Director's Cut

unidentifiable ghostly sound

>> The problem with opening a door to another world is, what if we can't shut it? Or worse yet, what if it shuts and locks you on the wrong side? Hi, I'm John Urban, your guest host this week for Director's Cut. Matt Osterman, writer/director of Ghost From the Machine, joins us on the show this week. Welcome to the program, Matt. >> Thank you. >> We just saw a clip from the film. I truly enjoyed it. Tell us, can you give us the lowdown? Can you tell us what it's about? >> Yeah, it's about a young man, who after the death of his parents, builds a device to try to bring them back. So, he was indirectly involved in the death of his parents, and has a lot of guilt. He has his little brother that he has to take care of. But he's focused solely on bringing them back, and things don't go exactly according to plan. >> Be careful what you wish for. >> Exactly. >> I'm always fascinated by this. Where did the idea come from? Was it a book? Was it a story? What happened? >> You know, it was never a light bulb moment. It was, you know, I'm a child of the '80s, so I grew up with Ghostbusters and Poltergeist. I always loved that kind of movie. But I also liked science. So, you know, I just one day, I was kind of thinking, how can you can combine the two. What if you take real science, you get rid of the hokey pokey stuff. You take real science and try to combine that with, you know, the fantastical, the supernatural. So that kind of led me down a rabbit hole. I found out that there are actually a lot of people investigating this kind of stuff using real science to try to you know, peek into the other side. So that kind of opened it up for me, and I started from there. >> Did you bring somebody in as your expert on maybe crossing to the other side, and how you go about perhaps building the machine? >> You know, I actually did talk to a lot of ghost hunters, and mediums, and those kind of people. A lot of them, you have to take with a little grain of salt. But there are really smart people doing real work out there, so I hooked up with some of them, and learned a lot. >> After your research, what do you think? What are the possibilities of using electronics to talk to the other side? >> Well, if ghosts do exist, they have to, you know, manifest themselves according to the laws of the universe. We may not know all those laws yet. But if they're using the same laws we are, there's probably a way to crack that open. But I haven't seen anything yet, so I can't say I believe. >> What about the machine? How do you get the machine in the film? How did the idea come to what it would look like, or what it would consist of, or what was the main component? >> The grid-tie converter. Yeah, so you know, if ghosts do exist, they have to manifest themselves some way, and that's through energy, ambient energy. When people say they see a ghost, you know, the temperature in the room drops. >> Or they feel it. >> The hair on the back of their neck stands up, so it's all about energy and electricity. Or there's more hauntings during a thunderstorm, the lightning and electricity. So, all these things kind of come together, and you think, there's kind of this theme running along here. The machine, essentially, raises the ambient energy in the room to give the supernatural more power to show up. >> To tap you on the shoulder. >> Yep, and then the character in the movie, I don't want to give a spoiler away, but decides to plug that machine into the power grid, all the power lines around town. So it kind of raises the ambient energy of the entire neighborhood. >> Speaking of the movie, I have a great idea. Let's look at another clip from Ghost From the Machine on Director's Cut.

sounds of someone in kitchen

ghostly chanting

>> You're up. >> What are you doing here? >> What do you mean? >> Is it you? >> Who else would it be? >> It can't be. >> Honey, I think you're still dreaming. [muffled singing, "Twinkle, Twinkle"] >> You're back. Wanna give me a hand with these? What's wrong? What's wrong? >> Just that you're-- >> Tell me what's wrong. Baby-- >> Oh, this is crazy. >> I feel a little hair on the back of my neck right now standing up. Another clip from Ghost From the Machine. We talking with Matt Osterman. A great clip there. It's one of the two stories going on. I'm not a huge fan of scary films, but I don't think of this as scary. This is a thriller. >> Right. >> It's a thriller with heart. Is that bad of me to say that? >> Yeah... >> It is bad of me to say that? >> No, that's good, that's good. >> There's nobody, I don't want to give away too much, but it's not Saw 8, you know what I mean? >> Right. Was that your original idea, when you started production, that this is going to be about more than just scaring the -- out of people? >> Yeah. >> It's adventures of the heart, too. >> Right, 100%. The best movies speak to you on an emotional level. You know, you need that visceral kind of something. But I think the scariest things are the things you don't see. >> Right, like just the noise around the corner. It was so well done. I'm leaning forward, I want to know what's there. >> Yep, and everyone's been there. Everyone's heard that thing, like what is that. So to try to tie the supernatural to the real world, you know, kind of gives people pause, you know, thinking that wasn't the refrigerator running. Maybe that was something else. >> Yeah, was that my ice maker? I'm not sure. Tom, played by...? >> Matthew Feeney. >> And Tom's wife, who I don't believe has a name in the film. >> No. >> Tom's wife. Their relationship, I mean, everybody in the cast is strong, but talk a little bit about working with the two of them. They're really strong. >> Yeah, great actors for sure. That was kind of a meaty role for Matthew to pull off, because you have to play this guy who, you know, lost the love of his life, and went to a really dark place for a long time. He's finally starting to come out of that. The grieving and the mourning is finally kind of, you know, behind him. He has a new girlfriend. He's just moving on, and then she shows back up. >> Yeah. >> What do you do? >> All thanks to the neighbor kid and his machine. >> Exactly. >> We didn't see as much pain in Cody, as we did in Tom. But James' brother was fun, giving him a hard time always. >> Yeah, well Cody has blinders on. He's so focused on this. It's not till, you know, there's that lesson that he learns in this movie. Then, he kind of puts it all together. But he's so focused on doing this, he kind of lets everything in his life kind of go aside. >> James gets in a little bit of trouble. >> Yeah. >> With school and the principal visiting. Nothing from your real life? >> No, no. I mean, for those who have seen the movie, I haven't exploded any frogs, uh, yet. Maybe some day. But yeah, again, I just kind of make him kind of the smart kid that's acting out, you know. He lost his parents and his brother is not doing his job. So he, you know, has issues, which any kid probably would. >> The film has a previous title. Can you talk about that? You made the change. The original title was...? >> "Phasma Ex Machina." >> Which means? >> Ghost from the machine. >> Ah, okay, and what happened with the change? >> You know, so it's a mouthful. And I love the name because Latin is the language of science and religion, in a lot of ways. >> By the way, I knew what it meant. I was just testing you. >> It's really obvious. They're pretty smart. So we had the title, and it was one of those things that we loved. But people that weren't familiar with the film, it's a mouthful, thought it was a foreign film. So when we got a distribution deal, they said, you know, if we really want to have potential with this, maybe we should just go with the translation. >> Did you want to fight them on it at all, or not? >> I got it, you know. Like, I mean, we fought, but you know, as a person that understand marketing, you know, I get it. >> And you wanted the story out there. >> I want people to see it. You know, ultimately, it's not about the title. It's about the story. >> Let's take another look at, the Latin title is? >> Phasma Ex Machina. >> Ghost From the Machine, here on Director's Cut. >> James, pizza's here!

muffled thudding

>> It's them. >> From last night? >> You're coming.

thudding clearer

>> Well, hello. >> Hi. >> Are you coming to bed? >> I don't think so. >> Why not? >> Do you know that you're not supposed to be here? >> That again. I'm right here, Tom. Come to bed.

thudding

>> It stopped. >> I'm not going to admit to this, but after watching your film by myself at night during a rain storm, I took a second thought about going down into my basement. >> Good, I did my job. >> You did your job. I literally turned on the light and I kind of looked around the corner, just to check things out. You were making shorts, and then you switched over to Ghost From the Machine. >> Right. >> Your first feature. Tell us a little about that. Educate us a little about going from making a 20-minute to a 90-minute piece. >> Short films are an awesome form of expression. You know, you get to do a lot of cool stuff. >> People think it's easier. >> Yeah, not so much. You know, there's a lot of work that goes into a good short. You know, like between a short and a feature, you still have to cast all the roles. You have to find locations. You have to get the equipment. You have to feed everybody. So, all the front end stuff is almost identical to doing a feature. So I did a 20-minute short, and I said, you know what, this is too much work for something that plays festivals and it's never seen again, so I said, let's do a feature. I had this idea, and I said, you know, it'll have a life span longer than just the festival circuit. >> Right. So, it was just more of the same, as far as like feeding the crew, it's just a longer shoot? >> Yeah, I mean, it's a marathon, for sure. We shot 17 days, showing up every day having the right mindset, the appropriate amount of energy, and whatnot. It's very, very tough. You're looking at 12- to 15-hour days, you know, for six days straight. It can grind on you. >> So then, it's all done, you started entering film festivals, and you played some film festivals. >> Yeah. >> Can you highlight some of your favorites? >> We premiered in Montreal at a festival called Fantasia. It was off the charts amazing. >> A ton of fun. >> These people really appreciate these kind of movies. They, you know, go for the smart kind of sci-fi stuff. That was a blast. It was the first time I got to sit with an audience and watch it. There were reviewers from "Variety," "Hollywood Reporter," and all these cool newspapers. >> Did they react the way you wanted them to react at the right times? Was there the gasp or the sadness? >> You know, it's funny, having now watched the film with an audience, I don't know, a couple dozen times, as you know, there's funny parts to this movie. And it is kind of a scary little drama, but there are some funny parts. To watch it with an audience, it takes one person to laugh at the first funny moment, to give the rest of the audience permission. If that first person doesn't laugh, it takes a while for them to catch up and be like, oh, okay, we see what he's doing here. >> That's the thing. You call the film smart, and I like that. You also said laugh. It's smart because it encompasses everything. You've got the laughter. You've got some sadness when Tom says you're not supposed to be here. And you've got the thriller mystery part. About a minute left before we look at another clip. Tell us about the premiere in Rhinelander. That's your home town. >> Born and raised in Rhinelander. Most of my family is still there, so we said, you know, we have to bring it back to Rhinelander. I know the theater over there. We threw a big party, and had a bunch of people. >> How was the reaction there? Your friends and family probably had to react well, right? >> Yeah, well, you know, the immediate family has already seen it. But you know, bringing the old high school friends, and teachers, and that kind of thing was amazing. They're going to tell me they loved it, either way. Unconditional. >> And you paid them. >> Right, that's right. >> Let's take another look at Ghost From the Machine, here on Director's Cut. >> Can you suspend disbelief for a minute? >> Yeah. >> You know, when you feel a presence? They say it's like the hair on the back of your neck standing up. Or the temperature in the room drops a few degrees, like a cold spot. Maybe what their sensing is just a shift in the electromagnetic energy levels. You know the one man-made thing most haunted sights have in common more than any other thing? Proximity to power lines. If the bottleneck between the other side and ours is just a shortage of ambient energy, let's see what happens if we give it to them. >> So your just taking standard energy and increasing the EMF, and pumping it back into the grid? >> Exactly. I mean, if the other side exists, why shouldn't the laws of physics apply to it? Why do they have to be mutually exclusive? >> I had an old college professor who said Edison spent many years trying to invent a device that would allow him to communicate with the other side. But he never got his to work. You got yours to work. >> How do you know? >> I saw somebody I haven't seen quite in some time. >> Like somebody who shouldn't be back. >> Yeah. >> Who? >> My wife. >> And she's-- >> Six years now. You need to destroy it. >> Excuse me? >> Dead is dead, and the dead and the living shouldn't be-- There's a reason they're separated. >> No, I can't do that. Not now. Not when I'm this close. >> Close to what? >> Bringing them back. >> Who's "them"? >> My parents. >> There it is again. Thrilling, touching, all at the same time, wrapped into one. Excellent job. Don't turn your machine on around me, because if you bring back my Uncle Earl, I'm not going to be happy with you. >> Okay. >> So the film's done now. You've got this film. You played the circuits. What do you do with your film next? >> Luckily, we had a trailer that we put out there that kind of went viral, you know, tons of people had seen it and it got a lot of industry attention. So, we got a sales agent for the film, who basically repped the film to distributors. They got us a distribution deal pretty quickly. The movie came out in 2012, in iTunes, in theaters, in Blockbuster, you know, kind of a lot of different places. >> So now it's out there and people are seeing it. Then the more people that see it, maybe the more the phone rings. Did anything good happen? >> Yeah, well, people at Universal, the studio... >> I've never heard of Universal Studios. >> Right, it's a tiny little organization. They got hold of it and they loved it. They saw a lot of potential with the story, on a much bigger budget. They bought the remake rights, and they plan on doing a big budget remake. >> Congratulations. >> Thank you. >> Will they keep the title, or you have no idea what they'll do? >> No idea. Yeah, they basically can do whatever they want. I have my movie that I'm very proud of, you know, and I hope they do a good job. >> Yeah, here's the check, have a nice day. >> I won't cross my fingers. >> You made this up in Minneapolis. We talk to a lot of Wisconsin filmmakers. You were born in Rhinelander. So we talk to people about the Wisconsin community. What's the Minneapolis community like for making films up there, when you're begging and borrowing to get your film, your baby, done? >> It's a great filmmaking community up there. We have tons of theater, so the acting base if phenomenal. Then, we shoot a lot of commercials, and stuff like that up there, too, so you have a good crew base. You have a lot of people that are technically proficient that can help pull off, you know, your vision. We get a few Hollywood movies coming through every now and then, too, so people get to play with the cool toys. It's a really cool spot. >> Is it a good place for young filmmakers to get their feet wet? Did you have anybody young helping out on set? >> Oh, yeah, we had tons of young people. Lots of PAs and interns. When you're making a cheap movie, you kind of have to rely on young talent, as well. >> Here comes my trite question every half hour, but what's your piece of advice for a young filmmaker out there, or to any filmmaker, my age, making films. What's the piece of advice? >> Yeah, I mean, the obvious one is you have to work hard. This industry attracts a lot of people that expect to get rich quick, and want the fame and the fortune. No, it doesn't work that way. You have to work hard. If you put your time in, then it will pay off. The second piece, which should be obvious, but it's not always, is be nice to people. I've worked with so many people that aren't really nice, you know, and I'll never work with them again. >> You're not saying anything here, are you? >> Uh, no. >> Okay! I believe it's true that you can see the film on Netflix now. >> Yeah. >> And is it true you had a good weekend recently? >> Yeah, when it came out, we were in the top ten films most viewed on Netflix Instant. So you made it a while ago, and then it was out, and obviously some of the excitement died down a little bit. But then you have a weekend like that on Netflix. That had to make you feel pretty good. >> Yeah, you know, not to steal a metaphor from the movie, but it's a movie that never dies, you know? It keeps coming back, which is great for me, because you know, you put so much work into it, you just don't want to see it, you know, do that. I want it to have a life, you know, beyond just what I can do for it. >> You don't actually have a machine in your garage that's keeping the film coming back? >> I would be a rich man if I could do that. Universal will probably, maybe they bought the rights to that. >> Bought that, too. Let's take a look at another clip from Ghost From the Machine, directed by Matt Osterman. >> Why aren't you in school? >> Uh, gee, I don't know. Maybe because my ride left without me! >> Relative? >> Yes, my granddaughter. Cody, I need to tell you something. Just between you and me. >> James, earmuffs. >> Come on, really? >> Just do it. >> There's people in your house, people who shouldn't be there. >> You saw them. >> They lived in your house before you and your folks moved in. A small family, an mother and son. They ran a daycare out of their house. And-- >> And what? >> They had problems. And a young boy like James isn't safe there. If you know what I mean? They've been dead for-- Good god, 20 years! That's not possible, right?

knocking

>> Hey, Mommy! What are you talking about, Mommy? >> It's possible. >> She just... showed up. >> James, stay here. I'll be right back. >> Ghost From the Machine, here on Director's Cut. I was wondering how big the circumference was for the machine, you know, if people like all over, neighbors, obviously were having people stop by. Do you know the radius on it? >> I never worked up the math on that one. I can get back to you. >> We want to know what you're working on now. What's next for Matt Osterman? >> I have a couple scripts. One is finished. That is kind of making the rounds in L.A. I've got some good buzz on that right now. Another one, I'm just wrapping up right now. It's about four astronauts who go on a simulated mission to a distant planet. They never leave Earth. Hopefully, I'll shoot that one next winter. >> That's something you're going to shoot yourself? >> Yeah. >> What's your favorite thing to do? You've been writing. You directed this. I believe you edited it, too, didn't you? >> Right. >> What's your favorite thing to do, and can you tell us why? >> You know, I mean, I kind of love the whole process. I couldn't just be a writer and hand off my baby to somebody, you know? And I need kind of that physical interaction being on set, you know, that's fun for me, because that's where the magic happens. But most of the power is in the edit room, because you can really make the movie there. I can't really say I like one or the other more, because they're all really important, and you have to put your time in. >> You're a Packer fan. >> True. >> From Wisconsin. Did you do a project about the Vikings for Jon Stewart of The Daily Show? >> Yeah, I did. >> How and why? >> He wanted to do a feature-length documentary on hardcore fans. For a long reason, they had settled on Vikings fans. Living in Minneapolis, I got hired to do that, so I hung out with Vikings fans for an entire season, which was interesting. They're not that much different from Packer fans, although they're tortured and they don't know what it's like to taste victory. >> And they play in a miserable dome. >> Yeah, right. So I had to not tell them I was a Packer fan, because you have to gain trust as a documentarian. You don't want them to hate you. But I wore my Packer socks the whole time. >> Really? And they didn't notice? >> Didn't notice. >> Did you ever get to work with Mr. Stewart directly? >> No, he called into the office. That was about it. He probably wouldn't know me if he saw me walking on the street. >> When you're not making films, what do you do to fund your love of filmmaking? >> I make little films for companies. I do a lot of web video, and advertising, and that kind of thing. >> You didn't want to say the word, but you did. >> I did. >> You said advertising. >> I did. Well, you've got to eat. >> That's true. The film is great. >> Thank you. >> It's really enjoyable. Like I said, it's got all the parts to it. You've got the scary, what's around the corner. You've got the heart, the stuff between Tom and his wife. I'm not supposed to cry one second and be scared the next second, but it's what happened. >> Good, thank you. >> And you've got the humor. It's all there. Thanks, Matt, for being with us. >> Thank you. >> For more information on Ghost From the Machine, please visit our website at wpt.org and click on Director's Cut. Remember, if your long-gone grandma shows up on the porch, blame Matt. We'll see you next time, here on Director's Cut. >> Is there something wrong with the last one. I mean, 'cause it's under warranty. >> No, there's nothing wrong with it. It's a gift. >> A gift? >> For my grandma. >> You're buying a solar grid-tie inverter for your grandma? >> Yeah, she's been bugging me about it for months. >> Okay.