00:00Hi, I'm Mariah Gullow from The Hollywood Reporter, and I'm here with Sean Baker.
00:07We're in studio today to talk about The Florida Project.
00:10Thanks for having me.
00:11Yes, thank you so much.
00:12So, okay, this is one of the first movies you wanted to make.
00:17You made it, you were interested in making it before Tangerine.
00:20Yeah.
00:21This was actually, it was a little bit after Starlit, I believe, where my co-screenwriter
00:26started sending me news articles that focused on the situation down in Kissimmee and Orlando,
00:34Florida, in which there were families living in budget motels right outside of the Magic
00:39Kingdom in the parks.
00:42So it brought it to my attention around 2011, 2012, and we just could not get financing.
00:51I think it was because our treatment wasn't fleshed out enough, and I think people read
00:55through it.
00:58And so we went ahead and made Tangerine, which was a micro-budget film, and that opened the
01:03doors for us and really allowed us to get, first off, a grant from CineReach, a wonderful
01:09nonprofit that allows independent films like this to get off the ground, and that gave us
01:14a grant that would allow us to travel back and forth and really then absorb the environment,
01:19approach it in a journalistic way in which we could then write a script.
01:23And then June Pictures came on board to finance the film, and we shot in the summer of 2016.
01:29Do you feel like all of that time, like taking the time to kind of ruminate on it, like was
01:35that good, or were you really raring to make that movie, and was it disappointing, or do
01:39you think it worked out?
01:40Yeah.
01:41It was very disappointing at the time, but then of course in hindsight, what would this
01:45movie be without Brooklyn Prince?
01:47You know, she would have been one years old when we were trying to make this film at first,
01:51so it all works out for a reason.
01:54And then also on top of that, I think making Tangerine really helped us with gaining the
02:02confidence to approach this in a more using comedy and making it an overt comedy.
02:11You know, maybe my films leading up to Tangerine were dramas with comedic elements, and then
02:17Tangerine and this film have become comedies with dramatic moments, so it's slightly changed
02:25our approach to storytelling.
02:27Right.
02:28And is that kind of the storytelling that you want to continue on with?
02:31I think so.
02:32I think so.
02:33I think it's been getting a warm reception, and we obviously got a good reception with
02:38Tangerine.
02:39I think what it's told me as a filmmaker is that, you know, keeping in mind always that
02:46this is an entertainment medium, and people are going to be spending their hard earned
02:51money and dedicating a Friday or Saturday night, and there still has to be a degree of
02:56escapism.
02:57I mean, that's why people go to narrative films, fiction films.
03:02And so using that approach, but then of course using it to shine a light on an important subject
03:11or to bring awareness to an issue that perhaps I feel is important to bring awareness to,
03:18that's the best of both worlds, because you entertain an audience and then you leave them
03:22thinking and sparking discussion.
03:23I talked to another filmmaker who was talking about going from dark to light rather than
03:28light to dark.
03:29That's kind of her path.
03:31Does that make sense to you?
03:33Like this idea that you start in a dark place and then end up in a lighter place?
03:38Yeah, really.
03:39That all, I guess it all, who, which filmmaker if you don't mind asking?
03:42Mariana Palka.
03:43Oh, interesting.
03:44Yeah, yeah.
03:45She, okay.
03:46I have to see her new film.
03:47I can see that.
03:48Yeah.
03:49And it all really depends on the subject that you're covering and your focus on, you know,
03:56characters and, and so it really, it really depends.
03:59But I, I, I do see that there is a, in our film we have, and I don't want to, for people
04:05who haven't seen the film, I don't want to scare them off, but there is a sobering moment.
04:11There is a, there is a, a time in which the film moves from a, you know, a joyous experience
04:19to one that's based in the harsh reality that these characters are living in.
04:24Mm-hmm.
04:25Yeah.
04:26Um, I wanted to talk to you a little bit about Willem Dafoe because, um, you went to NYU.
04:30Yes.
04:31Uh, growing up around the New York area.
04:33Yeah, yeah.
04:34When you were young, um, in college, uh, Willem was kind of a huge scenester.
04:40Yes.
04:41In the downtown New York art scene.
04:42Yeah, yeah.
04:43Um, can you tell me about how it, you know, what your impressions were of him before you've,
04:49you know, so many years after you, you end up casting him?
04:52Well, I remember it was one, one of my classmates actually made a small, a short documentary
04:57on the Wooster group.
04:58Mm-hmm.
04:59And I remember being starstruck.
05:00When I was there, we were shooting this doc and he walks in and it's like, it's Willem Dafoe.
05:05Um, but even before that, just, just in high school, him making such a, just a really,
05:12really, um, uh, really impactful impression on me with Platoon, To Live and Die in LA,
05:19Mississippi Burning.
05:20I mean, he was already a hero of mine.
05:22So, um, uh, my, my, and I still look back to that time when people say, oh, this is unconventional
05:30casting for Willem.
05:31Well, it's not really.
05:32I mean, if you look at those earlier roles in which he was always the protagonist and
05:36sort of the moral compass of the film, I mean, that's how I saw it going into this one.
05:40I, I, I knew that he could pull off Bobby because I've, I've seen him do it before in
05:45his earlier work.
05:46Mm-hmm.
05:47Yeah.
05:48Um, what are you hoping to accomplish when you kind of step, you base your films in like
05:53a world of extreme poverty?
05:55Mm-hmm.
05:56Like it's obviously something that's interesting to you.
05:58Well, I, I, you know, it's, uh, it really is, again, it's like a film, a project, a project
06:04basis.
06:05It's, it's, it's not just poverty that I'm trying to look at.
06:09It's usually an issue.
06:10It's usually a group of people or, uh, for maybe a subculture that, um, is underrepresented
06:17or perhaps, um, you know, living on the margins.
06:21Again, this is stuff to me, I don't go into it with the folk with, Hey, what marginalized
06:26group can I do now?
06:27No, that would be offensive and insulting.
06:29It's, I, I, this has been brought to my attention through journalists and through it,
06:34you know, press.
06:35And it's something that I guess it's my, I guess it's a response to what I'm saying.
06:39I'm not seeing enough of in film and TV or what I want to see more of.
06:43So with this, with this particular film, you know, this has to do with an issue that the,
06:49the entire, uh, country is dealing with.
06:52And that's one of the hidden homeless.
06:54And it's a term that I didn't even know existed.
06:56Um, I lived most of my life in New York City.
07:00I lived for a while out here in Los Angeles.
07:03The way that we see homelessness is, is on the streets.
07:06We see people on the streets.
07:07We hear about Skid Row and overcrowded shelters, et cetera.
07:10But there's, there's a, there's a population of people who are, uh, who are technically homeless.
07:17Unable to, uh, secure permanent housing and who, um, but are still keeping a roof over their heads.
07:23Struggling, you know, week, uh, week to week, sometimes night to night to keep a roof over their heads.
07:27And that can be a budget motel.
07:28That can be a friend's or family's, uh, uh, home, or that can be a car.
07:33I mean, this is, this is, uh, something that I didn't really know a lot about.
07:37And so this, this film, what I would like this film to do is, is, is, uh, is first bring awareness to the subject.
07:44Cause that's the first step towards change.
07:46You know, uh, removing the stigma from, from something like that through, through awareness and education is always the first step towards change.
07:53But then ultimately I would love people to, you know, to hopefully be motivated to look into it in their own community.
07:59I mean, this is not just Kissimmee in Orlando.
08:01This might be existing right under your nose and you don't know it.
08:04I mean, we're here in Los Angeles and we have a major problem down in Anaheim.
08:07We have one down, uh, out in San Bernardino.
08:10And, um, so this is something that, Hey, look, if you're motivated, if you, if you're inspired,
08:15if you're thinking about the real Moonies out there, um, become an advocate for your local organization, support them.
08:22Doesn't mean you have to donate.
08:23I'm not asking people to donate money.
08:25I'm saying perhaps spread the word, uh, volunteer, uh, you know, again, become an advocate for,
08:31uh, that's what we're, that's the, that's the message we're, we're getting out there.
08:35Because what we do have an affordable housing crisis in the U S and, uh, we need the federal government to step up.
08:42And until they do, uh, we have to, we have to do everything we can do to, to, to get people out of this situation.
08:49Why do you think women have it particularly hard in your movie?
08:53What I noticed is that you do see this, like, it's, it's kind of rare to see a man.
08:58Every once in a while you'll see a man and, but it's mostly like single moms and, uh, caretakers of children who are women.
09:05You don't see the men around.
09:07There are a few men and, but, um, yes, it's true that a lot of the single parents that I came across were, were women, were mothers.
09:15Um, and you know, one, one third, the, the last statistic I heard is that, uh, one third of, of single mothers are living below the poverty level.
09:26And this is something that's just, this is a society, uh, issue and problem.
09:31And it's just something that, uh, all my films are usually we do our absolute best to, to, to base it in, in reality as much as possible.
09:41So using, you know, proper, the proper demographics, the proper, you know, details and statistics to back up our narrative, uh, storytelling.
09:50Yeah.
09:51Um, what's the most difficult part about producing your own film?
09:56Well, I'm one of the producers on it. I had a, a group of wonderful producers around me.
10:00So at some point I'm going, I'm in creative mode, guys, you can take over.
10:06And, and, uh, Kevin Chinoy, Francesca Silvestri, uh, Shi Ching-Zo, Alex, uh, Sachs and Andrew Duncan, they, they stepped up and they, they make it happen.
10:18You know, it's, for me as one of the producers, what it means is that there's always, there's always ownership there.
10:23There's always, um, of course, uh, a say in, in how the film, uh, the life of the film, you know, it's not just, I, I'm not just a director for hire.
10:32I want to see the film out. I'm involved in it right now, you know, promoting it and, and figuring out the, selling it around the world, talking to our sales agents, uh, being part of the decision-making process on every aspect of it.
10:45It's, that's a producer's role and that's, I need, this is a baby, this is my baby, right?
10:49It takes three years to make each one of these films.
10:51So how can I not want to involve myself more than just that, you know, just on the director level?
10:57Right, right. How much, um, are your first time actors influencing, um, the movie, the tone of the movie?
11:07That's an interesting question. I, I, you know, I'm, when you find, when I find my first time actors, there's always a degree of the character in them, but they also have to prove to me that they actually can act and understand the craft of acting and, and can be different from who they are.
11:24You know, there are certain characteristics, of course, you know, Bria Vinaytha, you know, she had the physicality that I was looking for in Haley, but it doesn't mean that she's Haley.
11:33So, um, uh, but there are aspects of their personalities or perhaps their physicalities that always lend themselves.
11:41Um, and that's what I'm looking for first.
11:44Uh, I've also just been extremely lucky.
11:47I'm one of these days, but I've been extremely lucky with Prince of Broadway, Starlet, Tangerine, and this film, and even Takeout, actually, to find really incredible first timers who have, uh, who, who really have an incredible gift of, you know, and not only can, not only, uh, are convincing in their, in their portrayals of their characters,
12:10but also they have the gift of, uh, improvisation, and I encourage improvisation on set.
12:15So I've been very lucky to find a lot, like, that, that have that, uh, thing about them.
12:20Yeah.
12:21Uh, last question, um, one of your, uh, one of your actors, Brooklyn Prince, wants to direct.
12:27What are you hoping that young filmmakers do in the future?
12:31I mean, we're living in a time where filmmakers have so many tools and so many platforms.
12:38So it's really exciting.
12:40There can actually be much younger filmmakers now.
12:43It's not like you have to, you know, for me, it took, it's, uh, you know, it's, it's, it's, this getting to this couch talking to you has taken 25 years.
12:54Um, it doesn't have to take that long.
12:56You can, you know, you can, you can, uh, you can shoot on your phone these days.
13:01You can shoot on your phone.
13:02You can put your stuff up on Vimeo.
13:04You can put your stuff up on YouTube.
13:06You can get recognition because what I, what I like to say to, you know, to anybody who's trying to break into the business is not to wait because there's nobody who's going to come and dump money on your lap and say, here you go.
13:19You have to prove yourself and you can prove yourself these days when you're still in high school, still in junior high school, perhaps, you know, Brooklyn will, we'll, we'll go ahead and shoot a little short film tomorrow and be the first, the youngest filmmaker out there.
13:32I, I don't know, but, but all I do know is that, you know, it's, uh, I would love to see cinema continue and, you know, there has been, uh, cinema is breaking off into so many different, you can, there, you know, there's television, there's VR, there's, I'm, I, I still love, you know, the, I love feature films and I love the fact that there is a, you know, uh, you watch your film on a big screen in a movie theater.
13:57It's made for, you know, uh, uh, you're telling a story in a designated amount of time, which is usually 90 minutes to two and a half hours at the most, you know, that's how you're presenting this story.
14:08And I, and I like to stay in this medium.
14:10This is the medium that I hope continues.
14:12And I, and I see a real love for cinema out there when I go to the film festivals, when I, I see that it still exists.
14:18And, um, and that's really encouraging.
14:21Hey, if we can keep record pressing alive, we can keep movies alive.
14:24Yeah, why not?
14:25Sean Baker, thank you so much for being here.
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