5 Questions with Bobby McCoy
The disturbing but urgent new drama, “Things That Happen,” by director Bobby McCoy, tracks the lives of three depressed California artists through fantasy worlds of fame and influence. We asked McCoy how the project began, the pitch black tone of the film, and making long short films…
1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?
I was always into movies and goofing around with a camera, but I grew up in a small town where no one was really interested in that shit, so the real way I got into filmmaking was through skateboarding. I would go skate with my friends after school every day, but it quickly became apparent that I sucked ass at it, so I just started making skate videos for our crew. From there it was the obvious route of getting more interested in the funny stuff between the skate parts until eventually I was just making funny videos with my friends. Then they put the Criterion Collection on Hulu when I was like 16 and the rest was history.
2) How did this project start - what was the earliest element that came to you, and how did you go about building from that? Walk me through the development of the characters/stories and the interweaving connections.
Initially I wanted to make a real quick short made up of some tiny vignettes, each one juxtaposing something deeply sad with something really dumb or silly. None of those original vignettes made it into the movie in any way, but the ‘sad vs. dumb’ juxtaposition is kinda what led me to the idea that fueled the entire movie- that there’s an inherent glimmer of hope in the idea that we’re all depressed and frustrated all the time, because at the very least it means we aren’t as alone and culturally divided as we might think we are. Someone who might seem kinda stupid and vapid and exploitative- like a Tik Tok fuckboy for example- might actually be suffering, which I find hope in, because it means they’re sensitive and vulnerable, which seems to be the bare minimum for being human. So, a lot of the writing process was just zeroing in different types of people and trying to figure out what their darkest moments might be. Then, as far as the interweaving structure, the form began to reflect the theme. If we’re all depressed, we’re all connected, so the next step was to follow the connections. And on a superficial level, I’m just obsessed with internet stars. All these characters were born out of my addiction to Tik Tok and YouTube and Vine (RIP).
3) It’s a powerful film in a short package - it almost has the feel of a feature. Did you consider making this a longer piece, or would you consider expanding it?
I kind of think the distinction between ‘short’ and ‘feature’ can sometimes stifle creativity, at least for no budget films released through the internet. I try to just let an idea be whatever it wants to be. I don’t wanna cut things I like to make it more of an acceptable ‘short’ length, and I definitely don’t wanna stretch to try to meet 90 minutes or whatever. I typically go into projects knowing it’s just gonna be screened a handful of times and then get released through the internet, just because that’s what’s available to me right now. As much as I want to expand my process in terms of money and resources, I look at my stuff less like films and more like cinematic internet videos. I find it freeing. But as far as pacing, I love the movie Magnolia (which, for anyone who hasn’t seen it, is a three hour film that almost constantly moves at breakneck speed and follows like eight different characters) and one thing that excited me about this project was trying to apply that kind of approach to a short. I feel like a lot of short films are just a few scenes following one or two characters. I’m super interested in jamming as many ideas and emotions and perspectives into something as I can. It feels like a privilege that comes with working on self-produced, no-budget films. Like, nobody can tell me what I can or can’t try to fit into a 20 minute movie haha.
Also: What’s your general process for writing - do you write a formal script, or keep it loose?
It varies from project to project, but for this there was a formal script. I put a lot of work into scripts because I’m sick in the head and I like to wake up at 6AM and drink a ton of coffee and write for hours about things that scare me. That said, I keep it very loose on set, and damn near throw out all the dialogue in favor of letting the actors make shit up.
4) Though it’s stylish and fast-paced, tonally it’s pitch black, capturing a real sense of pessimism and depression. I’m curious to hear more about how you approached those juxtapositions. In a couple sentences, what was most urgent for you to communicate about the current plights of young people (particularly creatives) in this country?
And what were some guiding principles visually to portray this?
To be honest, I didn’t really go into this with anything specific to say. During the writing I was in the thick of a winter depression, and I kinda just needed to exorcise some feelings. Then, when it came to shooting and editing, I just tried to recreate the vibe of what I was feeling when I wrote it. The quick pace just mirrors the anxiety of living in the neoliberal hellscape of LA, and then looking at the internet to ‘relax’ or ‘escape’, when really it’s just as unrelenting and horrifying as the city in its eternal quest to get your money. I think one day on set Mikey (my genius DP) just brought out this weird, mechanical gimbal thing and tried this little push-in and I was like, “yep, that’s the feeling”. It’s like all the dread and uncertainty of a slow zoom in, like, a 70s Altman movie or something, but with the speed, intensity, and omnidirectional stimulus of post-internet filmmaking. From then on, we were just doing everything we could with that gimbal, and then I cut it like the caffeine-addled psycho I am.
As far as the plight of young creatives, something I think is really interesting is the phenomenon of everyone in my general age group (I’m 21), technically being a creative. Everybody kinda plays music or writes or wants to vlog or whatever. We’re all depressed, and we all want to be very famous. People love to call millennials and gen-z fame-obsessed, but it’s because stardom is the only way a young person can envision a financially stable future in this country. You would be fame-obsessed too if you had a deeply lonely existence where your only prospect for eventually going to the dentist one day was blowing up as a SoundCloud rapper or manicuring your IG grid to the point that a kombucha startup will pay you to do a sponsored post. So in that sense, if I set out to say anything at all with this film beyond just purging my sadness, it wasn’t ‘about’ young people, but ‘to’ young people. I want people like me to see this movie and feel like it’s OK to feel really fucking sad, and really fucking mad, and really fucking alone. Because a lot of us don’t address the darker feelings to ourselves, or really express them to others, and that’s how you end up with a generation of psychos who are either addicted to dating and hitting the Juul, or phrenology and driving trucks through crowds. If you just look at yourself and let yourself be fucking bummed as shit sometimes without romanticizing it or thinking it’s forever, you’re gonna be fine.
5) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?
I don’t know if this counts, but we keep watching this 70s film adaptation of a German ballet called Das Triadische Ballett. That shit is fucking fire.
Bonus Question: What’s next for you?
I started this fake media company called [REDACTED] EMOTIONS that I run with a bunch of my friends, and we’re finishing up some more movies and a series and a couple music projects. Also I have to find a new apartment and not die penniless. Angel investors get at me!
