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Your new movie If If
I Can't Have You - in a few words, what is it about?
A
stalker thriller comedy about a woman who has a penchant for being stalked
no matter what she does.
Now
how did this project come together in the first place?
Tennille
Taraszkiewicz [Tennille
Taraszkiewicz interview - click here]
mentioned she wanted to do a stalker film where the guy was the main
baddie. I had been looking for a reason to do a Scream-inspired film for
years so I sorta married the two together. What
were your sources of inspiration when writing If
I
Can't Have You?
Scream
and Fatal Attraction. You've written If
I
Can't Have You together with Todd Calvin de Pew - so what can you
tell us about him, and what was your collaboration like?
Calvin
is one of the most gifted actors I’ll ever have the pleasure of working
with… but he’s also incredibly talented as a writer. It was so amazing
because we’d be able to start a scene and have the other one finish and
be happy with it. We work incredibly well together and are currently
working on our third feature film, Nightcap, together. He’s another one
that’s so much better than they give themselves credit for. Be on the
look-out for him in both his writing and acting endeavors.
Do
talk about If I
Can't Have You's approach to both horror and humour!
Well, Scream was our benchmark. So
we wanted to do something that wasn’t incredibly terrifying, but also
not incredibly comedic. Mandy Logsdon really helped with the comedy, once we saw
the big swings she was taking as Barb, it was really easy to fall in
line and give our characters similar undertones. I hope this answers the
question, it’s always a difficult one for me. What
was co-directing If I
Can't Have You with Peter Poulos [Peter
Poulos interview - click here] like?
A
dream. Knowing the shots I’d envisioned in my head would come out
exactly how I imagined. He’s that good. And humble too. He’s really
something special.
You of course
also have to talk about working with the film's producer and star Tennille
Taraszkiewicz [Tennille
Taraszkiewicz interview - click here]?
Working
with Tennille is like working with 10 people all together. Because
everything that could go wrong she’s already thought about and has a
solution for it. When working with Tennille you’re really allowed to
just focus on the task at hand, because she’s already gotten everything
else covered. It really is lovely. You also
appear in front of the camera in If
I
Can't Have You - so what can you tell us about your character,
what did you draw upon to bring him to life, and have you written him with
yourself in mind from the get-go?
Oliver
is the gay your parents warned you about. He’s narcissistic, absent-minded and very very loud. So I basically just drew on a lot of
reality TV and Madonna. I knew I was going to be playing him before we
started writing so I just kept writing in things that made me
uncomfortable, and when it came time to acting it, just hope I had done my
research correctly. Do talk about the rest
of your cast, and why exactly these people? Tennille
is the most organized person I’ve ever met. She has this scheduling down
to a science. Peter is a genius behind the camera. Todd is a revelation as
an actor. Mandy was a diamond in the rough that really drove a lot of the
comedic tones of the film home. And Brandon Brefka is the best AD you’ll
ever work with. How could I not want to do this film? I respect these guys
so much.
A few words
about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
I
like to keep it fun. I want to make sure people want to be there, because
hopefully they believe in the story we are telling. This set was no
exception. If you watch the BTS videos and see the photos you can tell the
set was very lively. Any
future projects you'd like to share?
Todd Calvin De Pew and I just
finished co-writing a feature film called Chasing the Ghost. It’s
about a drug-addicted anesthesiologist who’s about to enter rehab who
has a curse put on him that he has to stay high or his family and friends
die one by one. It’s another really fun project, and I’ll actually be
directing as well. We are also writing Nightcap about a group of
characters that get locked inside a bar because there is an active shooter
outside. So it’s all of their fears and insecurities come out over the
course of one night. What got you into
filmworld to begin with, and did you receive any formal training on the
subject? I
remember my mom taking me to the movies at least once a week. Watching
those stars up on the big screen, I was certain they didn’t have to take
baths and they didn’t have bedtimes. I made it my goal to become just
like them haha. Even though I’m not quite there yet, I just liked the
idea of being larger than life and that has always stuck with me. I did
receive very formal training in the form of the University of Southern
California Film Program. Some of the best quality training I could’ve
ever hoped for. Going through your filmography, one can't but
notice you seem equally comfortable on both sides of the camera - so which
side do you prefer, and why? I
think I’ll always prefer acting. For some reason, I feel most
comfortable on that side of the camera. I don’t know a whole lot
technically speaking, and I think I can communicate best with actors,
because I am one myself.
What can you tell us about
your filmwork before If
I
Can't Have You, in whatever position?
My
favorite short film I did before If
I
Can't Have You
was a short I
co-directed, wrote, and co-starred in called Entropy… or An Irresponsible
Retelling of the Iliad. I play a version of Patroclus and my writing
partner Todd Calvin De Pew plays a version of Achilles.
It was so much fun bringing those characters to life. Here’s a
link:
https://thefilmchic.com/project/entropy/. Before Entropy, it was a lot of films based on true individuals, which is very
very challenging. Entropy really imbued me with the playfulness I needed
to bring If I
Can't Have You
to live. How would
you describe yourself as a director, and how as an actor?
I
think I’m incredibly empathetic as a director, yet I can tell when my
actor is holding back. For me, my job is figuring out how I can get them
to trust me enough to give me that extra 10% they don’t even know they
are holding back. So for me it’s gaining my actor’s trust and also a
lot of listening. As a director I listen intently to my actors. As an
actor I’m always in 110%, so it’s just figuring out ways to not go too
over-the-top with my performance. Because I tend to be over the top, I
just make sure I’m really listening to my scene partner. Actors,
filmmakers, whoever else who inspire you?
Wes
Craven, Colin Farrell, David Fincher, Nicole Kidman. Your favourite
movies? Scream,
American Beauty, Drive My Car, The Lobster, The Hours. ... and of course, films you really deplore?
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Honestly, after working on the
other side of the camera, I’ve really realized that every film has
something redeeming about it. Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else?
I
don’t social media often, so I’m boring and just have a Facebook.
I’m just Matthew Santia on Facebook and here’s the link on Facebook to
our movie: https://www.facebook.com/If-I-Cant-Have-You-100358402610654 Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
No,
you’ve covered this quite nicely. Thank you. Thanks
for the interview!
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