Your upcoming movie Morning After
- in a few words, what is
it going to be about?
Morning After is a provocative comedy about sexual
identity, friendship, and love, that takes place over one eventful night
with a group of five close friends. What prompted you to make
Morning After your screenwriting debut, and is any of it based on personal
experience? I’ve been writing for a
few years now, but never produced any of my stories. So one day (at the
time I was living in Toronto) I
really wanted to have the experience of having something of mine be
produced. So it was one of the first days of spring, one of the first hot
days, and I was feeling nostalgic about Montreal. And so I sat at my
computer and put on some music and within a couple of hours Morning After
kind of poured out of me. Morning After
is not based on personal
experience, however it is a reflection of some experiences in my life but
most of it is fiction. The essence of it is based in real experience that
grew into what the story is. The characters are all fictional except for
the character of Dana who is based on a real person, a very dear friend of
mine, she has her own line of perfumes called Jazmin Sarai. Other sources of inspiration when writing
Morning After? I think my general
fascination and curiosity about the human experience and particularly
human sexuality and sexual identity, and how that influences who we are,
how we act, and what we believe (about ourselves and others). I wanted to
write something that showed people freeing themselves of those chains,
feeling that exhilaration and confusion, a kind of identity crisis if you
will, but that ends on a positive note.
Morning After
is described as a
"funny and provocative drama" - so could you at all elaborate
regarding the tone of your movie?
In
terms of tone, what I see in my head when I think of the movie, of this
world, is a very layered and textured film that you could almost taste,
it’s so specific that when you watch it's almost like you're in that
room, that you could almost taste the chocolate, smell the incense, the
smoke… it’s very smoky; it’s
some kind of a four-dimensional film experience in a way,
and it’s very kind of warm and inviting and sensual and earthy. You also play one of
the leads in Morning After
- so do talk about your character for a
bit! I play the role of Edward, he is
Michael’s childhood friend. Edward is sort of a grounding force in the
film, the voice of reason.
He’s the one Michael goes
to for advice and solace in the midst of his identity crisis. He’s also
best friends with the rest of the characters. From all of the characters I
wrote, Edward is, in a lot of ways, most like me, like an extension of
certain parts of me. It’s a pattern in my writing; there’s usually one
character that I identify with the most and I use that character as a
vehicle to sense the world and feel the relationships with the rest of the
characters. What do you draw upon to bring Edward to life, and
have you written him with yourself in mind? I
did not write Edward with myself in mind. In fact initially I did not want
to act in the film, but when it came time to shoot, I just couldn’t find
the right Edward, so I stepped in to play the part. It’s an interesting
dynamic, to be the writer and actor. Because I created Edward, and he was
that character in the story that was sort of an extension of certain parts
of me, it was strange to play him, when he came from me… Rationalizing
it doesn’t make much sense, but in the moment, when we are shooting,
Edward is suddenly there, he’s effortless to play, all I had to do was
just be there, and listen to the rest of the actors. It’s weird and
really cool, to not try to act or perform, or produce a result, but have
it all happen as a reaction to what’s going on around me.
Zoe de Grand-Maison, Luca Asselin, Thomas
Éric Vallières, Patricia Chica, Kristian, Cristina Rosato |
What can you
tell us about your director Patricia Chica [Patricia
Chica interview - click here], and what's your collaboration with
her like? And how did you two first meet even? Patricia
Chica is a powerhouse. I’ve never met anyone so dedicated, committed,
fearless, and driven in my life. Combine those qualities with exquisite
talent, kindness, and intelligence… she’s unstoppable. The first I ever
heard of Patricia was through my agent, for an audition I sent to her.
Never heard back, but apparently, that’s when she took notice of me. I
remember receiving a phone call from her, offering me my first lead role
in a feature. It was insane. We’d never even met in person. From that
point on, we started attending festivals together, from the Oaxaca
FilmFest in Mexico, to Cannes. It’s been a crazy ride. Anyone who’s
fortunate enough to share their journey with Patricia will be
transformed. She’s the next Tarantino, at least. As both
writer and star of Morning After, how much creative control do you
have over your project? TOTALLY,
COMPLETE, DICTATORIAL CONTROL. I’m kidding. It’s super natural and
smooth. I write the script, the world is in my head, and Patricia is the
bridge, the facilitator, she helps take what’s on paper and put it onto
a screen. The creative balance is super natural, and organic. I send her
new drafts, she gives me notes, I send it back, and so forth. We have the
same vision of this movie, and I knew that from the moment I stepped onto
the set for the filming of the teaser. The way she had the living room
decorated, which is the central space of the film, was to the tee, exactly
what I’d imagine, and we never had a production meeting about set
design. I trust her utterly, completely, it’s been an incredible
process, collaborating with Patricia. Do talk about your co-stars, and
were you at all involved in the casting process?
I
would love to! Thomas Éric Vallières, Cristina Rosato, Zoe de Grand-Maison, and
Luca Asselin. I’m in love with all of them! I feel so blessed to have
found these four incredible actors. Patricia and I decided that I would
take care of the casting process, and, since we didn’t have a lot of
time before shooting, I had to hand pick my actors instead of holding
auditions. The process was so easy, and incredibly synchronistic.
I first
found Thomas Vallieres for the role of Michael. Michael was tough to cast
because he could be anybody, he’s kind of the every-man character, the
boy-next-door if you will, which is a very broad spectrum. Meeting with
Thomas was like “He’s Michael, it’s a no-brainer”. Thomas’ work
is so natural, simple, and clean—really rare qualities if you ask me,
and he’s adorable, and so likeable, he’s the perfect Michael.
Next was
Luca Asselin, for the role of Alex. Alex was the most challenging part to
cast because he’s incredibly specific. Firstly, he’s the only
character that speaks both French and English in the film, which narrows
down the talent pool considerably, plus I didn’t know that many
bilingual actors to begin with. Next, he had to be striking, the kind of
beauty that takes your breath away. There’s a lot of beautiful actors
out there, but we needed a very strong actor, who didn’t play his
beauty, but who’s inner beauty made him as beautiful as he was. When I
met up with Luca, I was enthralled by him. He was so free and comfortable
in his own skin, unaware of how beautiful he is; charming, and so unique.
I’m glad he accepted the role, because I couldn’t see anyone else
playing Alex.
Next was Cristina Rosato in the role of Dana. Dana is the
only character in the script based on a real person,
a dear friend of mine. I fell in the trap of trying to find
Dana’s “doppelganger”, and it soon became clear to me that person
didn’t exist. I met Cristina at a table read of Morning After
in
Toronto, which was being produced by a wonderful organization called Queer
Ideas, created by director, producer, and casting director Ron Leach,
where Cristina read for the role of Dana, and was spot on in her
interpretation. We were
honored that Cristina accepted to play the role of Dana, and has done a
pristine job in doing so.
Last, but not least, is Zoe de Grand-Maison, for
the role of Teegan. When it came to casting Teegan, I was out of ideas, I
had all of my cast ready except for Teegan, and we really needed someone
who blended naturally with the group. I met Zoe in Toronto, who was
referred to me by Patricia who had seen her in an audition for her feature
Montreal Girls. Zoe was adorable, quirky, and understood the Montreal
‘feel’ we were going for. She booked the role right there, on the
spot, it was a super easy decision.
As far
as I know, only a teaser for Morning After
has been shot so far -
so what can you tell us about that shoot? It
was intense! We didn’t have a lot of time: one over-night shoot, where
we tried to capture essential pieces of the script, moments, and chemistry
between the actors. You have to understand, none of actors had worked
together before, they all met for the first time the day of the shoot, we
didn’t have time for rehearsal, only a brief table read. Chemistry was
instant! The moment the cast spoke my words out loud, it was like magic.
They just ‘got it’, there was nothing to change or adjust. We got on
set, got into character, and Patricia captained the ship all through the
night and into the dawn. One moment you’re in it, the next, it’s all
over. We were exhausted, but high on adrenaline. I knew we were creating
something special. And it wasn’t only me, Patricia and the cast, the
passion they had about this film mirrored my own. It was one of the most
amazing experiences of my life. Zoe and I decided we’d try to stay awake
until the evening, we lasted 35 hours with no sleep. It was hilarious, and
a lot of fun. A great way to celebrate the end of our first milestone with
Morning After. You're
currently running a fundraiser for Morning After
- so do talk about
your campaign for a bit! I feel so
blessed by the amount of support we have received so far. We’re on board
with executive producer Marc Carle and co-executive producer Tariq Rahman and a whole bunch of people donating whatever
they can to make this movie happen. I think we’re at almost 40% of our
goal and we still have 20 days left of our campaign. It’s been
incredible. People have reached out to us from around the world to show
their support for this film.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/morning-after-the-movie#/ Once your funds are raised,
what's the schedule ... and any idea when and where the film might be
released yet?
Great question. No idea.
This one’s for Patricia. I believe she wants it to premiere at Sundance.
I’ve never been to Sundance, and it’s kind of the perfect festival for
Morning After. Sundance…Sun – Dance, has a sweet ring to it. Any future projects beyond
Morning After you'd like to share? Well, at
the moment, as we say in the industry, it’s too early to announce.
There’s a few projects I have on the horizon, acting wise, and as for
writing, I’m developing the Morning After
feature script, as well as
another feature film which I should be announcing shortly. What got you into acting
in the first place, and did you receive any formal training on the
subject? I had a sort of ‘existential
crisis’ when I was 13. It had dawned on me that I’d never thought
about my future, and I had to, it was primordial, I had to
figure out what I was gonna do with the rest of my life… at
13… totally makes sense, right? So I kinda did, that day, out of sheer
willpower I kinda made myself decide, and I got a vision of me, in the
future, being actor, and it felt right. I went to theatre school, at
Concordia University in Montreal, and I’ve trained with John Strasberg
over the years, and one of my mentors Gilles Plouffe. What can you tell us about your filmwork prior
to Morning After? I think I’ve
had a pretty successful career so far, of course, we always want more
work, steadier work. Everything I’ve done so far has taught me so much
about being an actor, being on set, and being professional. I’m always
growing as an actor, but I think I’m finally finding a stable footing in
a very unstable and unpredictable career.
How would you describe yourself
as an actor and as a writer? Weird.
(laughs) I don’t know… I’m always trying to stay who I am, and
always go deeper in my understanding of who that is. I’m just me. People
that know me would probably be better in describing me than me. I love
what I do, so I’m usually in a pretty good mood, and pleasant to be
around. In acting, as in writing, I’m always seeking for truth, to be in
the moment, live in the moment, and express whatever comes to me in the
most human, and real way possible. I love people, and love connecting and
collaborating with others. Actors, writers,
filmmakers, whoever else who inspire you? Everyone!
Athletes, the cute old lady at my local fruit stand, President Obama,
Serena Williams, Anthony Hopkins, my family, my dog, nature, love… Life
inspires me. Everything inspires me, even the bad stuff. We’re all just
learning to play more freely in this game called ‘Life’. Your favourite
movies? Last Summer by Mark Thiedeman,
anything Alejandro G. Inarritu touches, everything Pedro Amoldovar, every
Meryl Streep movie, Aaron Sorkin’s The Newsroom… my all time favourite
film, don’t laugh, is The Lion King. There isn’t enough space or time
for me to tell you why. ... and of course, films you really deplore?
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Wouldn’t
be able to tell you because I never finish a film I don’t like, if I
don’t like the first 10 minutes, I’m out. Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, IndieGoGo, whatever else?
Kristian Hodko is my handle for
everything social media.
The link to the IndieGoGo campaign is
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/morning-after-the-movie#/
My IMDb is
imdb.me/kristianhodko
Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? You
guys are awesome. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to talk about Morning After. Please help us out. We’re almost at our goal. This is a
project I really believe in, and I think it’s a story that needs to be
told. Also, I’m looking for an LA manager, so I’m up for grabs! Thanks
for the interview!
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