By Chris Summerfield
It gives me great pleasure to bring you here at, Scared stiff, the award winning, writer, director and producer, as well as editor, David Spaltro. Thank you David for taking the time to complete this interview…
CS: Please do tell me why you were inspired to chase a career in the movie industry and how it all began?
I’ve always wanted to tell stories I think. When I was very young I sketched and drew a lot, and thought I’d might eventually become a comic book artist or cartoonist. It was as I got older and became introduced to putting on plays, and video production, that I saw a great way to take all my storytelling and visual instincts and combine them with the ability to work and collaborate with others. I’m particularly drawn to filmmaking because of that collaboration, as you’re not just sitting alone with blank pages coming up with a story, you’re working with all kinds of different artists to help add and layer a story. I can actually remember an “Aha!” moment I had when I was six-years old, going to see the 1989 Batman and realizing for the first time that this was something someone, or rather, a large group of people made. I think that was the seed that was first planted.
CS: So let’s briefly take look at your first feature movie, being, “Around,” in which it appears is a part autobiography, did you find this a difficult project with it being part autobiography and did you at any stage have doubts?
I never had any personal doubts, but more, when I was trying to figure out what my first film was going to be and write the script, I just didn’t think it was that interesting. All of my friends who knew my time at film school, and my other unknown NYC stories kept saying incredulously, “YOU don’t have a story? You???”, but it’s that old adage about not really thinking something is interesting because you lived through it or it happened to you, or your feelings that no one else might relate or understand. I finally started writing about my experiences at film school, living a double life out of Penn Station, and all the people I knew. My first draft was something like 300+ pages that I almost called “…And the Kitchen Sink”.
CS: David, so your following feature length film, “Things I don’t understand” in which I believe was a drama just like your first and went on to bag many awards, could you please tell us about this movie how it came about?
“Things I Don’t Understand” actually pre-dates my first film, in that it started out as an idea for a short film for my thesis. I’d had some experiences when I was younger working volunteer for hospice care, and had this idea that was just the scenes of the main character “Violet” interviewing the young girl dying of cancer. It was really more of a one act play of two very distinctly different people just chatting and philosophizing all these big ideas on death, religion, life, love… it didn’t really have a story, and I didn’t think I was mature enough at the time to really flesh it out, or do it properly. It stayed with me though, and after a long year of making “…Around” and dealing with some financial fall out and personal issues, I was sort of in a bad place, angry, and looking for some creative catharsis. I found those pages and started writing–not to make it, because at the time I was so burned out that I didn’t think i’d ever make a film again. I wrote for the joy writing gave me, to work out a bunch of other things that were going on inside me, and used that to sort of expand the story and the world, adding characters based on new people I’d encountered. What I thought would be this really angry, bitter, dark piece, despite having some dealings with death and the afterlife, is really this warm, human, funny tale about NYC, how important the relationships we form are to who we become and how we overcome odds. By the time I was finished with it I realized I wasn’t so lost and angry afterall, and became very focused on trying to get it done.
CS: And am sure you must be very pleased with the fact it had achieved so many awards, kind of a bench mark to what you can achieve, therefore does this achievement pressure you with what your audience expect from your future work?
Of course. Sometimes. I try not to let it direct me in any one way too strongly, but I think, as an artist and a human, you’ll always be thinking in your mind about those things. I think it’s also very easy, once you’ve become established or praised for work for that to be held against you in measuring your next piece. People who forgave things because it was your first film, might demand you have shown some growth. Sometimes others dislike it when you veer too far off course from what you did last time. My new goal in life, and part of why I branched out in horror, and also directed some shorts written by other people, is what’s most important to me is that I always try to grow and expand as a storyteller and filmmaker. I’d rather risk failing and falling on my face that stay in a comfort zone. If at the end of the day I feel I’ve really put all the work I could into a piece, did my best, tried some new things, and can see my fingerprints and voice on the final product… then however it’s received, I’ve at least won that war, and can be satisfied. Gene Stavis, a great film historian, once told me when I was in film school worrying about what short I’d make for my thesis, “Just make something, and remember it won’t be the last thing you do.” And that’s been my attitude really. Whenever I get blocked or unsure, I just calmly tell myself that whatever happens, I’ll just make another one.
CS: And now your third feature film, “In the dark” in which is a horror movie, as you have written and directed two drama movies, what made you decide that your next movie be a horror?
It was sort of just fortuitous timing, really. I had been in development on a third feature film Wake Up in New York, and slated to go into production in Spring 2014, but that Winter hit a financing snag that sort of put the breaks on it at the time. I was a little burned out after all that work, and not sure if I should take a break and go back to trying to get that back up again, or look at a different project, when I was contacted to meet with an investor who wanted to make their own feature, a horror film, and needed a script. I took the meeting, thinking it was just to write a film, and ended up being offered the reigns to direct it as well, after pitching a few story ideas and what was possible. It was a mad dash to complete the script, but literally 14 months after that meeting, I was able to hand the investor a completely finished horror feature. I had no real intentions of delving into the genre, at least at that point, but I was starving creatively to try something different, and saw it as a good chance to grow and learn as a storyteller, and add something different to the character drama/comedies I was known for, while hopefully still retaining my particular voice. It was a unique, very rare instance where someone says they have a particular budget, offering a writer-director the freedom to play with that canvas, as long as it’s within the confines clearly of a horror genre film and something they can use commercially.
CS: From your writing point of few how challenging was, “In the dark,” compared to your previous work?
I nearly killed myself writing this script. I already knew the budget, so I had to write with that in mind, and did a ton of research watching all kinds of classic, modern, and international horror films of all kinds that rekindled my love for the genre and what you could do with it. I was so intent in getting it right that two days before my first deadline for the producer I threw out six weeks of work (50pgs) and did two all nighters, pacing around my studio apartment, and starting with a completely fresh take based off a terrifying psychology paper article on real demonic possession.
Another of the most challenging aspects, technically, outside of the usual ones for making any film, was that it was something stylistically so completely different, so even utilizing a lot of set experiences and knowledge, I was definitely going on instinct and winging things. You really don’t know a horror film works until you’ve put it together in the editing room and scored it with sound design. I think I was lucky I was able to bring a solid team of my DP Gus Sack, and a group of talented actresses like Lynn Justinger, Grace Folsom, Fiona Horrigan, Catherine Cobb Ryan, and Kayla Leasure. They gave me the raw material to make a great film, and also trust that I could play and explore. Composer Fritz Myers and sound designer-mixer Carlos “Storm” Martinez are the duo that really brought the film home. I didn’t know for sure I’d pulled it off until I saw it on the big screen at our final mix with their work. It just made it a completely different picture in the best ways possible.
CS: So David, do give us a brief insight in to the exciting supernatural/horror “In the dark”
“…In the Dark” is my attempted shot of energy and breath of fresh air in a popular, but overcrowded genre marketplace, combining both the appeal of the thrills and chills that is a staple of the horror genre, as well as a strong, original story, headed by a female cast of some of NYC’s most talented actresses. A lovingly bloody valentine to the inspirational works of Stephen King, John Carpenter, The X-Files, and 1973’s “The Exorcist”, I definitely tried to give it an old school flavor, and hopefully not be redundant and explosive as a lot of films in the genre have been as of late.
CS: Now I would like to ask a few personal questions, starting with, who has been the most supportive person or persons during your career so far within the movie industry?
I’ve been very lucky to have met some very supportive and interesting filmmakers, producers, journalists and “angels” along the way. A few of the stands outs have been two former teachers of mine at SVA: Larry J. Hillier, a former Gaffer and Cinematographer, who always pushed me along the way about getting better at the overall craft of filmmaking and storytelling, and step outside my comfort zone; and acclaimed actress Lisa Eichhorn, whom I took an acting for director’s workshop with. So many things about respecting and talking with actors, being specific, and just overall love for storytelling come from her, that I still utilize to this day. Shane Abbess, is an extremely talented Australian director of 2007’s “Gabriel” and 2015’s “Infini”, whom I got to meet through a mutual friend in 2009 when I was out in Los Angeles after my first film. He’s just a genuinely nice, collaborative, and supportive guy who’s had his own ups and downs in the industry, and was always great as a sounding board and to advise along the way. He also generally really, really loves filmmaking and storytelling, which is always a great energizer for another artist who feels the same way. Debbie Lynn Elias, a great film critic and writer, has been a great support system as well, enjoying my first few films, and even executive producing a short film, “The Cat’s Cradle’, I directed for an actress-writer last year.
CS: Who has been the most exciting person to work with to date?
Grace Folsom. She’s just been a godsend. The best actress I’ve ever worked with hands down, and the heart and soul of every film I’ve done that she’s been on. It’s very rare you find someone who’s just so insanely talented, and still growing, that just gets your work and is so eager and excited every day. Her ability as an actress is only outmatched by her enthusiasm, willingness to try anything, and a generous set energy that helps everyone around her do their best job under any circumstances.
CS: And David a question I ask all my guest, could you possible name three all-time favorite actors or directors?
The big three in directing for me are Martin Scorsese, John Carpenter, and Billy Wilder.
