TOP: PHOTOGRAPH BY JEEN NA
ABOVE RIGHT: COURTESY OF FACTORY 2530 WINTER 2019 MOVIEMAKER.COMMOVIEMAKER MELEE
paid. It’s been exhausting these last few
years. I’m burnt out.
JP: Slow down, dude. Stop making so many
fucking movies.
NS: That’s the thing: I’m trying to learn
to be patient. I wasn’t born with patience.
I’m getting back to scripted material,
which takes more time than working with-
out a script, and that helps. There’s also
definitely a competitive nature to a larger
market like New York, where everyone is
constantly working. When you’re friendly
in person with all of these people, natu-
rally they motivate you to work on your
own things as well.
JP: For me, it’s the exact opposite. If I’m
surrounded by people who are always
doing things, making a movie becomes
really stressful, painful, and awful. If I’m
surrounded by people who are incredibly
prolific, it would make me feel shitty about
my progress in life. As a larger fish in a
smaller pond, I tend to feel content with
my smaller output and where I’m at right
now. I don’t have the Alex Ross Perrys of
the world standing next to me saying, “Oh,
I’m playing at Berlin and Cannes.” I can
feel a little better about myself.
NS: My fear of failure is why I make so
many projects. If one doesn’t hit, then I’m
hoping that the next one will. I always start
thinking of my next movie while another is
in post. Then, once I start getting the fes-
tival rejections, they don’t hit me as hard,
since I’m not pinning everything on just
one film. That’s how New York has gotten
to my brain.
JP: Working on my new film Relaxer remind-
ed me of the ultimate reason why I work in
Michigan: Oscilloscope Laboratories funds
my films because they know what they’re
getting, and they know if they have a film
like this produced in L.A., it would probably
be around three times the cost to make,
because we can get almost everything for
free here in Michigan. Relaxer was shot
entirely in my production designer’s
parents’ garage. Dave Dastmalchian and
Andre Hyland, our L.A.-based actors, flew
out and were not only able to walk onto
set, but they were also able to stay at our
production designer’s parents’ house, which
was kind of like our production headquar-
ters and living quarters. Their ugly shed
was reserved for our art department, and
our camera crew had the whole basement
to themselves. It was the ultimate in lazy
moviemaking because we had no traveling
to do. That’s one of the big reasons why I
wrote the script that way: With one location,
shooting in a garage, we didn’t have to
deal with weather or commuting. It makes
everything much easier, and it took us 10
minutes to drive there every morning. If we
needed something, we’d stop at the gas
station on the way there to pick it up. So,
Relaxer was the ultimate relaxing film shoot,
and the studio didn’t have a whole lot to
lose because it’s homegrown with a small
crew. Bottom line: Make films at home. The
best piece of advice I’ve heard about mov-
ing to L.A. is, “Don’t move to L.A. until they
want you there.” That really made sense to
me, and I still don’t feel like they want me
there. Either way, I know so many people
who either moved to L.A. and got crushed
or moved to L.A. and got stuck working in
a position in which they never became the
storyteller they wanted to become. They got
stuck simply making a living and put their
hopes of telling stories on the back-burner.
What I don’t understand is what I did in my
twenties: moving and hoping to find some-
where that could be your “moviemaking
home.” We don’t live in a world where you
need studio backing, big stars, or expensive
cameras. You can go to Best Buy, buy a
camera for $1,000 and shoot something in
your neighborhood. You know your neigh-“
THERE’S AN AUTHENTICITY TO MAKING A FILM IN THE PLACE
YOU CALL HOME. YOU CAN’T GET THAT BY GOING TO A NEW
CITY AND TRYING TO CAPTURE THAT FEELING.
”
borhood better than anywhere else and you
know its stories. There’s an authenticity to
making a film in the place you call home.
You can’t get that by going to a new city
and trying to capture that feeling. You don’t
know that feeling as well as the people who
live there.NS: That’s all fine, but I still think you’re an
idiot for staying in the Midwest.JP: And I will never agree with anything
you’ve said. You’re wrong about where you
live and how you approach moviemaking, and
you’re wrong for staying in New York!NS: Screw you, man. I’m not open to any of
your ideas. MMJoel Potrykus’ Relaxer opens in theaters
March 22, 2019, courtesy of Oscilloscope
Laboratories.
Nathan Silver’s The Great Pretender
opened in theaters December 6, 2018,
courtesy of Factory 25. His next feature,
Watch Me Drown, is in post-production.