Hot off the release of the Hatchet DVD Adam Green and Joel Moore have collaborated again for the release of Spiral. SCARS had the opportunity to speak to co-director Adam, co-director/co-writer Joel and co-writer Jeremy Danial Boreing last week about the film. Actor Zachery Levi was on the call too, but his phone was on mute. 

 Joel: Okay, we’re going to have a little pow wow and do a little rain dance. We can do that because we’re all in the same room. You’ll have to do a virtual rain dance. Getting four twenty-something’s in a conference call where you have to press buttons when you’re all hung over is awesome. Is it just you on this call, Alyson? 

Alyson: Well, my editor Ray is in the background, but I don’t know if he’s going to be doing any talking.  

Ray: This is like a bank, I’m listening.  

Joel: I like it, I like it. You’re like the dirty guy in the corner. You’re dirty aren’t ya? 

Ray: I’m very dirty. 

Joel: I feel like your eavesdropping here, that’s cool, that’s cool. 

Ray: It is cool. 

Joel: I’ll be the one later who tells my friends, “There was this weird guy in the corner listening to our fucking conversation.” 

Ray: And I’ll be telling my friends, “I was this weird guy in the corner listening to their fucking conversation.”

Alyson: So, Joel and Jeremy, you guys did a short that Jeremy wrote before filming Spiral, correct? 

Joel: Yup, it was called Miles From Home with did it with . . . Category One was the production company and they approached us and asked me if I would play the lead and direct the film. And it’s funny, I had just got off of Hatchet and I was talking with Adam, and I said, “You know, Adam, I really want to get into directing, I maybe don’t want to jump right into a feature and what should I do?” And Adam reminded me that even though he has done features he does short films every year just to kind of keep things fresh and get back towards his roots and practice. And I think that that was important for me to hear because I really needed to do some sort of directing before I walked into a feature. So we did it and it turned out real well, it actually got accepted to the premiere selections of the South By Southwest short films. So, it’s had a nice little run and nobody’s ever heard of it because it’s a short film, but we’re proud of it. And Jeremy wrote it. 

Jeremy: The funny thing about it is that Joel and I had already written Spiral at the time that Category One approached us with Miles From Home. We didn’t know what to do with Spiral when we finished writing it. We had spent a long time crafting it. Joel had started writing it before I came on board, he had started writing it as a short film as a writing exercise and when he was ready to develop it more as a feature he asked me if I would work with him on it. And we sort of adapted the voices he created for these characters . . . to a story we were both interested in that was a little different than maybe what the short film had been. But, we took the same characters and created Spiral and when we had finished with it we didn’t have a clue where to take it or what to do with it. I think the idea of producing it ourselves seemed a little overwhelming at the time and we weren’t entirely sure how to go out and sell it to someone else. At the time that Category One approached us about doing Miles From Home I really think it opened our eyes to the possibility of doing something on our own, bigger than what we had imagined before. And in a lot of ways that probably is what pointed us back towards Spiral as something that maybe we could take on and grow into a project that we would be able to handle. 

Alyson: Where did the ideas for the characters in Spiral and the ideas for the art and the jazz -- which seems to be another character itself -- where did they come from? 

Joel: We were sitting in my living room deciding what the style of the story was going to be. We knew the characters and we knew the ending -- the beginning, middle and end and we had to give depth to everything and we really wanted to kind of dive into these characters.  We were like, “What should he be about? What should he do? What should he like?” And in my living room -- I love an artist named Cobin Hurzl, and his paintings, and we literally were drinking wine and listening to jazz, and this is not made up, it’s a nice way to write. And we said, “Why don’t we just make this guy a painter and have them meet through this guy being a painter?” And we had literally at one stage, we had wine in a scene and it actually got cut. In our 18 day shoot we decided we didn’t have time for another scene, so we cut it on set. Adam, didn’t we cut it while we were in my loft? 

Adam: Yeah, we decided to cut it before we even started to do it. 

Jeremy: It was one of the happiest…about the happiest I had ever seen Adam is when Joel and I walked up to him and said that we probably don’t have to shoot this scene. I think Adam actually had tears in his eyes. 

Joel: Just because it was such a tight schedule we tried to cram so much into a little amount of days. We couldn’t you know, we were going crazy trying to fit it all in. 

Adam: What Joel was saying, it was such an aggressive schedule, but also, having just come off a feature a few months before, I could already tell the movie was going to be like three hours long. I was like, “We could really go without this”, and of course you can’t say that to the writers, “You’re crazy we have to have this.” And then we ended up cutting 45 minutes of the movie.  

Joel: Oh, look who is right, Adam Green was right! You can quote me. 

Jeremy: I wanted to add a little bit more to what Joel was saying. The really neat thing for us, as the film came together was the opportunity to bring the talents of the people who we had either worked with or were close friends with beforehand. And that’s what I think made the process special from Joel being able to reach out to Cory Neal and Will Barratt the Director of Photography and of course, Adam whom he had worked with on Hatchet to come in and help be part of the film making team. Really, the same artist whose work inspired us, Cobin Hurzl became the painter for the film, he created all the paintings that Mason creates during the process. The jazz musician who we listened to a lot for inspiration is my best friend from Texas, Todd Caldwell who’s just a phenomenal musician. And he along with our friend Michael Herring scored the film. And of course Zach [Levi] came on to executive produce and play the role of Berkeley, we could make that list real long. They came together to make the film happen and it really was a group of friends making a film. I think that’s part of what made the film so much fun to do. 

Alyson: And it really translates to the characters too. Berkeley and Mason, the rapport between them is fantastic and believable on film. 

Jeremy: Because in real life Zach is the normal guy who helps Joel navigate through the murky seeds of reality. 

Joel: I’m like a lost pup looking for my mother most days.  

Jeremy: And he may or may not kill girls.  

Ray: Now who’s the creepy guy in the corner? 

(Uproarious conference call laughter) 

Joel: Zach and I have known each other for many years and Jeremy. The chemistry you see, it’s odd, we have an odd chemistry ‘cause he kind of is a jerk to me a lot but he is also Mason’s closest friend. Mason needs him and Berkeley needs Mason in this strange way. But, I think a lot of the chemistry came off screen because we knew each other really well. There is a history there that you can feel that I believe made it to screen.  

Alyson: There’s this really Hitchcockian feel and this slowly developing plot that works wonderfully, but is it turning anybody off? 

Adam: Surprisingly enough it hasn’t been turning anybody off. I was kinda shocked by that, especially on the festival circuits, a lot of people sort of accepted Spiral into their festivals because they had had Hatchet it in the year before. And I kept trying to warn them that this is not anything like that movie and sure enough Spiral is playing in like horror festivals and Spiral is really not a horror movie. And the horror fans ate it up, they loved it and it’s sort of a good reminder that people like good movies, it doesn’t necessarily have to be one genre just ‘cause nobody is getting splattered and killed and there’s no jokes really in Spiral, doesn’t mean that people can’t enjoy it. So, I was really surprised by how much people appreciated how deliberately paced it is. 

Alyson: Now, as the film develops and we see how deviant Mason could be and that he may or may not be killing girls he really is becoming more in control of himself. 

Adam: That’s the cool thing about it, is that it’s called Spiral and you would think that he is spiraling out of control, but this is a character that really is spiraling into control, but then obviously has to complete the same process. When I first read Joel and Jeremy’s script that was one of the things that really stuck with me. That and the Amber character because it’s easy to say, “Oh, would a girl like that really go for a guy that weird?” but in real life that is who girls like that go for. I don’t know how many times I’ve had these cute, adorable girlfriends who have everything going for them going out with musicians or weird painters and he’s a freak and they end up being killed in the bathroom and it’s like, “What did I tell you?” It’s believable. 

Jeremy: I think the fact that anybody on this call. . .has ever had girlfriends is proof that this model holds up. 

Joel: I’d just like to point out that Adam says that, “Sure enough they get killed in the bathroom,” I’m like see I like that he had a conversation after they died in the bathroom. You know what, anything I say on this interview is just going to point out how Adam messed up. So, Adam, keep talking.  

Ray: We won’t mention the Speedo, Joel, in Dodgeball. I’m sure that got tons of chicks. 

Joel: I take pride in that Speedo. I wear that Speedo every night.  

Jeremy: It’s hard for Joel to do a movie where he had to wear clothes. 

Joel: I kept showing up every day, naked. These guys were like, “What’s going on,” and I was like, “What, I’m good.”  

Ray: I’m ready to roll, that’s how I roll. 

Joel: Daddy? 

Ray: Fo’ shizzle. 

Alyson: I don’t even know what’s going on anymore. 

Joel: I don’t either. 

Ray: Alyson is about 16 shades of red right now. 

Alyson: OKAY, so you guys used the same DP from Hatchet, right? Every shot was really beautiful and held up to the art that is reflected in the film. 

Joel: Because we wanted to make a film where the camera was a character in the film it was very important that we went with someone who had a visual style. It’s 180 degrees from Hatchet, Hatchet all happened at the swamp and there’s -- for a lot of the film -- this one backdrop. And Spiral, a lot of it happens indoors in walls that you can paint to match the tone of the scene. There’s a lot that we talked about before shooting to find the feeling of the scene and worked with our scene designers. And really took a lot of care, when you’re in my loft in the movie it’s sort of dark, but warm. When you’re in the office it’s cold. . . there are tans and blues and it feels real dirty and everyone’s in there tight cubicles and this is all on purpose. This is to create whatever feeling we wanted, you know, in the scene that we were shooting. And Will and our whole crew in Portland was absolutely amazing. We all clicked and connected and everyone had their parts and it made for a beautiful movie. 

Jeremy: Plus, Will was the cheapest guy we could find.  

Alyson: So what’s behind the lit bathroom door? Is it like Marsellus Wallace’s suitcase in Pulp Fiction? 

Jeremy: Kinda Sorta. 

Joel: It kinda is. Behind the bathroom door isn’t the question we get a lot, the question that we get is what was the last pose? And I think that actually plays into what’s behind the bathroom door.  

Adam: That was a fun thing on set, everybody on the crew at one point either pulled Joel or myself or Jeremy aside and said, “Tell me, what’s the last pose?” And we would always say, “Well Mason knows.” But then after a few days of it we all started making up our own things and telling people and everyone thought that they knew and they were actually arguing about it. We all have our own ideas sorta, but really Mason is the only one who actually know what’s in the bathroom and what the last pose is.  

Alyson: What were some of the ideas? 

Joel: What we finally ended up doing because we were tired of answering it, was we started telling people in festivals when people would ask we would go, “Well, the movie tells you what’s behind the bathroom door. You didn’t figure it out?”  You make your audience feel dumb, we like to put down our audience.  

Adam: I think it’s where Anchor Bay lost the theatrical advertising budget for Hatchet. Not to take a shot at our distributor, but that was a shot at our distributor. 

Joel: And that was Adam speaking. 

Jeremy: Adam A-D-A-M G-R-E-E-N. 

Alyson: Speaking of which, Spiral is getting a DVD release on the 19^th of February, is that correct? 

Adam: Here’s Anchor Bay hard at work for us. It’s actually got a theatrical release in the begin of February. It’ll be theatrical in major cities only then it’ll be on DVD. 

Joel: It’ll be enough for people to recognize that it’s out there, then go buy the DVD. There’s only a couple of weeks in between when it goes theatrical and when the DVD comes out. And I think that’s fine for a small release like this. Plus the nature of the business is changing, so you know everyone’s waiting for the DVD. It’ll probably be weeks before it gets out theatrically. 

Jeremy: I think that one of the things we were really happy about the way that Anchor Bay worked with us on the picture was in staging the theatrical release almost as an advertising mechanism for the DVD. It gives us the opportunity to pick up some momentum going into our DVD release. Give a little recognition and prestige to the film and not have it go away for six months before the DVD finally comes out. With a small film like this we didn’t think it would make that much sense. It would give us a good running start and the opportunity to get the word out about our film. And the staging of a really quick DVD turnaround we thought was a really creative way of doing it, I think we’re all excited to see how that works.  

Adam: We’re very excited to see how it works. 

Alyson: Is there going to be anything else from you guys as a team? 

Adam: I’m sure there will be we just really don’t know yet. Everybody’s so busy between Zach’s TV show [NBC’s Chuck] and Joel doing Avatar and Jeremy and I just lifting weights all the time. We just keep busy.  

Jeremy: Joel and I spend two to three evenings a week sitting in his condo looking at art, drinking wine together just hoping that something besides gay sex will result from it.  

Joel: Oh…my…god. 

Jeremy: We probably shouldn’t be quoted on that one.  

Joel: That’s homoerotic right there. When I tell the story I’m going to say we were sitting around drinking wine, listening to jazz and making out. 

Jeremy: What are the rules? Can you after the fact say something was off the record? Can we go back and say starting three minutes ago none of this was real? 

Adam: Oh, just say I said it. Just blame me for it. 

Jeremy: A-D-A-M G-R-E-E-N. 

Alyson: So, besides the lifting of weights, what are you guys actually up to? 

Joel: We’re looking for something, we actually just had a conversation between the two companies trying to figure out something that we can all do as a team together for 08. 

Jeremy: The individual companies have been really productive like Adam said. Zach’s acting has gone very well over the last few months and Joel and I are about to finish the script that we’ve been working on for the last, probably six months. Adam and Corey and Will just finished an MTV series they were working together on and Adam has a few great scripts that he just finished. So we’re just looking for an opportunity to turn some of these things that we have created into actual productions on both sides, I think individually, and we’re really excited about any opportunities that we might come together and work again. I can only imagine what a marriage must be like with two sort of distinct voices coming together and trying to find common ground. I think we learned a lot in the process and tested our friendships and it was always a positive result and we definitely still like what we created. It’s probably greater than the sum of the individual parts. You know I think it was a really great process and we’re all just happy to see what we can fight about next.  

Adam: There’s something to be said once you have a great working relationship with your friends where you want to stick with it. I know a lot of other actors I know are frustrated when I’m doing something new and they’re like, “Okay who’s in it, Joel?” 

Ray: But the thing is if you find an ensemble, look at Jonathan Demme look at Tim Burton they use the same people over and over again for a reason. It’s because the product comes out phenomenal given the right circumstances. But, they know each other and they know how they work. If you guys do that it would be awesome. 

Joel: I think that it’s really hard to find chemistry and it’s hard to find people that you actually want to go work with again. Adam and I talk about this a lot, we co-directed something and that’s unique in itself and we would never necessarily do that ever again and not because it didn’t work, but because you don’t go and co-direct a bunch of stuff. You co-direct once to get your feet wet and then you go and do your own things. But, in looking for things together it’s definitely Adam or me directing something or both companies involved in some way. It was a tough process. When you cram so much into a small schedule like that friendships can be bruised and there was stress on set and everything, but as a group we were really able to leave the stresses on set. Leave the business in the business and the friendship in the friendship. Adam and I are always asked how was co-directing together and we always say the same thing it was great. It worked really well we had 99% of things thing we had to decide or do on set were already agreed upon before we got there. So it went really smoothly as far as the creative side of it. There isn’t one shot in the movie that both of us didn’t agree on and create. So, it’s really cool. We have a fun story about the dragging -- wait, that’s kind of a spoiler. Should I say this? 

Adam: No 

Joel: Never mind, I’m sorry. I’m gonna finish there. 

Jeremy: It takes a little bit of time for everybody to learn…when you collaborate like this there is a lot of trust required. You’re turning over pieces of your own vision into other peoples hands. I think it took a little bit of time for us to sort of fill out where everyone’s strengths are and where we could easily rely on each other. And I think by the end we had learned a lot about that process and we’re in a better position in the future to be able -- like Joel said, we don’t have to co-direct a movie, we can be part of the production or something and trust that vision and be confident about what the outcome can be. And I think that why this wasn’t an easy thing to have gone through at all but it leaves us off in a much better place in the future from where we started.

 All of us at Scars would like to thank you guys for taking the time to chat with us. Spiral premieres in theaters Feb. 1ST  and the DVD hits stores Feb 19, 2008. For more information check out the website at  http://www.spiralthemovie.com

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