INTERVIEW WITH BRYAN WIZEMANN,
DIRECTOR OF "THE MORNING SUN"

By Rooftop Films on 11/14/2008

The Morning Sun (Bryan Wizemann | Brooklyn, NY | 5:30)


A woman wakes up, takes a shower, gets dressed, and leaves the house. In this fascinating and ephemeral film -- a study in the use of available light and narrative restraint -- it's up the audience to string together the pieces of her morning, and the night before.

Rooftop Films: Tell us about your film:

Bryan Wizemann: The film up at IFC.com is actually from last year, called The Morning Sun, and it's really just a story of a girl waking up in an apartment that's not her own. It stars Allison Lawrence, and was shot at Gary's Shooting Lofts here in Brooklyn.

The film that played Rooftop this year isn't on IFC.com, at least not yet, and is called Film Makes Us Happy. That film is a short doc that tries to depict the last fight I'll ever have with my wife about making films. It gets pretty emotional, and I can't quite pull the trigger about it being online. My wife goes back and forth as well, between feeling it's important to see and not wanting anyone to see it, ever.

RF: What was your inspiration?

BW: For The Morning Sun, I was at the Pittsburgh Art Museum with my cinematographer Mark and my friend Sam, seduced by a blurred Andy Warhol film still of a young woman on a bed. My next feeling was that I was completely sure that the film I created in my mind around the still was no doubt more satisfying (and arguably much shorter) than the actual film would prove to be. To be fair, I never saw the film that the still was from, but other Warhol film experiments lead me to believe I wouldn't be able to suffer through it. So we argued and crafted and conceived on the drive home, and decided to try and figure out what the simplest short film could be that captured that kind of feeling. The story of The Morning Sun came out of that conversation. I always wanted to make a low dialogue short, and Mark had just purchased the Panasonic HXV, so we were desperate to shoot something using available light to see what it could do. Inspiration also comes from want, I suppose.

For Film Makes Us Happy, the inspiration literally came from trying to stop having the same fight with Sabina (my wife) about all the money I've pissed away in independent film. I had a screenplay that was personally invited to submit to the Sundance Lab. With the promise of the lab and what that would have meant, and after the third invitation, and the third rejection, and after almost two years of waiting, it was too much for my wife to bear. Her feeling was just that film was a closed society, and only a foray of the rich and connected. Not to mention that we recently had a kid and sold our place to get out of the film debt I amassed from my last credit card feature (Losing Ground, on Netflix, go check it out!).

The fight was easy to start, so after three months of browbeating her she finally relented and agreed to put it on film, the caveat being that she would have final say on the edit and if anybody actually got to see it. By showing her some of the selects to try and convince her to let it screen, she actually ended up helping me edit it. And it did work to some degree; we reference the film more than we fight about all the money I've set fire to. It played the Hamptons and IFF Boston and was recently part of Rooftop's best of summer screening, so I'm happy it got some exposure. I think I'm going to put it back into hiding now though.

RF: Ever been in a similar situation?

BW: For The Morning Sun, kind of. For Film Makes Us Happy, the film was the similar situation, so yes, unfortunately, many times.

RF: Are you a full-time filmmaker? If not, what else are you up to?

BW: I'm not entirely sure how these people who get to make films full-time get to make films full-time. I don't know how anyone could unless they are independently wealthy and have access and opportunity and a lot of time on their hands. Really I'm just envious, and would love nothing more than to focus more on film. The one time I was able to freelance from home and swallow the debt and focus on writing was a really productive time. It just wasn't sustainable.

And I'm amazed at all the stories I hear of seven-figure indies where the writer/director received no compensation. No compensation. It's been said that no one knows how anyone makes any money in this business, and I think the answer is they just don't.

RF: What is your current/next project?

BW: I've gotten lucky this past year. That script that kept getting invited and rejected by Sundance ended up being one of the top three winners of the Slamdance Screenplay Competition. Slamdance is trying to become a frontrunner in that arena, and offer a lot of different specialized screenplay entry opportunities. I highly recommend it.

I was able to get representation from the awards publication in the trades, and Barbara DeFina recently signed on to produce. I'm a big fan of her work, not just the Scorsese films, but the smaller ones like You Can Count on Me and The Grifters. I think it's a good fit, and it's developing well. We have some key supporting roles cast, and are gearing up for production in the spring. The film is called An Entire Body, and more information is up at the film's website: www.anentirebody.com. I very excited about it.

RF: If you've been to a Rooftop show, how was the experience?

BW: I love going to Rooftop shows, but have yet to be on an actual Rooftop. The Yard venue on the Gowanus Canal is my favorite, and the selection of pre-show bands never fails to impress. The music oddly maps to the venue somehow. I was excited to be on the roof of the LES Public School they screen at [New Design High School. -ed.], but alas, there was rain a comin', so it was held indoors. That's the other fun thing about Rooftop, they always have a plan b for shitty weather.

RF: What excites you about having your short film on Rooftop Films at IFC.com?

BW: IFC is becoming one of the strongest distributors for independent film. Indeed, one of the few. I've always trusted their taste and think they've done quite a bit to push audiences toward great films that would have otherwise struggled. The Morning Sun was actually an early winner of their online Media Lab, and out of that it was able to screen on the IFC channel. It's always exciting for me when something small like that finds a way to get out into the world.

RF: Do you have any questions for the viewers? We hope they'll post comments!

BW: Do people really ever read blogs? Do they ever read blogs about filmmakers? I don't have any questions really, but I'll try and check back for comments and do my best to answer them. I once tried to have it out with Mike Plante on a Wholphin blog, but it became pretty clear that we were the only two who were reading the thing anyway. (I actually like Mike and the stuff that Wholphin programs, at least the stuff that isn't film celebrity b-sides). But yes, go ahead, ask away. Most of my film exploits are online on www.ballastfilms.com.