The filmmaker: Phil Van is a graduate of Cornell University and NYU's graduate program at Tisch School of the Arts. His films have been screened at many different film festivals, such as the Berlin International Film Festival, the Austin Film Festival and the Telluride Film Festival. He is currently making a feature length version of High Maintenance, as well as another feature and a television pilot.

The flick: High Maintenance's Jane is unhappy with her marriage. Fortunately, in the future, upgrades are always available.

See it: Monday, April 15th

Read Phil's responses to our Big Three Questions below!

What movie character would you like to meet for drinks?
Logan from the 1976 movie, Logan's Run. I should mention that I only picture this really working if Logan is strapped into the God machine at the end of the film that scans his subconscious into holographic images capable of speaking the true state of his mind.

I often wish, when drinking, that people would speak the true state of their mind. I should add that I don't think talking loudly about sex counts. Too reductive. While sipping a beer, I would ask simple questions and then get back simultaneous answers from three holographic heads floating around Logan's stony, expressionless face. They might at some point say, "There is no sanctuary," like in the movie, but unlike the God machine, I would neither spark nor explode, because I am a man.

What historical time period would you visit and adapt into a film?
1981-1984: Reagan's first term and the beginning of my life. I would track the cult conspiracy theorists who believed that his presidency marked the coming of the Anti-Christ, building on their insane notions with evidence so consistent and daunting that the only breath of doubt would come from one of the biggest signs of the beast, mastery of speech. Reagan's sudden oratory flubs would disappoint all, theorists more than pundits. But too sudden, perhaps?! More important than any theory, these characters would be the ultimate embodiment of the crashing idealism of the '60s and '70s, because when you no longer have Flower Power, you can always fall back on your mind-numbing fear of Satan!

What is the one thing that surprised you the most about making High Maintenance?
That I don't now live in a hut in a city park. I was broke going into making the film and even more broke coming out. I took up the opportunity because it was a great chance to collaborate with actors and artists in Europe using limited German funding. But largely for cost and schedule reasons, we had to make the film in one week, two days of shooting, three days of editing, a day and a half of post sound. On the seventh day we screened it for a thousand people. I didn't sleep or eat much and by the end of the process I felt both elated and completely insane. I couldn't tell if the elation was from the film or the insanity. Thankfully, it turned out to be the former.

We aimed to make a film that would normally take three to six months for a small fraction of the money and time. So we planned intensively for weeks using FTP servers to send digital reels, location stills, scripts and storyboards from Berlin to Manhattan and back. But in Berlin the whole process became the Indy 500 and thankfully, nothing crashed, burned or smelled like BBQ. I think moving this quickly can easily hinder quality, but in our case we were able to use the pace to create serious consistency and fluidity in the shooting and cutting that became a deliberate function of the economy of the storytelling. And I've got to tell you, that beats being homeless.

Similar Topics:12th Annual Gen Art Film Festival, Big 3, Film

comments (0) : Send to a Friend : Subscribe

:  digg this :  del.icio.us! :  Hive This!