Two slackers take LSD and don’t remember anything that happened in “Saturday,” directed by Jeremy Denief. We asked Denief how the project began, what the biggest challenge was, and a recent film he’s loved…

1) Can you talk briefly about your background, and how you first got interested in filmmaking?

I’m from South Dakota, but spent a lot of my formative years growing up in Southern Missouri. As a fifteen year old, I was able to volunteer for a production team at this megachurch that my family was attending at the time. It was an incredible experience for me and I learned a lot. I worked on live crews for their services, concerts, and conferences throughout high school. From there, I started creating my own silly videos that I would edit together on my laptop. I didn’t go to a film school, but was passionate about production so I used some of my student loans/grants to buy camera gear. After graduating college, I worked at a non-profit for a couple of years as their videographer/editor, which taught me a lot about storytelling. It wasn’t until I created my first short film though that I applied all that I had been learning into the narrative form, which was something I found to be rewarding. I decided to move to New York to further pursue production work and that’s what I’ve been up to since.

2) Can you talk about the origins of this film - what was the initial spark and how did it evolve from there?

This film came about because I didn’t want to spend the whole summer just getting high and watching porn. I put out a PSA on social media to let people know that I was looking for collaborators and my buddy Brian Agamie offered me his place as a location and also mentioned that he had some fake blood, so I went home and wrote a script. I sent it to him and some other friends that I knew would be down for making something creative and we made it happen.

As for the actual script, I wrote it the way that I did for a few reasons. First, I wanted to poke fun at the played-out spiel that “creatives” tend to give when making excuses for not working on their craft. Secondly, I wanted a way in which I could tie in some of my trippy visuals and music, ie: drugs. Thirdly, I wanted to delve into violence in a theoretical way. I intentionally didn’t create fictional names for the main characters because I wanted this to feel more like a parallel possibility than a made up, bizarre fiction.

3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And generally what part of the creative process do you enjoy the best, and the least?

There were some normal, minor challenges faced in the two days of production, such as having to shoot in the bar while it remained open, recording sound without a trained sound person, having a small crew, and no money, etc. etc. My friends are dope though and we all knew that we wanted to create something great so none of us were worried about putting in the work and we got all the shots we needed.

For me, personally, the least enjoyable part of the whole process was just being patient in post. It took longer to edit, create the visuals, and score the piece than I had anticipated. That said, I’m glad I took the time with it that I did. Some of my crew encouraged a few changes that worked really well and together we landed on something I think is really cool.

That’s the best part of the process, btw – being able to collaborate with amazing people. Without Ling, Phil, Brian A., Alex, Hassan, Brittany, and Brian L., this film wouldn’t be what it is. I’m really proud of the work they put in and am grateful for their trust on this project. It’s super satisfying to bring a bunch of talented people together to achieve something artistic.

4) What’s a film you’ve seen recently, new or old, that you really loved and why?

I recently watched A Face in the Crowd. It’s funny, because I didn’t even really love it in the moment, but it’s stayed in my head. I was used to seeing Andy Griffith on The Andy Griffith Show growing up, so it was interesting to watch him in a role quite opposite than what I’d known him for. I was most intrigued by what it had to say about the marketing and media industries’ role in misleading consumers/viewers and abusing their trust. It seems very relevant to current society.

5) What’s next for you?

I’ll be doing more shorts, more music, more art. Just like anyone else, I feel like I have to express myself. I’m thankful for this medium and look forward to doing much more with it.

Contact Info:

Website: jeremydenief@gmail.com

Instagram: @jeremagination