Jordan Galland: Indie Filmmaker Finds the Holy Grail
| By Nicole Holland |
With two previous short films that garnered praise on the festival circuit, Director/Screenwriter/Creative Vision Extraordinaire Jordan Galland embarked on the indie odyssey, tackled a mix of genres and accomplished his feature film directorial debut “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead,” which can accurately be described as a craftily blended mix of vampires, romance, Shakespeare’s Hamlet and the Holy Grail— complete with comedic timing. Galland’s indie debut features a well-rounded, talented ensemble cast: Devon Aoki, Jake Hoffman, Jeremy Sisto, John Ventimiglia, Ralph Macchio, Bijou Phillips, and Sean Lennon as the composer.
IFQ sat down with Galland as he discussed his latest film, independent filmmaking, his friend Sean Lennon, Mark Ronson and his band Dopo Yumé.
IFQ: How did the concept of “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead” evolve? Are you a fan of Tom Stoppard’s “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead”? Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”? Supernatural and vampire films?
Jordan Galland: When I was eleven I read “Dracula” and decided that one day, I wanted to make a vampire film. I read everything about vampires I could get my hands on. When I was fourteen I played Rosencrantz in a high school version of Stoppard’s play, and became fascinated with the idea that classical literature could be explored in new ways. I was strongly drawn to Shakespeare’s “Hamlet” in high school and college, when I found all my favorite novels alluding to it: from “Moby Dick” to “Ulysses” to “Ada.” One day I thought of the title “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead” and began seeing that the supernatural evil of vampires resonated within the story and language of “Hamlet.” I was compelled to explain these connections. The Holy Grail conspiracy was something that had intrigued me throughout my childhood. It added another exciting layer to the historical elements of my script.
IFQ: For our readers, can you briefly discuss the film’s plot?
JG: I wanted to ground this strange concept in something I could relate to on a personal level. So I decided to make it a surreal romantic comedy about a guy (Jake Hoffman) who is in a rut: living in his dad’s office, unemployed and still in love with a gorgeous ex-girlfriend (Devon Aoki) a would-be actress who has moved on to dating a rich older man (Ralph Macchio). When his dad forces him to go for a job interview directing an off-Broadway adaptation of Hamlet called “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Undead” he finds renewed self-esteem, but his problems don’t go away. His best friend, who is playing Hamlet, starts to suspect the other actors are vampires, and the author/star of the play, a pale creepy dude (John Ventimiglia) starts hitting on his ex-girlfriend and casts her as Ophelia. By the time the hero realizes they are all in danger of being turned into vampires, it’s too late. With help from a secret society, the hero learns that the Holy Grail is somewhere near by, and that it is their only chance of survival. Not gonna give away the ending.
IFQ: Why did you choose to write and direct this film?
JG: I chose to make this film for many reasons, but one is that I didn’t want to work in just one genre. I was able to make a film that allowed me to play with ideas from many movies I love, from “Dr. Strangelove,” to “What’s up Doc,” “Hudson Hawk,” “Goodfellas,” “Shakespeare in Love,” “Waiting for Guffman,” “The Hunger,” “Legend,” “True Romance,” “Masculine Feminine.” It’s a smorgasbord, as they say.
IFQ: Why did you choose to create and produce this film independently?
JG: I showed the script to a number of different production companies and small studios, who wanted the film to fit a specific formula, not combine different genres. I needed to find people who were hungry enough and willing to take a chance on a romantic comedy involving Shakespeare, vampires and the Holy Grail.
IFQ: How long was preproduction, with the actors and finalizing the script before shooting?
JG: I did twelve rewrites in six weeks. Then we had about a month of prep. We were still casting the movie two nights before filming.
IFQ: How long was the shooting schedule? Tell me about the production phase.
JG: We shot for 21 days, many of which were 16 hours long, sometimes finishing up at two in the morning in December, freezing in graveyards. We had four Sundays off. Since half the film takes place in the theater, we shot two weeks in what we called “the real world”, running all over Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn in frigid weather – got some magical snow shots – and the last two weeks in “the theater” which was nice, because we only had to set up for two locations. There was no time to run over on this schedule, since the last day of filming was the day before Christmas.
IFQ: What was it like making your feature film directorial debut with such a talented ensemble cast (Devon Aoki, Jake Hoffman, Jeremy Sisto, John Ventimiglia, Ralph Macchio, Bijou Phillips) and having Sean Lennon as the composer?
JG: A dream come true. The actors brought life to the story in a way I could never have hoped for or planned. And we had a lot of fun.
IFQ: Any memorable on-set stories?
JG: It got a little confusing for everyone when it came to the make-up our actors were wearing. We had “real life vampires” and “theater vampires” so sometimes we had our actors in “real vampire” makeup with “theater vampire” makeup on top, and some times we had vampires playing humans in the play and in different time periods, so it was a vampire in human makeup with renaissance wigs. At least half the crew thought I was losing my mind…and they would say, “yeah…it’s a vampire dressed like a unicorn in leprechaun make-up.” One day, they played a practical joke. I was waiting for one of the actors to get all done up so we could film a scene, and when he came down, he was dressed like a vampire as a unicorn in a leprechaun outfit. If you can imagine what that looks like. But mostly there was no time for pranks like that.
IFQ: How did you get Sean on board as being the co-writer and composer for “Smile for the Camera” and composer for “Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Undead”? How did you two meet?
JG: I met Sean when I was fifteen and he was nineteen. We became very close friends when he invited my band to open up for him on tour, ten years ago this summer. We talked a lot about films, books and music, and wrote a lot of songs together over the years. We share very similar taste and his musical abilities have always entranced and inspired me. I knew he would do an amazing job on the score of “Rosencrantz”…and he did. “Smile for the Camera” was more of a playful collaboration. I was running around in the woods with a 24P video camera filming friends acting scared and meeting up with him on weekends to write new scenes.
IFQ: A few years ago, your short film “Smile for the Camera” won an award at the New York International Independent Film & Video Festival. Did your short “Smile for the Camera” help you launch your first feature film?
JG: Just knowing that I had made a 30 minute short was an assurance to the producers, cast and crew of “Rosencrantz” that I had some concept of what I was doing as we embarked on the feature length film. Those who watched “Smile” definitely got a kick out of it. I think of it as pretty silly, but I’ve been surprised by how creeped-out people get when they watch it. It’s become a cult film at my former high school, because one of my English teachers plays the villain.
IFQ: You’ve had a couple short films (“Smile for the Camera,” “Green Umbrella”) on the film festival circuit. As an independent filmmaker, how important are film festivals?
JG: I think they are important on the basic level of being able to show your work to people. Obviously YouTube makes that more possible, but showing a short film in a theater to an audience is like an initiation, a ceremony all filmmakers should experience.
IFQ: What’s your opinion on independent films vs. studio films?
JG: You have more creativity and freedom with an independent film, but studio films get seen by more people. Like everything in this universe, it’s a trade off.
IFQ: What’s your single favorite process during a film [conception to completion]?
JG: There are three distinct phases to making a film and each is exhilarating and satisfying: writing, filming, editing. And each is meaningless, in a way, without the others. From a creative standpoint, I really love all of them equally. But the actual “filming” is by far the most intense. It’s an insane, otherworldly experience that you get to share with so many other people. It’s like a battle, a party and communal religious experience wrapped into one. So I guess filming is my favorite part of the process.
IFQ: Which directors and writers influence your directing and writing styles?
JG: My influences are a big mix of Kubrick films, Woody Allen films, Clint Eastwood, Fellini, Godard, Jim Henson, Merchant Ivory films, Christopher Guest. The list goes on. Charlie Kaufman is a big influence for me as a writer because he has the rare talent of being able to knock down walls and creatively expand our universe in strange and sick ways, while still adhering to that perfect flow of classic storytelling.
IFQ: When was your first interest in film?
JG: I first saw “The Shining” when I was very young and dreamed about making films.
IFQ: Can you briefly tell me about “Coin Locker Babies” and your involvement on that project?
JG: I read “Coin Locker Babies” in 1998, when I was heavy into David Bowie. The story struck a deep mystical chord in me, and I could envision it cinematically. One of the main characters sings magical haunting songs, which reminded me of some sci-fi version of Ziggy Stardust. I gave the book to my friend, Michele Civetta, who was directing some music videos for my band, and proposed that he direct the movie and that I write songs for one of the main characters to sing. We finished a draft of the script four years ago and I’m not sure what is going on with the project now.
IFQ: Aside from directing and writing, you have a band Dopo Yumé. Can you tell me about your band? How did the band originate?
JG: I started Dopo Yumé in high school, eleven years ago. I had 30 different people play with me in that band over the years. We never got signed but put out seven albums and opened up for some great musicians: Rufus Wainright, Lilly Allen, Ween, Phantom Planet, Maroon 5, Cibo Matto and Rooney, then stopped playing shows in 2004. I released a record in 2006, but the band was already gone. I plan to release a solo record sometime in the Fall 2008, just on my website. Working album title is “Airbrush.”
IFQ: I’ve seen a few of your music videos and “Igloo” is one of my favorites and it’s pretty trippy. You definitely have a creative vision. Do you direct some of your own music videos?
JG: Michele Civetta directed “Igloo” but I helped with the whole thing. We were inspired by Twin Peaks. The music videos I directed were only out of necessity since there was never any budget to hire anyone.
IFQ: What’s it like collaborating with Mark Ronson?
JG: Mark is an awesome producer. He has such an open mind and wide knowledge and understanding of all genres of music and the history of pop music, that he always has great ideas on where to take a song or how to arrange it. There is nothing better than collaborating with someone who can help you work through moments of doubt and fatigue, because the greatest rewards come when you’re able to work creatively past that feeling of needing to give up. Mark understands that.
IFQ: Who are your musical influences?
JG: I have so many, and my favorites change from year to year. At the moment: Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan.