-How did you get the idea of making this type of film?
I have never related to the American ideal of the nuclear family. It is such a foreign concept to me to want those things: to be married with kids, to own a station wagon and to have a white picket fence in a suburban sprawl. I wanted to write a story about a man who wants those things, yet a man who would never fully understand them. It’s that lack of respect and care that those ideals require that inevitably lead to his self-destruction. I think that, as a society, we are taught at a very early age to want those things, but nowhere in our upbringing are we taught why. It’s something we are taught to want because we’re supposed to. With this film, I wanted to challenge this thinking by saying, “No. Put something on a pedestal, and it will eventually topple with the slightest shake, especially something as fragile as the human heart.”
-Do you have a favorite filmmaker/ photographer yourself?
I have so many favorites. I love Darren Aronofsky, especially Pi and The Fountain. The Fountain blew my mind! I also really love Timur Bekmambetov, Robert Rodriguez and, of course, David Lynch.
-Are you ever afraid you will run out of inspiration and creativity in your job?
Just the opposite: There aren’t enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do. At times I feel like my head is going to explode from too many ideas.
-What is the most difficult thing in your job?
The most difficult thing about my job is the business end of things. I thrive on the creative aspect, and I find that I get bogged down with business. One of my personal goals is to be able to hire someone to deal with paperwork; that way I can be left alone to keep making cool stuff.
-What is the most fun part of your job?
My job is the greatest job in the world. I couldn’t be any happier if I won the lottery. It still hasn’t hit me yet; just how much my life is changing from making this movie. I wake up every day, still wondering if I’m dreaming.
-Do you expect your way of creating films/ photography to change in the future?
Absolutely. Surviving in this world means evolving. If we don’t evolve, we die out. The industry is changing so much right now. Film is being phased out. We’re seeing theaters vanish. More and more films are being made
available independently online, making traditional avenues of distribution a thing of the past. We shot A Perfect Life with a Canon 7d. It’s basically a bad-ass affordable still camera with video quality beautiful enough to throw on an IMAX screen. Every indie filmmaker I know ran out and bought one. If every filmmaker I know is doing this, that to me implies that the rest of the world is doing the same thing, which is great to me. That means more competition. Competition makes us all better filmmakers.
-Do you embrace the changes in the film industry regarding social media and technology influences?
100% yes! It is because of these changes that I have an audience and a career.
-Do you like art? Do you have any preferences for an artist? And/or for creators of artistic work?
I love art! I especially love anything dark, but I’m mostly inspired by music and antiquity. I am an avid collector of all things circus, medical, old west or just plain weird. It’s not just the items themselves that I find interesting; it’s the story behind them. As far as music goes, I am crazy in love with Tom Waits, The Stooges, The Tiger Lillies and Sons of Perdition… I could seriously go for hours talking music.
-If so, why is that? What special quality do you like in their work or personalities?
For Tom, Circus Contraption and the Tiger Lillies, I was a carney for 15 years, and I love carnival life. You meet the most interesting people in that line of work. All three of those bands hit the nail on the head with their storytelling. Their writing is absolutely brilliant. For the Stooges, it’s all about Iggy Pop’s reckless abandon. His music is sexy, unforgiving and unapologetic… exactly what rock-n-roll is all about. It’s funny; Scott Stone (A Perfect Life’s Director of Photography) and I wrote a movie a couple of years ago called Man of Perdition. It’s a western horror film about notorious outlaw John Wesley Harden. Anyhow, I was looking for inspiration and stumbled on Sons of Perdition on MySpace. I was obsessed in about two seconds. Their music is sinister and beautiful dirge that completely encapsulated the film. I love it!
-Could we feature your favorite artist, designer, architect or filmmaker in our magazine and/or online?