5 Questions with Mimi Cave and Parker Seaman

“I’m Happy, I Promise” portrays a man named Parker and his headlong dive into masking personal pain and guilt with frivolous pursuits. We asked director Mimi Cave and writer/star Parker Seaman how the project began, the biggest challenge involved, and what comes next for them…

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

Parker: I started in comedy making sketches for funny or die.

Mimi: I started in theater and dance performance, studied film in college. I of course made one too many experimental dance films and luckily found music videos from there.

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

Parker : During an era of depression I found myself buying a bunch of plants. I was like, why am I buying so many plants? Oh yea, because I’m sad. Maybe buying more plants and telling people how many plants I have will help me be happier. This lead to the idea of the short. How far will someone go to convince people everything’s ok when it’s not.

Mimi: what he said.

3) What was the biggest challenge in making this piece, or was it as fun and effortless as it looks? What part of the creative process do you enjoy the best, and the least?

Parker: The best part for me was the phone calls. I wrote out scripts, then recorded actual phone calls between the actors and I using a call recording app. We would improvise on the phone for about 30 min until we felt like we had something to work with. The hardest part was editing those 30 min calls down to 3 min.

Mimi: we had a limited budget — hence our entry into your fine festival — but that was the only challenging thing. We shot with some talented friends which is the best, and luckily had no one looking over our shoulder (also quite a rare treat). Parker is one hell of a diva but also the most lovely, talented human I know so it was confusing at times... did I answer the question?

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

Parker: Mimi’s directing reel, 10/10

Mimi: I don’t know how to follow that!

One word: parasite.

5) What’s next for you?

Parker: More of these, I will make 100 more if someone will let us.

Mimi: I’ll make 100 more as well please!!!

Contact Info:

Mimi Cave

Website: http://mimicave.com

Instagram: @mimicave

Parker Seaman

Instagram: @parkseaman