5 Questions with Alex Ateah & Taylor Rivers ("Alex and Taylor Come Up With Characters")
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
A: I started doing experimental video stuff in art school and haven’t really stopped since! It’s always been very DIY and figuring it out as I go. I also used to be really into acting when I was a kid but then I got very nervous for 15 years and stopped. In the last 5 years I started doing stand up and acting and it feels so good to be performing again!
T: I’ve been working in film/tv production for about 7 years now. Mostly documentary stuff. Back when I was a new grad I started volunteering with the Canadian Film Center and it kind of just spiralled from there.
2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?
A: We had done mushrooms together and I started doing this character that was an old woman who suddenly becomes very hot. We needed to make a video for a friends comedy show and this mushroom induced character became the jumping off point for our other characters.
T: Alex made me laugh to the point of tears like 5 times that night. I think we knew we had some sort of idea worth exploring, and then we we were asked to put something together for that show it kind of just happened. We had very little planned when we started filming and it was just an hour of running around our house trying to make each other laugh. It was so much fun.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And the easiest part?
A: Probably just putting it all together. The editing portion some might say. There was just a lot of footage and it was all equally stupid/good. My thumb being in the shot was a VERY happy accident.
T: Alex did all the editing. This is probably the only project I’ve ever been a part of where I can actually say.. it was very easy.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
A: I watched Manchester by the Sea the other night for the first time and I cried a lot but was also surprised that I laughed quite a bit but fuck Casey Affleck. Also Living In Oblivion! So experimental and unexpected. Catherine Keener forever.
T: I tend to bring up ’The Favourite’ at least once a week. Surveying the room to make sure everyone has seen it, and agrees with me that it’s perfect. I guess that’s a sign that I really love it.
5) What’s next for you?
A: Hopefully back to live performance at some point and want to do more collaborative projects once I’m able to. I miss people!
T: Agree. Alex and I ran a show together where we dressed up as Stacey and Clinton from What Not To Wear and gave comedians very mid-2000s makeovers on stage. I can’t wait to do that again.
—
www.alexandraateah.com, https://www.taylor-rivers.com/contact
https://www.instagram.com/alex_ateah/
https://www.instagram.com/taylorivers/