- 8 minutes ago
'Self Custody' filmmaker Garrett Patten and stars Adrienne Grenier, UFC champion Henry Cejudo and Michael Monks talk bitcoin and indie filmmaking during a THR Presents Q&A at SXSW powered by Vision Media.
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00:22Well, first of all, thank you all for being here.
00:26Let's give it up one more time for self-custody.
00:28How great was that?
00:30It was amazing.
00:34It was so incredible to watch because it feels like crypto is a fertile ground for something
00:45like an action thriller and I'm shocked it hasn't been done before.
00:48And also as a person that always forgets their passwords, I feel really seen by the movie.
00:52So thank you for that.
00:54But Garrett, just starting off with you, I'm wondering if you can kind of take
00:57us through the inception of this project, the idea of it, and ultimately what made you
01:01decide that crypto was a world that felt like a great place for an action thriller.
01:07Yeah.
01:07Well, as I mentioned before, it's all based off of true stories.
01:11And there's one particularly that was very close to me, a friend that had lost his job
01:18and he learned that in the past he was gifted crypto.
01:22And he actually went on this journey to try to recover it.
01:25And when I heard this story, the thought, and then you start to look at these other stories.
01:29You look at the, the guy in the UK that has 700 million that his girlfriend threw out and
01:33it's in the landfill and he's trying to, trying to dig it up.
01:36But the thought that somebody would have that kind of money tied to a little hard drive that if you
01:42lose your pin code and your seed phrases, it's gone and it's untraceable.
01:46I mean, there's, there's no insurance on this.
01:48There's it's, it's unregulated, but that is also what's so intriguing about it on the
01:54other side of the coin.
01:55That's what people like.
01:56They like that.
01:56The fact that the government's not looking at their money.
01:58They like the fact that they control it, that they're the custodian of it.
02:02There's no bank.
02:03There's no middle.
02:04I don't know if you like it.
02:05Yeah.
02:06It's a necessity.
02:07You need to for, you know, certain, like sovereignty reasons.
02:13So that, that was where the idea came from.
02:16And just, you know, like you just said, if I lose my email password, you get that, that
02:22feeling in your stomach.
02:23Well, maybe I'm not going to get back in, but if it's tied to $14 million, it's a whole
02:28different animal.
02:29And I was a story I decided I thought was a great timely story to tell.
02:35And when it came to figuring out your way into it, how did you decide, you know, how did
02:42you decide in terms of what the characters motives were that you ultimately play in this movie?
02:47How did you make it so human and personal, you know, coming from a family man perspective?
02:52Why, why was that important as an actor, as an actor and also as a filmmaker?
02:56Yeah.
02:56Well, on the acting side, I spent a lot of time here with Michael Monks, who runs an amazing
03:01acting school, which my respect, I had directed films before.
03:06This is my, I had taken small things in acting, but this was the first major role.
03:11And my respect for acting first off is through the roof.
03:14Like when I watched Monks and Adrian just pros at this, it is unbelievable.
03:19They it's, you get in your own head, there's so much going on.
03:23It's like, you have to juggle 16 things at the same time.
03:26But it's an amazing process and I love every second of it.
03:30But yeah, so, you know, so I guess to get the emotions right.
03:35Yeah.
03:36Well, you know, part of the class is when I was working in the schools, how do you find
03:39those, those spots in you that you can use when you, when you're doing the scene and
03:45really the lead ins and get into the scene and, and really try to create it authentically.
03:50And I, you know, it's called like almost living in the moment, you know, that you really feel it.
03:55And I wanted to throw it over to Michael and Adrian and Henry.
03:59What was it about this project that really drew you to it?
04:02That said it, you guys wanted to be a part of it.
04:06Also Henry's first major acting role, which is incredible.
04:10Uh, so Henry, I'm going to, I'm actually going to start with you.
04:14You know, what was it about this project that made you say this will, this will be my first time
04:17out?
04:18Yeah, honestly, I think it's Garrett, me and Garrett's just homies.
04:23He just said, you want to be it?
04:24I'm like, sure.
04:26And it turned out, I mean, uh, me too.
04:32And, uh, but when I came here, like I wasn't, I didn't know what to expect, you know, and I
04:37was
04:37actually in the middle of fight camp.
04:39I had a big UFC fight, uh, you know, within, within, within, within the next month.
04:45And man, I, when I got done with those seven, eight hours of filming and I was sore, I'm like,
04:50I'm taking the day off, you know, kicking and, you know, continue to keep redoing the,
04:54you know, the scene, you know, multiple, multiple times.
04:58It just gave me a different level of respect for actors.
05:01And I kind of said it today.
05:02It's like acting and fighting.
05:03It's like, when you truly make it is when, uh, when you truly make it, you know,
05:07you gotta continue to keep sacrificing, you know, live on top ramen until you actually hit the big screen.
05:12So, you know, it was a lot of fun.
05:14And, uh, it was actually my first time.
05:16And I feel back, so I'm on TMZ talking about the film.
05:19It was my first time actually watching the film.
05:21And I, I love the fact that it was, it was storytelling with the true reality of it.
05:27And I told Garrett's like, man, the, the, the one that really hit me at the end was the fact
05:30that he was in this,
05:31you know, the shot at the end where, you know, where, where Coop comes up to him and, you know,
05:35he's in this crazy house and he's like, oh, you're, you're, you're still alive.
05:39You know, I, I thought the whole, you know, you, I guess you gave a lot of people curiosity to
05:44the film.
05:47Garrett and I are homies.
05:50No, but you know, I, you, when you said that, it just reminded me of like the, when I started
05:54making
05:55films, I was 12 years old with my friends, you know, and that's like the indie spirit in which
06:00you like come together and you just start making stories.
06:03You start telling stories.
06:04And I really love working with Garrett because we have several projects that we're working on
06:09simultaneously.
06:11So he, you know, he's like, I'm, I got this other project.
06:13Do you want to be in it?
06:14And I'm like, okay, cool.
06:15I'll show up.
06:15And so it was an honor to be able to just play a bit part in a much bigger concept
06:22that's
06:22growing.
06:23And by the way, it was local.
06:25So I didn't have to go very far, but, but you're also, you're, you're in Bitcoin.
06:31So the story, I think I was typecast for sure.
06:34Like I'm a Bitcoin maxi maxi's out there.
06:38Anybody wait, are you crypto people?
06:42Like who am I talking to here?
06:44I don't know what a maxi is.
06:45Oh, you guys are just like, huh?
06:47Can you explain to me what a maxi is?
06:50It's someone who like believes in Bitcoin above all other crypto or shit coins out there.
06:58That's a technical term.
07:03Oh, well that, you know, look there, you know, there are two sides of the coin, Bitcoin.
07:09You know, I, you believe in Bitcoin because it's, it's, it's a pure technology that actually
07:15is, you know, it's a, it's, it's, it's like digital gold.
07:19Whereas all these other coins, they have a lot of backdoors.
07:22So you can't actually access Bitcoin and that's a feature because it has all these checks and
07:27balances.
07:27Whereas other cryptocurrencies are essentially a fancy app, a fancy website.
07:34You guys, entertaining and informative.
07:36Same thing.
07:37Like that's, thank you for hearing it.
07:39Did I get that right?
07:39That's incredible.
07:41We could get into it.
07:46Michael, what about for, for you?
07:48What drew you to, to this production?
07:50Were you also homies with, with Garrett?
07:54Yeah.
07:55What, we're not homies?
07:57We weren't homies.
07:58We are now.
08:00Right.
08:01Garrett was referred to me by a producer that I've worked with before who also produced this,
08:06Damiano Tucci.
08:08And we started working together and he'd been on the other side of the camera, but had not
08:14spent a ton of time in front of it and wanted to commit to it.
08:18And so we worked for like four months, breaking it down, sort of teaching him where to go.
08:28And we just had a great chemistry right from the beginning and became very good friends and
08:34being able to support him in something that he was doing, which is something I love to do.
08:40And it just became this great little symbiotic thing with everybody who joined and just kind of
08:47takes a village and you're doing it on, you know, low budgets and you're just committed to the process
08:53because what we all love to do is make film, whether we're in front of it and behind it.
08:58And that's our passion.
09:00So, um, his commitment to it was inspiring and, uh, just, I wanted to be a part of it.
09:09And I would say when I started the class, we were working on a lot of other stuff.
09:13Right.
09:13And then once self custody came into the picture, we, we worked on that for months before,
09:19which was great.
09:20And then obviously to have your, your acting coach in the, in the film with you is a bonus.
09:25So, yeah, that was great.
09:29We're all homies.
09:32No, it's amazing.
09:33Michael, you did mention chemistry and I did want to dig in a little bit more on that there.
09:37You know, how, Garrett, how did you and Michael establish your chemistry?
09:41You have this preexisting relationship, but when it came to establishing the relationship
09:44of your characters on screen, how did you guys go about it?
09:47Did you have return rehearsal time?
09:49Did you guys talk about it?
09:50What was that process like?
09:52Well, as an actor, it's your job to create chemistry with somebody.
09:56If you don't have that chemistry, but we naturally had that chemistry because we became friends.
10:02So then it's not a challenge.
10:04There are processes you can do as an actor to create chemistry with someone that you don't
10:08have that with.
10:09And we've all seen movies where friends or lovers don't have chemistry and it's like,
10:14yikes.
10:15Right.
10:15Yeah.
10:16So, but.
10:17Well, yeah.
10:18One of the techniques you could do is you could use replacements where you replace the person
10:22that you're acting with with somebody else that's close in your life.
10:25We didn't have to do that because it actually felt natural between, you know.
10:30Right.
10:30Because we had a connection.
10:31Yeah.
10:32Right.
10:32Exactly.
10:32So, and you have to have that with who you're acting with, even if you're opponents in something,
10:41even if you're good guy, bad guy, you still have to have chemistry because it's the human
10:45dynamic.
10:46It's what literally creates life is that chemical connection between people.
10:51Yeah.
10:51And it really shows up on screen.
10:53Uh, Garrett, you were talking about this and Adrian, you mentioned it.
10:56This is a, this is a local production, a local independent production, which is incredible.
11:00My favorite question to ask independent filmmakers, uh, because it is such a passion, uh, passionate
11:07process.
11:08You know, what was a scene or set piece or casting that you weren't sure you were going
11:15to be able to pull off?
11:16Uh, yeah.
11:18Okay.
11:19How, and then how did you ultimately pull it off?
11:21Well, typically when you look at a film and you see the list of EPs on there, somebody became
11:27an EP because they either brought financial things or they brought something else, cast members that,
11:31you know, that's how we had an EP on the project that had access to a plane.
11:36And when you're doing indie filmmaking, you're, you're not running a plane to, to go film on it.
11:41You get an EP to, to bring a plane and that's how we got it.
11:44But it was, that sounds easier, but it was actually pretty challenging.
11:49Yeah, that's amazing.
11:49And I wonder if you can take a moment, moment since we are here in Austin to talk about filming
11:54in, in the city.
11:56What was that like for you as a filmmaker and for you guys as performers to be able to
12:01film in a city like Austin, which is such a strong independent filmmaking.
12:05I'm a big proponent of the Austin film market and Texas in general.
12:10You know, I, I want to start making projects that are within this region, you know, for
12:14selfish reasons.
12:15I want to be able to go home to my family at the end of the day.
12:18And, uh, with that $2.5 billion incentive now coming down from Texas government, I think
12:26that we're going to start making more projects here.
12:28Am I wrong?
12:31Yeah, well, and the quality of the crews, I think Ezra's here, our line producer, I mean,
12:35it was absolutely phenomenal.
12:37The people, I mean, look at the quality of the project for an indie film.
12:41You felt like you watched a feature and it's, it was, that's all the crew.
12:46I'm telling you that that is the, you know, for the fight scene is the only time we had
12:49two cameras, but you know, the rest of the time, I mean, the, the, the camera, the DP,
12:53the, all the, all Ezra's team was just phenomenal and that's what it takes.
12:59And that's Austin.
13:00That's Austin.
13:01I mean, you can't do that in every city.
13:02I mean, I've shot in a lot of different cities and you, Austin's good.
13:06You know, it's got a lot to offer.
13:08Henry, I wanted to throw a question to you.
13:11Um, and you brought this, this up earlier when talking about it, you know, how, how did
13:16prep and performance for something like this with acting, how, how is it similar or not
13:22similar to prep and performance for something like an athletic competition, you know, and
13:27how did you approach figuring out your character with Garrett?
13:32Yeah, actually during the film, uh, you know, Michael's my, you're, you have a coach.
13:38He was able to kind of already coach me like on the spot because there was a lot of times
13:42where I would do a certain kick or a certain punch there.
13:44It was just too fast.
13:45Like you gotta be able to sell it.
13:47Um, so kind of bringing a little more of that theatric stuff to it to be able to kind
13:52of convey, cause if you go too fast, it's like, you don't see it, you know, especially
13:55like in, you know, we fight sometimes you're like, Oh, I caught him with that.
13:59But the average fan probably won't be able to tell.
14:02Um, so kind of really, you know, sell it.
14:04And it was pretty cool on the, on the part.
14:07I was like, Hey man, since, you know, since I'm the villain, I'm the, I'm the bad Mexican.
14:12Why don't, why don't I, uh, why don't I, why don't I, why don't I, why don't I do that
14:16part in Spanish?
14:17Like, you know, so if you say so, it's like, you know, we shot it both ways.
14:22Yeah.
14:22Fucking buddy.
14:23He was spot on.
14:24We shot it both ways and then we ended up using the Spanish.
14:29So I thought it was cool to kind of add that twist.
14:31So I can say, maybe, maybe I direct it to you.
14:35Yeah, but let me add one thing on Henry though.
14:37So those of you who don't know Henry, he's an Olympic gold medal.
14:41I think a national champion for wrestling, two time UFC champion.
14:46And so this was his first time acting and he shows up on set and we had two really, really
14:51good stunt coordinators.
14:52I mean, as are you remember that in the backyard of the house, they put on this fight and we're
14:57all sitting there watching it and it looks so real.
14:59And I mean, we're blown away.
15:01So then we go into the set to do it and Henry walks in and he starts showing them things
15:06and he's throwing them around and what is going on?
15:10And that's why the fight scene looks so good.
15:12And Henry brought the intensity and there's just...
15:14Henry, I have to say your performance was gorgeous.
15:22I almost kicked his ass.
15:25Oh, you had him, Coop.
15:26Yeah, Adrian, I did want to take it to you.
15:32You know, I, when it comes to, when it came to playing the villain role, which I considered
15:39you to be the villain role.
15:41Wait till the feature.
15:43You know, where, how was it playing, how was it playing a villain?
15:47You know, were you taking any cues from, were you references from movie villains?
15:52You know, what were you talking to with Garrett about in order to build out the character?
15:57I mean, look, take all the crypto out of it.
16:00At the end of the day, it's like two guys fighting for a chick.
16:03This is basics.
16:06Tune in to watch that.
16:07That's going to get, it's going to get messy.
16:09Yeah.
16:09And I think you won the fight.
16:11Well, we'll see.
16:12It ain't over until it's over.
16:14Yeah.
16:14And let me say one more thing on the Henry side.
16:17You know, I think one of my dreams of making this movie was to actually blow the brains
16:22out of a UFC champion.
16:25I got to do that.
16:26I mean, not many people get to say this.
16:28I was overkill.
16:31I think, I think he's dead.
16:33I think you got him.
16:34I think I've got him.
16:40Garrett, I did want to talk to you about the process of making a film in a condensed time frame.
16:46I think it was Burke Twain or someone like that that said, I'm sorry I wrote you a long letter.
16:50I didn't have time to write you a short one.
16:52It is a really difficult skill to be able to fit that much story and that much emotion in that
16:57many
16:57minutes.
16:58You know, how did you go about thinking about that as a filmmaker?
17:01What did you decide that you didn't need and you didn't need it?
17:03I mean, that's the redrafting of the script.
17:05I mean, we just, it was my goal to make it feel like you watch the feature, but you watch
17:11the feature in 31 minutes.
17:13And that it's, it is challenging because you have to have a, you know, a beginning,
17:17a middle and an end, but it's a redrafting, redrafting.
17:21And, you know, as I was doing that, I could envision everything.
17:24So I just kept envisioning what's going to happen and when we're going to do this.
17:28But it was, it was a four month process of redrafting the script to really try to, I,
17:34when I finished the script, I could picture every shot, every, you know, I had my shot
17:39list, but I could picture them all.
17:40I could see the whole movie in my head and then it was just to capture it and make it
17:44feel like you watch the feature.
17:45We shot for five days in Austin and then we, we redid the family scene, which was another
17:53day of shooting about a month later.
17:55So it was one, one pickup that we did.
17:57Yeah.
17:57That's incredible.
17:58Um, I know there are plans to make this into a feature film.
18:02I'm wondering, as much as you're willing to tell us, you know, what is it about this
18:06world that, you know, says it could last for 90 minutes?
18:10Well, first off, there are thousands of stories just like this around Bitcoin.
18:16I mean, Kevin Durant's got one.
18:18I told you several other ones, but we have been talking to showrunners.
18:23We've been talking to, um, other major heads of studios.
18:26There's a lot of interest.
18:28I have multiple calls going back and forth about, and so we're trying to decide Adrian,
18:34Henry and Michael and I, do we go down the show route or do we go to the feature route?
18:37No, I think it's, we're, we're show, show, show, show, show, show, show.
18:42But both options are on the table and we're, we're deep in discussions and negotiations and
18:48all that feature hands for a feature show hands for a feature show of hands for a show.
18:56There we go.
18:57Ah, um, and, and another thing I like doing on independent film productions, because it,
19:04they have amazing stories like these train stories.
19:06I'm wondering if everyone can share their favorite moment on set that you had,
19:12or even in, in pre-production.
19:15Yeah.
19:16Um, honestly, I think she was learning.
19:18I think learning from, uh, you know, from Michael, from Coop, you know, being able to
19:24kind of just like understand the art, understand the art of acting.
19:28Cause it's not just, you just go in there and you actually do it.
19:31Uh, I think to me that was just like, Oh, okay.
19:33So I do that.
19:34And I thought that was the coolest thing about me is I like, I like to learn.
19:37I think that was one of the biggest things.
19:40Yep.
19:41For, for me on set, I love directing.
19:44I love acting.
19:45It's a thrill, but every day is a fire drill.
19:49There's 15 fires that, you know, an independent filmmaking that you have to put out just to
19:53shoot that day.
19:55And I love every second of that, but the, the biggest thrill is when you get all your
19:59footage and you sit in the edit bay and you start to see the scenes come together for me.
20:07I mean, it's hard to answer that question.
20:08I had one scene in one location, uh, and it was warm on that plane and it was like three
20:15degrees outside.
20:15So my favorite moment was on the plane.
20:22For me, it was, it was the fight sequence, getting to work with Henry and being, you know,
20:29physical and just going through it and seeing it come to fruition on stage because, you know,
20:36you're not really punching each other, but we were really going at it.
20:41So there was a lot of physicality to it.
20:43So it was just great to show the two sides of Cooper, the side that's in his head that
20:50he needs help from and the guy who really is trying to help him.
20:54So really playing these two sides of a character was really a lot of fun.
20:59And that's so great.
21:00A master of a craft and a master of a dream coming together.
21:03That's filmmaking, baby.
21:06That's unfortunately all the time we have, right?
21:09But thank you so much for an incredible conversation.
21:12And thank you for the amazing questions and for being here.
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