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Your movie MP2V - in a few
words, what is it about?
How 2 killers , in real life, would film themselves in
a rural area
In a way, MP2V
is about (internet-)fame, at whatever cost - so your personal thoughts
about this topic?
Actually the opposite, the killers really don’t even
know they are online, the website was created by one of the victims' fathers
basically
asking the public for help. They actually could be coming to a door near you,
as
of the end of the film, they could be still on the loose…
MP2V
is unconvnetional (and possibly also hard to swallow for some) as it's
told entirely from the point of view of two serialkillers. So why did you
choose this approach, and did you at times have the feeling you were going
too far?
That is exactly what we were looking for, we want to be
polarizing - either you love or hate these guys, and the way the story is presented,
it
is completely random, as life very often is, that is the way we wanted to present the
story. mIt is told backwards because on the website the "sequences" are
arranged numerically in that order, as would be on your home computer, so hence the father is
playing the footage which was sent to him (by whom????) as the only evidence he has,
to track his daughter's killers - and we actually, because of budget
constraints, could not go as far as we had hoped, in the sequel we hope to do much more.
Also
this is an anti American film in the sense that one must think to follow the story.
American
films spoon-feed the audience, this is not that type of movie…
How did the project get off the ground to begin
with, and what was your collaboration with your co-writers like?
Our 4 main collaborators, me, Jules Graciolett, Charles Scott and Anoop
Khadivty all got together, and created a story that could actually be
real - we wanted to blur the line between reality and fiction. Killers are much more
random compared to the way they are portrayed in film - we wanted this to be as disturbing real as
possible.
Related
to the last question, how much of what happens in MP2V
was actually in the script, how much was improvised, and to what extent
did your locations dictate the on-screen action?
It was funny, one reviewer actually said "the
first 2 scenes were obviously scripted" - the whole film was basically
improvised, we
had an outline put together but what actually happened was very organic to
the moment. The locations were all real as in we had to get in and get out,
the
abandoned house was real and we had many harrowing incidents - it was very intense!
How
would you describe your directorial approach to your story at hand?
Open. I am very open, being trained as an actor, to
be open to the moment - it helps get the best out of everyone: Put talented people
in a good setup - and good things happen, you just have to trust yourself to let them go.
You
also play one of the filmmaking killers in MP2V
- and being the director of the film yourself, to what extent could you
identify with this character (apart from the fact that he's a serialkiller
I hope)?
I know serial killers pretty well: Ed Gein, Albert Fish,
Edmund Kemper, so I choose to be a "do" rather than "say" type
- so
I know what they did and knew what I wanted to portray.
Do talk about the rest of your cast, and why
exactly these people?
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Jules Graciolett |
Jules I have worked with in NYC for over 15 years, we
were in improv groups together, so working with him was second nature. The
rest of the cast was done upstate, they worked a small theater, and were very
apprehensive at first. Later they told me that they were actually afraid this might be a
snuff film - I had to laugh at that lol.
What can you tell us about the
actual shoot, and the on-set atmosphere?
Very intense, everyone on edge, filming guerrilla
style, and mixing in improv - it made for an intense mix, something I
wanted to do, to enhance the mood. Once we had the police show up, and I had a
shotgun pointed directly at my face - intense, no? lol
A few words
about audience and critical reception of your movie so far?
So far pretty good, it is a thinking film with
multiple parts - internet usage, unanswered questions ... I hope it is something
that makes people uneasy, that was our number 1 objective.
I've
heard somewhere that you're planning to expand the concept of MP2V
into a series. So what have you planned for future installments? And other
future projects you'd like to talk about?
We will be shooting MPOV in a few weeks - this
webseries will tie in unanswered questions and segway into MP3V,
which we hope to
shoot by next year. We also have a prequel in the works, we would like this be
packaged as a trilogy along with a possible TV series. From there, I would like to go
back and do my specialty, a comedy…
As far as I
know, before turning your attention to movies, you started out as an
improv comic. So what can you tell us about that aspect of your career,
and as unlikely as it sounds, to what extent has that influenced your work
on MP2V?
I have been doing improv in and around NYC for a long
time. Some of my groups include Take Two, Manhattan Improv Company, and
Group Therapy. I also starred, wrote, and directed a sketch comedy show,
Cable XS,
which aired in NY for a few years. It is my first love, the influence was the
improv - I am able to put people into situations to maximize their talents.
How
did you get into filmmaking eventually, and did you receive any formal
training on the subject?
By force - I wanted to do TV for so long and could
not find anyone to edit it - so I said f it, I will do it myself. So I
learned, filmed, and
got started that way. I have some formal training but have been on sets over 1000
times, so I know my way around pretty good…
What can you tell us about your
film-/videowork prior to MP2V?
Cable XS, as I mentioned above - also have done a few
small films, and lots of guest spots on other projects, mostly in New York.
How
would you describe yourself as a director? On
point - I know what I want, and I need everyone on the same page. Filmmakers
who inspire you?
Roland West, James Whale, Bill Wellman, Welles ... guys of
the 30’s and 40’s. I like things to be open, not nice and neat. Life is not like that.
Your favourite movies?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Frankenstein,
The Wolfman, White Heat,
Day of the Jackal, Young Frankenstein, Beau Hunks, …
I have a bunch.
...
and of course, films you really deplore?
Just about anything now, it is all mindless, CGI - nonsense, if
you’re a fan of films now forget me, I am old school, I like strong
characters and a
thinking story.
Your/your
movie's website, Facebook, whatever else?
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www.MP2V.com is
an integral part of the film. It is used by a father of one of the victims
to help find clues
from the public. He uses Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and
email to gather information from strangers in
pursuit of the 2 killers he only knows through video. How
he got the videos, where they were taken, and
who is behind all this, remains a mystery to him. Explore
the websites for clues, enter contests to help
gather some of the mysteries, use your intelligence to
help solve one of the greatest mysteries ever
created in the annals of horror entertainment history. Coming
soon: MP3V, the sequel, and MPV, the
prequel, and MPOV, the web series.
www.mp2v.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2426024/
https://twitter.com/mp2v
https://www.facebook.com/sahtnamas.rethaf
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmlCxLZaBo8ZipdpPQAZKgQ
mp2v.com@gmail.com
http://indienyc.com/?p=1955
http://movies.broadwayworld.com/article/NewFilmmakers-NY-
Continues-with-Short-Film-Program-and-MP2V-26-20130202
Anything else
you're dying to talk about and I have merely forgotten to ask?
Thank you for exposing us to the non-American market, we
truly are a European/Asian film in the sense that it is a much more
"thinking" audience, and that is exactly the type of filmgoers who would love our
film - and thanks for giving all involved in MP2V
this opportunity.
Thanks
for the interview!
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