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When Melissa Brooks discovers she can't afford college, she moves to New York City and gets a job as a waitress at a comedy club. Soon, Melissa finds herself testing her talent and her material in front of the toughest crowds in the country

Where were you when you heard you had been accepted to Slamdance and how did it make you feel?

It's funny, a film I edited called The Project (dir. Ryan Piotrowicz) got in first, into the narrative competition, so I had sort of given up all hope of getting accepted. Then about a week later our producer, Tim Duff, called me into his office. He thought it would be really funny to pretend he had bad news (by looking and acting incredibly somber) and then reveal he had the good news that we got into Slamdance. Needless to say, I was relieved (albeit not amused by his performance). We got accepted into this Special Screening series, which only has three films. Then when I saw the other two films (Just Add Water and Real Time), I felt like I was in really great company. The more I experience with Slamdance, the happier I am to be there. I feel really lucky.

What drew you to the world of comedy clubs as the setting for this feminine coming of age tale?

First, definitely the 2002 Christian Charles doc Comedian about Jerry Seinfeld. Its a great flick and really nails the comedy and drama of devoting your life to being a comic (and the type of person who does that). Then, I wanted to try and adapt an Elmore Leornard novel called Pagan Babies which features a very interesting, female comic character who was in her mid-30's. When I realized I was broke and nobody, I figured I was going to have to create my own story, so I created Melissa Brooks. She's a popular and great looking teenager who has this latent interest in stand up, but sort of keeps it to herself. In a way, it seemed like a great fantasy character; like what if one of the best looking girls I went to High School with was killing at a comedy club
years later and I never even knew she was funny. Then the fun of the film for me was making the journey as realistic, difficult and embarrassing for her as possible.

How did you put together the cast and financing?

I was very blessed to have the money before the cast, which is rare in indie filmmaking. I think this helped us land some of our better known actors because we could offer them roles and they knew the film was going to happen. This was all because of my producer Tim Duff, who well, makes things happen. He believed in this script and managed to convince our investor to believe in me. I think some of that also had to do with the fact that this wasn't really my first feature (I had produced and written a film a year earlier called The Big Bad Swim), but mostly ithad to do with Tim. As far as casting our lead goes, it came down to a "name" and the best actor for the role (who, not surprisingly, were not the same person). It was a very obvious creative decision, but a difficult financial decision for myself and the producers to make. In the end, everyone believed so strongly that Christine Evangelista was such an undeniable star, we took a gamble on her and it paid off in spades.

What experiences from your first feature film informed how you approached your second?

Every experience. I learned how to write for and speak to actors. How to create a film within a rational budget. How to cover a scene with my cinematographer. How to anticipate editing. Narratively, even though both films have a large amount of speaking roles, I knew I wanted this film to focus on a main protagonist (as opposed to Swim's ensemble). This meant I never had to worry about certain portions/characters in the film holding an audience's attention more or less than others. While it may sound like I put all my eggs in one basket, I felt that taking the time to focus on our lead is what makes this film feel so intimate. However, the story still manages to feel like a strong ensemble, with so many supporting roles (giving me the opportunity to work with so many great actors). Also, on every film, you learn you who to work with and who not to work with, but that's another story.


Was the film inspired by any other film or filmmakers whom you admire or find to be lasting influences?

I really look at this film in the same genre as movies like Mike
Nichols' Working Girl, Howard Zeiff's Private Benjamin and even Karyn
Kusama's Sundance fave Girl Fight. All these films seem to be about
female protagonists struggling in various, male-dominated arenas (in this case, stand up comedy). To a certain point, they're feminist, but in a general sense they're about underdogs and that always seems to work on film for me. Also, Bob Fosse's Lenny was a gigantic inspiration as perhaps the most artful way you can portray stand up on film, while perfectly mixing the drama and the comedy. As far as filmmakers go, there's always Woody Allen for me. I thought a lot about his film Alice as I made this.


What was the biggest challenge when constructing the film in post production?

I think the biggest challenge for me was probably the challenge most filmmaker's face in post: cutting out the stuff you love. There were several really strong scenes from supporting characters that, in the flow of the film, somehow disrupted the pacing and focus. Losing those scenes was difficult for me, because I become very close with my actors and hate cutting their performances. Also, in some cases I think those lost scenes might make me (and my collaborators) look like better filmmakers, when seen individually. I definitely learned that once you cut these kind of moments it can be unbelievably liberating. The best analogy I can make is the feeling of losing a tremendous amount of weight and your film is leaner and more enjoyable as a result.


Any other projects down the pipeline?

I am currently developing ideas for television, although it looks like I may be revisiting an old script of mine, an independent film, to shoot in 2008 first. The script was something I wrote and intended to make in 2005, until I realized I couldn't raise nearly as much money as the script required, so I wrote The Big Bad Swim as a cheaper alternative. The film has so many fun roles, story-lines and scenes that it just seems like a tremendous opportunity to re-team with some great actors and work with some new talent. It's a real actor's vehicle and that's what it's all about for me. Also, it just seems like the next step up. We'll see what happens...

# posted by Brandon Harris @ 1/20/2008 04:33:00 PM

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