Director's Cut

>> Todd, if Julia stands by me while I'm in a coma then I'll know that this is a woman worth knotting my eternal soul with. >> But the problem is you may not have one to knot by then. What you are doing is fundamentally, and I stress, mentally W-R-O-N-G. It's wrong! It's going too far. You have more than enough data. Oh, so she won't take a bullet for ya? Who cares? You really want a woman who's that nuts anyway? >> Yes! I mean, no. It's not crazy. It's love. >> Hi, welcome to Director's Cut. I'm Pete Schwaba, and that was a clip from "The Test," a film about a man who puts his fiance through a living hell in order to find out whether or not she is worthy of his love. I'm joined by today by the film's writer, director and lead actor, Jeremy Saville. Jeremy, welcome to Director's Cut. >> Thanks for having me, Pete. >> Okay, the first thing I have to ask, are you married? >> Yes, and I'm still married because, you know, I put her through these tests. >> Don't tell me that. No way. >> No, not at all. She would have killed me. Although I did hear, interestingly, that there is a Russian businessman who must have seen my film because he did something like this in actuality well after this. >> Wow. >> Yeah, it's true. It actually happened. >> So did it work for him? >> Well, he faked his own death and he had her appear where they were going to meet. He was bloody and she was, you know, over his corpse. Then he popped up and asked her to marry him because he saw how much he met to here. She almost killed him. So actually this movie, I think, has been internationally inspiring. >> I think just about every guy fakes his own death before he gets married, but to take it to that extreme is what really is impressive. >> Yeah, well, it was inspired by the reality of life. We all want to make sure that we get the right fit. But, you know, a lot of times you don't, and you waste a lot of time and money. >> You talk about the divorce rate, 50/50, so why not have some sort of test, or maybe scale back. >> Yeah, I mean, the premise in the film is, you know, you don't put a car on the road without putting it through a bunch of stress tests. So why would you make the most important decisions of you life and not, you know, really kind of shake it to make sure it's not going to fall apart in those-- >> Shake your partner. >> Yeah, well when the storms hit you want to make sure it's solid. >> Sure. Talk a little bit about, you know, you're the writer/director and actor. Talk about the writing process. What gave you the idea for this? What was your inspiration for writing the film? >> My wife. No, it is, you know. I love my wife and I made the right decision. When we were engaged we had a little tiff. It was very unsettling and I wasn't sure. You know, it sort of put a little doubt, like hey, am I pushing myself to my own grave. >> She owns pink napkins, how can I marry this woman? >> Exactly, well, you know. I was talking to my friend and it was one of those dark nights of soul where you're just like, oh! You think you've found the right one. To me love is the only reason to be on this planet, quite honestly. I had searched for so long to find the right person. Then I was like, oh, maybe I'm screwed. So I was talking to my friend --, a lovely British man. I said, I wish there was some way to know before you knew. I said, that's actually a great idea for a movie. So in the middle of my darkness I was still working, and hence "The Test" was born. >> And if your wife can stick with you while you're writing a movie, that's pretty impressive too. That's a good test. >> Yeah, or making a movie. >> Or making a movie. >> Actually, while we were making this movie life imitated art a little to close. >> All right, well let's take another look at a clip from "The Test." >> Look, all I'm saying is I don't want to see you wind up one of those weekend dads picking up your kids at the ex's while some other dude is diddling her on your dime. >> So what's your point? >> My point is, make sure you thoroughly check out the goods before it's too late. >> Okay, genius, maybe people do change, but there's no way to know until it actually happens. You've just gotta take it on faith and trust that you made the right decision, right? >> But your decision is based on a limited set of data. She's on her best behavior right now! You ask any guy who gets married to a crazed tigress in the sack wild banshee. Then once she gets that ring, poof, suddenly she losses the passion for the action. >> Yeah, well, Julia's not like that. >> Yeah, she's not a crazed tigress in the sack banshee. >> She is too!

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>> Look, Romeo, you do not have enough information to make an informed decision right now. You need to see what she's like in a real crisis. >> Like I said, you can't know and you don't know until it actually happens. >> But by then it's too late. And hello, Weekend Dad. >> Will you stop saying that, please? >> Although... >> What? >> Unless there was... >> What? >> You know, a way to know. >> No, I don't know. Do you know? >> You could set them up. >> Yeah, like one of those reality shows. Candid Camera style. People do it all the time. >> So you want me to prank my fiance? >> No, not prank. Test. >> Would couples be better off if there was a test? Do you think the divorce rate would be lower if there was actually? I mean, obviously not to the extreme maybe that you took it in your film. >> Well, you know, I think that we do need to base the most important decision of our life on more sound data, if you will, than a lot of people do. You know, sometimes you meet somebody briefly and you're like, hey, let's get married. I think that's what my father-in-law said he did. But you know, it doesn't work out, often, unless you really find out what-- The idea of the film is that he finds out the true character of the person. That, I think, is what leads to longevity, and really the falling in love, like staying in love, because you're in love with the character of the person, not what dress they bought or you saw them in a certain light that one night. It's like, that to me is true love. That's why I love my wife. Because, you know, the kind of character-- First of all, she came with me here to Wisconsin with the cold. You know what kind of character that person is. I'll be with her for the rest of my life. >> When it's about 20 degrees outside, absolutely. She's a keeper. >> Yeah, she's a real keeper, but that's what it's about. A lot of the times we don't base our decisions on that type of criteria. That's why I believe it fails. Look, people's character over a long period, it can kind of go up and down, but the core of who somebody is, it just doesn't change. >> Right. Talk about, if you will-- Unless you're independently wealthy no one gets to pay for their own film. The funding is tough in these indy films. How did you find your budget? Talk a little bit about that process. >> Well, it's not so much the budget, it's finding the money to fund the budget. You know, it was very challenging because this film is a big movie. This is a big, Hollywood, mass-appeal film because the story, you can, see within it. I thought, oh, this should be like Ben Stiller's movie. He should star in it and it'll be in 3,000 cineplexes. The problem is, to get a movie made in Hollywood you gotta go through so many hoops. Very often times it just doesn't get made. I, myself, had optioned a script of a big movie. It was called "Sister President." It was supposed to star Queen Latifa. >> I knew you were going to say that. When you said Sister President I'm like, that's a Queen Latifa movie. >> It is! Well, you should make the movie. So we were close to getting it made, and then it just-- You know, it leads to delayed disappointment. What I wanted to do was make this movie. I sent it to a couple of places. Sometimes people just don't have the vision. What I did was I said, look, come hell or high water, I'm going to make it. So to answer your question, I had a co-executive producer, Steve Mickelson. He said, I'll give you some cash. Not much, but you know, enough to get you started. Then, honestly, I had to put the money in myself. But I will say-- >> You're brave. >> Well, that's what tested the marriage. My wife was going-- >> The ultimate test. >> In the movie you see her saying, we're going to be homeless and broke. My wife was saying the same thing. Luckily, we're not, and we didn't become that. But I think that if you really believe in what you're doing you have to show-- You know, put your money where your mouth is. >> Get some skin in the game, yeah. >> So I did, and thankfully, everything worked out and I'm here today. But with the technology that's available you can do a movie like this and you can do it for a micro-budget, as they're called. >> Yeah, great. All right, let's take another look at a clip from "The Test." >> If you were my woman I wouldn't let you out of my sight. >> Thank you. That's very flattering. He's just stuck in some traffic. He's usually very prompt. And I'm actually his fiance. >> Lucky devil. I wish I would have had my chance. >> I'm sorry, I don't even know your name. >> Apologies, I'm Don. >> Is your last name Juan by any chance?

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>> And she has a sense of humor. Wow, who would have thought? A ravishing creature with wit. >> Easy does it there tiger. >> And who, may I ask, do I have the pleasure of meeting. >> Julia, Julia Bennett. >> Ah! Fair Juliet. I know that I shouldn't be so smitten with someone who's already spoken for, but you really are a vision. >> Thank you. >> Your fiance is a very lucky man. I have not been as lucky in love thus far, and it really is lonely at my house. All that square footage really is unsettling quiet. >> How big is your house? >> Oh, a mere 20,000 square feet. >> That's enormous! >> It's nothing compared to my place in St. Barts. >> Really? >> Your fiance, what's his name? >> Ah, ah... >> Oh, come on, Julia! >> Take your time. >> Ah... Of course, I know this. >> Oh, you got to be kidding me! >> That's great. >> Thank you. >> There were times during that scene where I was kind of let down by Julia too, like come on! She getting fished in, but ultimately she handles it pretty well. Talk about writing a scene like that where you have to keep the character likeable, but it also has to be funny. Is that a tough dance there? >> You know, I think you have to play the truth of what's going on as well as make sure the comedy's implicit. For this particular scene, it's his first jab at her but let's face it, this guy looks like a young Robert Redford. You throw in a bunch of money and who's not gonna pause. I think that everybody before they commit themselves for eternity, until death do we part-- >> I would have married him. >> Right. I totally was in love with the guy at the audition. I wanted to make love to him. >> I was just kidding. That's awkward. >> Oh, really? But to answer your question, I think that as long as you just stay with the reality of the situation it sort of writes itself in a sense. But you have to, you know, play the point of view of what Nathan is going through. It's hard for somebody to see when somebody else is letting them down. But, you know, if you watch the movie you'll see what happens. >> I love this kind of comedy, those very awkward moments, so I have to ask you-- I think I might know the answer to this. Who are your influences in writing this style of comedy? >> You know, um, who are my comic film influences? I'm a big fan of Woody Allen. Albert Brooks is a guy that I-- >> I knew you were going to say those two. It comes across, definitely. >> Oh, does it? >> Yeah, yeah. >> And then I love the Ivan Reitman stuff, Bill Murray in "Stripes" and all that stuff. I'm kind of a mish-mash of the sort of wacky with the more cerebral type of things that might come up. >> When you see this film, what's been the reaction? Are audiences rooting for the couple to stay together or are they rooting-- Talk a little bit about the likability of your character. You're the one putting her through this. I'll be honest, there was a couple times where I'm, like, I hope she dumps him. That's probably what you're going for on some level. >> That's a tough thing, because what he's going through is this slippery slope where he starts off just kind of just protect himself a little bit. You can see the logic within it. I don't think that it's that far removed. But it is kind of, you know, "The Heart of Darkness". He starts to get deeper and deeper, and before he knows it he's lost his touch with reality. He gets into the crazy ride. You know, he's not a "likeable," but you can kind of see where he starts to loose his grip on reality. Ultimately, he's just trying to save himself, but it's not a pretty thing. >> Right, he's digging out of a hole pretty much the whole movie. >> Oh, yeah, but I mean, isn't that what most criminals think, they're gonna get away with this. You know, the Michael Milkens of the world, and all that kind of thing, or even Madoff. >> Right, they're both on the show next week so I'll stop you there. >> Oh, they are, I'm sorry I mentioned it. You're going to go to prison for him and then he'll be back. >> He's on furlough. Let take another look at a clip from "The Test." >> It's too cruel. >> It was your idea. >> It was yours! >> Okay, well you approved it. >> Well, I'm going to abort. She's going to go over the edge. >> Isn't that the point? To see if she can hold up? >> Yeah, but these aren't real-world conditions anymore. They're too extreme. >> It's a stress test. Do you remember the car analogy? >> Yeah, well GM doesn't drop an 18-wheeler on their cars and expect them for them to hold up. I'm going to pull the plug before I accrue some serious damage. >> All right. It's your call. >> What are you watching? >> My life fall apart. >> Julia-- >> I was just sitting here imagining how it would be to be homeless. You know what, Nate? Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Aside from being transient with no food of shelter most of the time, I think it wouldn't be that bad. I mean, think of the freedom we would have to do whatever we wanted. We could wander the country hitching rides. We could stow away on a cruise ship until we got to Hawaii. I saw this man, he attached himself to the outside of a plane on a transatlantic flight and he survived. The human will is an amazing thing! And then we could live on the beach in Hawaii. You know I've always wanted to live on the beach in Hawaii. I mean, ideally, I'd like to live in a house on the beach. >> That's a great line. >> Yeah, I love that moment. >> What's the least cruel of the tests your character gave Julia? And did you ever have to scale back and go, no, we'll never get away with that, from a likability standpoint? >> No, I think that the film works because of the gross exaggeration. You know, what we were talking about earlier when the guy staged his own death, and that was in reality. I thought, wow, that was really extreme. I almost was, like, should I have put that in there? But, you know, the least cruel was obviously the first one, because it's just, you know, as you saw, he sets her up with a handsomer, more wealthy guy. I think that's a lot of people's fears, somebody's gonna leave you for somebody better. What constitutes better in our society is they have more cash and they're just better over all, looking or whatever. So you know, that is, but yeah, he flips out. I don't want to say anything but coma is a good code word. >> Yeah, that was a great scene too. What, as a director and a writer and an actor, how did you the director like what you wrote, and how did you like your performance? Were the three personalities there cohesive? >> You know, it's very challenging to do a film of this magnitude. It's a big, Hollywood movie. It's done on a shoestring. Can anyone say remake? Greg Glienna? >> Yeah, really. >> And that's the challenging part. Because the finale of the movie was written differently. I don't want to give it away, but it involved a moving, speeding train and train tracks. It was a bigger production that it called for. When you get down to the final, what you can actually put on screen, in reality. Is it disappointing? It's just what you need to do. As far as how does it effect performance, from a guy who's wearing a lot of hats-- It's like your computer. You open 20 programs, a couple of them are going to suffer unless you have enough RAM, which in the real world is money. We only had, you know, 16 gigabytes of cash. But over all, I feel like I am very happy with the project, and I think it's a nice movie. I would like to do a movie where maybe I could just focus on performance, you know, next time. Kind of the Ben Stiller route, of what he does. Sometimes he writes and directs and stars, but he's got a big crew behind him. For my money, for the comedy of it, sometimes you're trying to tune into character but what you need to think about in that moment is also, we got an hour to do this, from a producer's standpoint. From a director's standpoint you're looking at performance of the other character, or directing the director of photography so you get the right shots. There's so many things on the mind that it's hard to isolate everything. In fact, we had to do a reshoot for the penultimate scene to get some close ups at the very end because we didn't get it, and there was just things swirling around where I was feeling like, wow. And then you have to be, okay, ignore everything, and kind of pretend that there's not this enormous pressure on you. Then you have to really bring up these heavy, sincere emotions. >> Right. >> And that's tough. Its tough, I'm not gonna lie to ya. All things being equal, yeah, I'd like to go back and redo it with $200 million budget. I think it's worthy of that. But for what it is I think you get a lot of laughs out of it, and there's some great moments. There's some moments in this film that are as good as any big Hollywood-- You know, that's just for my money, but you saw it. >> We're about to see one of them. This is my favorite test. Let's see that clip now, from "The Test." >> Okay, please, just don't hurt her. If you don't believe us, kill me, but leave her alone. >> Okay, maybe I will kill you. >> What? >> Aren't you gonna say, don't kill him, kill me instead? >> Honey, I don't want either of us to be killed. >> Yeah, but if one of us has to go... >> Honey, you just told him not to kill me and to kill you instead. >> I know, but don't you want to return the favor? >> Nathan, now is not the time to stand on ceremony. Our lives are at stake! >> Apparently just mine is. >> Nathan, we're being threatened by a psychopathic killer. No offense. >> None taken. >> Now is not the time to argue. This may be our last few moments together. >> More than you know. >> What's that supposed to mean? >> I'm just saying, he might kill me. >> If you don't tell me where the safe is and what the combo is I will. >> Well, just tell him, Nate! >> Honey, there's no safe! >> Then why did she tell ya to tell me? >> Because she's stalling. She's trying to save our lives. >> How will that save your lives? I'm going to find out. >> I don't know. She's under duress. Maybe I should put her out of her duress. >> No, please, if you're going to put anybody out of their duress, put me. She's just an innocent. >> What? >> Aren't you going to try to take the bullet? >> Again with that?!?! >> Well! >> How will it help us? >> It's not like I'd let you. It's just be a nice gesture. >> Nathan, this man is threatening our lives. >> No, he's threatening my life. Your life is no longer being threatened. >> Will you two just shut up? Or I'm gonna pop somebody! >> Well, apparently it should be me, because I'm the only one willing to die for anybody in this room. >> Maybe if you told him where the safe was and the combo then no one would have to die. >> Ha! I knew there was a safe! >> There is no freakin' safe! >> Then why did she say that. >> I told you, she's under duress. >> I think you two are full of it! >> Will you give us a second, please? We're trying to figure something out here. >> Like what? If you have a safe? >> No, like if she'd be willing to die for me. >> Why is that so important right now? >> It just is. If I'm going to go to my grave I would like to know that you would be willing to die for me. >> Okay, I'm willing to die for you. Now will you just drop it! >> How about if I just kill both of you? Then you won't have to decide. >> It's in the den. >> I love that. >> That's great. First of all, kudos. It's very challenging to do a topless scene. Well done. >> Yeah, thank you very much. I worked out for that. >> Are there rules to romantic comedies as to what you can get away with? In this scene you just wrote, you possibly scarred the other character for life by staging a home invasion. She may never sleep again. Are you worried about what women will think watching this? What's been the response? >> You know, I'm just going for comedy. You know, there's a great line in "Stardust Memories" where they asked him what he was thinking, similar to this. He goes, I was just trying to be funny. It's the same thing. To me, this is a terrible situation that begets comedy simply because it's crazy. >> Preposterous, exactly. >> Yeah, he is literally is trying to find out if she would take a bullet for him. That, to him is true love. You know, what are you gonna get? You're gonna get craziness. I could see his reasoning. I wouldn't do it myself because my wife would kill me, but you know-- >> You have to actually kill yourself and then you can look down and see what the real reaction was. >> Oh, yeah, she really did love me. >> When I was watching this, the city is very nondescript. I wasn't until the credits I realized that you shot in San Diego. >> Right. >> Was that on purpose or was that a budgetary thing? >> Well, I was trying to shoot San Diego for New York, a bigger urban environment. I feel like this is a city tale, it's an urban tale. While San Diego is America's finest city, and worked for things like "Anchorman," I wanted this to play bigger. But I lived in San Diego at the time. I could not afford to shoot in New York. We did what we could. Now at one point the director of photography said, oh, we got a palm tree in there in your shot. I said, just forget it. When you're trying to do-- >> It doesn't matter. It's about the character anyway. >> I think when you're trying to do these independent films you have large-scale ideas. When they're brought down to Earth, you're just like, okay, we need to be practical and just get what we could get. I mean, there's an insert stock footage of the Brooklyn Bridge in here at one point, because I wanted it to be a larger scale, like this is happening in Manhattan, and those kind of movies. >> You did a really great job. You can't tell, but you can tell you're in a big city, so excellent job. >> That's great. >> And yeah, thanks for being here Jeremy. >> Thanks so much for having me, Pete. >> Good luck with the film. All right, and thank you for watching Director's Cut. For more information on "The Test" please go to wpt.org and click on "Director's Cut." While you're there, send us an e-mail or find out how you could submit a film. I'm Pete Schwaba. And when it comes to relationships, don't listen to your friends! We'll see you next time on Director's Cut.