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Perfect Strangers
First-time writer-director relies on his instincts to make The Strangers
I hate to admit this, but on day one of shooting The Strangers, as I drove to the set of my first feature, there really was only one thing I couldn’t stop thinking about: “Action.”
As the empty roads leading to the warehouse passed by in a blur, I repeated that one word over and over. That morning, while dressing, I’d realized that over the course of my life I had never given that command out loud in front of anyone, let alone a crew of professionals and a cast of stars all ready to judge the kid from out of nowhere who was directing his first studio movie. Besides a two-minute short in college, I’d never really directed anything at all.
“Action.”
Shit, I’m never gonna make it.
I almost had to pull over.
In reality, directing your first feature is a whirlwind of first times, repeated over and over again. Over the course of the three months prior to shooting, I storyboarded with artists, studied blueprints with art directors, held meetings, cast actors and rehearsed scenes, all the time having no idea how it was supposed to be done.
Still, I had to direct it.
It seems so simple from a distance, the concepts of finding the right cast, picking a crew, finding a location. But in reality, from the minute pre-production began, I was thrust into a world I had only read about or at least seen glimpses of in DVD bonus features. I can remember sitting in my beat-up old four-door, outside of a bar I wouldn’t have even been allowed inside of a week earlier, building the courage to take my first meeting with a Hollywood movie star.
What if my name isn’t on the list?
I remember the sweat pouring down my face as I sat down for the first time in front of someone who I had only seen on screen. But on that day, she was here to meet with me, The Director.
Over the course of six weeks, from the time I was picked to direct The Strangers to the time pre-production began in South Carolina, I was plunged into a world I had barely ever stopped to think about. A world where I was meeting people who I had heard of and seen, but to whom I was the stranger.
The process is terrifying, at least at first. A producer once told me a meeting with an actor is like a first date that could result in marriage. The only thing is, you often have to decide if you want to get married that day. I had never worked with actors before, so what was I looking for?
I learned to trust my instincts. Over and over I met with talented men and women who had an opinion on the material and over and over I told them mine. The producer was right and she was wrong. It was like a date, but more importantly it was like trying to pick a partner to dance with; you don’t have to be the exact same person with the exact same tastes.
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COMMENTS | POST A COMMENT 
- Comment by TLS on 6/01/08 at 6:53 am
Encouraging and inspiring article.
- Comment by Vancouver Wedding on 6/07/08 at 11:17 pm
Is the movie any good? I want to see it!
- Comment by C.A.C. on 6/10/08 at 7:15 pm
I heard the story wasn’t that great, but then again, who are my friends to say such things really! Anywho, great article! Hope to see more like these in the future!
This story was published in the Future of Moviemaking 2008 MovieMaker Magazine. The headline was:
Strange World
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