Your movie Devil May
Care - in a few words, what is it about?
KYLE: I
would say Devil May
Care
is about a lot of things. Mostly, for me
anyway, it's about taking that first step to forgiveness and a family
struggling to reconcile the horrible things that one of them has done.
Movies like to make forgiveness look easy, but it isn't always.
Sometimes it takes work.
GREG: To
me, what the movie is about is surprising, because it's not about
forgiveness, or redemption, or reconciliation. It's actually
about getting to the very first step before all that. The struggle
and thought process one needs to go through in order to either go back to
the status quo or move forward to achieve those things.
How did
the project come into being in the first place, and how did you all get
involved? And how did you meet up in the first place?
KYLE: Justine
and I were making movies all the way back in high school and even went to
film school together and Greg Metro has been my friend and writing partner
for a very long time. I was going to take a different route to film Devil May
Care
but when she read it, she asked to be involved and really put us on
the right track.
GREG: Kyle,
Justine, and I have known each other since we were freshmen in high school, and that is where we found our common interest in
storytelling. Writing up scripts and shooting them at our houses
with our friends on a Handicam. Justine and Kyle went to college
together in Chicago to study film while I stayed in MA and studied
Communication with my focus in Digital Media. It was in those years
where Kyle came to me with the concept of this movie. From there it
evolved from various drafts and took on a more personal tone for Kyle.
Once Kyle and I got it to a point where we really felt good with it we
showed to Justine and she fell in love with it. After a bit more
tweaking, the rest is history.
Nat Sylva |
JUSTINE: We've
been friends for half our lives, which is scary to say. Kyle and I
have acted in plays together. Kyle and Greg formed a band in my
parents' basement. We've always found a way to express ourselves
through art - and filmmaking is our biggest passion. I saw Kyle
posting on Facebook about his latest script he wrote and I was like,
"Oh yeah? Sure, let me read this new script." And
then it turned out to be really, really good so I said let's make it
right.
Devils
and Angels, Heaven and Hell - what did you find inspiring about this topic, and in
your private life, would any of you describe him/herself as a religious
person?
KYLE: I
am not a religious person in the least, but I needed a character that was
instantly irredeemable without getting into a lot of backstory. I
was also interested in portraying the Devil as bored and miserable which
we haven't really seen before. He has been doing the same thing for
millions of years and still hasn't taken over Heaven. I feel like
he'd just be fed up at this point. My major inspiration was that I
have a close family member that struggled for many years with drug
addiction and those years were an absolute Hell on earth for me and my
family. Although that family member has now been clean for many
years, I still haven't healed completely and the movie is about those
feelings.
Diana Porter |
GREG: I'm
not very religious myself, but I do find mythology of all kinds
interesting. We weren't really focused on the religious or
supernatural aspects of this story, what we were really looking at was the
family aspect. The father and son having a profound falling out, the
son after years trying to reconcile with his family, these were the
aspects we were truly after.
Do talk about the film's look and feel for a bit
- and since you three all had production duties on Devil
May Care, how did you get along when it came to creative decisions
and the like?
KYLE: I
knew I wanted a really washed out look for the film and we were really
lucky that it was so overcast the weekend we filmed because it really
helped achieve that. We are seeing everything through Lou's eyes and
he does not have a high opinion of earth. Mikel J. Wisler, the director of
photography, is amazing and has a fantastic eye and really
allowed me to focus on framing the shots and working with the actors.
We built up a great level of trust and even though he is semi-sorta
retired, I hope I can convince him to work on my next project.
Jay Dunigan |
GREG: The
film takes a somber tone with the overcast gray sky and haunting music,
but it also has a feeling of hope that maybe, just maybe, even the Devil
can change. I love working with these two, I feel our strengths
compliment each other so well. Sure we bump heads from time to
time but who doesn't? Once we get on the right path there really is
no stopping us.
JUSTINE: New
England is filled with so many unbelievably great locations. The
Massachusetts Film Office website is a fantastic resource, especially for
myself being in LA, to find our perfect locations online. One of the
locations - the burned down building was a complete surprise, and not
something we had originally planned.
What can you tell us about your cast, and
why exactly these people?
Nat Sylva, Chris Goodwin |
KYLE: I
love this cast. They made me look really good. I never would
have guessed that I would have such a high level of talent on my first
film. Nat Sylva is this Lucifer and just has a natural understanding
of the material, as everyone did. We couldn't rehearse with Diana
Porter because of some schedule problems, but I was never worried for a
second as again, she was absolutely perfect for the role. She
actually won an award for her performance as Death and she absolutely
earned it. Chris Goodwin was up for the part of Lucifer, but we
immediately felt he would be a better fit for Gabriel and was a ton of fun
to work with. Jay Dunigan was also great to work with and has some
fantastic stories about acting. As soon as he walked through the
door for auditions I knew it was going to be him. When he got into
his amazing costume he just became that character.
GREG: This
cast was literally the perfect storm. I have never met or seen any
group of people have such a complete grasp of the material before, nor gel
so quickly. I can't wait to work with this cast again in the
future.
JUSTINE: The
cast was a joy and a half to edit. Really, an editor's dream cast.
Do talk about the actual
shoot, and the on-set atmosphere?
KYLE: We
had great time filming, even during the more stressful moments of the
shoot we maintained a really loose and fun atmosphere. That doesn't
mean we didn't work really hard. We had a ton of work to do in a
very shot period of time and everyone in the crew knew exactly what had to
be done. I honestly hope to work with everyone again very soon.
GREG: Fun
and fast and frantic. That was the shoot in a nut shell. We
had a few scares when it came to locations but we were able to nail
everything down last minute. It was a four day shoot all over the MA
and RI so we were moving at a pretty quick pace. The cast and crew
gelled so well it didn't feel like work at all, it felt just like back in
the day with that Handicam.
The $64-question of
course, where can the movie be seen? JUSTINE: Everyone
can purchase a DVD, which is loaded with goodies at
www.devilmaycarefilm.com/store.
We'll
also likely have it for rent once our festival run is complete. Any future projects
any of you would like to share? And based on the experience on Devil
May Care, could you ever be tempted to working with each other
again?
KYLE: Justine,
Greg and I are working really hard on a number of ideas and we're hoping
to get a lock on the next idea and get back to work really soon. I
don't know what I'd do without Justine and Greg. We're a team.
|
Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned) |
The links below will take you just there!!!
|
|
|
GREG: We
are currently in the creative process working on our next project. Like
I said, I love these two and will continue working with them for as long
as I can.
JUSTINE: If
people are interested in funding our projects we'll keep making them! :D
Your/your movie's website, Facebook, whatever
else? JUSTINE: All of our info is at
devilmaycarefilm.com and
we're on Facebook of course -
facebook.com/DevilMayCareMovie and
you can chat with me on Twitter: @TheDevilMay - Come talk to us!
Anything else you are dying to mention and I have
merely forgotten to ask? JUSTINE: One thing I like
mentioning is that this film was made with the collaboration of people
from all over the world. We had fantastic support for our IndieGoGo
campaign from as far away as Australia. We have a producer in
Michigan, sound designer in Chicago, it was edited and color corrected in
LA, and of course filmed and scored in Rhode Island and Massachusetts with
cast and crew from all over New England. With technology these days
it really is much easier to work with the people you want to work with no
matter where they live. Thanks for the interview!
|