring this person out in a way that 298 00:17:32.000 --> 00:17:35.240 like in the end product means that we do have 299 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:39.839 a kind of a lot effects in this movie. But 300 00:17:40.039 --> 00:17:43.200 it was the result of some hectic sort of planning 301 00:17:43.240 --> 00:17:46.079 and scheduling during the shoots to get at all, to 302 00:17:46.119 --> 00:17:49.079 get at all to be ready for camera on time. 303 00:17:49.680 --> 00:17:52.480 And then I'd never done anything with post v effects 304 00:17:52.519 --> 00:17:54.839 on my own work before, I've done other stuff I've 305 00:17:55.400 --> 00:17:58.359 worked as an editor on stuff that post VFCS, never 306 00:17:58.400 --> 00:17:59.079 on my lind. 307 00:17:59.839 --> 00:18:03.279 Just a ton of coordination for the VFX stuff. 308 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:08.319 We really just didn't even plan for any of it. 309 00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:10.440 We knew we were going to do all the work, 310 00:18:10.519 --> 00:18:13.319 but we didn't bring the VFCS person on until after 311 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:16.079 we'd already shut and so there wasn't anything done on 312 00:18:16.160 --> 00:18:20.839 set to make their job any easier, unfortunately. But Josh Johnson, 313 00:18:20.880 --> 00:18:23.200 who did all those vfcs, did an amazing job. It 314 00:18:23.240 --> 00:18:26.480 was a real trooper to come on board this thing 315 00:18:26.559 --> 00:18:28.920 and a load his talent to us. 316 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:32.119 Do you have any sort of process when it comes 317 00:18:32.160 --> 00:18:35.160 to testing out your different cuts with people? Do you 318 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:37.160 have that test audience that you sends up to or 319 00:18:37.160 --> 00:18:38.599 is it just all you? 320 00:18:38.640 --> 00:18:41.920 No, So I'm my own editor, so if it was 321 00:18:42.000 --> 00:18:44.920 just me, I would go insane. Already go insane a 322 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:48.400 little bit editing my own movie, and so way I 323 00:18:48.480 --> 00:18:50.559 get through it is I constantly show it to people. 324 00:18:50.799 --> 00:18:55.119 I do. I think we did one actual test screening 325 00:18:55.160 --> 00:18:57.559 in a room with a bunch of people, but I 326 00:18:57.640 --> 00:19:01.680 was regularly sending cuts off the people to get opinions 327 00:19:01.799 --> 00:19:05.839 during the process, just because you need to hear what 328 00:19:05.960 --> 00:19:08.079 works and what doesn't. And then the other thing, too, 329 00:19:08.160 --> 00:19:10.920 is you get so close to it when you write 330 00:19:11.000 --> 00:19:14.519 and direct and live through the process, but edit that 331 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:17.000 sometimes you need people to be like, no, that's good. 332 00:19:17.359 --> 00:19:19.960 Oh yeah, I'm sure you can be your own worst critic. 333 00:19:20.319 --> 00:19:22.759 Yeah, yeah, I actually think that's the skill you have 334 00:19:22.839 --> 00:19:25.839 to have if you're going to edit your own stuff. 335 00:19:25.960 --> 00:19:28.200 I think if you think everything you do is great, 336 00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:30.079 you probably shouldn't edit your own. 337 00:19:31.480 --> 00:19:33.480 When did the film have its premiere. 338 00:19:33.920 --> 00:19:37.400 Premier last year at the Fantasia Film Festival. 339 00:19:37.440 --> 00:19:39.200 And what was the audience reaction for it? 340 00:19:39.799 --> 00:19:41.480 They seemed to do it. I always say that the 341 00:19:41.480 --> 00:19:44.079 world premiere of a movie is when I celebrate watching 342 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:47.559 it for the last time. So I'm just always so 343 00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:50.960 on edge just to make sure the dckey doesn't have 344 00:19:51.039 --> 00:19:54.960 any dropouts in it. That's all I can think about. Yeah, 345 00:19:54.960 --> 00:19:56.880 people seem to into it, and this is all my 346 00:19:56.960 --> 00:19:59.039 work is this to a certain degree, But I think 347 00:19:59.079 --> 00:20:02.039 this movie is definitely more in the camp. It's for 348 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:04.799 the people that it's for and not for the people 349 00:20:04.880 --> 00:20:09.480 that it's not for. But Fantasia has a very expansive 350 00:20:09.799 --> 00:20:17.200 view of genre and they have very adventurous, inviting curious audiences. 351 00:20:17.519 --> 00:20:20.599 So the response there was positive. Yeah, it was good. 352 00:20:21.119 --> 00:20:23.200 Yeah, I was very surprised when I read, oh, a 353 00:20:23.240 --> 00:20:25.920 science fiction film from Zach Clark. I love that you 354 00:20:25.960 --> 00:20:28.160 go in all these different directions with your films. 355 00:20:28.599 --> 00:20:30.559 Yeah. Well, when we were getting ready to make this, 356 00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.359 I have also always said that this is a science 357 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:35.519 fiction movie in the way that White Reindeer is a 358 00:20:35.559 --> 00:20:39.559 Christmas movie, which is that it's all the stuff is there. 359 00:20:39.640 --> 00:20:41.400 If you made a list of things that you would 360 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:44.440 expect to see in a science fiction movie, pretty much 361 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:46.640 we check all those boxes on that list. They're just 362 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:51.079 all deployed for different reasons and what the movie is 363 00:20:51.119 --> 00:20:54.240 interested in and the sort of cumulative effect it is 364 00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:58.119 maybe different than a traditional science fiction movie. But you know, 365 00:20:58.200 --> 00:21:02.480 my ex and I during COVID watch all of Star 366 00:21:02.519 --> 00:21:06.160 Trek original series of all of Star Trek Next Generation, 367 00:21:06.720 --> 00:21:11.640 and that really was like the biggest influence on this movie. 368 00:21:11.920 --> 00:21:14.920 And why those two alien characters are sort of like 369 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:17.480 you know, it's about these two people who have to 370 00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:20.440 who are stuck together against the chaos of the world, 371 00:21:21.279 --> 00:21:23.559 and what do they have to keep them together? This 372 00:21:23.640 --> 00:21:25.920 sort of weird science fiction language. 373 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:27.839 So what are you working on these days? 374 00:21:28.480 --> 00:21:31.400 Oh, I'm writing, trying to write. I'm like an editor 375 00:21:31.440 --> 00:21:35.359 by trade. I've been editing stuff. I cut Calvin Lee 376 00:21:35.440 --> 00:21:38.599 Reader's new movie The a Frame that premiered at Tribeca 377 00:21:38.599 --> 00:21:42.839 this year, and I recently finished working on my friend 378 00:21:42.960 --> 00:21:47.359 Caroline Gollum's movie just called Revelations of Divine Love, which 379 00:21:47.480 --> 00:21:51.920 is micro budget movie set in the Middle Ages shot 380 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:55.680 at a warehouse. Looks incredible. And yeah, I've been editing 381 00:21:55.799 --> 00:21:58.200 some stuff. I'm working on a documentary, which is something 382 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:01.400 I've never done before that's been fun. And working on 383 00:22:01.440 --> 00:22:04.640 a small sort of narrative project right now, and just writing. 384 00:22:04.799 --> 00:22:08.599 Trying to finish a couple of scripts that are genre 385 00:22:08.880 --> 00:22:13.279 adjacent in a similar way. So if anyone sees this 386 00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:16.480 movie and thinks that guy should make one more movie 387 00:22:16.559 --> 00:22:20.000 like this, I'll have a project or two ready in 388 00:22:20.000 --> 00:22:20.480 that vein. 389 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:23.119 Yeah, how many projects are you trying to get off 390 00:22:23.160 --> 00:22:24.279 the ground at the same time? 391 00:22:24.920 --> 00:22:28.920 Up until Little Sister, I had a one to one 392 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:34.680 finished screenplay to completed movie ratio. But since then, since 393 00:22:34.720 --> 00:22:40.920 Little Sister, I tried to make some larger budgeted movies 394 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:44.880 and none of them quite stuck. So I have those 395 00:22:44.920 --> 00:22:48.400 scripts sitting around from those bigger features, and then now 396 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:51.279 trying to like this is what I've learned in the 397 00:22:51.359 --> 00:22:55.319 time since, to try to diversify and have a few 398 00:22:55.319 --> 00:22:58.359 different projects at a few different budget levels. But it's 399 00:22:58.400 --> 00:23:02.200 also difficult to hold old, different storylines in your brain 400 00:23:02.240 --> 00:23:05.960 at the same time. So I'm doing my best to 401 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.720