Spotlight on... Sean Ireland and his movie SWAY Interview Independent film sets are a lot like after-school detention for social misfits, artsy-fartsy dreamers, and wayward eccentrics. More often than not, you end up meeting kindred spirits who share the same taste in music, books, comics, humor and, more importantly - movies. Such is the case with fellow crew member and movie misfit, Sean Ireland. About ten years back I got a production assistant (prod ass) gig on an adult thriller titled Seaside Seduction being shot in Salisbury, Massachusetts, and one of the key crew members happened to be Sean. I remember he was a "key" because of his fanny pack stuffed with petty cash he'd dole out to runners (prod asses) like me. "We need bird seed. Big bag. Don't forget the change... and save the receipt!" Eventually we got to joking about making low-budget films, talking cinema and essentially goofing off on set as much as we could without getting caught while fanning smoke at the strippers on stage. Rough life, I know. Anyhow, we're still in touch and I finally got around to this here interview for "Spotlight on...". Sean's got a screwball comedy called SWAY in the can and some heavy irons in the fire, but he made time for an old Prod Ass like me to catch up online. Thanks, man! Please folks, enjoy responsibly. by Jeff Palmer at Flicker Pictures Flicker
Pictures: All right, Sean. First off, thanks for making time for this
interview. I know you're a very busy man down there in Hollywood Land. Sean
Ireland:
(I’m trying not to be flippant here…) I’m busy trying to get busy,
which is what many of us are doing here. FP:
Indeed. Don’t worry about being flippant, just be yourself. Isn’t that
what “they” say? Sean
Ireland:
Yes. FP:
But you’re not originally from Cally are you? Sean
Ireland:
No. Springfield, Massachusetts and Boston, which is where I’ve worked on
most [all] of my films. FP:
Springfield, Boston, New England... you’re a Yank at heart? Sean
Ireland:
Yes. I was wondering when I’m ever going to begin referring to Los
Angeles as “home”. It still feels exotic, like I'm on some weird
vacation from reality and I keep talking about going “home” when
everything I love and do and feel right about is here in L.A. FP:
Exotic. That’s one way of putting it. So, you wrote and directed an
independent film called SWAY. That was back in Springfield, correct?
FP:
Gotta love that hometown hospitality. “Hey kid, here are the keys.
Remember to lock up when you're
done.” So, what came first, the location or the script? Sean
Ireland:
The location came first. I wrote the story around the location. We had
this idea--one location, everything happens there---we set the film up and
shoot for three weeks in one place and we wanted an empty prison, so I
wrote a story around a recently closed jail so that we wouldn't have to
fill it with talent.
Sean
Ireland:
We had 74 actors in the film, many of them speaking parts. It was an
enormous cast, too many actually, and this is one of the things I learned:
keep your cast down to a manageable size. I just wrote the script in such
a way that I had several plot lines converging in the third act and so I
had groups of people whose lives crisscrossed and they all end up at the
prison. FP:
In a nutshell, can you explain what SWAY is all about? Sean
Ireland:
SWAY is the story of a man who ends up in prison falsely accused. He takes
the rap to keep his brother out of jail, but he draws the line when they
tell him he must continue his sentence. He tries to flee the prison and in
the ensuing chaos he takes hostages inside the jail. A hostage crisis
develops and a number of lonely hearts in the city come down to the jail
to support him. They unfortunately make his situation worse and eventually
he is faced with a decision: stay and suffer an assault by the warden, or
stage a breakout. That's it in a nutshell. Is that a nutshell? FP:
Sounds nutty to me. Sean
Ireland:
It is. FP: Tell me about the title, SWAY. Is there a particular meaning or reference behind that word? How does it tie in to the movie? Sean Ireland: "Sway" is a reference to a condition---when you're under the sway of something and you can't get out of it---main character's predicament...life predicament. He's under the sway of forces he doesn't understand or, more importantly, can't control. FP:
And you wrote it as well as directing? Sean
Ireland:
I wrote, directed, produced and I played a part. FP:
Yeah, tell me a little about that role. You were some sort of evangelical
bus driver? Sean
Ireland:
I was forced to play the part of the agnostic bus driver who starts his
own church and believes that the man holding hostages is somehow his
messiah, a sign that he is on the right path, so he drives his bus into
the jail in an attempt to help the man out, but he is rejected. He's a
loveable loser, like so many others in the story. FP:
Well, your character isn't alone. The whole film is chock full of crazies.
Okay. So you teamed up with a huge cast and crew, shot a movie in your
hometown... what about editing? What was that process like for you? Sean
Ireland:
The editing was very tedious and difficult and more than I anticipated,
another lesson for me. Filmmakers need to budget realistically for post. I
hadn’t. I presumed it would be relatively fast, efficient. It was such
an enormous project [35 hours of footage] that the editor was over his
head for a while. He pulled it together though and we started with a two
hour and ten minute feature, too long and too big, but a good start. His
name is James Notari. He’s from Vermont and is in Los Angeles now. He's
an excellent editor and he worked really hard, and without his help, it
wouldn't have come off I don't think.
Sean
Ireland:
That’s funny. Yes, we’ve had to continually cut it. It’s been a long
process. We are performing one more edit [cutting licensed music out] and
shaving a few more minutes if possible. It’s 92 minutes now. We’ve cut
from 130 minutes to 92. Pretty good. And it plays way better. FP:
Damn. I know how difficult that can be, killing your darlings, right? But
that’s the great thing about DVDs these days. You get to keep all those
deleted scenes and extra material. Sean
Ireland:
Yes, definitely. It’s also a process of rearrangement. It’s funny, you
have this arrangement when you write it, then an arrangement when you’re
shooting, and then the actual “arrangement” of the film takes place in
the editing room when you have the actual story there in front of you.
It’s like three stories and the final one is a product of so much more
than what you presumed in the beginning. You can’t anticipate these
things.
Sean
Ireland:
Yes. I feel that with SWAY I was finally in a position to write a decent
script and I’ve learned so much from the experience. It’s a good story
and a fun story, and the writing has a quality to it that I’m happy
with. The final product, as you know, takes a different shape, but
that’s something you have to anticipate. I’ve learned so much from the
filming and I’ve written so much since and I feel I’m on a learning
curve. My producing partner, Jim Klock and I, we talk about that a lot.
We’re on a learning curve and each film is going to be better than the
previous. FP:
Nice. So, considering the final cut of the film, did you end up learning
more about the story you actually wanted to tell or is the filmed version
as you saw it in the script? Or maybe it's a little of both?
FP: Totally. You have to go with the flow. So were movies something you wanted to make growing up or did you get the filmmaking bug later in life?
FP:
Agreed. Now I know you have a warped sense of humor and laughter is the
best medicine, but do you see yourself filming something more dramatic at
some point? Sean
Ireland:
I totally do. I would love to make a serious film. Somehow, everything I
write degenerates into humor, but if I have a chance, I would love to make
a more lyrical film with a style very different from SWAY. FP:
Before I ask what's next for you, how can people see your film SWAY or
learn more about it? Sean
Ireland:
The film will be out this summer and available on our website www.TheMovieSway.com.
It will also be available on my partner Jim Klock’s website, Southern
Gentlemen Productions. We’re finishing it up this summer and putting
it out there with new music, a really fresh package. It’s going to be
great. FP:
Sweet, an official DVD and all?
FP:
Sounds like a plan. Oh, before I forget, any particular moments on the
SWAY set that kept you up at night? Were there any accidents or complete
disasters? Sean
Ireland:
My brother Michael smashed the bus into the door of the jail--that was a
near disaster--but the worst was the very first day: we had a transvestite
ready to go and she/he failed to show. We were standing there at
8am---first shot of the whole production--and he failed to show. So Jim
Klock, who plays Sheriff Nettles in the film, stepped up and offered to
play the transvestite. We quickly made the transvestite his twin and we
had a sub plot. It was great!
Sean
Ireland:
Well, I have several things in the works. I want to shoot a documentary
this summer in Massachusetts. I also have a script out at an agency and
I’m awaiting word on it. I’m working really hard and writing and
trying to get something going. I believe the veil that separates us from
real success is actually very thin… and once you break it... you have a
whole bunch of new problems. Kidding. I believe that hard work and
perseverance, as corny as that sounds [and it sounds pretty corny] pays
off eventually. I work hard. Did I say I
work hard? I’m getting a massage right now… FP: So, you ARE a
player. I knew it. Hey, James Brown is dead and we need a new “Hardest
Working Man in Show Business”. Why not Sean Ireland, right? Sean
Ireland: I’ll be the hardest working man outside the
walls… peering through… FP: Quick. What's your dream project? Budget and cast aren't obstacles. Sean Ireland: Dream project would be a movie about a pimp and a beautiful alien shot all over New York City, starring Gene Hackman and Gwyneth Paltrow. FP: Ireland. That's
French, right? Sean
Ireland: Spanish. By the way, do you have any money? FP: Si, si. Badda-bing!
Well, before we break everyone’s funny bones, if you had your druthers
(I don’t even know what those are, but apparently they are good to have)
what advice would you give to someone interested in making movies
nowadays? Wait for the money and shoot on film? Just do it and go with
digital? Get a real job? Sean
Ireland: Get a good therapist. It’s such a romantic
notion [filmmaking, not therapy]. I would honestly say to shoot with
digital and to shoot a lot and make lots of shorts and eventually figure
out a way with a good crew of friends to shoot something for almost
nothing. The truth is it’s possible now to shoot a film and just pay for
food for the crew. Think about it. There are so many amazing cameras out
there and great DPs looking to work and talented and hard-working people
who want to participate in something good. Don't shoot a feature, however,
unless you're sure you’ve got a good script. FP: Sage advice from
someone with the war wounds to prove it. Well Sean, it’s be a lot of fun
catching up and I'm really looking forward to seeing SWAY when it's ready.
You probably didn't think it was going to take as long as it did, eh? How
many years has it been? Sean
Ireland: Well, since the final shooting [pick ups] and
additional city footage it’s been about 18 months.
Sean Ireland: No. We shot it in 2003, but we went back twice to get additional footage, the last time being approximately 18 months ago. It’s been a long four years this summer, but we spent a good part of the first putting it together and then we had a premiere the following summer, but it wasn't ready, so we went back. This is how it goes. FP: It sure does. Sean
Ireland:
We’re definitely ready to put it out
there and move on to other projects. It’s always nice to finish
something and let it be whatever it is. It’s a good film with an oddball
cast and that's how we're marketing it. It’s very unique. It’s unlike
most other stuff you’ll see out there and that’ll be our selling point
all the way. The next project is called Jailbird: The Greatest Somebody
and I’m looking forward to getting that off the ground.
Sean
Ireland: Thanks, Jeff. This was fun and brings me back. FP: My pleasure, Sean.
We’ll do lunch! Ciao. Sean
Ireland: Cool.
Massage? Dang. Rough life indeed. Be sure and check visit www.TheMovieSway.com to watch the current trailer. Sean did mention that they are in the midst of cutting a new version, so click back down the road to see what's going on with SWAY and future projects. Cheers, Jeff Palmer at Flicker Pictures
Spotlight on: Coming Soon... (in no particular order) Adam Reed on acting in Hallettsville, Bill Millios of Backlot Films ruminates on Death & Glory, Anthony Thurman (aka Slider_Alt) talks about animating The Disarmer, and many more More interviews will trickle in as 2007 creeps along, but until then... Previous interview links below: Spotlight on: Richard Culver - Cine-Verité Spotlight on: Kathy Fitzgerald of Poverti Productions Spotlight on: Rob Fitz is the God of Vampires
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FP: Only 18 months? Why
did it seem like forever ago you were shooting? Shows what I know.
FP: Then I'll let you
get back to your massage. You deserve it, baby.