5 Questions with Tynan DeLong
The new short by Tynan DeLong (one of our 2018 Persons of the Year) is “delivery,” a predictably hilarious tale of an aspiring news anchor and the food delivery man who helps her out. We asked DeLong how he’s so prolific, getting projects rolling, and collaborating with his cast…
1) How did it get started?
"delivery" is a collaboration between Kelly Cooper and myself. We met to discuss a possible collaboration and I don't think we walked away with anything concrete, but we definitely had some kernels. I've learned not to place too much pressure on those initial meetings with a potential collaborator - sure, it's nice to come with an BIG IDEA, but at the very least, if you both can walk away with a little seed of an idea to turn over in your mind, then that's wonderful too! So anyway, a few weeks later, as an exercise to generate ideas, I was brainstorming different relationships between people. Kelly has a show built around a news anchor character so I had that in mind. Then I wrote "delivery man and news anchor" and thought "well, what if it's a delivery man who helps her out with a self-tape?" as a way to justify that relationship. I got pretty excited, def a eureka moment where I started to see it pretty clearly and so I sent that very simple premise to Kelly and we filled it in from there. We were very much on the same wavelength about having Bardia play the delivery man, wasn't even a question there.
2) At this point, I’m in awe of how many crazy ideas you have. Where do they all come from? Are you usually hanging out with other (funny) people when these shorts get cooked up, or do you get inspired while alone? Both?
Ah thank you! Yah, really varies ~ sometimes it'll fall into my lap, sometimes it'll come from human observation, sometimes with buds, sometimes from digging through my past, sometimes from watching bad TV, sometimes from me doing the work of sitting in front of a computer and brainstorming in a blank document till I stumble upon something I'm inspired by, etc. etc. I'm comfortable working alone and daydreaming so I would say I often come up the basic premise or skeleton for a short alone and then bringing it to collaborators who help flesh it out from there.
3) Can you talk about working with your cast? How much direction do you give vs just letting them run wild?
Yah, Kelly and Bardia are really great, emotionally grounded and connected actors and also incredibly funny, so they are pretty much dreams to work with. I give them the structure and foundation for every scene and they will fill it in. We'll set up, I'll say "this what you want, this is what you want, you gotta hit this point and this point and end at x point" and they will fill that in with so much color and life! Just so much better than I could've dreamed, it's awesome. A lot of times I'll give temp dialogue with the caveat "but don't say that - say it how you would say it!" That's probably the thing I repeat the most on set. "Say it how you would say it!!" It's just really important I give them room to bring themselves to it and make choices and moves that excite them. I really strive to stay out of the way as much as possible.
4) What do you do as a director if something is not quite gelling the way you thought it would? How many takes do you typically do?
Yeah, I've been in those situations from time to time. Sometimes it's a matter of taking a moment to have a 1 on 1 conversation with each actor and having a frank discussion about the scene and what's not working. Sometimes it means just pushing through and working it until it DOES gel. Sometimes it's means taking a break and ordering some iced coffees. Really just depends on the moment and what you think everyone needs. Fortunately, there weren't any problems like that on this short. As for takes, we'll typically do 3 takes, narrowing the focus each time. Let it all hang out on the 1st, scale it back on the 2nd and bring it home on the 3rd. Something like that, I've def gone in Kubrick mode on some shorts tho!
5) You’ve been extremely prolific the last year or so. Will that continue? What are you working on now?
Just getting warmed up my dude! Look out for some more “Dad & Stepdad,” another season of “Love Is Stinks,” a documentary on my mom, a couple shorts in the can and ummm who knows? Maybe this will be the year I buy a ticket to FEATURETOWN?! Anyone reading this wanna help me make a feature? Get at me on IG @tynandelong.