“Mann,” by director Kyle Sawyer, is a surprisingly moving tale about a mannequin falling in love with a human co-worker. We asked Sawyer how the project started, 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 come from a place and a family with almost zero interest in film so it doesn’t make much sense, but I always felt an energy toward storytelling growing up and dreamed of making movies. Being from said place, it didn’t seem feasible to be a filmmaker, or so I thought, so I didn’t try until about halfway through University when I said “yeah, sure, okay let's try it” and I pivoted headfirst into it by making my first film and I’ve been doing it ever since. 

2) What’s the backstory here - what was the initial idea and how did it evolve from there?

The idea for Mann came about when I moved to Toronto to become a filmmaker and spent time riding the subway. The station by my apartment had a couple of escalators you had to take to get to the trains and there’s a nice perspective you get when you pass people going down as you go up or vice-versa. So the kernel was this idea for a single shot, I guess… a sweeping parallax on an escalator (which we almost didn’t even put in the final film). From there I got the idea of a character riding escalators aimlessly just for fun as a contrast amongst a hoard of stone faced commuters... then at some point the character became a mannequin and evolved into a story about loneliness. I didn’t write anything down, I just thought about it from time to time, usually while riding the subway. It wasn’t until I was shooting a show in Nashville five years later that I got the urge to make it. Something about the American south tied the story together in a way that Toronto couldn’t. Anyway, I bought a mannequin online from Atlanta and summoned some of the crew I was working with and we made it happen. 

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?

The biggest challenge on this one was moving the mannequin. It was a homemade stand with wheels that I made myself (not very well) that was designed so we could pull him with fishing line or push him with grip arms. In hindsight it would have been worth it to spend the money on a props person. You’d think working with a mannequin would be easy but you wouldn’t believe how many takes that guy blew. 

Generally I would say I enjoy writing and editing most as that’s when you are closest to the story. Writing for when the story is coming to you for the first time and editing for when you get to actually see the story for the first time. But a close second would be being on set. When you’re with good people making good stuff there’s really no feeling in the world like it. My least favourite part is any kind of administration/logistical duties you have as an indie filmmaker that would normally fall to a producer on a budgeted production. I tip my cap to any producer of any production. 

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

I watched the film ‘Border’ last year and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. I tell everyone to watch it even though when you explain the plot of the film to people it usually has the opposite effect. Also, I get too excited when I talk about it and usually describe the whole thing and spoil it. Anyway, I recommend you watch it and I also recommend you describe the plot aloud to someone. It’s bonkers. But as bonkers as it is, at it’s core, it’s a really heartfelt story about loneliness (like Mann). 

5) What’s next for you?

I’ve been busy with commercial projects this past year and that will probably continue into 2020. But, like Mann, I’ve had another film in my mind for a while that I hope to pull the trigger on this year. It’s about a girl who tries to end conversations with these strange men but can’t so the conversations just don’t end and the men end up chatting with her all day and follow her wherever she goes and eventually all these guys start accumulating in her apartment and disrupting her life. 

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Website: http://kylesawyer.ca

Instagram: @kyle.sawyer