Q: Will & Liz struck me as a charming indie love story with a small cast that reminds me of Before Sunrise (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy), 500 Days of Summer (Joseph Gordon Levit and Zooey Deschanel) or Lost in Translation (Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson). What films inspired Will & Liz? What films would you compare Will and Liz to?
A: Thank you, since the films release it’s been compared to these movies… I don’t normally direct romances, I usually do thrillers - but I needed a fresh change of air and a love story felt like a good challenge. I can’t point to a specific film which was a reference point for WILL & LIZ… but Sofia Coppola’s work and atmosphere was a big influence. I’ve loved her stuff ever since I saw MARIE ANTOINETTE at the theater and that airy dreamy atmosphere she captures in VIRGIN SUICIDES and SOMEWHERE were in the back of my mind. I tried to give the camerawork a similar “floating” vibe.
Q: You co-wrote it with Nathan Wilson. What was the writing process like? Do you find any screenwriting guides useful? If so, which ones?
A: I love writing and working with Nate. We’re very symbiotic and disciplined. With this film I had a rough outline of the story and it’s beats which I presented to Nate, and honestly I thought he was going to make fun of me for wanting to do a love story, but luckily he jumped at the idea and we just built up the outline into a fleshed out script.
A lot of walking on the beach and acting out potential dialogue until we would find something we liked and quickly scribbled it down, and then just refined the script in a few drafts. It was a pretty quick process actually. We didn’t have any quibbles, if anything he pushed me to go deeper with the characters and their inner conflicts - that’s because he’s also approaching the material from an actor’s perspective.
As far as screenwriting guides - William Goldman and his book ADVENTURES IN THE SCREEN TRADE is the one which really helped me as a writer.
Q: How was it shooting in Venice? Did you run into any issues with permits or lack thereof? Did people interfere with your shooting (either intentional or accidental)?
A: It was as colorful an experience as you can imagine. It was really tremendous fun. We just went and did it. We had a homeless street band ask if we could produce a music video for them; and then during an important scene in the park there’s a drug deal going on in the background hahaha; but nobody cared. Everyone left us alone and we got on with our work.
It was a complete unit of myself, Nathan Wilson, and lovely Christine Tucker - so there really wasn’t a parade of trucks and crew blocking off the area. I wish we had a crew. That will be the day.
Q: How many days of shooting were there?
A: We shot the whole month of June, and then got some pickups and reshoots two or three days across July and August.
Q: How much of the location audio were you able to use versus how much you had to re-record in the studio?
A: Ehhh… yeah. This was a tightrope to walk.
It’s about 50/50 — and Tai Vare our sound designer is a Wizard so he really helped us out.
Lots of traffic and construction and jackhammers; and then the ocean waves crashing as the wind is gusting past.
And like I said we were a micro team of three people with one man (myself) pretty much functioning as an entire crew, so we did all that we could realistically accomplish.
Q: What camera did you use and and in what format?
A: We shot on a Sony 4K - unfortunately can’t remember the exact model but a small peanut of a camera. With a basic Rode shotgun mic attached on the camera and scorpion rig. Really nothing fancy (or elaborate/expensive).
Q: What did you edit it on? What software did you use?
A: It was edited and finished on Sony Movie Studio Platform 14 - which you can laugh at and say That’s not Final Cut or Adobe Premiere or Avid - and believe me, I know. But it works well and got the job done. I can’t answer what the sound was remixed on… pretty sure ProTools - but I let our sound guy Tai handle that.
Q: Has having it up on Amazon been a good experience? Have you considered other forms of distribution? If so, what?
A: It was a good experience until Jeff Bezos restructured his streaming payment plan at the start of the pandemic.
However, the film is also streaming on TubiTV alongside some of our other work; and it’s on special edition Blu-ray as well.
We are all happy that the film is out there instantly available for anyone who wishes to discover it. In pre-production and early days of filming, we hoped it would get a festival screening or two and maybe it would end up on DVD - but we got a wide streaming release and we were thrilled we could share it with everyone no matter where they were located. They could enjoy our little romance of Venice Beach if they’re in England, and that’s a rewarding feeling.
