PD: Most are probably wondering why you would make a deliberately R-rated version of a book meant for younger teen audiences with your adaptation of The Giver. What is your reasoning?
AC: The main reason is it had to be different than the 2014 film in order to get made. I really wanted to remake it because I felt the 2014 movie wasn’t the right adaptation. So when I decided to write it I focused on the stuff I was affected by in the book which was Jonas discovering sexuality. In the world of The Giver sexuality is not allowed. The book has elements of sexuality but it’s not very explored. Sexuality has always been a theme in my films. So point is I wouldn’t recommend middle school English classes to see the film.
PD: Your last few films haven't really connected with critics or audiences at the box office. What do you think you need to do to turn things around?
AC: I think films get panned for different reasons. I value Film criticism a lot because it’s interesting to me what the critics get from a film. I was going thru a big depression when Tough Girl and Blue Is The Warmest Color were written and I don’t think I gave my all to those films
PD: While The Giver stars Timothee Chalamet (your 5th collaboration with him), your more frequent leading man in recent seasons has become Alex Wolff (with him now having starred in 8 of your films). What has led to you casting him so frequently?
AC: I love Alex Wolff and I love Timothee Chalamet. I’ve been wanting to work with Timothee again for a while but because he’s such a talented actor he’s become a geniune movie star which means he’s harder to get in your movie. He has this James Dean quality that I think is star making which gets him a lot of roles. I love Alex Wolff though. He is a really talented actor and very hard working. I’ve worked with Alex Wolff so much that when I write I picture him as the main male character.
PD: Are you interested in tackling projects of a bigger scale or are you content making the lower-budget dramas you've become known for?
AC: At this point I’m content doing low budget films. Not necessarily just dramas though. I’ve written genre movies before that were low budget. I hope to write more genre movies. But low budget allow you to make edgy material that isn’t going to be for every demographic yet it can still be profitable. I find writing small films for the studio is liberating because I can take chances. One of my biggest hits is a movie called The Vegan Movie and the movie came from interactions between me and my friend. My career is full of movies that are weird and not for everyone but succeeding because the budget was low enough.
PD: What's next for you?
AC: I took a break from writing due to writer’s block. But now I’m back I wrote a film about college kids in Greenwich Village and I’m going to direct it. It’s called Once Upon A Time In Greenwich Village. I have a film called Graduation Trip which is really offbeat and weird. I’m also working on a high school adaptation of The Great Gatsby and i’m working on an adaptation of another YA novel that will be R rated. So there’s a lot of cool shit coming up
No comments:
Post a Comment