Scott Glosserman: Director
Interview: Scott Glosserman
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Heres a Cinderella story.
Scott Glosserman directed (and co-wrote) Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon with a very specific pair of goals in mind. One, get it on the screen. Two, satisfy his generous investors desire to at least make back their loans - if not a token profit.
What happened when Glosserman brought his film to Sundance was probably every directors dream. Rounds of bidding followed the premier of Behind the Mask, and Glosserman joined Anchor Bay as its first theatrical release with Stars Media.
Behind the Mask opens March 16 in limited release. On the eve of some very heavy days in Glossermans life, Cinescare talked with his from his writing space in Los Angeles.
Cinescare: Hey, this seems like we catch you at a pretty good time in life. Youre about to set work on a new script and youve got a film set up for March 16th, which is going to get some serious distribution, we hope.
Scott Glosserman: Thank you. You know, I hope to continue that streak.
Cinescare: This is your first film. I mean, you did some production work on a documentary before this but this is your first baby.
Scott Glosserman: Thats correct. Thats very true. Unless you count the music videos I shot in fifth grade with my Dads home video camera.
Cinescare: I do count that. I absolutely do count those. Lets dive right into Behind the Mask. One of the things that struck me about the film is what a pointed and quasi-disturbing social commentary it is; tying in some ideas about reality television and programming, the responsibility of the view to the text. And it plays some tricks on the viewer when it comes to those kinds of themes. Can you unpack that a little for me?
Scott Glosserman: Well, first of all, thank you very much for the interview. I really appreciate you taking time to focus your attention on a small little indie film in the wake of some much larger ones coming out in March. Its also very interesting that you started out the interview asking me about the social commentary aspect of the movie because I think the horror films that resonate in future years have dealt to some extent on whatever the social commentary of the day is or whats going on in the larger world. We certainly wanted to touch on some social commentary but we felt that, very quickly in editorial, theres a lot more in the screenplay but in the editorial process we certainly didnt want to get too serious, too melodramatic with whats going on. So although youre correct, our initial intentions were to do a whole investigation into how far a sensationalist journalist will go and at what point does a journalist find the balance between an objective third person cinema verite and the humanity of it all. You know, putting the camera down and going to help out. The way the original script, in fact, ended [was] a grandiose courtroom scene - albeit a very melodramatic courtroom scene - where Taylor Gentry [Angela Goethals] is actually on trial as an accessory.
But in the editorial process, its interesting - and by the way Im going to be digressing all the time because I can never stay focused on the same thing. But basically youre always writing the screenplay - you know, when youre editing the film, after youve shot it. And I just ultimately made the choice that I went for the levity and the postmodernism of it all. So, you know, its there and I hope one day to do a stage version of this movie because theres so much dialogue. The whole thing is dialogue-driven and theres so much more about the characters and the character development that we took out and replaced with pacing. And if theres ever a stage version, a lot more of this social commentary will come out.
Cinescare: Tell me about the experience of working with a story that is a meta-story, that is postmodern and has this sort of genre reflexivity to it. Are there pitfalls and dangers that you found that you had to grapple with while you were working in that way?
Scott Glosserman: I think the dangers and pitfalls are ending up in parody when you seek to do satire. Parody: if youre laughing at the film, youre not with the film, youre in parody. This movie is intended to be a nostalgic celebration of the genre and its intended to allow fans to be mocked in the reverie of it all and to really laugh with the film in that very self-aware, oh my gosh Ive been there before - I get it fashion. In a weird way, its meant to elevate the genre and not make fun of it for the sake of laughter. Its a labor of love. So, to answer your question, Id say finding that balance is not being so over-the-top with it. For instance, when were in the docu-world, playing very truthfully - the acting is not melodramatic and over the top. You know, my lead comes from Juilliard and hes transferring very real emotion onto the scene despite the ridiculous context that the scene may take place in. When youre playing scenes very truthfully and very dryly, its going to have a whole different tone than a scary movie. A lot of the references - the horror references, the movie is wrought with both obvious and often subtle references to horror films. I dont think putting the Hellraiser box on the mantelpiece, you know, in the living room, is really going to take away from the film. But if you were parodying, youd make the Hellraiser box the centerpiece. In one of the scripts, we had Leatherface. Leatherface was over at a barbecue and he was hanging out here playing poker with Freddy and Mike Myers. Although its fun on paper, it becomes really heavy-handed. You have to find a certain subtlety.
Cinescare: You brought up Nathan Baesel (Leslie Vernon in the film) first, so lets talk about Nathan. He really stands out in the lens. Theres something going on with this guy and hes a relative unknown. Tell me a little bit about your experience of finding him and working with him on this particular picture.
Scott Glosserman: Well, Im just one of the luckiest guys I know. The film is carried by Nathan. The character, Leslie Vernon, again the character of the film is so dialogue-driven. And one of the best pieces of advice I got going into casting - one of the pieces of advice I got regarded casting and it was, Just find your best possible actors. You know, get rid of your notions about how you see the character or the physical traits or the chemistry. Just find the best possible actors.
Were all first time filmmakers working under all of these restraints. We dont have the luxury to find the perfect chemistry or physical traits. You have to find the very best actors. And Nathan had done extensive theater in Southern California and coming out of Juilliard and my casting directors happened to have cast him in [several] Cold Case episodes so they brought him in. And Nathan just blew me away. It really made me rethink the entire role and what my expectations were. Nathan is the type of guy who can just turn on a dime. A lot of people can do one thing very very well but theyre not necessarily valuable to a directors notes or instructions. Nathan can do anything you ask and, even more important, Nathan is a really smart guy.
Cinescare: You scored a great lead and you worked within certain restraints of time and the ability to use the film and the takes. But you also got some pretty heavy hitters playing some supporting parts in this film. How did you bring those particular people to your project?
Scott Glosserman: Really quick. One more thing on Nathan. If more than just my family ends up seeing this film, I really believe that Nathan can become a movie star. I think the guys got everything it takes. Staying true to my references to horror films, I give Nathan the introducing credit to [emulate the] introducing Johnny Depp credit in A Nightmare on Elm Street, but also because, when he does become a movie star, I want everyone to know I discovered him.
In terms of the other actors, you know, when youre doing a deconstruction of a horror, of course the first thing comes to mind is Robert Englund. Again, we were talking about obvious and subtle homages to other horror films and what is a celebration of horror without some wonderful cameos? And, you know, were not going to get people like Sicey Spacek or Jamie Lee Curtis - Lord knows we tried. We pretty much couldnt get the phone calls answered.
The problem with horror is everybody wears masks. Robert Englund is the one recognizable face so hes the guy youve got to get. We certainly knew that if we snagged him play the retired psycho-slasher and this goes back to your last question - it would have been too heavy-handed. It wouldnt have been clever - it wouldnt have been special. It just would have been obvious. We always imagined him getting the part of Doc Halloran, Donald Pleasants character. The way I got him the script was that I happen to have a family friend, Al Corley, who was a producer-director, who ended up introducing me to my line producer. But Al really became a rabbi to me, a mentor, that I could ask very macro questions so that I wouldnt actually fall on my face.
So I was asking him questions and getting so much advice I finally said, You know, why dont I bring you on as an executive producer? In return, I wont feel so awkward about asking for advice, but at the same time I would get their cachet. And I got them to deliver the script to Robert Englunds agent.
So I got Robert Englunds agent in a legitimate high-level way. Robert read it, apparently right away. As soon as he read it, and fortunately he responded positively to it, we were in negotiations right away. So, looking back, we were trying to not be greedy and just trying to figure out, you know, if youve got give a piece of the pie away in order to get something in return ... its that whole 10 percent of a chicken is better than 90 percent of a rat.
Lee Arenberg - one of the pirates from Pirates of the Caribbean, and he was on Enterprise - he was a great character actor. He was attached but his schedule didnt permit him to come up and we were already in Portland. When he fell out, I had always thought of Scott Wilson for the role, who was an acquaintance of mine through another producing partner. I never in my wildest dreams thought I could get him but with my back up against the wall I figured Id call him and I did and I got sort of impassioned and groveled and got him the script and somehow he obliged.
Robert Englund, the horror icon and Scott Wilson, the guy whose just the constant indie character actor from In Cold Blood and The Great Gatsby and The Grissom Gang and In the Heat of the Night. He gave the set, the crew and the cast - both of them created such a validation for what were doing and gave us all such a greater sense of the purpose. They were just wonderful. And also, on a different perspective, Robert Englund certainly legitimizes what were doing in that horror world and Scott Wilson gave us a little art-house street cred. So, certain people who wouldnt necessarily see a horror film or review a horror film may notice that Scott Wilson is doing it and may take an interest. And of course getting Robert Englund might get more of the horror fans interested who wouldnt normally see what they might perceive as a straight-to-video film. And in a sense that would really seem perfect.
Cinescare: Zelda Rubinstein (Poltergeist) plays Mrs. Collinwood in Behind the Mask. How did you get Zelda?
Scott Glosserman: We talked it out ... the ridiculously long expository dialogue that goes with explaining the backstory and the legend that you ultimately get in the movie about where the psycho-slasher comes from. So, we tracked her down, again through our wonderful casting director we got her the script. She agreed to play the role, and once she did we took basically a three-line cameo and turned it into five pages of dialogue. You know, again, I would think people see her speaking would scratch their head and say, Gee, shes talking an awfully long time. Kind of the way I am right now. Its again, its meant to be that way. Thats just part of the whole fun of it all. She is talking for ... an ... awful ... long ... time.
Cinescare: It does and its dead-on. Its a smart, smart scene because it really, to me, indicates to me that the captain of the ship had his own paddle in the water and was controlling the way this film moved. Theres a trick to the length of time of that particular monologue that really solidifies it as a piece of satire. It says, this is really actually going to test you as an audience - just a little bit. Where, if you dont get this, this might shake you out - but if you do get this, you understand that were playing with convention, were playing with the way it feels to be in a horror film - and how there this sort of bizarre expository scene in most of these films.
Scott Glosserman: Thank you, Im so glad. I cant possibly know if some of this stuff is executed in a way that people are going to totally get what Im going for. One of the things Im self-conscious about was, hey were not going for the Texas Chainsaw remake special effects. We intended to use Halloween and the 1981 Friday the 13th as pinpoints, as aesthetic templates. And so, there aint a lot of gore and brutality in those films. But the floating-POV shot and the over-the-shoulder three-quarter shot where hes staring at Jamie Lee Curtis ... all that kind of stuff is in there.
So, were not trying to compete with gratuitous over-the-top violence. And when there is a gratuitously violent shot its meant to be laughed with. And so, a lot of this stuff that somebody shows up - this is sort of, you know, kind of the caviar for the horror connoisseur. I mean, not to toot my horn. Im not saying its smart or elevated, Im just saying its going to appeal to someone whos very familiar with these films. The bonus is, if this can hold its own for someone who is a horror fan but not steeped in the erudition of horror. And even more so, if this actually - if someone enjoys this who doesnt know about horror at all.
Cinescare: One of the things I think Behind the Mask has going for it is it looks so damned good.
Scott Glosserman: Thats my Director of Photography, Jaron Presant. Hes incredible. We shot the docu-style Blair-Witchian parts - or I should say Spinal-Tapian, on DV. We did a full DI in the post-production and we shot the horror onto 16. Super-16 today is going to give you that old-school sort of grain-structure that [you would have] had back in 78.
The most fun that we had in the film making process was creating that juxtaposition between the two worlds. We were meticulous about the shooting style. Weve come a long way from Blair Witch. You still want that swirling, hand-held feel but you dont want to necessarily get seasick in the theater. Guys like Jaron, my director of photograpy, are just really adept at creating the floating hand-held look without jostling so much. We tried to give the two cameramen their own shooting styles and basically overall everything was hand held, everything was eye level. We stuck to the rules of two points of view so that there was never an omniscient shot in the docu-style. There was no omniscient music. The acting, the writing, everything was very truthful. Theres a little melodrama in some points, which I sort of regret, but for the most part that was the realism of it all.
Then, when we got to the horror film, we got the traditional score. We spent days and weeks making up our theme and, you know, the weapon and the mask and the costume and the aesthetics of dark and contrasting colors. We spent forever, Jaron and I, just talking about how our moonlight is going to look. Jaron can write a treatise on the ruptured blue used in the nighttime of Halloween and how he cant stand it. He used a more muddy green for the nighttime. If theres one thing Ive learned for sure, its that black is not just black. Black is a color to be contended with and that is for sure.
I wanted to make sure that as soon as we went to horror that we opened up on a very Godlike impossible omniscient shot in the library. We come down from the ceiling. In the opening of the movie we start on the foot. We come up. When we finally go to horror for the last time we come over the van. So everything is omniscient. Theres music. Its is scripted. The dialogue .. the documentary is done and its very melodramatic. That whole juxtaposition is the most fun to work with.
Cinescare: Tell me a little bit about how you pulled together such an awesome team. People who have such a knowledge of technology and aesthetics. Tell me how you brought all these people together on this project.
Scott Glosserman: Its so interesting, you just sort of ... how in the world does that happen? It all starts when you come out to L.A. and you really get involved in the community here. You spend four, five, six years struggling and working hard and waiting tables and teaching piano lessons or whatever you have to do. You hone your craft and you end up meeting like-minded people and they introduce you to other people.
Some people call L.A. a very superficial place because everythings done over drinks but it seems to me this industry and this art form is all about people. People going to meet people and introduce people to other people. You dont just want to do that over the phone. You want to do it over coffee and thats why every single coffee shop, every day, is full of people.
After six or seven years, you end up meeting enough people so that when youre looking for people they can put you in touch with some pretty upright and accomplished and capable people.
For instance, my mentor Al Corley, he put me in touch with the line producer he loves. And the line producer, when he crewed-up locally in Portland, he put me in touch with an amazing, amazing crew. We got the best gaffer in the Pacific Northwest, this guy Sarge [Bruce Fleskes]. We got this unbelievable prop master. Our production designer couldnt be more incredible, Travis Zarwiny. He was a local guy in Portland. We ended up falling into a relationship where our visual effects guy [Matthew W. Johnson], who ended up running not only visual effects but costumes, makeup, continuity. Hed just come from The Ring 2 and he just happened to live in the Pacific Northwest. I brought my DP up from L.A., and my principal cast which originated from my casting directors.
Pat and Doug, who play the two cameramen, they were guys I just happened to know earlier on. All in all, its sort of like The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwells book. You know, theres some connectors and you need those connectors and they can put you in touch with people. 
The directors job, if anything, is to of course have the most specific vision for what he or she wants to do. But, if its just that, youre sort of an auteur and you have to micromanage and change the language. But also, beyond that, what makes a director really effective is if he or she not only has a specific vision but he or she is also able to articulately communicate that vision. If you can have the self-confidence that you know exactly what it is you want, and you are also able to communicate that to everyone who is working for you ... when you are empowering people around you and you are giving the autonomy but also a greater sense of purpose ... I think that on this particular movie, since it was such a labor of love and I worked on it for so long and it was totally in my head - I was able to just get these very capable people extraordinarily meticulous information and they were able to just really rip it when it came to delivering.
Cinescare: Tell me how you brought the financing together to make it all happen. You had these great people. How did you get your project moving in a cash and credit sense?
Scott Glosserman: It ws initially seed money through my family. I had just enough money to basically go out and find some free locations and get some friends and put something together for nothing, pretty much. So I started location scouting. I was working around my hometown of Washington D.C., I was out in Bucks County near Philadelphia trying to work a deal with my alma mater to maybe somehow create and independent where I could maybe get students to work for free. I was up in the Berkshires trying to get friends and friends of friends to lend me their homes. Finally, I got out to Spokane where I was introduced to a post production facility, kind of a one-stop shop for film making. These guys wanted to do a million-dollar film. I certainly didnt have anywhere near that much money but they wanted to invest with their services.
Cinescare: Were they brand new and looking for a model to sell their business?
Scott Glosserman: Spokane is known as Spo-Canada. There are a lot of these facilities that have all of the tools and people on staff to basically make a film. Without disparaging it. Its great. Theyre fast and they know exactly what theyre doing. With the economy of scale they can bang out a film - as long as you have a director and a script. They can sort of give you all the tool you need.
What I realized ... I was really, really excited when they said they wanted to do this film with me. When they said they wanted to do a million dollar film that was just astronomical. Al Corley, my mentor, he really drove home the idea that a lot of what they were offering me I could do on my own. I could make the same type of movie for a fraction of the cost and control everything. Basically what I did was I went back to my private equity investors and told them. This was essentially validation. Here was a company who saw the value in this thing and wanted to invest in it. I said, If you give me a little more money we could do this thing on our own. That sort of got them over the top.
Cinescare: And then you were further validated when Anchor Bay came along and said, Wed like to get it into theaters.
Scott Glosserman: Well that was just a dream come true. One of the ways I was able to convince smart business people to invest was not to wow them with starry figures of theatrical box office bonuses. I basically said, Look, if we never go theatrical on this thing, we can still make out investment back, and hopefully make a nice little profit through DVDs, foreign sales and all those other ancillary revenue streams.
So, when I was able to raise the money just on that alone ... of course as a director I always hoped that wed get theatrical but I had less of that pressure on me because I always knew that theatrical ... it was just crazy. When we premiered at South by Southwest last MArch it became clear that we were going to be able to get a theatrical out of this. Lots of bigger hitters came - the Weinstein Company, IFC. But ultimately I went with Anchor Bay because those guys, their reputation as horror pacemakers precedes itself, and their passion for the film just - it shone through.
Also, those guys are starting something new. They finally have this partnership with Stars Media, so they finally have the financial wherewithal to do something theatrical. I thought that that was something really exciting and Im honored to be the first theatrical film. I am their first theatrical under Stars. Were getting the marketing expertise of Stars and were getting the horror know-how of Anchor Bay. And were also getting an amount of passion and also focus - theyre certainly incentivized to kick ass out of the gate, so to speak. Whats also really just wonderful about this experience is that Im getting a lot more creative involvement that I would otherwise, if Id gone to a more established sort of austere company.
Cinescare: This puts you at a kind of interesting place in your career that maybe a lot of first time director dont have. You can look forward to your film hitting some screens. Youre premiering in New York at the Empire. And now youre working on producing and writing your next project.
Scott Glosserman: This is a horror/psychological thriller that Im writing with my writing-partner-slash-girlfriend. Were trying to finish up. Weve created as much of a great buzz in the industry as we can without giving away our idea. Weve got some people really excited to read the script and so were really excited about finishing it. Which is why were really trying to sequester ourselves in the next few weeks to finish this thing, but thats obviously very difficult given that theres a lot of other stuff going on. Were also going out for different movies, different directing assignments. Im also really busy with this film coming out. But this is the thing that Im most excited about because its an original film, theres a great deal of social commentary in it. Ultimately, its not derivative. Its not a sequel, its not a remake, its a ... the best way I can describe it without giving it away is its pretty much a convergence of Straw Dogs, The Shining and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
Cinescare: When you look at whats going to happen with Behind the Mask, plug yourself in to someplace in your career. Where are you?
Scott Glosserman: Right now? Right now, Im ... its been so interesting. I am just truly more than thrilled about the great fortune thats come upon me with regard to getting my first film a theatrical distribution. But at the same time, Im extremely cognizant of the fact that these moment are fleeting. In this business, we have so few wins. You just have to savor the moment. The flip side of that is, I have a certain window here. I really need to parlay this industry buzz into another job. Sundance just came along. Theres some great films there. Theres always going to be the next great director. Ive got to get in the directors seat again and deliver something else. I dont want people to be seeing this DVD on the shelf in a couple of years and going, Hey, whatever happened to that guy? Its wonderful, right now, but its also pretty stressful as Im trying to get another job.
I would just say that, yes, on the one hand we have a theatrical release and thats really exciting and were playing with the big boys. But at the same time, we are still an indie that needs a lot of help and support. If you want to support indie horror, come out. Those first to weekends are so vital to whether we stick around. We need all the support we can get.
James O'Brien
Cinescare Staff
Robert Englund (center), Scott Glosserman (right) and crew on the set of "Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon"
