Tanner Cohen, Nathaniel David Becker in Were the World Mine
Were the World Mine is an "expansion" of your 2003 short Faeries. How did you come up with the idea for Faeries?
I loved the idea of a teenager in his basement working away at a potion that would make people gay, probably because I always wished I had one. That idea seemed too silly to stand on its own, so my partner ([Cory Krueckeberg,] co-writer of WTWM) suggested I ground it in something. We started thinking of literature that you are forced to read in school, and Midsummer seemed like a perfect match.
I haven't watched Faeries. Besides being shorter, how different is it from Were the World Mine?
The short is really a one-joke film — Timothy turns everyone gay — The End. When we decided to expand Fairies, we really wanted to use Midsummer — the story, the characters — as the real inspiration to all the expansions. So WTWM really is much more of a retelling of Midsummer than Fairies.
Except for Wendy Robie, who has the same role (but different makeup) in Faeries, my understanding is that the actors in Were the World Mine have no connection to the short film. Why was only Robie kept on? And how did you go about casting the main roles in Were the World Mine? Did Tanner Cohen and Nathaniel David Becker [above] do their own singing?
Wendy really was instrumental in creating the role of Ms. Tebbit. She helped inspire the character and the power of the Ms. T character. I couldn't imagine anyone else in the role. We almost had to replace her due to scheduling problems, but luckily we didn't.
We worked with Judy McLane (Donna) & Jill Larson (Nora) in some staged readings of the screenplay during our search for financing and we were thrilled to keep them on board. I met Zelda Williams (Frankie & daughter of Robin) about 2 years before we shot; she was the perfect Frankie.
For the other lead roles, we did casting calls in NY, LA and Chicago. We found Tanner & Nate in NYC. And yes — like the rest of the cast — they did their own singing!
The press notes remark on an apparent — or rather, quite obvious — anti-gay bias when it came to talent agents and agencies, pulling out their clients once they found out what Were the World Mine was all about. How did you manage to work around that type of project "blacklisting"?
For the young roles, we had to do a lot of the legwork ourselves. We decided to not just rely on agent submissions, but go to high schools, colleges, etc. to find real teenagers. Oh, Hollywood.
But, the "anti-gay" bias certainly didn't stop with casting the film. It followed us into the world of festivals and distribution as well. Every major non-lgbt festival turned us down — some even said our film was "too gay" — even though the industry and press kept asking us "Why aren't you in Sundance? Why aren't you in Tribeca? Why aren't you in…???"
And the same with distributors — even though we had a hit film that was selling out dozens of festival screenings and racking up awards at almost every one. Not one acquisitions person from even the smaller mainstream distributors would come to a screening. The closet within the industry seriously makes me crazy and hopefully little by little we can destroy it.
What were the biggest challenges of directing a low-budget romantic-dramatic-comedy musical as your feature-film debut?
Many people thought it was too ambitious for a first feature. Luckily, we found investors who not only believed in the story we wanted to tell, but gave me the freedom to make my own choices with casting, locations, crew, etc. From a producing perspective the biggest challenges were money, time, and the constant fight to not let the "gay film" label limit the film's potential in all aspects of filmmaking — from financing to festivals to distribution to promotion.
What were the biggest challenges while directing the musical numbers in Were the World Mine? The numbers, in fact, are quite outlandish. Did you and choreographer Todd Underwood attempt to go as out on a limb as possible, or…?
We wanted the musical numbers to first and foremost tell a story, not just be a complete escape from reality. They each needed to help move the story forward. Therefore, we first treated the musical moments as a part of the script and storyboarded the story elements we wanted to tell. Then [cinematographer] Kira [Kelly], Cory, Todd, and I worked together on the best way to give them the most visual punch to add excitement and to take the story in those moments to a different level visually.
Which musicals/romantic comedies/dramas served as inspiration for your thematic and/or aesthetic approach to Were the World Mine?
We pulled images from many films, artists, and designers that we used for inspiration, research & guidance, including some from some of my favorite films — Moulin Rouge!, Millions, Velvet Goldmine, Dead Poets Society, Wings of Desire, Dancer in the Dark — so I'm sure there are hints of those in WTWM somewhere, even if completely unintentional.
In Were the World Mine characters undergo a radical change after walking in The Other's shoes. Do you believe something similar would happen in real life as well — or is that wishful thinking? A combination of both?
I'm a very optimistic person — sometimes to a fault. But I truly do believe that people's thinking can be changed by experiencing someone else's struggle or joy. A new perspective usually leads to some sort of knowledge gained. I've seen it happen in my own life with this film, actually.
I, like everyone, have a couple of family members who tend to be a little homophobic at times. Watching their reaction to this film has been very interesting. I can see them breaking down some of their own walls as they speak to others about the success and themes of the film. Hopefully, these little steps forward in changing individuals' opinions can add up to big steps forward.
And finally, do you have any film projects in the works?
Cory Krueckeberg (co-writer/producer/prod. designer of WTWM) just finished a script titled "Mariachi Gringo" — a very music-driven story about a guy who leaves his dead-end Midwestern life to become a Mariachi singer in Mexico. We hope to secure the financing and shoot that in late '09.
I love this movie it completely rocks!!