5 Questions with Molly Schiot, Cass Buggé and Lucas Kavner ("The Offer")
Molly Schiot (left), Cass Buggé (center), Lucas Kavner (right)
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
Molly: I went to college and broke my back in a crazy accident and ended up in a hot chlorinated physical therapy whirlpool. Unbeknownst to me, another student in my class broke her back and we did therapy together. Since we couldn’t move really, we started animating, became friends, and then started making films on the regular.
2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?
Molly: The co-writers/co-stars, my wife, Cass Buggé and friend, Lucas Kavner approached me about working on a short together. They came to me with a full script, so I’ll let Cass take this question.
Cass: The initial genesis of the idea came from when Molly and I were beginning the process of having a baby. We had had a couple of unsolicited offers from people. The reality was these were actually not creepy or weird (spoiler alert: we didn’t take any of them up on their offers), but when Lucas and I were throwing ideas around, I thought “what if someone had done this in person and it was someone I really didn’t want to have as a sperm donor?” Lucas loved the idea and as we wrote it became more about a couple in a rocky marriage and figuring out ways to have this rejection trigger a crazy fall out.
3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And the easiest part?
Molly: Biggest challenge for me personally was being super pregnant and feeling unbelievably tired. I remember on the first day of shooting my ankles were so swollen that my feet looked like a balloon shaped to look like a football. The easiest part was working with the actors who all were super professional and easy to work with.
4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
Molly: I saw the documentary "Long Shot” not too long ago and have not been able to shake it. The amount of times Black and Brown people have been wrongfully convicted in LA is so troubling and heartbreaking. The fact that his innocence was literally discovered in found footage from a taping of Larry David shoot is insane. If you have not seen it I highly suggest.
5) What’s next for you?
Molly: Get through bookclub this month, shooting a campaign with Shannon Sharpe, pitching a show with Hello Sunshine and Annapurna.
Cass: Finishing up post-production on “The Hug Lottery” a sci-fi-ish short I shot in October, starring Zoe Chao and Rosemary Harris. You can catch me with a fun part in Netflix’s “Yes Day,” directed by Miguel Arteta, coming out March 12th.
Lucas: developing an animated show for FX and writing a movie for Montecito Picture Company. I’m also in Gillian Horvath’s great new serial killer satire I BLAME SOCIETY, which is out this week on VOD”
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mollyschiot.com | IG: @mschiot
Cass: @cassbugge
Lucas: @kavbox