What inspired you come up with the idea for the film?
The film is based on a short story called, “O Death Where is Thy Sting.” As I was reading it, I saw a great source for a movie.
Why did you want to tell this story?
Outside of the fun characters, I wanted to tell a story of the importance of music. And how everyone has a passion for and relates to it. The same yet different. I can be passionate about rap and you can be passionate about country, and we’re feeling the same emotions about different things.
How do you relate to your characters or subjects?
I relate to the characters by being obsessed with music. I wouldn’t go to the extreme these characters went though, but I do find myself spending a lot of times in record stores.
What aspect of the story changed the most during writing and production?
I think the story took on more emotion during the production. When read or write a script, it’s in your mind one way, but when real live people are performing it, what they bring to it shapes the characters you’re portraying and I had to allow for that while directing.
What was the most courageous decision you or your crew made during production?
I think the most courageous decision we made was to embrace stunts and hope they came across with realism. And they did!
Where there any risks that you faced during production and how did you find a way to embrace them?
We were shooting on an old bus for several days and the fumes started to infiltrate the inside of the bus and at one point we had to pull over because everyone was overcome with toxic fumes! But it was fun.
What influenced the visual style of the film?
The film takes place in three time periods so we let the periods somewhat give us direction and then honed and adjusted to have a thread of the same tone throughout.
What risks did you take to tell your story?
The film is about the blues and the rivalry between a black record collector and a white record collector, so there were a lot of references and implications that the black man, by the nature of being black has more right to appreciate and own the blues than the white man. But the white man argues that everyone has a right to the music if it moves you. No music style can be owned by one race. Once it’s out there, who ever is going to appreciate it, will appreciate it because when something moves you, you have no choice in the matter.
How would you encourage others to tell their story or manage through the process of screen writing or film producing?
Tell the truth. Take your time and be true to yourself, it’s your story. If it touches you, most likely it will touch others.
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