Interview with the director of “Ticky Tacky.” How he met Oscar Isaac and much more!
“Ticky Tacky” is one of the films in the Hollywood Short Film Program showing as part of the “Cinema Museum” special fall screenings hosted by Asia’s largest and only Academy Awards® qualifying international short film festival. We spoke to director Brian Petsos about the highlights of his film “Ticky Tacky,” which stars popular actor Oscar Isaac. If you don’t know already, Isaac is one of the actors appearing in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which will be in cinemas here in Japan at the end of the year! How did Petsos meet Isaac? What are the things to look out for in his film? Find out in this interview, where he also offers many tips on filmmaking.
– What are the highlights of your film?
The film was designed very purposely as a sort of throwback chamber piece, and as such, it was meant to play with/to the theatricality and melodrama in the midst of all the dark/dry humor. The proscenium approach (for the most part) with the cinematography also feeds into this. Obviously, with a short film—and having very limited time and budget—you have to sort of make the logistics work for you, which, given limited expectations, I think we ended up doing.
– Why did you cast Oscar Issac in this role? (How did you meet him?)
Let me start by explaining that I met Oscar several years ago in conjunction with a film project where we played opposite each other as cousins. I think it was one of those rare, special situations where you feel like this person has been a friend for ages, even though you’ve only just met! It was almost like we were already cousins—we just needed to reacquaint ourselves. And on top of that, so many of our creative impulses and interests aligned. When I was in the very early stages of getting TICKY TACKY together, Oscar expressed an interest in joining the party. So it wasn’t really “casting” in the traditional sense. It was simply what the universe demanded.
– Any particular message for Japanese audiences?
I’d just like to humbly thank the Japanese audience for spending 15 minutes with TICKY TACKY—I am so excited that our little film has made it all the way over to Japan! Cheers!