The Space Between Rachel Winter Interview

Automatically transcribed; may contain errors.

Rachel what first attracted you to this film oh my goodness the writing I you know I'm I'm very Pro writer and maybe a coincidence that I live with a writer I but I um I read the script so long ago and it just knocked me out when I first met will Aldis as a writer I just he has a he had a sing singular voice in his writing and I just loved it I loved the characters and also I sort of came into my own as a young adult in the 90s I loved that era I think it's a really interesting era uh for many reasons and also from from a perspective of music and I think I always had that philosophy that music is the soundtrack of our lives and these characters really embody that in my opinion so this is your directorial debut you've been a producer in the past so tell me how this was for you was it nerve-wracking was it exciting was it a little bit of both oh it was both and more I I was very uh it came about so organically because you know when as a producer having tried to get it made for so long I really I knew Every Word by heart I I I had been shooting it in my head for so long that if that part I wasn't as nervous about what it when it came down to it it was that moment realizing like oh crap so as a producer once they once you're starting to shoot other people take over the minute to minute operation but all of a sudden I was like oh wait they're all looking to me to say action and I'm not you when does that happen when do I do that so it was more um just wanting to do a great job um probably the the thing I hadn't done before of course was direct actors and so that was also you know um I have a specific communication style um I I sat down with a couple of mentors you know I asked Jason wman for a little bit of advice I had spent some time certainly watching William H Macy who's an actor direct actors and we work together on a movie and I produced for him all he was directing and so when he was in front of the camera on set he I actually did step in for him and so that was a little mini training and so you know the I I feel like I was nervous but for a really good reason I didn't want to blow it of course well now do you want to do it again or would you rather just go back to producing oh God it's so embarrassing but I do think I want to do it again I do I'm I'm all in with producing I have my projects I March forward with my passion projects I have a nasty habit of of working on things that take a painfully long amount of time to get going but there there's a a project or two that I've already identified that I just I'm already seeing it in my head and I think that would be a good standard for me to maintain pain if I really have a a a visual impulse for how to tell the story then I I think I could do it again let's go back quickly and talk about the actors especially Kelsey Grammar because he's so great in this role was he when you saw him for the did he read the script did he say I want to do this or did you say I want you to do this how did he come about oh so you know we have um I work with Mary veru and Betty May casting and I've worked with them for a long time they're incredible and I think they probably just suggested Kelsey Grammar and I was like there's totally something to that he read the script we got together and I was prepared to show up and like sell him on it but he was prepared to show up and be like no no no I'm I'm already doing this so there was some fun kind of like wait who's on first here and um he was so Allin he from day one he never boed it at anything in the script he never took me aside and saidou know I'm not gonna do this this and this right you you know I've got another real career here he he came to play he nailed it he gave everything he's s he's an emotional person which is what I discovered when I first met him that were both very emotional and he just wanted to go for it and I I agree with you I think it really Jo's he did a fabulous job yeah he did and the the chemistry I think between him and Jackson was was really great so what was it like bringing Jackson into all of that and the scenes of the two of them together so Jackson I had actually met first and knew immediately that he should be Charlie um and it was interesting because the characters are at Cross purposes I didn't really worry very much about chemistry because I felt like all right you know what we're just going to have to go for this I never had any chemistry reads or anything like that we did some rehearsing and um you know Jackson who's a relatively new younger actor I thought you know what a great opportunity um and Kelsey of course was very generous and they have different styles obviously um and different levels of experience and but they just worked very very well together and it just their natural impulses as human beings and as actors just I agree that the chemistry was awesome yeah I think that's part of what makes the film as good as it is I I want to talk for a second about the noise or the music because it's not all just music and how did you hear that in your head prior to actually filming it how did you um where did you put your spaces nuances how tell me a little bit of your process with that because obviously the noise the silence and the music are essential to the film yes that's a great question and I I can say that I think the creation of the music was probably almost the largest task at hand because if we didn't sell Mickey Adams as a and if the music if we didn't sell the music of Mickey Adams as real or or good enough or have any real weight to it then how were you know the movie was gonna suffer right so the I when I did my director's pass on the script I started to write in some of the lyrics like for Jay is for Joy I I started to think about when we would be lucky enough so we Trisha howerin who's music supervisor helped to formulate a plan and luckily we were really supported in doing it in advance so we came up with this idea that so I wanted instead of like James Taylor who God bless James Taylor that's a a a singer songwriter from the 70s who had he fallen from the sky we would have been like great can you create the music for Mickey Anam but when I thought about it James Taylor's impulses as with everybody else come decades before his music is made so I got the idea that Rivers Cuomo an example an iconic singer songwriter from the 90s their impulses and their Inspirations are from the time period prior and so that's where I cooked up this idea got lucky enough to get him and together we worked on a progression for Mickey Adams music because what a singer songwriter is thinking about singing about and feeling in the 60s became very different going into the 70s factoring in Fame so tried to infuse the music with as much reality for a person who didn't exist all with the goal that people might leave the movie theater or their TVs and Google is Mickey Adams a real guy that's what I was going for okay I think that's where a lot of the thought and effort really went okay I I have to ask though how many times did you record a refrigerator door opening and closing how many times are we um I I you know what we were on such a tight schedule I know as many times as you heard it that's as many times that's it we got it let's move on I got you exactly so this was limited release in theaters uh back in April and now it's going you know to home homes everywhere this week actually tomorrow uh tomorrow is it tomorrow I have so many movies in my head that I can't remember which ones come out which days um so tell me about the initial reaction tell me about what you're excited for for people to watch it tomorrow I the initial reactions have been really great I um kind of Blown Away I found myself having conversations you know like this one where you know to be able to talk about the music or the reaction to the music or um people noticing the nuances um you know the visual style that I had come up with I had you know really wanted to create something special for Charlie who's on a journey to um be very close and frame with the with what he thinks he wants so he's very close in frame with Donnie and with Corey in the first half of the movie and then that switches and to to talk to some folks like yourself who actually kind of got that or appreciated certain nuances in the movie I'm like holy I can't believe this is happening you know this worked love that it's so crazy it's crazy I mean and it's not like I haven't you know made movies before but it is a totally different experience I felt very responsible I just these people people put their faith in me and their trust in me you know not just the actors but the crew and the the my producing Partners um anyway so I'm just a Lucky Gal and it's been fantastic so far and I want people to smile I want them to feel good I want them to think about maybe a first kiss or first time you know when they realized they had a favorite song Whatever it is um you know I think we're in a really critical point it's you want to look back a little bit and like get back in the time machine and be like can we erase the last handful of years yeah but also just looking forward with a smile on our faces if possible yeah I I'm gonna age myself for a minute when I was in high school we won't talk about that I had a poster on my wall that said music is heard with the ears understood with the heart and I feel like this movie Just exemplifies that to a tea so that's really beautiful that's really beautiful and if if somebody thinks about that poster in their room I totally did my job you absolutely did it great film I'm so excited for people to see it and thank you so much for your time I appreciate it [Music]