Gregg Araki (2014)

yeah my dream too! ;)

this is the question i get asked ALL THE TIME! and yes i really want it to happen bc that films so dear to me! the rights to it revert to us in i think another 5 years or so so then it will be possible I hope! but yeah we had a screening of the 35mm print at USC a cpl years ago and it was SO amazing to see it on the big screen again! that movie was definitely ahead of its time lol

thanks! yeah I loved the book and wanted the film to be as faithful to it as possible - like MSKIN - but the way the book ended didnt really work i thought as a movie. I knew we needed more of a third act. So I just got into the adaptation, writing those characters, hearing them speak, and letting the story flow, and that ending just came about organically. it was weird. it just wanted to happen. thats the best way i can explain it

as for shai i am right there w u as her biggest fan. she is such an amazing actress and really centers the movie w her heartbreaking performance. her face in the airport scene at the end just kills me every time i see the movie. and there are new layers to her performance i notice w each progressive viewing

Yes! what i loved abt the script is it was REAAAAALLLY accurate abt how the mind of a stoner works - ie. I need to make a plan... I need to make a revised plan... I love that movie!

lol ! this reminds me of a funny story! his agents and lawyers were SO worried abt the scene where he was beating off in the basement while eva green is upstairs, and i told them what do u think its going to be, him stark naked?! chris is so cool and such a dedicated actor and artist he would do almost anything I think for his character. but in WB the style is more classical and less in yr face, so...

everything!! I LOVE EVA GREEN! but seriously she is SO amazing! she really transformed herself to play Eve COnnors it was really magical to watch it happen bc she is nothing like that character in real life! shes incredible and such a trooper! that scene where she is breaking thru the ice, that fake snow is horrible its little flakes of plastic that stings yr eyes and is really a pain. and she did take after take, shes such a true artist!

hang in there and find yr voice what makes u individual as opp to the cookie cutter same old stuff thats already out there

THANK U!!! this is my FAVORITE QUESTION so far lol! id give gold but i dont even know wat that is! i do love vod in that it makes the movie accessible to everyone inc those who dont live in a place like LA or seattle, but WHITE BIRD is meant to be seen and experienced on a big screen with big sound so the images and music can kind of sweep u away - thats how it works the best. I just saw it again for the 1000th time at the LA premiere at teh arclight and watched the whole thing, bc it was so gorgeous and kind of intoxicating

lol! that takes me waaaaaay back to the 90s! DOOM GEN actually screened in a tent in an early early lollapalooza! and I remember going to seattle or someplace like it and it was kind of a disaster lol! it was hot and u could barely hear or see the film (uhh, its daytime and we're in a tent) but such a great memory! and i am too busy enjoying coachella every year to do a Q&A ;)

everything! chris is an AMAZING actor and besides that an awsome guy. he and eva both are 180 degrees from their characters so what u see on screen is all their artistic creation! i kind of love doing that in that its really exciting to see an actor in a role thats not the same old same old part they always play - and i think actors love stretching like that too

KABOOM has some great nugaze music in it. I personally love Airiel - their last EP kid games was amazing! KABOOM also has auburn lull, who are awsome, depreciation guild, etc. i also really like daydreamers but they wouldnt let us use their music in KABOOM :/ ! id like to do more music videos - i did one back in 1999 for the Micronauts featuring nathan bexton from NOWHERE lol but they take up time and since i work pretty much on my own im pretty focused on getting my next film made!

as for wahts next i have a few things percolating! hopefully Ill be shooting soon!

lol nothing hes done is remotely like brock which is what made me so interested in him. Id seen him in OZ, etc so knew he was an amazing actor but hes never played a chac like this and that was really xciting

one day i hope lol! i dont realy know where the negative is however and im sort of busy making movies etc so dont have a lot of free time to be creating dvd masters of my old movies (esp since it only exists on 16mm)! im hoping to sneak it out there one day tho...

yes it was a really cool project at new line called FRIGID AND IMPOTENT that michael stipes company was producing w drew and her company flower films

hmm the movies i usually list as my top 5
FIRE WALK WITH ME, MASCULIN-FEMININ, BADLANDS, LADY EVE, (cant remember the 5th one at the moment!) also really like CHUNGKING EXPRESS. and my pal rick's BOYHOOD this year was great!

Hope so!! its on the burners!

yeah funny story abt WHITE BIRD IN A BLIZZARD - the line producers boyfriend is BON HARRIS from Nitzer Ebb!! how crazy is that? if ull notice in phils room there are a ton of NE posters etc on the wall. And I told shiloh his character that NE are his favorite band. And I told shai that This Mortal Coil is her fave band.

and Skinny Puppy were really cool guys tho they only worked one nite which like every nite on that movie was a crazy one!!

funny i dont really do drugs altho from my movies everyone thinks i do lol! ive tried stuff obviously and smoked pot, etc but i normally barely even drink. all the crazy stuff in my movies is just my imagination! as for slowdive question hmmmm sophies choice. Im going to pick Just For a Day bc I LOOOOOOOVE it so much and its the obscure one (most ppl would pick souvlaki id imagine

hmm maybe it is. if so im not aware of it but it does rally sound like something one of the 3BP chacs would say. Another reason why laura's book resonated so much w me i guess. her charcs talk like mine! PS there are 2 other lines in WBIAB that are from my other films. one is "this club is so boring I wish someone would burn it to the ground" which gabby sidibe says in the goth club - its a quote from DOOM GEN. and thomas jane the cop says "it aint fancy but its home" is from MYS SKIN

see the deleted scenes on the dvd and find out! ;) no actually im really happy with the cut. the pace of the film feels exactly right to me

SOOOOOOOON.... i hope!! keep yr fingers crossed!! mine are!!

omg cancel yr plans and come to the nuart! u might even win a signed CD of the gorgeous score!

laura saw the movie at sundance and loved it which meant a lot to me. I was really nervous abt that but she was really into it. i think it actually kind of overwhelmed her a bit bc it was in a HUGE theatre packed w like 1000 ppl and my sense is the book is very intimate, very personal to her, so it was a bit weird like 1000 ppl reading yr diary. but she really loved it which meant a lot to me

thanks i love that film too. So much of MSKIN just as w WHITE BIRD is in the book. its really from that source that the energy and the raw emotion comes. kudos to scott heim and laura kaschiske!

its really abt casting the right actors. as the cliche goes directing is 90% casting and that so true. when u work w great ppl amazing stuff just happens! like shai, eva, chris, shiloh, gabby, everyone in WB, they all just brought their A game

twist? what twist?

i actually like the idea that ppl have no idea whats coming and they just go on the journey of WHITE BIRD w no expectations

but i guess that jimmy fallon going on abt the ending on national TV kind of messed that up! ;)

no plans at the moment but I think the movie opens in SF next week! halloween weekend! dress up like eva green and go!!! ;)

aww thanks! yeah i dont really categorize my movies per se I just make movies that Im passionate about and sort of follow my instinct in terms of what i want to do next. i appreciate that my movies tend to be different from each oter as I find it kind of annoying and lazy when directors seem to make the same movie over and over - so i try to mix it up and work in different styles and genres but i think my sensibility is pretty strong so even when the movies are different they all feel like a movie of mine lol!

write every day. as much as u can

nothing really the actors in WHITE BIRD were all so dedicated and focused. really serious artists. coming to set every day was super fun and exciting

yr the captain of the ship so u need to know where yr heading ;)

WHITE BIRD was really an amazing experience and one I will always remember. everyone in the cast and crew loved the project so much and were all so dedicated to getting every image and every moment just right, no matter what it took. It was really cool

i really like adapting a novel or rewriting other ppls material bc its easier than doing something thats 100% original. its a different set of muscles but fulfilling in a diff way i think

none of them auditioned but i didnt just call them up lol! i had meetings shailene and chris (separately of course) and eva i think we talked on the phone - she was in malta or something like that shooting 300