A Conversation with "Peak Season" creators Steven Kanter and Henry Loevner.

Name: A Conversation with "Peak Season" creators Steven Kanter and Henry Loevner.
Uploaded: 2025-09-06T01:45:46+00:00
Duration: 22 min 9 s
Channel: Elements of Madness

Elements of Madness

EoM senior interviewer Thomas Manning recently interviewed Steven Kanter and Henry Loevner, the filmmakers behind "Peak Season," a 2023 SXSW selection. The duo discuss their approach to crafting a cinematic love letter to Jackson Hole, Wyoming and talk about the process of balancing their various filmmaking responsibilities in the production.

Official Synopsis:
New York yuppies Amy & Max arrive in the wealthy resort town of Jackson Hole, Wyoming for a summer vacation. When Max is called away on business, Amy finds a friend in Loren, a local wilderness guide. They spend the week together exploring the Tetons. Both lonely and lost in their own lives, Amy & Loren share an instant connection. As her bond with Loren grows into something more than friendship, Amy questions whether she’ll return to NYC with Max after all.

Screening during SXSW 2023. #PeakSeason #SXSW #SXSW2023

schedule.sxsw.com/2023/films/2081834

twitter.com/PeakSeasonFilm
www.instagram.com/peakseasonfilm/

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Short film

Transcript

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00:00Hi, and welcome into EOM Presents. I'm Thomas Manning, senior interviewer for Elements of Madness, and today I'm very excited to be sharing with you my recent interview with filmmakers Stephen Cantor and Henry Lovner, who co-directed the film Peak Season, a South by Southwest film festival selection for 2023.

00:18This was a really great discussion. It was very conversational in nature, and we were able to just have a lot of banter and kind of bounce ideas off of each other. It was a lot of fun, and I really appreciated their time and their energy and their thoughtfulness.

00:32So I hope you enjoy this conversation with Stephen Cantor and Henry Lovner, co-directors of Peak Season. Thanks so much for watching and listening.

00:40So I definitely want to talk about filming on location in Jackson Hole, which I know was very special to you, Henry, in particular.

00:49And so, Henry, as you worked in telling the story, did you find your relationship with the town to evolve in any way or maybe look at life there from a different kind of perspective?

00:58Yeah, absolutely. I mean, in a few respects, first and foremost, obviously, when you are bringing a team of friends and collaborators to a place that you know so well, you get to kind of rediscover it.

01:12Some things that I, you know, have come to sort of take for granted, having spent so much time in Wyoming, both in terms of like just how stunningly beautiful it is,

01:22but also a lot of the local charm. It was really fun to kind of see it with fresh eyes through the perspective of the crew and the cast.

01:31So that was a really wonderful part of the experience. And also, even in the sort of development and pre-production process,

01:37we had the opportunity to interview countless wildlife, wilderness guides and fishing guides,

01:44and it was a great opportunity for us to just see the town from a new perspective.

01:50You know, I've formed friendships with people who work in the outdoor guiding industry for many years now,

01:58but to actually have like a really in-depth conversation with them about the nitty gritty of what it means to be a guide

02:03or what it means to be a skid was really eye-opening. So it was a fun experience for me to just sort of rediscover the town.

02:12And Stephen, what kind of background, if any, did you have with Jackson Hole? Had you ever visited before spending time there?

02:18I had, I had never visited my, so it was, it was interesting sort of both experiencing and visiting the,

02:28the Teton County and just Wyoming in general, and also filming a movie.

02:34So it was an interesting sort of orientation to the, to the environment and the location.

02:39Um, but I mean, I was just floored by it because Henry and I had been developing the idea and gone through pre-production,

02:49all of course, based in LA and had been told so much, had, had sort of joined in on the research of this area.

02:56And, and, but there's a huge difference between talking about the beauty of, of the landscape and actually being there and having the camera.

03:04And, and so it was, it was a really unique perspective, uh, and way to kind of first visit that, that place.

03:14Yeah. I'm someone who's known to make spontaneous road trips, uh, like last month, or I guess it was in January.

03:20I just drove to Maine because I wanted to go. Uh, so seeing the landscapes that you captured and, you know, Jackson Hole had me thinking to myself,

03:28you know, maybe Wyoming is next on my travel agenda. So, uh, thank you for, uh, thank you for inspiring that in me.

03:35Absolutely. Well, if you need any recommendations, uh, I'm happy, happy to provide, although you get plenty of recommendations for the movie itself, I think.

03:41So you're absolutely right. And I imagine there's some absolutely incredible B-roll that you shot that didn't end up in the final cut.

03:50Um, so how difficult was it to pinpoint exactly which scenic shots to include and what to leave on the cutting room floor?

03:57Uh, yeah, that's a good question. I'm trying to think, Steve, of like some of the scenes that we ended up cutting.

04:04Um, we were, we were, uh, somewhat precious about some of the more magnificent landscape shots that we tried to pack in as much as possible.

04:12I think the biggest thing that we ended up trimming was we have a lot of wildlife B-roll that we weren't able to include.

04:19Like, um, some stuff of like, like owls, like owls, horse stables, a lot of horses, uh, things that like just didn't really serve the story, but were, uh, just spectacular to look at.

04:33And we really had a good time capturing, um, as for, uh, scene, like entire scenes of the film, we were actually, you know, unlike our previous film where we ended up trimming a lot.

04:44But, uh, in this movie, I don't think we really cut any full scenes that I can think, very few.

04:50Yeah, there were some, there were some, it was, it was very minimal.

04:54We, yeah, there, there were some kind of more montage kind of moments throughout the, the actual town of Jackson Hole.

05:00But we were, I mean, we just knew also in, in shooting in Jackson that sort of just making sure that we were getting kind of our, our money's worth, so to speak.

05:11And I think we, we were, we, that was always at the forefront where, you know, we knew we were shooting in the snake river.

05:17It's like, okay, how can we best capture this in a way that we know that we're going to use it?

05:21How can we, uh, you know, frame the characters and make sure that we're, we're encapsulating the, the environment just as much as the, the scene.

05:30Yeah. And we were driving around with a camera built pretty much at all times because, you know, for example, the moose footage that you see in the film, like that was caught, uh, very just, um, unexpectedly.

05:44Someone was like, moose, moose, you know, like running out with a giant telephoto lens, trying to stay safe at a safe distance.

05:49But there were so many moments like that where we were capturing lightning storms or capturing, um, wildlife or what have you that, that just happened unexpectedly.

05:58So we just had to have a camera built, like kind of at all times.

06:01Yeah. So in addition to writing and directing, y'all were also cinematographers and editors.

06:08Um, so do you find any correlations between the physical filmmaking process and being responsible for so many aspects of the production?

06:17Uh, do you find any correlation between that and then the kind of vagabond lifestyle that, uh, the character of Lauren lives in the movie where, where he's responsible for.

06:26So, so, so many things that most people don't even think about in their day-to-day life.

06:31Wow. What a, what a connection. Um, this is like therapy.

06:36Um, that's what I'm doing.

06:39Yeah. Steve, you want to, what do you do?

06:41Well, yeah, I mean, similarly, we have to, hadn't even really considered that connection, but it's, it's an interesting one.

06:48I think it at the very least adds to a certain appreciation we have for, for Lauren's character and, and also just in sort of our, for me, kind of my first entry into sort of understanding this community.

07:02Henry had more background into it, but I mean, there is a certain level of, of freedom in, in sort of being the master of your own domain.

07:12And, and, and Lauren is, is certainly kind of lives his life on his own terms and, and he's relatively self-reliant.

07:20And, and I think there's obviously huge advantages as filmmakers to be able to have the flexibility to, hey, let's, we see something and we can shoot it.

07:31And we, we reduce the amount of middlemen and, and also importantly, time it takes to be able to sort of capture something from idea to, uh, production.

07:41And so.

07:43And a distrust of authority figures.

07:45And that too.

07:46Distrust of authority figures.

07:48So that definitely, uh, dovetails with, with Lauren's, uh, kind of anarchist mentality.

07:53Um, but, but, you know, we're ready to sell out though.

07:57If anyone wants to write us a point check, we're very happy.

08:01Yeah.

08:02It's exhausting.

08:02Uh, Lauren is not the only one who is, who is frequently visiting his physical therapist and, uh, being castigated to not, uh, doing his stretches enough.

08:12So.

08:12I think that's something we can all relate to, to, to a certain extent.

08:17So, and, uh, you know, Steven, I know you have a background in composing and, uh, you scored this film as well.

08:25So how do you, you know, compartmentalize those different aspects of your creativity when you're making the film?

08:31Is there a part where Steven, the director ends and Steven, the composer begins, or is it a consistently symbiotic relationship there?

08:39Well, I mean, in the case of this film, I admittedly only composed a few of the, the, the themes.

08:46And so it kind of came more out of just utility, uh, cause we had a pretty, we have a pretty diverse sort of selection of music and, and things that it's also a big benefit of Henry and my own collaboration.

08:58Where we just in terms of taste and, uh, we're, we're almost very, we're, we're almost a hundred percent aligned when it comes to how to score the film and musically what it should, what it should sound like, what it should feel like.

09:11Um, in this case, utility, I think, uh, we, we played around with a lot of temp tracks, obviously when we were in post-production and, um, yeah, I think just having, having a musical composition background, it's, it's nice to be able to, uh, carve out a few, a few moments in particular that, that are sort of higher kind of emotional moments in the film.

09:34Um, when it comes to Lauren and Amy's relationship and to be able to create something original for that.

09:41Um, so yeah, I mean, in this case, it was, it's just like a nice, a nice utility to be able to, to, to lean on when we need it.

09:51And also the needle drops, uh, which you kind of alluded to were excellent as well.

09:56Um, so how do you go about choosing a soundtrack that's complimentary to the film, both sonically and thematically as well?

10:04Uh, yeah, I, you know, we were discussing that pretty early on in the process.

10:09Um, like even on our drive out to Wyoming loaded, you know, my Prius loaded with the character, uh, we were, we were, you know, uh, playing songs on Spotify and trying to identify what we wanted the, the sort of the vibe of the film to be.

10:25Um, and certainly even as we were shooting, driving around town, like continuing to play music, uh, and, and just trying to figure out what that tone should be.

10:34Um, but of course there's always, you know, you're making a, uh, an independent film, you have limitations.

10:39You can't go and license a bunch of, uh, you know, Allman brothers.

10:43Um, so, uh, we, we had to be obviously selective, um, and also have the benefit of having a really talented, uh, friends who are musicians or friends who are in the music business who can, um, link us up with talented artists that are, you know, maybe lesser known, but who are, uh, making incredible music.

11:03So, uh, we tried to sort of take advantage of whatever, uh, whatever resources we had.

11:09Um, and then there were a couple of moments in that film where we were like, okay, let's, let's try to ball out a little bit on this one needle drop.

11:15Uh, so, um, but yeah, we, we always knew we wanted something that was like, I don't know, like very sort of, uh, guitar forward, uh, a little different from our soundtrack from the end of us, which was, uh, a lot quirkier, um, more like a kind of John Bryan soundtrack.

11:31So, uh, but yeah, just sharing playlists and swapping songs back and forth.

11:38And, uh, a lot of the film is about people from different lifestyles and backgrounds, getting a glimpse into each other's daily lives.

11:45And that leads to some, uh, rather humorous conversations at various points.

11:49Uh, the, the scene with Amy and Fiona and their night out, that really comes to mind.

11:55Uh, so let me ask this, how do each of y'all react in those awkward situations where you're talking to someone who was just,

12:01on another wavelength entirely?

12:03Are you, you know, just, what is that energy like for both of y'all?

12:06I know we all come at those situations with different reactions, but I'd love to have each of you share a little bit of your personal stories there.

12:13Well, I, I can't help it.

12:15At this point, I find it immensely amusing.

12:18And like, perhaps because as a filmmaker and as a writer, I, I find myself sort of, uh, witnessing the moment in real time is like, wow, this is such a great character.

12:31Um, and I think that's kind of a helpful way of removing myself while also being positive and trying not to be kind of standoffish in any kind of situation.

12:41Where, where there is sort of a clash of personality.

12:44Um, yeah.

12:46I mean, Henry, I don't know if you want to speak about that, that scene in particular.

12:49I mean, there's some real personal draw.

12:53Well, that was, I mean, the whole thing about like the parking, her friend died.

12:56And that was something somebody actually said to me.

13:00Wow.

13:00So they said it to me like maybe seven or eight years ago.

13:03I was at a, like a friend's birthday, some party or something, and some totally like vapid person was talking to me and, and said this, and, uh, that has been, um, permanently imprinted on my brain.

13:16So I had been looking for an opportunity to use that.

13:18And, uh, I think also Jackson, because it has such a diversity of, uh, eccentric personalities there, we knew that we wanted this to showcase like some kind of, you know, Robert Altman, Nashville style, kooky characters, uh, who get to say outlandish things.

13:36Um, so it was just a great opportunity to just like break out the notebook and, um, use some of the weird things we've heard people say over the years.

13:44And it was nice to be able to, uh, sort of explore that and perhaps have a little bit more of those character-y characters in, in the supporting cast because Amy and Lauren, Amy and Lauren, while there is humor, there's also more of a grounded kind of relationship.

14:02And it was particularly fun to explore some of the more comedic beats with, with our sort of surrounding, uh, surrounding cast.

14:11Yeah. And you also get to work with, uh, Fred Melamed and Stephanie Courtney.

14:16Uh, I imagine that was a pretty interesting day on set.

14:19Uh, can you walk me through any memories you have of filming that moment?

14:23Oh, yeah. Well, it was the hottest day of the year in Los Angeles.

14:28Uh, so it was, uh, it was, uh, a little bit of, um, uh, hectic day, just trying to get everyone on location, make sure the AC was running, all of that.

14:37Uh, but it, they were wonderful to work with.

14:40I mean, uh, just both of them are, uh, really high caliber actors.

14:44Uh, and it was such a pleasure to bring some sort of fresh blood into the production where we had spent so much time in Wyoming shooting with a really small, intimate crew, uh, with only a handful of characters, only a handful of actors.

14:56And to get to bring them in for the day, uh, was really a highlight of the, of the whole production.

15:03Um, and, uh, it was one of only a few scenes that we shot in Los Angeles, um, almost the entirety of the movies in Wyoming, but there were a couple of scenes we had to shoot in LA just for, uh, practical production purposes.

15:16So, uh, but I think it was, I think it was also the last thing we shot too.

15:22Yeah.

15:23Yeah.

15:24It was a, it was a nice celebration in a sense.

15:27It was a, while it was a very involved kind of day, I, it was, it was a nice way to, to sort of end the, end the film on, on a high note, a high production note like that.

15:36Yeah.

15:38That's awesome.

15:39Yeah.

15:39Once I saw that Fred was in it, I, that immediately piqued my interest.

15:44And, uh, you know, even though he's only in it for the one scene, I, uh, was, I, I was kind of in it with him the entire time.

15:50And, but then also these surrounding characters and cast that I hadn't really seen before in films or television.

15:56Uh, I was just as in tune with them as I was with the faces I recognize.

16:01So, um, uh, the cast you brought together, I definitely applaud you, um, applaud you both for that.

16:07Uh, thank you.

16:08Yeah.

16:08I mean, we're huge, uh, Fred and Stephanie fans.

16:12Um, you know, uh, they're, they're incredible improvisers too.

16:16I mean, that was, uh, the great joy of working with them was just like, they were so loose and ready to riff and have fun.

16:23Um, so yeah, hopefully we'll get to work with them again one day.

16:26We'll see.

16:27For sure.

16:28For sure.

16:29And, uh, another really funny moment, uh, that kind of caught my attention.

16:34There's the scene where Lauren reveals that he genuinely does not know who Camila Cabello is.

16:40Um, so can either of you think to a similar moment in your lives, uh, where you discovered something in pop culture that was new to you, but common knowledge for most other people in the world?

16:52Hmm.

16:53Oh God.

16:54I mean, I feel like experience.

16:55Yeah, I feel like it's exactly.

16:57I feel like if it's, if it's a TikTok trend, uh, there's probably, uh, at least a moment of me kind of, and it's being referenced.

17:06I'm sort of quietly searching to see what, what that is, but yeah, it does seem like a daily occurrence for better or for worse.

17:15I mean, I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but, um, I mean, there's just so many references in pop culture and, and there's so many outlets and so many things happening all at once.

17:26It's too much to know about this.

17:28Yeah.

17:28I, I, and as we've just gotten older, uh, both of us, uh, we actually met, uh, when we were both working together at Buzzfeed and, um, you know, our experience there was like, we felt like we were sort of, uh, had our, had our finger on the pulse on some level because you're working at a digital media company.

17:47And then since we've left, I think none of us have just increasingly feel like the world is passing us by and not an entirely in a bad way either.

17:54So, um, well, sometimes being completely unplugged is, uh, you know, there's nothing wrong with that at all.

18:02So yes, totally.

18:03Yeah.

18:04And I will say about that, that Camila Cabello line, I mean, I can't confirm this totally, but I think Derek DeBlasis who, who plays Lauren, I think that was like a real reaction by him.

18:15I would, I would put all my money on him, not having known.

18:19And I think that's part of that sort of, that was one moment of sort of improvisation that, that we just loved how, how real it was.

18:26And it's a nice kind of connecting moment between the two of them.

18:29That's fantastic.

18:30Oh my gosh.

18:31I love that.

18:32And, uh, before we wrap up, I have to comment on one thing in particular in this film that I couldn't believe how much it lined up to something that recently happened in my life.

18:42Um, but there's, it's a piece of information regarding Lauren's background where he mentions that he moved to Minneapolis to follow a girl and that didn't work out.

18:53Uh, well, just about a year ago, something very similar happened to me where I nearly moved to an unfamiliar city in the Midwest for the same thing.

19:03It didn't work out, but thankfully in my case, I figured that out before I made the move.

19:08Um, but I just sat there just losing my mind to that scene, uh, because it was, it was, I just couldn't believe like how specific of an experience it was and how closely to lie with me.

19:20So I, I just had to mention that to both of y'all how, you know, just, yeah, I was just shocked by it.

19:26Like, but in all the best ways.

19:29Uh, good.

19:30Well, I'm, I'm, um, uh, I, I think it's, uh, true that the more specific, uh, you make an experience in a film or, or an anecdote, uh, oftentimes you'll find almost like the more relatable it is in a strange way, um, that people will connect to it.

19:46So, um, I'm glad you connected to it.

19:48I'm, I'm sorry that you had that experience, I guess, but, uh, but, uh, yeah, I think it's something that, you know, obviously many people go through.

19:56Um, and, uh, yeah, certainly many of the mountain guides that we spoke to had anecdotes like that, where they were like, I tried to do the city thing.

20:05I moved out to New York for a relationship and I just couldn't do it.

20:09I had to move back.

20:10And so.

20:11Well, and we've.

20:12Yeah, we, I mean, we felt it was important.

20:15And, uh, to, to, to make sure that it was sort of expressed at some point in the film that, that it's not like Lauren, uh, cause, cause, you know, he is relatively set in his ways and his life and the choices that he's made.

20:28And, and it was very important for us to have a little bit more of that background where it's, you know, you could, you could sort of imagine him at a younger age and trying something else and maybe leaving that life.

20:40And, and, and we felt it was really important to, to have that explored and to have that, cause it is so tied into the choices or, or, or non choices of the characters in this film.

20:51And, um, yeah, as Henry mentioned, this sort of, we've all had, we've all had those and there are always relationships that are the things that potentially kind of pull us out of our comfort zone.

21:02And so it was, it was really important for us in the story.

21:06Well, Steven and Henry really has been a privilege to talk to you both about peak season and, uh, congrats on the film and, uh, congrats on the South by Southwest selection.

21:17And, uh, really looking forward to seeing where you both go from here and, uh, hopefully we get another chance to talk again about some of your future projects.

21:24Yeah. Likewise. This is such a pleasure.

21:28Yeah. Yeah. Thank you so much, Thomas.

21:30For sure.

21:30I love your, your Cliff Booth, uh, t-shirt back there, by the way, you got some great memorabilia.

21:35Oh, of course, of course. Got a, yeah. I've got a nice little home studio set up down here. So yeah.

21:41Nice.

21:42Yeah.

21:42Looks like you've got enough DVDs to, to last you a decade.

21:46It's fantastic.

21:48Yeah. Probably got about a thousand on that shelf. Then we got another shelf to my left over here, probably another 200.

21:53So yeah, we got a, you know, me and my dad are both like huge movie people. So yeah.

21:59It's awesome.