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Your new movie The
Faith Community - in a few words, what is it about?
The
Faith Community
is a
found footage horror
film that revolves
around three college
students
who mistakenly come
face to face with
a doomsday cult
preparing for the
world’s
end.
Your
personal thoughts on bible camps, and to what extent are they reflected in
your movie?
I am a huge
supporter of individuals
who attend bible
camps and find
them spiritually
fulfilling.
Personally,
however,
I find bible
camps to be a
bit heavy-handed.
I find retreats
and camps
of
religious nature
to be potentially
very comforting for
those who
attend,
but also can
be overwhelming and
scary in a
way.
When I attended
bible camp as a
kid,
I couldn’t help
but
feel
that I was
approaching religion all
wrong.
Bible camps can
be very isolating
for people who are
questioning religion
or choose not to
practice religion in
the orthodox
way.
I feel that
my
discomfort in bible camp is very
much reflected in The
Faith Community,
and I
had a lot of
fun
taking that discomfort
to a very
far,
scary
extreme.
(Other) sources of inspiration when writing The
Faith Community?
I did some pretty
heavy research on
doomsday cults to
prepare for this
film. I read a lot
about
the Heaven’s Gate
mass
suicide, which took place
in the
1990’s.
Heaven’s Gate was
a
religious
group that believed in
an extraterrestrial spacecraft
following the passing
of a
comet,
and
thought that
the spaceship would
take them to
another realm if they sacrificed themselves
in
time with the comet
passing. In
1997,
thirty-nine members of
Heaven’s Gate
committed
suicide in a
San Diego mansion
and were found
lying on bunk
beds. They ate poisoned
apple
sauce and were dressed
in all black with
the exception of
wearing identical black
and
white
Nike
Decades. This cult really
influenced the social
dynamic that I
strove to encapsulate
within The
Faith Community,
and I pulled
a lot of
inspiration from Marshall
Applewhite, the leader
of
Heaven’s
Gate,
when I worked
on writing the
character “The Messenger”
in my
film.
The
Blair
Witch Project
and the
first season of True Detective
were also
hugely influential in
the
process
of this
film.
To what extent could you
identify with The Faith
Community ... and/or with "The Messenger", actually?
Despite my
name being in the
title of this
film, I don’t personally
identify very much
with The
Faith Community.
This project
was such a fun
one to
tackle,
and Vicious Apple
Productions
gave
me so much wiggle
room to stretch
myself creatively as
a writer and
director. I find religion
to
be very daunting
and sometimes
scary, so pulling from
my own fears and
altering them into
a
film was very
enlightening and also
a blast. The Messenger is
definitely the love
child
of
every youth pastor
that has ever
annoyed
me, and every
small town reverend
who has
ever
tried to talk to
snakes. I’m very pleased
with how complex I
feel that character
ended up
being,
and I really enjoyed
exploring
him, his
past, and how some
boys grow up to
be those
seemingly
“creepy”
bible-thumping
men. He came to
life in a way
that was both
unexpected and
very
exciting. Even though I
wouldn’t choose to
hang out with The
Messenger in my
free
time,
I
do
like him very much
as a
character,
and am glad
that Jeremy Harris
rose to the
occasion
with
that character
specifically.
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What
made you choose the found footage approach for The
Faith Community, and where are the advantages and also challenges
filming that way?
The found footage
genre is a very
accessible form of
film, and being an
emerging
filmmaker,
I
am happy that The
Faith Community
has the
potential to reach
a large range of
audiences.
In
addition to
being a very fun
type of film to
make, found footage horror
can be made on
a
very
small
budget, which I was
working with on
this
film. The planning that
goes into shooting
a
found footage film
(shot
list,
screenplay, etc.) is a bit
different than the
approach I use for
more
traditionally based
narratives,
but I found
this to be a
fun challenge in
terms of how
we
structured each
shot. Found footage is
a style that
really contributed to
this film
idea, and I
am eager to see what’s
next regarding my
work in found
footage.
Do talk about The
Faith Community's approach to horror for a bit, and is this a
genre at all dear to you?
Horror is a genre
that I enjoy very
much. I have loved
dark
comedies,
folktales, and
ghost
stories from
an early
age, and I feel
lucky to be able
to work in the
horror
industry.
The
Faith Community
tackles some
traditional horror
tropes, and some other
approaches that I
have
never seen done in
horror
before, specifically it taking
place before the
sun goes
down. The
Faith Community
is not
littered with jump
scares, but rather luxuriates
in a strange pool
of
discomfort foreboding.
What can you tell us about The
Faith Community's key cast, and why exactly these people?
The cast of The
Faith Community
consists of current and
former NYU Tisch
Drama
students.
I
am currently finishing
up my senior year
at
NYU,
and I have
worked with a
majority of
these
actors, either on stage
with them or
offstage as their
director. These people are
some of
the
most hard-working and
talented actors I’ve
met during my time
at NYU, and I am so
thrilled
to
sharing this
project with
them.
I trust this
cast very much, and was able
to have a very
open
line of communication
with them on set
and during the
early stages of
the
film. Going into
this
project, I knew that
I wanted the set
to be very
collaborative, and I wanted
the cast to feel
as
though they were just
as important to
this process as
myself, our
producer,
and whoever
else ends up working on The
Faith Community.
I’m excited
to work with these
actors again
soon.
Do
talk about your (almost exclusively outdoors) locations for a bit, and
what was it like filming there?
Filming outside
was very hot and
humid. We shot The
Faith Community
in
July,
and
Baltimore isn’t
so pleasant during
that
time. Even though it
felt a bit painful
at
times, I
think
that the circumstances
of our setting and
the weather helped
give the film a
bit of a
gruesome
feel. The area where
we shot the camp
scenes was littered
with
ticks, so we had a
lovely
time
checking one
another for bugs
and bites at
the end of the
day.
A few words about the
shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
The shoot was
surprisingly smooth considering
the weather and
the outdoor
locations. We
all
stayed in my parents’
home during the
duration of the
shoot, so we existed
in extremely
close
quarters on
and off
set.
Overall, the cast and
crew approached each
day with an
incredible
amount of energy and
readiness.
The entire film
was shot over the
course of four
days, and each day was met
with a very
professional level of
focus. We all became
very familiar with
one
another by
the end of the
shoot.
What can you
tell us about audience and critical reception of The
Faith Community?
The
Faith Community
has a
pretty polarized reception
in the public
eye,
which I consider
a
very
good
thing. I once had
an acting teacher
who told me that
“a good actor
makes hot
choices,
not
warm
ones. Be hot or be
cold, do not be
warm”.
I feel that
this applies to
myself as a
filmmaker
as
well.
I would much
rather have someone
hate my film
instead of thinking
it’s
“alright”.
The
reviews I’ve
read and watched
have
been,
overall,
very positive and
also extremely
informative.
I really appreciate
all of the
critiques I’ve been
receiving,
because I feel
as though they
will
ultimately help
me write and
direct a better
film in the near
future.
Filmmaking feels sort
of
like
drafting an
essay;
I
make,
I get
notes,
I consider the
notes,
I make something
better.
I
appreciate the
thoughts and opinions
of other horror
fans,
specifically in regards
to some of
the
maybe unorthodox choices
I made while
writing and
shooting.
Any future projects you'd like
to share?
My biggest project
right now is
graduating
college!
I’m currently writing
a new play and
a
film
as
well,
and hope to
continue shaping those
into solid final
forms.
I’m cranking out
a lot
of
content right
now which is
amazing and
tiring,
but mostly
amazing.
My second film
with Vicious Apple
Productions is
currently being
brainstormed,
and I’m eager
to see what we
work on
next.
What got you into filmmaking in the first
place, and did you receive any formal education on the subject?
I have taken
filmmaking
classes,
but am not
studying Film as a
major.
I
do,
however,
have
a
huge appreciation for
film and have
grown to really
enjoy working in
the film festival
circuit.
I
worked with the
Brooklyn Horror Film
Festival and the
New York City
Horror Film Festival
this
year,
which allowed me
to consume an
insane amount of
horror media and
reflect on
what themes filmmakers and
audiences are interested
in making and
seeing.
I have more
experience
writing and
directing
theatre,
which I think
shows in my film
work.
Directing film is
a
challenging
job that I find
very
rewarding.
I love learning
while doing on
set,
and plan on
continuing
a
career in film as
well as
theatre.
What
can you tell us about your filmwork prior to The
Faith Community?
My filmwork prior
to The
Faith Community
is very
limited.
I have acted
and assistant directed
a
few student films at
NYU,
but,
as said
before,
I've spent a
large portion of
my artistic
career
making
theatre.
How would you describe yourself
as a director?
I would describe
myself as a very
calm and collaborative director.
I find a lot
of joy in talking
to
my actors and
crewmembers about what
excites them about
whatever film or
play we
are
rehearsing,
and I try to
maintain a professional
level of personability
with my
collaborators.
I
view film and theatre
as two mediums
that function successfully
when approached with
a
collaborative
mindset,
and I love
learning new things
about my work
through the perceptions
of
my cast and
crew.
With that
said,
I feel that
I do require a
high level of
professionality in
my
actors.
I like the
rehearsal room to
feel
comfortable,
but
productive,
which is a
difficult medium
to
achieve.
Filmmakers who inspire you?
Lars von
Trier,
Tim
Burton,
David
Lynch,
Guillermo del
Toro,
and Paul Thomas
Anderson
are
filmmakers that
I look up to
and respect very
much.
Boogie Nights is
one of my favorite
films,
and I really enjoy
The Short FIlms of
David Lynch.
I really respect
Lars von Trier
because it
seems
that he doesn’t
really care if
someone vomits while
watching his
films.
In
fact,
he might
prefer
it.
Your
favourite movies?
The Texas Chainsaw
Massacre
(1974)
is my favorite
horror film because
it is so
wonderfully
disgusting in
almost every
way.
Corpse Bride is
also one of my
favorites,
and I love
the
fractured
fairytale elements
that TIm Burton
incorporates in his
films.
El Orfanato is
a film that I
find so
haunting and
beautiful,
and I applaud
Guillermo del Toro
for the detail he
puts into his
work.
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... and of course, films you really
deplore?
I really despise
La La
Land.
Your/your movie's website, Facebook, whatever
else?
https://www.facebook.com/thefaithcommunity/
Instagram:
@thefaithcommunity
Twitter: @FaithCommunity_
Anything else you're dying to mention and I have
merely forgotten to ask?
Hmm… I can’t think
of anything.
Thank you for
the very thoughtful questions! I had a
blast answering
these.
Thanks for the interview!
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