“10 Questions with LA Film Fest Filmmaker Spotlights” is a series of posts to help you get to know our Festival filmmakers and their films just a little bit better. In this installment, the brilliant minds behind the horror pic Delivery tell us a little about their film and themselves.
Brian Netto & Adam Schindler
FILM: Delivery / The Beyond In this unnerving chiller, Kyle and Rachel Massy are a young couple who have agreed to document their first pregnancy for a reality show. During the production and after moving to a new home, a series of unexplained phenomena start plaguing the couple, eventually derailing the production of the show. Rachel, growing increasingly paranoid, starts to believe that there might be something seriously wrong with their unborn bundle of joy. Told through the show’s un-aired footage and interviews from friends, family and production members, Brian Netto’s savvy debut feature injects the found footage genre with a fresh perspective and enough eeriness to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Brian Netto, thinking scary thoughts
1. Who are you and what do you do?
BN: Brian Netto. Director and Co-Writer of Delivery. AS: Adam Schindler. Producer and Co-Writer of Delivery.
2. Tell us about your film in 140 characters or less.
BN: Delivery tells the story of a young couple that documents their first pregnancy for a reality show and well, let’s just say things don’t go exactly as planned from there.
3. Who were your early filmmaking mentors or inspirations?
BN: I was inspired by Raimi for his inventiveness and wit – even as his characters were chain-sawing their own hands off. Soderbergh for his fearlessness and finding a balance between his commercial and indie sensibilities, often within the same film. And Spike Lee for his authenticity and trailblazing. There are a lot of great New York filmmakers but his New York is definitely my favorite. AS: Being a child of the 80’s I would be remiss if I didn’t include Spielberg. His films are really able to capture the wide-eyed wonder and imagination of childhood. I’d also put Ridley Scott in there for his abilities as a world builder. And Hitchcock, of course. We’re really keen to the slow burn.
4. What inspired you to make this film?
AS: My love of films that mesh different genres together and do it really well, especially those that do it in the genre space. The films that successfully take the familiar and make it something terrifying. BN: The love of genre films, first and foremost. Particularly genre films that can be enjoyed through a really unique lens. And the idea of playing with horror imagery and scenarios in the world of a family-friendly reality show was really interesting and a challenge, but a fun one.
5. Who or what influenced the creative decisions for this film?
BN: The only mantra on this film was, borrowing my favorite 90’s hip hop saying, to “keep it real”. If the performances and the world we established felt true to life, it would allow the stories horror elements to land and connect with the audience in a very real and uncomfortable way. AS: Delivery walks a fine line. One false moment will take you out of the reality of the characters and the situations and can derail the film. We took a great deal of care in making sure that every scare was rooted in very real world.
6. What challenges did you face while making this film?
BN: The same most indie films experience – never enough time, never enough money. Post was especially difficult because we basically took the approach of getting the film in the can and worrying about post-production funds later. The problem with that approach is that later comes much sooner than you think, so our post process was rather drawn out.
7. What’s been the coolest experience so far with the film?
BN: We did our color at Fotokem and the night shift quality control person told our colorist that the film “disturbed” him and that he kept thinking about it on the drive home one night. We’re really big on horror that you can take home with you. AS: For me, there’s two really memorable moments. The last take of principle photography. We wrapped about 2am and the entire crew (which was small even by micro budget terms) who had worked their asses off for two weeks erupted in wild cheering and hugs – that was a cool experience. And then when we got the phone call that our film had been accepted into the LA Film Fest. That call put a smile on my face for a week. Just knowing that an audience was going to get to see Delivery in a theater with other film lovers was awesome.
8. Are you a film festival newbie or have you done the circuit before?
AS: We’ve been to many festival screenings as audience members, but this will be our World Premiere and our first festival experience with a film of our own.
9. How are you preparing for the festival and/or getting the word out about your film?
AS: Two words: Social Media. BN: Yes, getting ready for the festival has been a social media crash course for us, but there’s nobody better to stump for your film than you.
10. Lastly, what are you most excited to do and/or see at this year’s LA Film Fest?
BN: Interacting with the other filmmakers and sharing our film with our friends, family and crew, very few of which have actually seen DELIVERY. AS: Definitely sharing the film with my wife, parents and sister who are going to fly out from Minnesota to be here. They’ve been a wave of support throughout this whole process. Also to finally share it with all of our friends and crew is going to be really memorable. Delivery online: Official Site: delivery-movie.com Tumblr: blogdeliverymovie.tumblr.com Twitter: @deliverymovie Facebook: facebook.com/deliveryfilm
Delivery Screenings at the LA Film Fest
Tuesday, June 18 9:50 pm Friday, June 21 7:30 pm
Delivery tickets on sale at the door and online now »
