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Exclusive
Interview With David Hewlett
by Brendon
Late last year, MGM announced that they had picked up the worldwide
rights to A Dog's Breakfast, David Hewlett's directorial debut. The
project's many Stargate links created plenty of web buzz, as did Hewlett's
successful YouTube promotional campaign, but for me the most exciting
element was that an actor I really liked was now starting out as a film
director - and on the basis of the clips and trailer available to me, a very
promising one. This was obviously a film I wanted to see, and support as
much as Film Ick can.
David was kind enough to take part in a pretty lengthy e-mail interview,
answering many of my questions about A Dog's Breakfast, as well as dipping
into the other expected topics - including his work with Vincenzo Natali.
David even offers up a little nugget of information about a new TV show
that's going to have the Stargate fans reading this going crazy...
As a first time director, this is also necessarily the first time you've
directed yourself. How did the two halves of yourself get along? Did the
actor like the director, and vice versa?
The director me was a bit hard on the actor me. You see, I found it terribly
disconcerting that I couldn't move exactly the way I'd planned it in my head
and on paper. Unfortunately gravity and other laws of physics tend win out
in the end.
The weirdest part of doing both the acting and the directing was that all
the stress and strain and split focus went straight into the performance.
There really didn't feel like there was much acting to do!
The great part about directing yourself is time. That can be very valuable
on a low budget shoot. Things tend to happen much faster than when you
actually have to explain to everyone involved what is going on. Given the 14
day schedule and extremely limited funds, we just had to hit the ground
running every day. It is amazing how every second counts on set. I've always
known that to be the case, but it's quite another thing when it's your time
and your money!
Directing is really about managing people and time. Jane was the biggest
help in both of those areas. I felt pretty good about the visual side of
things. Because I'd written the film purely to shoot it I had a lot of shots
and blocking already in mind. I just wish that I'd been able to relax a bit
more. I think I could have been a much better director if I wasn't quite so
tense, quite so terrified... that said I didn't know what to expect, so I
was questioning my abilities in every regard, even the acting! Now that I've
done it and I know what to expect I think I'm better prepared to actually
enjoy the process next time! I think that I'll give myself a little less
acting to do next time, that way I'll get to focus purely on the directing
without having to worry about my performance and all those pesky lines and
make-up and acting stuff!
The online stories seem to go that A Dog's Breakfast was made on 'days
off' when shooting Stargate Atlantis. Is this really how it happened?
Not exactly. We did shoot the Starcrossed portions of the film during
the Atlantis season, but that just made sense logistically.
Stargate was very kind to let us use their sets and the crew gave up one
of their precious Saturdays. The actual main filming was shot in January,
during the hiatus. We get almost 4 months off between seasons, and January
is a bit of dry spell when it comes to film and TV shooting in Vancouver.
It's also one of the wettest most unpleasant "dry" spells, so people don't
exactly flock up here to shoot. By shooting when we did we were able to
secure crew, cast and equipment that we would never have been able to get
with our miniscule little budget any other time of the year.
Now, a cynic might say that you couldn't possibly have selected the best
cast for the roles - it's too much of a coincidence that many of them also
comprise a good part of the Stargate cast. How would you answer that cynic
back?
Cynics, I spit at them and call them dog droppings!
Jane and I worked on three different scripts to get to "A Dog's Breakfast".
I mean, I actually sat down and wrote three full length feature film
scripts, including a gritty drama and a horror, before we decided on "Breakfast".
Jane would read the scripts over and we'd go back and forth about how we
could do each film with the limited budget and schedule. Eventually I just
gave up writing a script and trying to fit it to our timeline and our budget
and instead took an inventory of what we had available and wrote the script
around that. I knew that Kate was a fantastic actor and I was determined to
use her in the thing. There's not much chance of us getting cast as
strangers given the many "Hewlettisms" that we share. The brother-sister
side of things came from there. Paul and I were keen to work together, in
fact I'd already written him a part in one of those previous scripts. We
just put those characters together and went from there. Jane was the one who
came up with the idea of the sister bringing the fiance home. The script was
really just a riff on that idea.
I had originally wanted a really nerdy loser for the date in the film and it
was a tiny one scene role. After the first draft Jane suggested Chris Judge
and then we just howled about how funny it would be if he was to play a
loser who resorts to cheap internet dating websites to meet women. We just
thought it was the funniest thing. When we did the reading he blew us all
away. I sat down that night and wrote him two more scenes, he is a comedy
God! It was also important to us that we give the fans something that they
could have fun with, a little nod to all those people who had kept the world
of Stargate alive all of these years. Poor Rachel got stuck as
another sci-fi alien, but she was just so funny, her delivery is so dry and
heartfelt. You really can't lose with that combination of looks and talent!
I'm dying to write her something a little different.
Is that wretched cynic mollified yet!?
And of course, the same cynic would have a question about nepotism too.
How would you address that?
What can I say, the Hewlett's work cheap! It's under "special skills" on our
resumes.
The trailer went over VERY well on YouTube. What do you make of YouTube...
I'm trying to use it currently to promote a music video and I wish it had
some kind of hit tracker so I could see how visitors were being referred and
where from. What doesn't it do you'd like it to?
The key advantage that YouTube has over other video sharing websites right
now is audience. The sheer volume of people uploading and viewing clips is
staggering. They are also media darlings, so their influence has moved into
mainstream press as well. For us, it was a cheap and easy way to post clips
and the trailer and get a sense of how people responded to what we were
doing. We had 20,000 hits in less than a week when we put up that Comicon
sneak peek! We're now looking at a combined viewing number of something like
over 150,000! It's hard to get that kind of traffic on your own! The nice
thing about YouTube's popularity is that those numbers mean something to
distributors. They know how hard it is to stand out in the sea of content
out there and they take notice of that kind of thing. If it wasn't a known
site, people wouldn't value those viewing numbers. That said, you still need
to let people know that it's there. That needs to be done both on and off
the web!
My only real complaint about YouTube would be the content. It's so hard to
actually stumble across something of any quality. Most of the clips that
interest me tend to be taken from traditional TV and the majority of those
are copyright infringements anyway!
The camera in the Dog's Breakfast trailer is very fluid, and inobtrusive
- very rare for a film by a first-time director. Very assured. But you seem
to have a way with it - I was very impressed. What is your approach to
camera, to compositions, tracking and so on?
Thank you! I was actually quite surprised to find out how much I loved the
camera side of things! I am a big fan of the old style comedies going right
back to Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd. I also love those talky Howard Hawks
films and the original Pink Panther, Peter Sellers and Blake Edwards, the
way they used sound and things happening off camera, I would just wet myself
watching that over and over again.
Slightly more recently, Fawlty Towers,
A Fish Called Wanda and Withnail and I. From them I got a sense
that comedy works better in the wide shot. Effectively the camera is telling
the joke, so if you waggle it about too much and draw too much attention to
it you're not going to "hear" the punch line! That said, there were
definitely times when the camera position WAS the punch line. The key for me
was not having to worry about the "technical" side of things and just
concentrate on telling the story. The only reason I could afford to do that
was because I had so much support up there by the camera. Jane watched every
take and was my eyes and ears during the whole shoot. And Jim Menard! He was
our director of photography and was incredibly fast and smart and a pain in
the ass! He questions everything! He will find any logic hole, and force you
to defend every decision you make, but once you do, he's the most loyal and
dedicated DOP and friend you could hope to have. That was hard for me at
first, but then you realize that he's not questioning you, he just wants to
make sure that it works and makes sense and makes you laugh. He saved me
every day with how quickly he could light and turn around each scene and
still make them look beautiful. He was also responsible for adding some
really funny touches to the film. I really admire Jim's work and his
attitude to things and I am honored to be a friend of his. I want Jim on
everything I ever do, poor man!
The other angel was Will Waring, who is a
great director in his own right. He was like having a film school sitting
behind the camera. He was the camera operator when he could easily have been
directing the film and yet every day he was incredibly patient and giving.
I'd get confused about something and he would tirelessly explain and
demonstrate with the camera until I had it straight in my head. Those guys
are real artists and there's a very good reason why they work as much as
they do and why they are such a valuable part of the Stargate crew.
Your chemistry with Paul McGillion is well noted. How can we look forward
to this being exploited in the film?
There is nothing I enjoy more than making McGillion's life misery, this was
the perfect venue for that! As I said earlier, I was determined to write him
into this thing in some way shape or form and so I really went out there
with the role(s). I had so much fun turning him into my own Peter Sellers!
There's nothing like exploiting McGillion, it would have been great, even if
we didn't have tape in the camera!
I loved your work with Vincenzo Natali - actually, if I was gonna fault
Cypher, the first thing that'd come to mind would be that you were not as up
front. Nothing in particular was a real crowd pleaser when I gathered folks
around my DVD... any more work with Vincenzo on the cards?
Vincenzo and I got into this business working together and I think, chances
are we'll be going out the same way. He's got so many projects in the works
that I can't keep track of them all. The thing about Vincenzo is that he
doesn't even ask anymore if I want to be in these things, he just tells me
where to be and what to say! I can't wait to do it again, he's poised to be
the next Kubrick and I want to be riding those coat tails!
And, regarding Nothing, I had to import my disc from Canada. No hope for
a UK release?
Good question! Unfortunately I'm not the person to ask ;-)
An imdb post suggests that A Dog's Breakfast is most likely suitable for
family viewing. Was this intentional? Did you set out to make a family film?
(And I mean, in the Pixar sense of the word, not Ordinary People)
Very much so! I've written all sorts of horrible violent stuff that I'd love
to make at some point, but I avoided all of that with this film. I wouldn't
even let anyone say "damn"! This was a movie that was meant to get a laugh
out of our dads... once we've accomplished that, everything else is gravy!
What's next for you as a writer and director? Do you have a screenplay in
the works? Anything you'd like to plug?
We've got a number of things in the works, we've got a few scripts written
and a few more in the works. I think the focus is on getting another fun low
budget horror comedy out there, this time with the focus on horror. There's
also a TV project that the Stargate fans are going to get a huge kick
out of. Look for that to be announced any day now!
Your speed reading is legendary and seeing as this is an e-mail interview
and I can't test that, how about a bit of speed typing? You can say WHATVER
YOU WANT and I'll post it verbatim, but you only have 30 seconds to type it.
No cheating!
I taught myself to type with my first laptop (it was the size of a house). I
didn't allow myself to buy any software until I'd figured out DR DOS and
learnt to type with using this space invaders game that rained letters down
at you. You zapped them by hitting the corresponding letter...Spare me the
carpal tunnel would ya!?
Done? Good. Next question... When was the MGM deal done? What's the
release plan?
The MGM deal came through just before the L.A. screening November 16th.
They've got a number of ideas as to what to do with the film. Right now
they've got a photo shoot scheduled that will be used to get some key art
for the poster and the press. I'm also hoping to do a bit of interviewing as
well!
Who is the Dog? Yours?
Mars the wonder dog! We found him at the pound, rather he found us! We went
to walk dogs and feel good about ourselves by helping out at the local
animal shelter. This wretched creature came bounding out of the fog,
dragging some poor volunteer behind him. He ran straight up to me and sat on
my feet. He then proceeded to ignore me, it's hard to move with 60 pounds of
mutt on your wellingtons! He was scheduled to be destroyed that week. Nobody
wanted him because he'd been diagnosed with crippling Hip Dysplasia. We were
warned that he probably wouldn't be around for long and that we were really
just looking after him until he had to be put down. No more than 10 minute
walks, no stairs, he was a mess! After a couple of days at home we caught
him bouncing around and jumping up to say Hi. We took him in for a second
opinion and it turned out he was just a strange combination of rottweiller,
terrier and corgi (that must have been one hell of a party!). Now he's the
star of a movie, a real rags to riches tail!
Simply put - Families: Discuss.
You can't choose your relatives, turns out I couldn't have picked a better
bunch if I'd tried.
Spent a good Christmas week with the whole Hewlett clan, Mum lives in Italy
so we'll see her when we go to England this month. Babies everywhere, that's
all I really remember! That and sneaking an engagement ring into the old
sock Jane had for a stocking... I figured that being as Grinch-like as I am
and professing such distaste for the idea of marriage, it would be a
surprise for her... it was.
I can't wait to see the film. Any clues as to how we might get to a
screening on this side of the Atlantic would be greatly appreciated.
We're trying to get a screening of "A Dog's Breakfast" sorted out in
London for February 1st...hope to see you all there where you can see me
teetering around with a couple of pints on a soapbox live!
http://filmick.blogspot.com/2007/01/exclusive-interview-with-david-hewlett.html
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