Drew Anderson
Okay tell me about the film Violent . Who made it?
Incredibly Violent is a drama a Norwegian-language drama made by a group of very very young first-time filmmakers who are actually musicians in a band called We Are The City. They won the Peak Performance Prize and they decided the best way to honour the album they were working on would be to create a companion piece and to create a film. They wanted to challenge themselves so they decided that they would shoot it against a Norwegian landscape in a language that they don’t speak. So they wrote the script had it translated and then everything was translated back when they were editing it.
Why Norwegian?
Why not Norwegian? Have you got a problem with Norway?
No they’re my people.
Stark landscapes bother you? The richness of natural resources are a problem for you?
No I’m a Norwegian on my mom’s side. Is there Norwegian heritage in the band?
No.
So they were just drawn to the culture?
Yeah.
That was the one thing that really surprised me watching the trailer.
I know. It’s a Canadian film but it doesn’t look like a Canadian film it doesn’t feel like a Canadian film.
Was it filmed in Canada?
It was filmed in Norway. A few things they shot in their apartment when they got back but that was it.
So did they have any training as filmmakers at all?
Um you know what it never occurred to me to ask honestly. After seeing that film I knew all I needed to know about their expertise.
So the film was shortlisted for competition at Cannes.
Yes.
That’s when you’re up for the Palme d’Or and what have you?
Yup.
After narrowly missing out on that it’s now part of Perspective Canada at Cannes. What’s that?
Violent is looked at as one of the most promising films of the year and so once a year the programmers from Cannes fly to Canada and watch what they feel are the most promising projects and if they like any of them they take them back for consideration. So we were sweating it out for over a month because we were getting so far along in the process. Because each committee will watch a few thousand films from all over the world and ultimately in our category they’ll only pick seven or nine — something ridiculous. They picked a handful. So we were in it right up to the end. I couldn’t tell anybody — you can’t tell anybody. And you have to prepare everything as if it’s going to go. You have to deal with the publicists and get everything ready because it’s pandemonium once that announcement happens. To be honest it’s been pandemonium for me since the word quietly got out in Europe that this film existed. I’m at the point now that my phone rings all day and all night and I can’t keep up with the emails.
That’s a good problem to have.
It’s a great problem to have. You just have to make sure you’re doing right by the filmmakers.
What is an executive producer?
A producer can look like a lot of things. A producer does a lot of things that you would think a director would do maybe. So essentially my job is to ensure that a project gets finished on time hopefully under budget but still really stays true to a director’s vision. So you know for me I do a variety of things. I have to deal with the budgets. We deal with cast. A lot of what I do right now is help directors sharpen their vision and make sure that it’s something that an audience wants to see.
Have you done this before?
Yeah this is my first time having a feature film that will play in Cannes — we had a short at Cannes years ago but this is one of the larger projects that I’ve done. I’m doing something even larger.
Can you talk about that?
I can say that I’m happily working on a seven-figure documentary with an amazing Calgary director about an amazing Calgary secret.
So what is it about Cannes that attracts you?
I would say Cannes is one of the most important film festivals. The cost is so high to get there that everyone who goes is really serious about doing business about partnering about making films about acquiring films about screening films. So really I can’t imagine doing anything else if you have a film that you believe in; that’s the way to get that film out. I love Cannes. I could pretend that we have time to go to the beach and time to be glamorous but frankly it’s meetings every hour on the hour.
So for people who aren’t familiar with the band what kind of music does We Are The City play?
That’s tough. Ask [music editor] Josiah. I’m really bad at describing music. I would say that it’s really intelligent meditative pop but what the hell do I know.
Do you feel a little overwhelmed at this point?
Oh listen who cares? Of course I’m overwhelmed. This is ridiculous. Why are heads of companies calling me trying to acquire this film? It’s wild but you have to believe in the project and just let it be normal. Because ultimately what we do is a mystery what producers do is a mystery. Sometimes I’m the bad guy sometimes I crush dreams what are you going to do? But I mean film is ultimately an industry just like any other and it’s populated by people just doing their jobs. You just get to see the result of people’s hard work.
Can you tell me about the plot of Violent ? What’s it about?
I like to let Violent unfold because it’s one of the most special films I’ve ever seen. Truly. It’s a drama and you’re watching the protagonist you’re watching her recount her life during a very catastrophic event. You’re watching a series of scenes with the people who have loved her most thoughout her life. A lot of it is open to interpretation in the best kind of way.
It looks a bit dreamscape-ish in the trailer.
Yeah absolutely. And the soundtrack of course is all the band it’s all We Are The City.
And all from the album tied to the movie?
Album of the same name.
Is the album out yet?
Absolutely. They have been touring it in Europe actually.
And the movie will screen at Cannes and then release date to be determined thereafter?
We are shortlisted for a number of other really large festivals. So for us a festival run is going to be key. We’ll be making some decisions in the next couple of months of who’s going to distribute it. Really that’s all I do right now is take phone calls from distributors who want it. It’s really strange. Okay it’s a first-time film it’s made on no budget it’s pretty dreamy it’s Norwegian language no one’s heard of the cast.
Or the filmmakers.
Or the filmmakers exactly. However this film just has this special special quality and people want it. Oh and it’s subtitled. I mean just keep ticking off the reasons why this magical film should not be this magical.
How do you make that decision with all these people calling you and wanting to buy it. Is it strictly by numbers or is it people who align with your values?
It’s a combination. You want everyone who worked on the film to be paid fairly for the work that they’ve done and you want them to make enough money that they can now continue to make more films and not worry about day-to-day concerns. That’s huge. However could someone feasibly throw a bunch of money at it and hold onto it and never release it? Yes. Ultimately you do want someone that aligns with your values who wants the film out there who believes that it is special who isn’t just sort of shopping.
Which I’m sure is a lot of them.
Oh my god we get a ton of offers.
No pressure though.
No big deal. Please. Can I mention how happy I am to be doing this from Calgary?
No kidding.
About a year ago someone at Cannes from Canada sat me down and gave me a talk about how it was really cute that I was living in Calgary. I was taking a little break from film I didn’t think that I was going to be much good at it. I didn’t think there was anything there for me. Then I went to Cannes last year and my friend forced me into all these multimillion-dollar meetings and I thought “Oh shit yeah I love this. I have to do it.” So someone else sat me down and explained to me that it’s really tough for a woman in film it’s tough for women anyway it’s really tough for women producers and why would I jinx myself even more by staying in a small town.
You must be so pleased with yourself.
I couldn’t be happier. I’m so proud. So so so proud. That music documentary that we’re working on the seven-figure one there’s already Oscar nominees in it that have signed on. There’s already multi-Grammy Award-winners that have signed on.
Do you have a production company or are you just Amy Darling?
You know I was doing it on my own but it turns out that legally you do have to do all that stuff. I had no idea how much legal was involved I had no idea how much accounting was involved I had no idea how much paperwork was involved.
So what’s the name of your production company?
Media Darling.
Media Darling?
Don’t start.
