When I went to Sundance back in 1998, indie film was all the rage, and Miramax was throwing down five or six million dollars for several films each year. Those were the salad days of indie film, and those days are over. I'm not out there worrying too much about it.
I just like stories in which characters are struggling with something, whether it's an external force like in 'Vanishing,' or in 'Session 9,' where it's more of a monster within the mind.
I don't think anyone can call a movie like 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' a horror movie. It's a jolt. It's a series of jolts followed by a quick one-liner that's wallpapered with an MTV rock & roll soundtrack. That's not horror to me.
I find psychological thrillers interesting both dramatically and visually.
'Session 9' can be interpreted in different ways. You can get the sense that Gordon breathes in an evil spirit but can also be read as a much more clinical movie that shows a man who becomes unhinged or may be going mad. An inspiration was Nicolas Roeg's 'Don't Look Now.'
We all have aspects of ourselves that we my not be aware of. Actors in particular - they have multiple personality disorder. They get paid a lot of money to exhibit that.
My favorite filmmakers are in the Kubrick, Polanski kind of mold. I just like that world. I think it's more cinematic and gets under your skin more.
I did a lot of traveling after college on trains through India, China, and Russia. I somehow managed to make it back in one piece, and I actually pulled a lot of the anecdotal experiences into the making of 'Transsiberian.'
I've never been in the studio world; TV is as close as I get to the more corporate approach to making entertainment.
I'm drawn to a story partly based on the fact that it's something I might not be as familiar with.
It's such a great city, visually. You can't get that kind of look in Canada that you can get in Boston: the old-brick historical buildings, the winding streets, the old but funky neighborhoods like Southie and Somerville. You can't get that elsewhere. It's a very unique place in that way.
I'm extremely excited about working with Troika on 'The Hive.' This script has two elements I always look for in a thriller - strong, believable female characters and a smart, very dark and very creepy story that will definitely resonate with large audiences.
In terms of my career, it began in earnest when I was living in Boston. I started doing my own films, working initially as an editor and editing assistant - briefly - at WGBH, as an editor on other people's movies, trying to get some experience under my belt, but eventually just doing my own short films, doing them my way.
Things have a tendency in the film business to fall apart more often than they come together.
What drew me into making movies is trying to make characters that step off the screen.
I've always liked dark, creepy movies, but for some reason, I started on the film scene with romantic comedies.
Persistence is half the battle. That's what I love about independent movies. They don't have to be made. There's no studio with an agenda to set up a franchise like 'Batman' or to make a vehicle for a celebrity actor. My films are made because I love the process.
If you're making a film, you've got to have one eye to the audience and one eye to what excites you about it, and sometimes it's not the same thing.
I don't know, maybe I just like to mix it up and have a more of an eclectic need to just try out new things and road test ideas and try out a genre that I haven't done before.
I don't see myself doing any comedies. I like comedies as much as anyone else; I just don't really have a desire to do them.
