WHAT'S UP LOVELY

In early 2009 I was restless. I shot 2 features that were just about to be released, but I was already dying to make another one. Some of you can relate to this when I say filmmaking's a drug. It's such a rush to create and we don't get to do it very often. I needed a fix. Bad. The only issue was I didn't have a completed script ready to go.

I reached out to Jenn Dees. I enjoyed working with her on NEW YORK LATELY and asked if she wanted to play around with an improv-based film. I only had to bribe her with a dinner in the Village and she was on board. We had no idea what to make, so it took a few weeks of brainstorming to develop a story that would be loosely inspired by ALICE IN WONDERLAND. Now we had to find a crew and actors. 

We were going really small in scope on this one, which really means we had no fucking money. Big surprise. I recruited a ton of my talented actor friends. Everyone who came on board did it for their belief in me. They didn't even know what the project was about, so that tells you how lucky I was. Now we just needed someone to shoot the film for us.

When I mentioned wanting to shoot a movie -- with no money and just a treatment -- my buddy Jason Varner (DP, NEW YORK LATELY) told me "I've got JetBlue miles" (he was living in Denver at the time). He flew out and crashed at my place for 3 weeks while we shot like crazy people all over the city.

We spent about a year editing. Jenn created the brilliant voiceover narration you hear in the film.  I think we had about 5 different versions of the film as we explored the story. It was a liberating experience. She helped me lose myself where sometimes narrative isn't as important as moods and atmospheres. For stuff I was afraid to try, she would say "why the fuck not?"

Some people really dig this film. And of course, some don't get it at all. Because of Jenn, I'm able to honestly say I love that.