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

My grandfather was a big Charlie Chaplin fan and it was often pointed out that I naturally walked like "The Tramp" so I was always kind of personally drawn to movies and the characters in them. My filmmaking career probably began the day that I figured out my family's hi-8 camcorder could do titles and and in-camera dissolves. It took me years to realize you could also digitize the tapes and edit them on a computer. I was lucky to go to college and move to New York City right as the digital filmmaking revolution was really kicking into gear and, like many, was inspired and energized by the democratization of moviemaking and the unique content that was popping up online and in theaters in the City. Since then, I've just kind of surrounded myself with moviemaking and movie watching and am still chasing that high from when I found the "effects" button on that camcorder.

2) What was the initial idea for this project and how did it evolve from there?

Everybody is constantly searching for "success" but it means a thousand different things to a thousand different people. The cruel joke of it all is that even when you do accomplish some goal, the feeling of accomplishment is usually fleeting and quickly replaced by some new set of ideals. I wanted to explore the comedy and tragedy of this idea with characters I felt like I knew. It quickly transformed into a story about friendships and relationships and our difficulties celebrating ourselves and the people we love.

3) What was the biggest challenge in making this film? And the easiest part?

The movie is a character-driven, ensemble piece so I knew it was crucial to find the right performers. They had to embody the written characters while also adding something unique to each character - something I would never have thought of or considered while writing them. Through a mix of auditions and friendly connections, I was lucky to finally enlist Ben, Robert, Mariola and Logan who really brought these people to life in a very short period of time. So while the hard part was finding them, the easy part was directing them and letting them loose inside the story.

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

Like many people, I've spent a good portion of the lockdown submerging myself in movies and television so it's been a little difficult to keep track. A movie that has stuck in my brain, however, is Andrew Patterson's recently released THE VAST OF NIGHT. I love movies that are punching above their weight and this one has an imperfect scrappiness that's executed with total confidence in what it is and what it's doing. It's impossible not to at least be charmed by it. The film is made to feel like some hidden secret you stumbled upon on TV late at night, and as the Marvels and the Star Wars of the world increasingly grow their foothold on all entertainment, that feeling is becoming harder and harder to come by.

5) What’s next for you?

I've recently finished another short film entitled "Trooper" that I'm hoping will see the light of day sometime in 2021 and am attempting to take the leap into feature filmmaking with a project I'm developing called "Capitaland." Both movies take place in my hometown of Albany, New York and explore a young woman's descent into her own family history and the corrupt world of small-town politics.

—

joestankus.com | IG, Twitter and Facebook: @jpstankus