Today’s Guest: David Spaltro, indie filmmaker, Things I Don’t Understand, Around…
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Filmmaker David Spaltro was one of my smartest finds of 2009.
His first independent production, …Around, was stitched together on dozens of credit cards and a peanut-butter-and-jelly budget. It made for a great backstory and an even better film.
I was delighted to interview David on this show back then and couldn’t be happier to welcome him back with a new film.
DAVID SPALTRO podcast excerpt: “I had a kamikaze mission for my first film, … Around. I had a six-month plan that if we finished the film, I’d juggle all the credit card debt… If it didn’t work out, I’m young, I’m stupid, I’d figure it out. The only way to protect the film was to sign it away to my producers for $1. But what I did was transference fraud so I couldn’t file for bankruptcy. The only way to deal with it was to not exist for two years. It was a long, long journey.”
Even better was the opportunity to see more of actress Molly Ryman, who co-starred in …Around and is central to Things I Don’t Understand. In the new drama, she plays a detached grad student who forms a cathartic bond with a terminally ill girl she’s interviewing for her thesis. That would be plenty of grist but she’s also falling for the damaged bartender downstairs with a mysterious past, even as she faces eviction from the home she’s built for herself with her artist roommates.
For me, one of the marked differences between Spaltro’s first and second films is the lighting; I remember …Around as being dark and dingy – no doubt in deference to limited resources – while Things I Don’t Understand, despite its dark topics, is actually brighter and more appealing to the eye.
You can get a taste for Things I Don’t Understand at the film’s official website and watch for it to possibly debut later this year at SXSW or the Tribeca Film Festival.
David Spaltro Facebook • Twitter • IMDB • TIDU on Facebook • Things I Don’t Understand website • Order …Around on DVD from Amazon.com • David Spaltro’s first appearance on Mr. Media
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