I believe this is based on true events.
CHRISTER: Unfortunately, yes.
The film is loosely inspired by true events.
Image via SXSW
And they never found the package.
What about you, Martin?
MARTIN STARR: Honestly, you were one of the main reasons I was excited.
Image by Photagonist
Getting to sit and read this story, theres a fun friendship that develops.
Talk a little bit about the challenges of trying to do everything in, I believe, 15 minutes.
It was only 17 pages that we shot in two days, which is a lot.
Image by Photagonist
When you make anything, you really never know what’s gonna happen.
It could fall on its face, and it could also get into Sundance and South by.
CHRISTER: I’m still finding my footing.
Image by Photagonist
It’s such an honor.
It’s also incredibly validating.
I was a long-time volunteer at the festival.
Image by Photagonist
I love participating in events in that way and giving back.
So, to premiere at Sundance was just incredibly meaningful for me, with my history with the festival.
Honestly, South by is one that I’ve always wanted to attend.
I’m still trying to figure it out.
ROONEY: It’s been really lovely.
Martin knows I spent like a decade and change working in animation as a compositor.
Image by Zanda Rice
STARR: You deserve it.
I love any excuse to come to Austin.
It’s always awesome to find an audience for what you’ve made and put your heart into.
Image via Brian Douglas/Paramount+
I love talking about editing.
You mentioned already that you tried to do the 10-minute version.
CHRISTER: This film happened incredibly fast, too.
Image by Photagonist
I wrote it in July.
We found out Martin’s availability in early August.
I sent it around and everyone was like, Oh, this is nice.
Can it be shorter?
And I was like, Do you have anything more specific that could help me out with that?
But, I went, It’s true, 23 minutes is a bit luxurious for a short.
So, I brought it down to 18 minutes.
He said, Involve alcohol if you gotta.
So, Deanna came over, and we cracked open some liquor, and I cursed Mike’s name.
ROONEY: It was a two-day process.
STARR: It really hums along.
Thats a lot of the response Ive heard.
Even some of the other people who had shorts in our block responded with how smooth it felt.
In our group, there were a lot who felt that way, as well.
For them to see that and respond to it, I think, is a huge compliment.
CHRISTER: I’m very grateful.
For both of you, you mentioned that you shot this whole thing in 2 days.
You gotta get your shots and you gotta move on.
It was same week, and I just got to dig into the process.
I was only there for one day.
ROONEY: You were so afraid you were gonna hurt yourself.
STARR: I don’t look like it, but I work out every once in a while.
I thought you were Arnolds [Schwarzenegger] stunt double in the lastExpendablesmovie.
STARR: On the last one?
Is that when hes lost a considerable amount of weight?
[Laughs] Muscle weight.
I was not, but I’m open.
If you’re casting, I’m open.
STARR: I think you said, “Take your time.”
It must be the second take you used.
CHRISTER: It is the second take that we used.
I told Deanna, Flop around a bit more if you’re free to.
If there’s a move, you’re free to do a big flop.
It’s a real distance.
STARR: The medicine kicks in.
You mentioned that you’ve been doing other things.
What was it like for you in the days leading up to filming this because you’re in everything?
ROONEY: Honestly, it’s just exciting because Chelsea wrote us a great script.
Everything was kind of on the page.
That helped us trim some fat on the page before we got to the shooting script.
It was also just so collaborative.
Their performance is so grounding and real, but it’s also so funny.
Because of that real-world feeling, that’s what makes it work.
STARR: A lot of that also ties into the editing.
It’s always helpful to get into the edit and have a go at do what Mike…
I love Mike; we did a movie together a long time ago.
These are four radically different things.
I’ve been a PA before, and it can be both really cool and the worst job ever.
How would you describe some of these in terms of worst job ever, really cool?
What did you take away from those experiences?
So, I was getting these jobs as local set PAs for these productions.
It’s gonna be OK.
I did a lot of work on those.
They actually offered me a job to move to LA and work in reality TV.
They were like, Quit school, come to LA.
And I was like, Thank you.
I don’t want to be in reality TV, but thank you.
I got to see people shooting up.
I got to see a couple of drug deals.
I was just there, a tiny 21-year-old blue-haired girl on the corner of the tenderloin.
STARR: So, the hairisnatural?
CHRISTER: It is natural.
Its my natural color.Contagionwas cool.
Those days were so effective and efficient.
[Steven] Soderbergh works very efficiently.
CHRISTER: Oh my goodness.
Seriously, it was like a clean 10-hour day.
He was just like, Everybody can go home.
And I was like, This isamazing.
This is such a huge, beautiful production, and everyone’s working together.
These days are totally reasonable.
The first film starred Matt Damon.
Then I worked onThe Master, and you’ll notice I stopped PAing after that.
I’m not gonna go into details, but it was a bad day.
I was there on the pickup day.
I could barely walk at the end of the day.
I was like, This has been an incredible experience.
I snagged a little bit of 70 millimeter film that’s still in a box somewhere.
That was my experience.
Sorry, it was a little long.
I actually think that’s eye-opening for people who don’t understand.
Why are we all still here?
They went, This just happens sometimes.
I was like, I don’t know.
I don’t think so.
I don’t think it should, don’t think it should.
Not tomorrow, later today.
I’m not coming.
I’m not gonna get any sleep.
And they were like, Fair.
Thanks for the day.
ROONEY: Oh my gosh.
But the contestants were incredible and the challenges are super fun.
Like any production, there are always challenges and last-minute changes, but it was just so neat.
Long-short, I have very dumb impulses.
Up until then, amazing10 out of 10, no notes.
How’s your knee now?
ROONEY: I have to keep muscle built on it, otherwise it just starts to drift.
Thats the thing that no one tells you as a child.
As an adult, if you hurt yourself, it stays with you.
STARR: Not everything that heals makes you stronger.
STARR: I mean, I’ve only just read the first two scripts.
We start production next week.
STARR: We start filming next week.
This new season is going to be a lot of fun.
Lets be honest, me and everybody else are watching it for Stallone.
Obviously, I love you, too.
STARR: No, no, Stallone is the guy on the poster.
This is the Sylvester Stallone show.
Hes talked to me about how he will rewrite his own dialogue.
STARR: I think he goes home every night and rewrites something.
Oh, hes told me this, by the way.
STARR: Yeah, these arent secrets.
But he also, lucky for me, enjoys improvising.
So, especially when its the two of us, we get to play around a little bit.
We get to find new things in there and have fun.
Youre also inThe Hand That Rocks the Cradle.
Is it a remake?
I dont know that Im allowed to talk much about it, but Im very excited about it.
The process was incredible, the experience was incredible.
The whole cast is really great.
When did you film that?
STARR: December and January.
Oh, so you literally just…
STARR: Just wrapped.
So this is all an end-of-the-year kind of movie?
STARR: I dont know when theyre trying to push it.
I know shes already editing it, so were going.
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