David Spaltro Interview Part I
What about Molly Ryman? Is her character based on a real person?
Molly was an absolute joy to work with and a real find for the role of Allyson, which is based mostly on one real person and also a few others. She was cast in a marathon casting session in January '07 out of thirty NY actresses. Other than being a very gifted actress and a classically beautiful girl, she has the ability to walk into a room and light it up with just a genuine sweetness and energy. She’s so committed to the work that her level of excitement about it brings up everyone on set. She’s also a very funny improvisational actress and some of the film’s best lines and moments come wholly from Molly, such as the “can I get you anything… tap water?” line. She had us in stitches during rehearsals.
I don’t think the film would work without her, especially her supporting Rob. It was just the right balance of chemistry. She makes Allyson more than just the “girlfriend.” She makes her real. You understand immediately why this guy does instantly fall in love with this girl — and she also allows the audience to relate to her and walk in her shoes. She truthfully humanizes the dilemma of having any kind of relationship with a person such as Doyle and the complications that can arise when that relationship changes.
…Around doesn't have a pat Hollywood ending. Without giving it all away, why that choice?
I find most audiences love a happy ending and that I in turn hate most audiences…
I’m a firm believer in realism and not cheating with a quaint, little wrap-up. I don’t feel the ending is a sad ending, though. I think there is a lot of hope and it’s actually more of a new beginning — but [it has been] also earned. And while I do feel we close out the particular story we’ve been telling for two hours, the last scene of the film could very well be the first scene of a different movie. I find that to be true in life as well as in storytelling. The good fight goes on, always. Or maybe the main character’s assessment of his inability to begin or end a story — and being a “shit storyteller” — is just me making a confession of my own inabilities.
What are the distribution plans for …Around?
We’ve signed an agreement with Cinetic Rights Management (CRM), a division of indie guru John Sloss’ Cinetic Media, who will be handling our deals for DVD, streaming online, on-demand and other forms of distribution. It’s really a great new company that is on the cutting edge of the future of film and media distribution, whereas in the past a film like ours with no attached “bankable stars” might either get lost on the festival circuit and not find distribution, or die a two-week death at a coastal art house theater and actually lose money. Here, with so many avenues to distribute and show films and media content with little or no overhead, the possibilities are limitless and we are happy to be at the start of it and embrace it.
Any new projects at the moment?
I’m finishing up the script for what I hope to be my next directorial project that I’ll be shopping for financing while …Around makes the circuits and is distributed. It's called “Things I Don’t Understand.” In some ways it’s even more personal a project to me than …Around, and I hope to reunite Molly Ryman, Marcel Torres, and Ali Tobia, who had a small role in …Around as Doyle’s sister Lizzie. My biggest regret about …Around is that there wasn’t more for her to do and I’m sort of correcting that this time around. I’m also fielding offers and writing other scripts to possibly develop or simply sell.