Since we last talked, Those People has really seen a lot of play at festivals all over the world.
Joey Kuhn: Since premiering last May at the Seattle Film Festival, we have played 65 festivals which has been insane. The film played in Hong Kong, Amsterdam, Germany, and Indonesia to name a few. It has really played all over the world and it’s still hard for me to wrap my head around that. I personally have gone to about 15 of the festivals. I had the most wonderful experience actually in Guadalajara a couple months ago when it played at their International Film Festival in their queer section. It had an amazing line up and to play for a Mexican audience as opposed to an American audience was pretty amazing. I think they react to the film in a slightly different way.
Why do you think that is?
JK: What’s interesting about the international audience is the character of Sebastian is such a difficult character for a lot of people, especially in the US. Where audiences bring a lot of pre-conceived notions and baggage about the whole Bernie Madoff scandal and rightfully so in a lot of ways. Internationally they don’t know who Madoff is so they just watch the story and they can wrap their head around Sebastian a lot easier. They see him as a troubled guy from a wealthy family and they can separate him from all their pre-conceived notions about financial scandals. They tend to gravitate towards him more.
I also think in America we are spoiled with gay representation more than in other places. In Mexico, they don’t have as big of a range of LGBT characters. So to see in a film these LGBT characters not struggling with drugs, or coming out or being in love with a straight guy – a lot of the tropes in other LGBT films- is really exciting for them. They have a different reaction.
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But now the film prepares to come home in a way.
JK: It’s so exciting. We were bought by Wolfe Distribution who has an amazing slate of films that are coming out this year. We are coming out in New York City on May 6 at Cinema Village in the East Village. It’s going to also play in LA and play both cities for a week. And then we are coming out on DVD and digital platforms, like Amazon and iTunes on June 14. It’s so interesting because I forget there is a difference between festival audiences and general audiences. So while a lot of people have seen the film, I’m excited to bring it to even more people. I made the film for a general audience. I didn’t set out to create a festival film. It is not overtly political. It’s not dealing with hot button trendy LGBT issues which is usual in the festival circuit. I hope that general audiences embrace it even more.
What are some challenges releasing a film under the header of LGBT?
JK: There are definitely challenges but there are also pros. One of the big challenges is marketing the film and how people are going to categorize it as LGBT. That will make it difficult to get straight audiences to come out. I think it’s rare that a heterosexual person outside of a festival setting would see an LGBT film unless they were being taken by a friend from the community.
What I have learned over the past year is actually it is a huge advantage. There are so many indie films that come out every year. Once of the challenges of having a small budget is having a small marketing budget and how do you break through the noise of the 50 films that come out every week. When you release under the LGBT umbrella, you know who your audience is, your core audience, and you get to target them directly. LGBT audiences are very supportive of content about themselves. We want to see ourselves and our stories on the screens of big theatres.
It’s like with LGBT media. It’s very important for us to tell our own stories.
JK: It is so important for us to tell our own stories. You can’t replicate lived experience. No matter how talented a writer you are. If you haven’t experienced growing up closeted or coming out or a lot of these touchstones of being gay. But, with that being said, I don’t think you can’t help tell a story of a group you are not a part of. With people who only want gay actors to play gay roles. It’s called acting. It gets tricky in certain situations especially with race. But when it comes to sexuality, I think people are people.
If you say only gay people can play gay roles, then you are saying gay people can’t play straight roles. And I don’t think that’s fair.
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How did you get involved with this film?
Jason Ralph: I got the audition through my agent. Susan Shopmaker was casting and she is one of the best casting directors in the city. I had one of the best times in my life auditioning for this film. Susan loves actors and creates an environment where you are allowed to fail, you know? It doesn’t mean you’re a bad actor. You can go in and make big choices and takes risks without fear. Her environment and Joey in that room was really kind of magical. I walked in and I understood these people. I felt as if we were all speaking the same language and here to tell the same story. It was a really electric audition and that chemistry between Jonathan and myself was instantaneous.
Jonathan Gordon: I got the audition notice and it was being cast by Susan Shopmaker who is a beloved cast directors among actors. She usually casts indie films and when I saw her name on the notice, I perked up and wanted to audition for her. I went in and read for Joey which was a lot of fun. The exciting thing about this casting process was reading with Jason which was so exciting. We hit it off so quickly. I don’t think I have had such immediate chemistry with someone. The first thing I asked when I got the part was if he was going to be in the film as well because I couldn’t imagine doing it with anyone else.
Tell me about the characters you play.
JR: Sebastian is a wealthy, self-centered, caring romantic soul. I think he often is unaware of the fact that he is inflicting his way of life upon other people. For him, life is sort of a given and it’s something to be taken for granted.
JG: Similar to Joey’s direction of the film, Charlie is a fundamentally empathetic person. The love and sense of loyalty he feels for his friends is enormous, and at times he behaves so selflessly that he forgets to assess his own wants and needs. That is such a large part of Charlie’s journey throughout the film: determining for the first time what it is that he actually wants and being brave enough to pursue those things. It’s an experience a lot of us have where we become so fixated on helping those we love (or in the case of Charlie’s relationship with Sebastian, perhaps even trying to “fix” someone), that we forget how to take care of ourselves.
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What was your favorite scene to film?
JR: Our breakup scene, when Jonathan leaves the house after the threesome. I had no idea how that was going to go. I knew it would have to be emotional and I had never cried before on film. I wasn’t sure in this format how that works. I never really had an opportunity to push myself as an actor to experience how on film you are allowed to go big and stretch and go for larger emotions.
JG: I have to say the threesome scene was the one of those moments as an actor that you always sort of hope for. It was incredibly frustrating to get that scene right and approximant how it should be. I don’t mean the sexual components. I think those moments of sexuality are really intent into this outpouring of grief and the climaxing of this relationship and it occurs in this spectacularly awkward situation. It was really difficult to figure out how to navigate the circumstances of that scene. Joey dedicated an entire day to get it right and it was exhausting but incredibly rewarding as these things mostly are. In that scene you see a character who is extremely frustrated but I really adore how Joey captured it.
What about the role of New York in the film?
JG: The film is Joey’s love letter to New York. He was born and raised and continues to live here. I think he is in love with this city. As am I.
Those People opens May 6 at the Cinema Village. For more information, visit Cinema Village or the film's website.
