Greetings
valued Dan's Movie Report readers, in a surprise interview, action
legend and director, Jesse V. Johnson stops by to drop a bit of
knowledge for his upcoming film The Debt Collector. Jesse's films
have been featured on my site many times, with The Debt Collector I
feel that he has upped the bar not just in action, but in dialogue
and flow. Time to get down to business and collect this interview!
DT:
Chat a bit about the pre-production of the film and how the story was
adapted for the screen. What was the prep time etc.
JVJ:
This project was written about ten years ago, it was the script that
found me an agent, the script that got me meetings and paid my bills
for several years with options. JCVD developed it with me for a
time, but, eventually I pulled out, he wanted Ringo Lam to direct,
and it would not have been a good film. We had quite a few name cast
attached to star over the years.
Michael
Rooker was going to do it with Burt Reynolds for a time.
Anyway, I never felt I had the right team or we couldn't find the
money, so it languished.
Scott
and I made a very low-budget film called Savage Dog, which did
extraordinarily well. You have to understand, that these films do not
do much business anymore. It's a brutal market with utter theft going
on via pirating and streaming.
That
process simple destroys a film's profitability, and 98% of the
foreign market fans simply steal the film, they freely admit to it
on-line, without having the forethought to realize they are
destroying their hero's ability to get bigger budgets, or more films
made.
Above Jesse at the screening of The Debt Collector June 5th 2018 with Debra Del Prete.
DT:
I agree especially now films are actually less expensive than before
due to Amazon and direct sites to buy.
JVJ:
Savage Dog did very, very well for Bleiberg and they offered us
another film together.I had already been contracted to direct
Accident Man in the UK, so we had to wait for that to get done, then
a last minute call to fly to Thailand to take on the directing gig
for Triple Threat, interrupted us again.
In
the meantime, Stu Small took the script and started updating and
polishing it.
Stu
has a very close relationship with Scott, they went to high-school
together, so he understands Scott's verbal cadence and taste.
It is important to note the amount of freedom we were allowed by Ehud
Bleiberg (the Executive Producer) as you don't usually have this much
time or artistic leeway to polish a script.
By
the time shooting rolled around, we had a very solid screenplay.
My
manager Deborah Del Prete (Enders Game, Greenstreet Hooligans) liked
the script and got involved and her story analysis and notes were
very very helpful. She became a creative producer and she was
there everyday of shooting and re-wrote or helped tweak moments - she
is incredibly perceptive and just very aware of where the story and
characters were going or should be. This was my first time with a
creative-producer on set and it was an incredible step up for me.
Deborah's
management company, run by Daryn Simons (producer and casting
director) cast the film, they did this carefully and with great
awareness of who we working with. This was also a first for me.
As I am usually simply battling the clock and the pocket-book
in casting, creativity is very often a secondary consideration.
Daryn
also set-up a read through with key cast which was incredible, and
really helped hone the script and brought issues to our attention.
I have never had one of these before, lol, there is never enough time
or budget, Daryn made it happen, and talked everyone into attending,
which was incredible.
I
remember Scott and I laughing; as a read through with cast it not
usually on the books or a priority for the films we have made, it was
so helpful and useful I will never do a film without one again!
DT:
Very good idea with a creative producer on set. The Debt Collector is
incredible for the actual acting not just the action, did you do
anything different on this film than others, looks like more time was
taken getting actors into character.
JVJ:
The focus for me is NEVER on the action. There are YouTube
clips made for $80 that have great "action" in them, and
you forget about them fifteen minutes after viewing them.
Our
job is to make stories that entertain, stories require characters and
plot, and that is where my focus is. Scott is analytical about the
action and he focuses on that to a degree that is professorial. I
have a great (action and stunt) coordinator Luke Lafontaine, who
knows my tastes and interests, he prepares the action based on our
discussions, and I tweak it accordingly.
My
attention, energy and to be perfectly honest, my interest, is always
in the performance. Presuming we've fine tuned the script ahead of
time, it really becomes a matter of listening for the truth, the
honesty in the performance or words, and adjusting, or stepping back
and not getting involved, as with Louis, I just watched him build
this character from the ground up, he would ask my advice, but he had
it, and was really just being polite, he would keep thanking me, and
really it was him doing all the work, the nuance and layering.
DT:
I wish more 'action directors had your intrinsic focus to
performance. With regards to the car scenes and action around the
car, was drone footage used, and what are some of the challenges
directing larger scope action scenes and wide shots?
JVJ:
I have always been fascinated by how geographically interesting LA
is, one minute you're in the financial part of the city, then the
sprawling urban waste of the northern San Fernando Valley, and then
in absolute mountainous wilderness of Malibu State park. I wanted the
audience to experience this and the drone, or helicopter camera, was
a fairly good tool for that.
DT:
Yes, get out and explore a bit of nature. You told me The Debt
Collector was a real passion project, probably the hardest you
worked, what are some of the lessons you learned from past films to
make The Debt Collector stand out?
Well,
every film you make you must force yourself to learn to adjust to
temper your edge. I left high-school at fourteen, and have worked in
and around motion pictures my whole life. My first films were
learning experiences, grappling with cast, actors, character, plot,
and un-learning rules and concepts was a big part of it.
The
greatest lesson I learned from twenty years making films. Have a
solid plan ahead of time, but listen to your cast, your trusted
collaborators and most importantly your heart and be ready to forget
whatever your plan was.
DT:
Jesse thanks for sharing the hard truth about lessons learned and how
to grow and adapt in film. Sony Home entertainment is great for
distrubution, and you have a theatrical release in LA for The Debt
Collector, are there any more plans to expand on it?
JVJ:
Not currently, we'll see how it does in Santa Monica - getting any
kind of theatrical release for a low budget action film, beyond a SAG
qualifying weekend in San Bernardino is almost unheard of. No one
watches indie films at the theater.
DT:
Ha except me, and some indie writers, and film makers. Finally, any
more word on Triple Threat? The release date etc...I saw you turned
over the completed project, I know Well Go USA does limited
Theatrical?
JVJ:
As far as I know it will be later in the year - it is a day and date
with China, so, that territory must be booked first.
DT:
Thank you Jesse for taking time out of your hectic schedule to
conduct this brief, yet insightful look behind The Debt Collector.
The Debt Collector premieres June 5th on DVD and:
The
Debt Collector has a limited theatrical Release starting on the 5th
June, 2018.
Laemmle Monica Film Center.
1332 2nd Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-478-3836
Laemmle Monica Film Center.
1332 2nd Street
Santa Monica, CA 90401
310-478-3836
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