Hello ladies and gentlemen, your pal Muldoon here with a chat with director Bobby Miller. While I'd seen Bobby's short, TUB, even having featured it on SATURDAY SHORTS so long ago, I didn't make the connection as I waited in line to see his new film, THE MASTER CLEANSE. It was the film's last screening of the fest and I had no clue what I was in for. All I could think about in line was Todd Strauss-Schulson's short of the same name and while I liked that short, the two films couldn't be more different. Miller's THE MASTER CLEANSE is one of the strangest, yet still genuine, movies I've seen in quite some time. Bobby Miller has put together an exceptional cast, with Anjelica Huston, Oliver Platt, Johnny Galecki, and more... I mean the film's got Kevin O'Connor, an actor I've loved since THE MUMMY (Hey, it was part of my childhood.). Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway - I very much enjoyed this film, in fact I'd consider it one of my favorite films of this year's SXSW. It's crazy as hell, but never winks at the audience or pokes at itself in a silly manner. The creatures look great, the pace was just right, and it features some incredible performances in each and every scene. (I don't want to oversell it, but even the supporting characters shine here.) When the ending credits rolled, I wanted more. "What he hell did I just see? How was it that good? Who is this guy and how did he put together such a cast and actually get great performances out of them?" Miller seems to be a raw talent just at the onset of his career, so it was a real treat to get to pick his brain a bit about his latest film before he left Austin. Hopefully you folks have a chance to check the movie out soon, but in the meantime let's dip behind the camera and get some insight from the film's director.
The Master Cleanse centers on a heartbroken man who attends a spiritual retreat, only to discover that the course releases more than everyday toxins and traumatic experiences.
Hey!
Hi, Bobby. I know you’ve got a flight to catch in just a bit, so let’s just jump in. Is that cool with you?
Yeah, no problem.
First off, I had no idea THE MASTER CLEANSE existed until I was practically in the theater watching it. I loved it. It’s such a perfect movie made for folks like me. It’s weird as hell, features great acting across the board, and showcases some incredible creatures. So before anything, congratulations! You really kicked ass with this movie.
Thank you so much. I appreciate that, man.
So where did the movie come from? Where did the process of bringing this movie to life begin?
So I had started out with a short film, called TUB, that came out in 2010 and did the festival circuit and it was like right before then I started getting into Cronenberg and so I think I just started thinking about how creatures or something external can represent something internal. So I really experimented with that in TUB, and this kind of came out of that same… (Laughs) I don’t know what it came out of, but it was that same period for me, of wanting to experiment with that idea.
I definitely remember TUB.
Yeah, and this story’s been around since 2009, or the idea I’d want to say, the first spark of it.
From that first spark in 2009, I assume you worked on the script for several years, polished it, and got it to a spot where you liked it, but how did you get it in the hands of folks who could actually help realize it? How did you first hook your initial cohorts?
Yeah, well it was hard, because a lot of people saw TUB and were really excited about it and were really excited about the script, but you know…. it was a “weird” movie, so it took a little while and I got really depressed and…
[Both Laugh]
…finally I ended up talking with this producer, Jordan Horowitz. He really responded to the film, totally understood all of the references and kind of just got it. So from there, Jordan got on board, we worked on the script I want to say for a couple of months, and then from there we started getting it out to actors and Johnny (Galecki) was… He’ll tell this story, too. (In fact he went into details with Entertainment Weekly about it just a few days ago.) There was another actor attached and I met with Johnny as well and he really loved the film and was like “I want to be a producer on it.” He was trying to get his film company going. So he came on as a producer and when the other actor’s schedule didn’t work out, Johnny slid in there and became attached. Now, I can't see anyone else playing the role and it became instantly apparent to everyone on set that this was meant to be. (Like my mom always says "sometimes things happen for a reason.") I think he's terrific in the movie and as a producer he always had my back. He's sincerely one of the greatest people I've met in this industry and exactly the type of person you want in your corner as a filmmaker.
From that point on, that’s when we got momentum and the other cast kind of came on and we started moving. We ended up working with Aaron Gilbert and his company, Bron Studios, in Vancouver. Gilbert was the last piece of the puzzle. Bron Studios was pretty much the last part of this equation in getting the movie made and yeah, but it’s been a slow burn. (Laughs)
I’m sure whoever you originally had in the role would have done great, but you definitely didn’t strike out with Galecki stepping in. He does a great job, as do Anjelica Huston and Oliver Platt. I mean holy hell! You’ve got Hollywood legends in your weird, weird movie. How did you lock those folks in? Did Huston just "love the script?"
Yes. You know, it was so surreal for me, because we sent it to her and we also did some test footage of Johnny and the creature, so people understood the tone of the movie, but she responded before she even saw the reel. She was attracted to the dark fairytale aspects of the script, so yeah it was really surreal. Johnny and I drove to her house and we were all nervous, like “Should be bring something? It’s Anjelica Huston… Should we bring like a gift?” (Laughs) She’s Hollywood royalty… and she was so nice and it was very surreal. She popped champagne at the end of the meeting and I was like “Whoa, what is going on?” I’m just as bewildered as you are, to make a movie like this and to have the level of talent, it’s just very surreal.
The talent wasn’t just limited to your cast. It felt like a very small and intimate movie, but with a larger than life story… I mean you only have a handful of characters running around, but they’re running around in such an interesting environment that the scenery is almost another character. Everything from their wardrobe to the set design, it all felt incredibly real, well aside from the fantastic absurdity of the creatures. The creatures themselves were adorably other-worldy. They felt original. Where did those creature designs come from and how did you go about putting your core department heads together? Were these all people you’ve perhaps worked with in the past?
Across the board, these were all new people. I’ve never worked with them before. In terms of the creature stuff, I went on CreatureSpot.com and I just started looking through people’s work and I came across Shreya Shetty. She was one of the first artists on board and I started working with her to do all of these paintings. They are really beautiful paintings she made… I knew that on a low budget film, as soon as they would give us the green light, I knew we would have to start building creatures and we wouldn’t have any time to develop the look, so I kind of financed that out of pocket with her to just create a bunch of paintings. Then once we got that together, these guys at Amazing Ape did all of the practical effects work. So they turned all of her paintings into creatures and then at the end of that, Baked FX in LA filled the CGI weaving and I think they did a really seamless job. We really wanted to make it feel like a practical effects film, but also have the expressive qualities that CGI also allows.
Absolutely, like specifically the creatures’ eyes for example. There are some things you just can’t do with a puppet and have it sell as real.
Then in terms of the DP, Michael Fimognari, I had never worked with him before. I interviewed a ton of people and he was just very meticulous. I knew, again on a low budget independent film, we needed to really plan this stuff if we were going to pull it off. I think we used FrameForge where it’s a 3D software that lets you see your shots. I mean we were really thorough, so that we could pull off the movie. He’s great. He shoots a lot of genre stuff, like OCULUS. He’s great. Then our Production Designer, Patrick [M. Sullivan Jr.], he’s Art Directed a lot of big movies and I think he just really responded to the material and the idea of being the head of that world. He would always say we “had an embarrassment of riches” on the movie and I do feel really lucky that the creative people on this were really amazing and believed in the movie, which meant a lot to me, because it was such a long process to get there, to be working with people who believed in it and “got it” was really nice.
It sounds like you surrounded yourself with quality folks, but they also didn’t just show up; they showed up because of something you created and believed in your vision. So what’s the film’s future? Where does it go from here at SXSW? Where do you want it to go? Is this a theatrical release or VOD or are there a lot of festivals you’d want to hit up first?
Well, that’s the other new thing for me. A lot of this stuff is not… The whole Sales and Distribution part of this is handled by professionals who know what they are doing. (Laughs)
Sales Agents and folks like that... This is your first feature, right?
Yeah, this is my first feature, so I’m used to doing everything myself and I’ve had to just kind of back off and let people do their job, but for me… I mean listen, I would love for it to get some kind of theatrical run, because like with the screenings at SXSW there was an energy in the room, but I also understand the reality of the business we are in right now and I’m not against VOD in anyway, but you know as a filmmaker you always want to have it on the big screen with people. We will see what happens.
Do you have any festivals you plan to screen at in the near future?
We got invited to festivals, but we are pumping the brakes until we get a distributor on board. If it were up to me, I’d be playing every festival and going everywhere, because I finally get to share the movie.
You just want people to see it, and that’s more than fair. Judging from the screening I was at… I don’t think you’re going to have any issue getting distribution, not at all. I remember posting TUB on SATURDAY SHORTS a long, long time ago just like every other website at the time, but given this is your first feature, how did the experience of shooting a feature differ from a short. Clearly a feature takes longer… but what were some things maybe you weren’t used to having to deal with?
Well for one thing, we had a monitor on set. That was exciting. (Laughs) I’m used to shooting on DSLRs and just looking at the LCD screen. That’s a really good question. I mean the difficulty of it is you have restraints on time. With my short it was like I was at film school, I was so much in debt, and I was like “Screw it, I’m just going to go further in debt and take out a student loan” to make that film. It’s just a different thing, like you’ll get handed something in the morning that says “We can’t do this and that” and you have to, on the fly, rethink your stuff. I think that’s the biggest skill I learned.
I’m excited to do the next film, because I feel you can only improve by doing, you know? The most difficult thing is just having to adjust when the situation isn’t ideal. For example, there’s one scene in particular where we knew the next day it was going to rain all night, so we had to shoot one scene that was supposed to be two nights in one long, long night and all the poor actors are dead tired. It’s stuff like that that are kind of beyond your control and you have to learn to navigate that. Like I said, I’m hoping to get this next feature off the ground, so I can keep getting better at that. That was the most difficult part of it.
It sounds like taking out that loan for TUB was probably one of the best investments you could have put into yourself, man. If that helped you show off your stuff and help get this movie going, I feel like THE MASTER CLEANSE will do that again in the sense that you can really only go up from here, that is until your ego catches up with your talent, then it’s going to be bad, but you’ve got a unique style and I’m curious to see where you go. I’m sure you don’t want to say too much, but is there anything you can say about your next project? What’s next?
So my next feature couldn’t be anymore different than THE MASTER CLEANSE. I’m sure that’s a great selling point, like “Hey, if you like this movie, this uh… has nothing to do with that.” It’s kind of in line with early Alexander Payne, ELECTION or CITIZEN RUTH. It’s kind of in that world, so that’s the next feature I want to get going and then I have a short that I’ve been kicking around for years that if I can’t get traction, I’ll focus on that. Then I have some TV stuff floating around. Post production on THE MAST CLEANSE was long because of the creature effects, so I just used that time to make sure I had material ready to go once we did premiere. So I’m ready to go, man! I’m ready to do the next one.
You never really know who is in your audience at a festival, especially at SXSW, but I have a feeling you’re fielding a lot of calls and emails right now. Hopefully that means we get another movie out of you. Other than THE MASTER CLEANSE, what movies were you able to catch at SXSW? Where there any movies you saw that stood out?
I mean TOWER… That documentary just kind of destroyed me. I was crying multiple times. (Laughs) That one was pretty powerful and I have some buddies’ films that I think were all pretty impressive. I really liked SLASH, Clay Liford’s film. My buddy Chadd [Harbold] made LONG NIGHTS SHORT MORNINGS, which was a pretty intense movie and really kind of dark and sexual… We had a good long talk about that one after it screened.
It sounds like a lot of Austin movies to be honest, with Clay’s movie and TOWER. You should shoot your next movie here, man. I kid.
I would love to. I’ve been here three times and I would love to do that.
Okay, well Bobby I know your time is limited, so I’ll leave you to the rest of your day. I genuinely do thank you for taking the time to chat with me today. I just saw the movie and was blown away. Thanks for carving out a little bit of time to talk with me and AICN! Best of luck with whatever you do next.
Thanks, man. I appreciate it.
So there we have it, ladies and gents, a brief chat with director Bobby Miller that covers quite a bit of info. It's a fun film that I definitely suggest folks out there check out. It effortlessly dances on the fence of absurdity, and never quite falls over the edge into silliness. It's a wild ride I'm glad I was able to take at this year's SXSW. If you're curious to see more about the film, check out a clip from the movie or head off to Miller's website! Best of luck to the film's many creative individuals who brought the thing to life and thanks to Miller for taking the time to chat with me about it.
- Mike McCutchen
"Muldoon"
Mike@aintitcool.com
