Søren
That brings me to another question. How was the original short received?
Bryan
The original short was received really well!
Søren
It’s a great short!
Bryan
Oh, thank you. At first I submitted it to top-tier festivals, and I was disappointed it didn’t – I submitted to Sundance, South by Southwest and Tribeca. And it’s really hard to get into those festivals.
Søren
(Laughs.) Yeah.
Bryan
Like, it’s super exclusive. But then it started getting into – it got into the Seattle International Film Festival, which is the largest festival in North America. And it won the “audience favorite” award, which was shocking to me.
Søren
Wow, nice!
Bryan
I went to that festival, and saw these incredible films. The whole festival lasted a month. So I came home, I was back here for a month and I got a phone call saying that we won the audience award for that, and I was driving and had to pull over to the side of the road for like an hour –
Søren
(Laughs.)
Bryan
It was so exciting. So it was in that, it was in a bunch of other festivals in the states. And then it started making its way over to Europe. And once it got into the top to LGBT film festivals in the United States, which is Frameline in San Francisco and Outfest in L.A., it was kind of like… everyone looks to those for their programming.
It was just constantly people getting in touch with me and me having to send it out for like a year. Which is kind of like a part-time job, dealing with that, and you’re not really getting paid. So it was a lot of work for your craft, for your love.
Søren
It sounds like it found a home in a niche sort of festival run. Is that correct?
Bryan
It ended up getting into a lot of LGBT film festivals, but it was also, like, a crossover, I guess you could call it. Because it was also in Woodstock Film Festival, and New Orleans Film Festival, and Rhode Island Film Festival. So not LGBT film festivals, just indie. Which is cool, because I think it’s rare for that to happen and to get such a positive response.
Søren
Something I’ve noticed about Spooners and what seems to be the rest of The Webseries is that you seem to have a sense of humor about these situations. How do you think humor plays into your storytelling? Does make the material more accessible?
Bryan
Hmm, I don’t know. I mean, in terms of the humor piece of it, the kind of shorts that I like to watch – and I think a lot of people like to watch – are ones that are entertaining, as opposed to a serious short. When I sit down and watch a webseries, it’s because I want to just sit down and have a laugh.
Søren
Right, right.
Bryan
Because the two actors in the film, Walter Replogle and Ben Lerman, are comedic actors, it just lends itself to that. There’s a lot of improvisation and creative play with the ideas of the scripts. And so I think that laughing, and laughing at ourselves, is a great way of getting through to people. So yeah, I hope it does make it more accessible to a broader audience. Plus, I think the things we’re going for are universal issues that people face in relationships.
Søren
The content is certainly relatable enough. I was just thinking of shows like Seinfeld, which deal with universal issues but also very Jewish issues, in a lot of ways. But that show had a lot of appeal beyond the Jewish community.
Bryan
Right.
Søren
And in fact, I think when the pilot for that show was shown to producers, there was one who said, “Too New York, too Jewish.” And admittedly, perhaps the pilot wasn’t the best example of the show. But perhaps the humor let it transcend its community-specific origins. So I think you’re doing something very similar, from what I’ve seen of Spooners.
