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| CineVegas '09 Interview: "Thor At The Bus Stop" Writer/Directors Mike & Jerry Thompson |
by Erik Childress
The “Thor At The Bus Stop" Pitch: Thunder claps, fruit snacks, and the power of cool.
How did this film get rolling at the beginning? Give us a brief history from writing to production to post to just last night.
MIKE: Me and Jerry have written and directed around 12 shorts together. Thor at the Bus Stop is based on two of our more successful short films. The short version of "Thor at the Bus Stop" was always my personal favorite, I just thought it did the best job of getting the vibe I wanted to show the world out there. So when it came time to branch out from shorts to a feature, I wanted to try and capture that same energy, and the more we thought about it the more we realized that Thor itself had two be our first feature. When "Passenger Seat" (the other short fused into Thor) played in a festival with a short our Producers (David Schmoeller and May May Luong) made, David came to us afterwards and said, "It's time for you guys to make a feature, and I want to Produce it." David is a Professor at the film school me and Jer both graduated from, and has always been extremely supportive with all our shorts. When we told him we wanted to adapt Thor into a feature, he was excited, so that was that, we started writing.
JERRY: Mike and I have made a lot of shorts together, and before we started work on Thor we had two more shorts we really wanted to make. The plan was to shoot these two last shorts and then tackle a feature. We had four or five pretty good ideas for feature scripts that we'd been kicking around for a while. For some reason, in my mind making a feature was this big new challenge that we had to prepare ourselves for. I wanted to really push ourselves on a couple of new shorts, then leave town for two weeks and hole up in a log cabin somewhere and write our first feature. Then Mike said, "Screw it. Let's just make a Thor feature." At first I didn't want to remake stuff we had already done. It seemed too easy. But after talking about it for a few minutes I realized Thor would work better as a feature, and avoiding something because it's easy is stupid. The script came together really fast. We started writing in February or March of 2008. The writing happened really fast and we got some really good notes from David Schmoeller, who was one of our professors at UNLV and produced the movie. We started shooting immediately after the script was done and finished shooting by early September. It was written and shot in under eight months, which is sort of crazy. We shot on weekends, and had lots of help. It was pretty amazing how many people volunteered their time to come help. So many people helped that in a lot of ways it was less stressful than the shorts we've made, where we did too many things ourselves. There was no shortage of crew, which really freed us up to focus on the creative aspects. Mike and I would divide up the footage and edit during the week. So by the time we shot again the next weekend, the footage from the previous weekend was cut. We had a rough cut done of the whole movie three days after our last shot. We've spent a lot of time refining it and tightening it up, but that initial push all happened really fast.
Back when you were a little kid, and you were asked that inevitable question, your answer would always be "When I grow up I want to be a ." what?
MIKE: I wanted to be in the NBA before I found out I had no killer instinct... Or muscles...
JERRY: I always wanted to be a cartoonist. I drew a lot as a kid. Telling jokes and stories visually was always my favorite thing to do. I drew for the school paper in high school and did a comic strip in college. That's a tough business to get into though. Even harder than movies.
CineVegas has a history of spotlighting the Nevada film scene. What can you tell us about your involvement in it and is there anything you would like to see improved or highlighted?
MIKE: We've had a short in Cinevegas every year since we started making shorts. I heart Cinevegas xoxo BFF.
JERRY: Cinevegas has always been the highlight of our year. We've had many, many shorts screened there, and they've always been amazingly supportive. Last year when our short "Passenger Seat" screened in the Nevada Shorts program it was the first time I'd seen one of our movies projected in HD. I almost wet my pants with joy.
Of all the Muppets, which one do you most relate to?
MIKE: I hate to go for the popular obvious answer on this, but I'm a Kermit man. I typically like the classics, chocolate is my ice cream of choice and I go for spaghetti and meatballs more often than not... There's a reason this stuff got popular in the first place. Kermits just so smooth... And I relate to him in that we both have arms that look like noodles.
JERRY: Probably Dr. Teeth. He's nobody's favorite but he keeps the band together. On our movie sets I'm surrounded by funnier performers than me. I just try to quietly make sure things don't explode.
What films and filmmakers have acted as your inspirations, be they a lifelong love or a very specific scene composition?
MIKE: I love all things Coen Brothers and Wes Anderson. Those guys can do no wrong in my book.
JERRY: Me and Mike have the same favorites apparently. I love every Coen Brothers movie and every Wes Anderson movie. There are other directors I admire, but those are the only ones I can think of who've never made a bad movie in my opinion.
Did you watch any movies in pre-production and yell "This! I want something JUST like this .only different."?
MIKE: Snatch springs to mind.
JERRY: Once we started work on the movie I don't think I had time for anything else. It ate our whole life. So I didn't see anything while we were working, but right before that, maybe "The Darjeeling Limited". I loved the feeling of that movie. There was this sort of grand journey going on punctuated by all these small, revelatory moments.
There have been many film characters like your version of Thor on a quest to save the world. John Connor and Donnie Darko to name just a few. Whom would you name as your favorite and why?
MIKE: I'll go with "The Gods must be Crazy." It's a quest that only he really understands the importance of. Epic and simplicity never fit together so well.
JERRY: I really liked Bruce Willis in Twelve Monkeys. Saving the world was sort of thrust upon him involuntarily, and he felt like it was all hopeless. But he still tried.
Name an actor in your film that's absolutely destined for the big-time. And why, of course.
MIKE: This question could get me into a lot of trouble... I will say this though, most of the main roles were written for the people that played them. There are so many unknown but extremely talented actors in Thor. While we were writing the script there was many a time when I let my ego run wild and I'd say to myself, "Mike it's up to you to write the perfect break out role for all these awesome actors." We tried. I know a lot of them will make it eventually, with or without Thor. They're just too good not to.
JERRY: Well, that's tough. Just about all of them did a great job. We're very proud of the company we keep. It's such an ensemble thing, nobody really dominates the movie. I'd have to make a list, and there'd be at least ten people tied for first place.
Who's an actor you'd kill to work with?
MIKE: Brad Pitt, Mos Def, or Jack Black. Those guys could make anything worth watching.
JERRY: George Clooney. He's an amazing actor and seems like the coolest guy on earth.
What actor would you cast as your favorite cartoon character?
MIKE: Jack Nicholson as "Grumpy Bear"... You know, the grumpiest Care Bear.
JERRY: Russell Brand as Bill the Cat.
Of all the characters on display in Thor at the Bus Stop, which one is your favorite and which would you like to give their own film to.
MIKE: Passenger Seat Pete is one of my favorites, but he already has his own short. So, I think I'll go with Ultra Stan the Everyman. I'd like to put him into a film noir.
JERRY: I like White Trash Chuck. He's just a mess.
Do you have any favorite (or least favorite) film critics? And how important do you believe film critics are nowadays?
MIKE: Locally I like Josh Bell of the Las Vegas Weekly. I think they are still very important. Well written analyzations of art help keep those art-forms alive and growing, just like my chewable vitamins.
JERRY: I read a lot of film reviews. I like intelligent analysis of anything, even if I don't agree. As far as their importance goes, it depends on the critic. The same goes for the movies themselves. Some are important, some are just entertaining, some are a waste of time.
What would mean more to you? A full-on rave from an anonymous junketeer or an average, but critically constructive review from a respected print or online journalist?
MIKE: I'll go with the journalist, a well written analyzation of yourself or your art is a rare thing. But obviously both things would mean a lot. The junketeer wrote it because he really felt inspired to write it, not because he was supposed to or because he got paid to do it, that's worth a lot too.
JERRY: In the long run I'd benefit personally more from constructive criticism. But at the time you just want people to like your movie.
You're told that your next movie must have one "product placement" on board, but you can pick the product. What would it be?
MIKE: One of those screw-on faucet water filters, or an iPhone. I find myself selling the beauty of both of those almost daily.
JERRY: Probably Apple computers. Lots of Apple computers. So many that they wouldn't notice if a few went missing.
What are you looking forward to most during your CineVegas experience?
MIKE: I love to watch strangers laugh at something I scribbled on scrap paper a year before.
JERRY: The cast and crew worked really hard on the movie, so it'll be great watching them enjoy some glory. I always love listening to a room full of people laugh at our crap, but I also love watching strangers give compliments to our cast and crew.
How much of your cast is going to make the trek to CineVegas for the screenings?
MIKE: Most if not all of them will be there I think. Might be the first time the entire cast was in one place at the same time.
JERRY: Just about everybody.
Any films, besides your own, that you're hoping to get a chance to see while at the festival?
MIKE: 500 days of summer looks great. I usually try to avoid the films that already have distribution because you can always catch those later... But that Zooey Dechanel gets me every-time.
JERRY: St. John of Las Vegas, 500 Days of Summer, I'm going to see the Nevada Shorts program. I'm going to try to see most of the festival. I'll probably bring a sleeping bag and camp outside the box office.
What kind of discussion are you hoping will be making the rounds of the festival specific to the story of your film? Other than how much they liked it, of course.
MIKE: I hope the actors get the credit they deserve. And the Music.
JERRY: I'd just like to be viewed as part of the growing Vegas film scene. And I'd like it if people were impressed with our actors. I certainly was.
During your Q&A after your screenings, if you could replace the inevitable "what was the budget?" question with something more serious and probing about your film, what are you hoping would be asked?
MIKE: I like to talk about the characters, what makes them tick. So maybe something like "I like this character because of this... What do you like best about them?"
JERRY: Well, the movie's very silly on the surface. But there are themes we were trying to get across too. It's not a message movie, but it'd be nice if people noticed what we were trying to say and commented on that. If they don't it's probably our fault.
Say you landed a big studio contract tomorrow, and they offered you a semi-huge budget to adapt a show currently on television. What project would you tackle?
MIKE: HBO is going to shoot a pilot for my favorite books "A Song of Ice and Fire" I'd love to get in on that. Apart from that I'd say Flight of the Concords. I also love Lost, but a movie wouldn't do any good for that show, just add to the chaos.
JERRY: I'd like to make an Entourage movie, or maybe Johnny Bravo from the cartoon network.
If you could share one massive lesson that you learned while making this movie, what would it be?
MIKE: Let people help you.
JERRY: Don't rush it. Get it right. Try to make that festival deadline, but if you don't there's another one a month later. So get it right.
If you could have Thor do your dirty work for you, is there any one person you wouldn't mind seeing hit with a bolt of lightning these days? Even just to produce a large shock to their system, say just as a reminder that the God of Thunder is watching.
MIKE: I'd hit that guy in the other lane who speeds up the second you put your turn signal on because you have to merge. You know the guy.
JERRY: Can I get you a list of people when reviews of the movie come out?
In closing, we ask you to convince the average festival attendee to choose your film instead of the 30 or so other options they have. How do you do it?
MIKE: I think people going to festivals like this are looking for movies like Thor at the Bus Stop. And if they aren't, they should be. A film festival should really be looked at like a treasure hunt where you find things you can't see anywhere else. The "movie-star" movies will be waiting for you in theaters all over town in a few weeks, so for now, take a chance and let the energy of the festival wash over you. Check out the real Indy films while you have the chance. Thor at the Bus Stop is a true labor of love, and when you walk out you will feel more alive than when you walked in.
JERRY: My brother's answer to this question was pretty perfect, but I'll just add that this movie is designed to be a pleasant surprise in a festival environment. It was locally written, shot and cut by local talent. The energy and support that will be in the room will be impossible to experience ever again, even if you end up seeing it on a dvd later.
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Jerry & Mike Thompson's Thor At The Bus Stop will have its world premiere at the 2009 CineVegas Film Festival on Saturday, June 13 at 5:30 pm and screen again on Monday, June 15 also at 5:30 PM, both at the Palms’ Brenden Theatres. And be sure to visit their website
link directly to this feature at http://efilmcritic.com/feature.php?feature=2764
originally posted: 05/25/09 15:15:24
last updated: 05/25/09 15:16:10
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