How 'Stillwater' Keeps You Riveted and How 'Let Us In' Found an IP Loophole
Learn from Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom McCarthy, and also writer/director of 'Let Us In,' Craig Moss.
Stillwater is the rare instance of a fully engaging adult drama that says powerful things about the world today and the human experience. For real. How does someone do that? Tom McCarthy, Noe Debre, and Thomas Bidegain join us on the podcast to discuss. Later in the same episode, Craig Moss joins us to talk old-school viral videos (on VHS) and how he keeps shifting his career with Let Us In.
In this episode, we talk about...
- How the team for Stillwater decided which elements of the plot to reveal to the audience and when to create an aura of mystery and sustain interest.
- The profound and timely themes that Stillwater’s plot explores, and whether the themes or the plot came first when developing the script.
- How the team developed characters for the script, and how those conversations informed casting.
- How Craig Moss found a bit of a loophole in intellectual property when he created Let Us In by tapping into urban legends.
- Moss’s early influences and how he got started in film.
- What it was like for Moss to make the jump from producing his own short films to directing a feature.
- Moss’s experience creating various parody films.
- How Moss and his partner developed Let Us In from the legend of the black-eyed children and other influences for the film, like The Goonies, E.T., and Stranger Things.
- What it was like for Moss to work with his daughter as the lead actor on the film.
Links to Resources:
Please like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, subscribe to our YouTube, and check us out on Instagram!
Ask us questions at editor@nofilmschool.com!
Please subscribe and rate us on iTunes, or the podcasting app of your choice.
This episode of The No Film School Podcast was produced by George Edelman and Charles Haine.