Summary
It isn’t easy getting a first feature off the ground.
In fact, sometimes, even after getting the go-ahead, a project can fall apart.
However, fortunately, he had the best possible collaborators at his back.
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And now it has in one of the most spectacular ways - with a SXSW premiere.
Oh, you were ready for that.
CILLELLA: I’m a rambler, so thank you.
This is one of my favorite writing questions to ask, especially with such an interesting scenario like this.
CILLELLA: So, I started writing in March of 2020, right when the world shut down.
I was in a dark place, and that’s reflected in the movie.
I knew I wanted to do something small.
I’m a father, I’m a parent of two, and so it just naturally evolved.
It was justeverything going on in the world that all coalesced, and it just all came together.
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It made sense to have the uncertainty of parenthood and then the uncertainty of what’s out there.
DAVID LAWSON: I remember when you were writing this, because we were helping along the way.
He was sending us outlines and first drafts.
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Every single bit of it was great.
Obviously, we have a long history with him, but it was phenomenal.
Michael Shannon reteamed with Jeff Nichols for this incredible 2011 drama that will get under your skin.
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I’ll stick with the directing-producing team.
First, I’ll pose this question to you, Peter.
These guys, this is what they do.
SARAH BOLGER: It’s one of my favorite films.
I’ve been to the cabin, theResolutioncabin.
You wear that as a badge of honor, and I like that.
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LAWSON: She stayed there too.
CALEB WARD: She still has the hazmat suit, too.
BOLGER: I stayed thereandwatchedResolutionin theResolutioncabin.
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The directing duo is responsible for some of the most original science fiction content in the past decade.
Honestly, I would do it in a heartbeat.
LAWSON: Honestly, you’ve got the option to.
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Well make it happen.
I’m gonna text him when we finish this interview.
I’m very into this idea.
I’m going to make the two of you give Peter some flowers back.
You work with so many filmmakers that I love.
And that’s a hard one to answer.
And I’m like, “What I’m looking for is a voice.
“It’s what we’re always looking for.
It has to be like, Peter’s the only one that could have directed this.
Addison’s [Heimann] the only one that could have directedTouch Me.
That is the reason that I’m drawn to it originally.
A lot of this year was, Hey, look, we can do stuff.
Justin and Aaron arephenomenaldirectors.
I’ll let Caleb talk from the Highland side.
I was so honored to have an opportunity to collaborate with all these people.
Everybody, the cast and crew, just blew me away.
LAWSON: This movie died before the strike.
So, this movie got yanked out from under us almost a month before we were about to shoot.
CILELLA: AndI almost quit the business.
[To Sarah] I knew when you were nodding that you’ve been involved from the beginning.
LAWSON: Oh yeah, Sarah no one else plays Andrea.
CILELLA: I don’t know what else I would do.
Because this is all I want to do.
This is all I care about.
LAWSON:That’s all you were born to do.
CILELLA: I don’t know.
I was in a spin-out because I really just want to make movies.
I wanna tell stories.
I wanna connect with people who I don’t know.
I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t do that.
I think the same thing about the work I do.
I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t do this.
It’s like part of your DNA.
LAWSON: And you do it very well.
WARD: So well.
Sarah, I’m gonna come your way now with a big two-parter.
BOLGER: Okay, so first and foremost, I love Rustic.
I think they make incredible films, films that push boundaries in a way that no one else does.
I respect them so much that it was an honor to be part of that family.
So, to be part of this film and this company meant the world to me.
I haven’t come to that part yet.
I could pitch a note, and you would be like, “Let’s talk about that.”
Nothing was off the table.
It was so collaborative.
I couldn’t have had a better experience.
I love those qualities in a filmmaker.
That makes me so happy.
CILELLA: When she has an idea, you should listen to it.
LAWSON: They’re fucking brilliant.
Sorry, am I allowed to cuss?
I don’t care.
I’m going to.
I might have made that up though.
Im pretty sure there was a record amount of F bombs dropped in that interview.
LAWSON: That checks out.
To be fair, I wasnt in that interview.
No, it was Addison.
LAWSON: We do have a pop in.
[Laughs]
The new outlandish sci-fi/horror film from the director of ‘Hypochondriac’ explores love and codependence.
Sarah, I’ll stick with you for another moment because this is a question that I love asking.
Did you have that with your character on this film, and if so, when?
BOLLGER: Okay, so there’s a scene in our movie.
It’s infamous within our community of saying…
LAWSON: “Scene 109.”
We’re never gonna have a 109 at Rustic again.
There was a scene in this movie that cemented for me the realization of… [Laughs]
LAWSON: I hope more than that.
CILELLA: We broke some laws.
WARD: I need you to add a lot more years to that.
LAWSON: Not a lot, just a couple.
WARD: All right, just a handful.
BOLGER: No, YouTube will be fine with it.
And I remember thinking, “This is everything I want to do.
I want to be a part of the process.
To create that and have that and own that was a dream come true.
LAWSON: We all cried.
When we shot that,there were legit tears while we were watchingit happen.
I was rereading it shortly before we were shooting, and I was like, I’m missing something.
It’s not coming off the way I want it to.
Sarah, will you read this and give me notes?
What changes would you make?
I needed her to be a part of that.
It’s so good.
It’s one of my favorite performance beats of the whole festival.
I mean it sincerely.
BOLGER: That means genuinely the world to me.
There was all the effort put in, all the effort in the world.
Peter, is there anything unique to him as an actor that reshaped what you had in the script?
We also needed to see that love, that fun, and we found that in the rehearsal process.
Then you could really start chiseling away.
Actually, three with Pete.
You know some of my friends.
I see them soaring in this space right now.
Its the best feeling in the world!
LAWSON: It makes me so happy.
To get to help that makes me over the moon.
I cant believe I never knew the Rustic tagline.
LAWSON: Oh, I got stickers.
Ill give you a sticker.
BOLGER: “Make movies with friends?”
Its genuinely something to live by.
I think that should be every production companys tagline.
LAWSON: No, it’s “Make money from artists,” I think, is their tagline.
WARD: Survive and thrive, babyI’m not talking about myself.
BOLGER: I’ll answer your question about Ross.
I’d never met Ross before, right?
We had text exchanges, and we had FaceTime calls.
Ross travels more than any human you’ve ever met in your life.
He is more on a plane than he is on land.
I sat down with him.
I feel like it’ll well suit all of you as filmmakers, as a filmmaking family.
Can you each recall the single moment of makingDescendentthat brought you the most joy as an independent filmmaker?
Will we get you a chair?”
There was just this loving energy of a family looking after someone who [was] really in character.
I love that answer.
We had a lot of fun on set.
The movie gets dark, but it was light.
Beautiful answer, as well.
WARD: Just to bounce off of what Petes saying…
LAWSON: Don’t cry.
I will not end up a meme, I swear to god.
It’s my life goal to not be a meme.
No, no, I’m good.
Bouncing off what Pete was saying, the weather was horrible for 60% of the shoot.
I just felt that every day.
That’s why it’s so hard to pinpoint one moment.
There were just so many events, and it was just so beautiful.
It’s one of the most proud moments of my life, genuinely.
LAWSON: Mine wasn’t one specific moment.
Pete hasn’t gotten to direct a movie as a feature, and I was really proud of him.
I became a father right after he finished writing this.
My wife was pregnant during the writing of this.
Sarah obviously was acting long before I ever knew her because I didn’t know her as a six-year-old.
I just love it.
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