5 Questions with Harry Quinlan
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I can’t remember when I started wanting to make films, I just always remember going to the movies was such an event growing up. Even as a kid it was sort of how my friends and I played at school, we would come up with ideas for movies and act them out. I suspect there’s a common progression for film-makers; first you play act with your friends, then you want to be an actor, then you realise you don’t want to just act in the movies, you want to make them.
2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?
It probably won’t surprise you to learn that I was inspired by a round of housemate interviews I had to conduct with my friend. We were in the middle of interviewing people and I literally thought “this is like a tv show.” Everyone got their own little episode all about them. But the concept was really just a framework to hang the characters on. So the project didn’t really change from the initial idea, because it was so simple. I just got to have fun trying to come up with interesting characters.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this series? And the easiest part?
Casting and scheduling. I thought I had written something small and then realised it had 13 speaking roles. My producer fell through going in, so organising all the auditions and scheduling the actors was pretty difficult. Having said that the easiest was working with my actors and crew. Everyone was great.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
I really loved “The Invisible Man” with Elisabeth Moss. I was so impressed by that film. I think The Invisible Man is not exactly the creepiest Universal Monster on paper, but they really found the horror in the central concept. What if someone who wanted to do you harm found a way to become invisible? There’s an amazing moment when she’s in her bed and the duvet cover is pulled off her, she gets up to put it back on but she can’t move it. She looks down and she sees the outline of someone’s feet standing on the duvet edge. How great is that? It’s a very current film too. I love that they made the monster a Silicon Valley tech whiz. It’s just so zeitgeist-y. Getting stalked by Mark Zuckerberg, nightmare.
5) What’s next for you?
I have a short film script which I would love to make next.
—
www.harryquinlan.net
IG: @plumvoicedfox