the neighbors can see you flying around
you want to draw attention to this house
but a whole documentary crew former URL
what is it that you did to get these
vampires to trust you to allow them to
you know open up their world - it took a
long time oh I'm sure we just we gained
the trust so is this your first
mockumentary weariness mcenamey forgive
me forgive me documentary it's our first
venture into the documentary field yes
hi I'm Ryan Salaam this week vice meets
Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi the
directors and writers of what we do in
the shadows it's been like this the
whole time
Deacon on dishes and it still hasn't
moved in five years you're a cool guy
but you're not pulling your weight in
the flat oh I'm glad to hear that I'm
cool no that's not the point though yeah
I know that meeting about how cool you
are when you get three vampires in a
flat obviously there's going to be a lot
of venture
viago was an eighteenth-century family
ghost cop so you guys have been working
in this world for a long time even
comedians even filmmakers
I thought you man in the world were
vampires on earth
well that world too obviously but so in
this world tell me about the difference
between getting a project like this made
versus you know kind of getting a kind
of bigger budget kind of movie well we
we actually pitched this idea in
Hollywood a couple of years ago and well
firstly they didn't that the eyes are
kind of glazed over once we mentioned
vampires and then the eyes glazed over
even more like a double glazed and one
eye glazed in better limber thick and I
said well I just saw a clouded over and
they kind of fell asleep when we said
that there were no parts for big stars
in the film and we just wanted to use
our friends despite the fact that you
guys had a track record despite the fact
that you guys have made things before
that have been well understandably they
can't really sell film without you know
yeah at the moment it's hard to it's
hard to sell a film that has a low
budget and we knew we wanted to have a
low budget so gave all the freedom of
just doing whatever we wanted why didn't
you want to have you know kind of famous
actors if that would make it more
saleable like what was it it was just
because you have particular people in
mind if I think the style of this bike
sitting in New Zealand with neon oak and
there and also like not having because
it's a mockumentary not having super
recognizable people with actually quite
important we'd also have to tell our
friends that you're not going to be in
the movie anymore because Johnny Depp's
playing your part
there is something about these
characters these vampires are kind of
marginal guys and the fact that it takes
place in New Zealand some would say
somewhat marginal place you know one of
the characters talks about having you
know his coffin bouncing around from
place to place and finally winding up in
New Zealand sometime in the 20s but
there is this way that like gosh you
know we have guys who live in castles
and yet here we are like was that really
central to the movie for you that they'd
be in this kind of yeah no condos in
anywhere in New Zealand so it's like you
know they would have got there I imagine
that they in the 1800 people but New
Zealand was advertised as like this
great new destination or
the land of milk and honey and stuff and
they and people went down there and it
was like the piano was just muddy and
like there was nothing there and it was
really boring and movie people would
just look like a piano and people was
really depressed and I mean if like if
you're a vampire you think I'm M this is
it forever dealing I was going to buy a
cast a lot of disappointment yeah the
main cast can't build a car we think of
them those yet being chased right across
the world further and further south
until New Zealand's basically the last
place they can go do you feel like that
shapes their kind of the music and art
that comes out and New Zealand just the
sense of being kind of on the edge of
the world
we're isolated yeah isolated so that
maybe it is I feel like people off it
and say it's a little bit like Roger I
think Iceland is probably even more
upbeat than New Zealand and it's at the
New Zealand's nan for like Dario's like
dark humour or movie so you know I've
got like a sort of dark edge to them how
does it influence you when you were when
you were young before you even before
you guys met like when you guys were
watching television the fact that they
were like you know two or three channels
you know kind of how do you think that
shaped your cultural consumption and or
to tell ya to use absorb everything that
you saw on TV because there was no there
are no other options and so it's not you
could really choose what to watch and
you just yeah you just suck it up you
think that's part of what made you guys
want to do your own thing to kind of be
creative in this way because you had to
be that you kind of had to kind of come
up with your own genre so that we had a
great mix of American and British comedy
and you know that the best of both
worlds so what is it like you know when
you're taking a film like this outside
of New Zealand I mean do you feel like
you know it connects with audiences or
do you think that there's something
that's missed there's something kind of
distinctive in particular about that
sensibility that you know doesn't
necessarily translate whenever we
started to do theater shows and stuff
Tiger and Brit McKenzie and I would
would travel people in New Zealand would
say they won't I think they won't get it
over there you know but it doesn't
really apply there much just the way
Zealand didn't have much confidence in
its own content back then as well look
especially in comedy different people as
I
every way why are you guys bothering
with this it's a good real job you know
we understand things from America and
New Zealanders you understand things
from Britain here there is a sweetness
to it though I mean this movie in
particular when you were talking about
you know people's eyes glazing over the
prospect of another vampire movie it is
so striking that there's something kind
of fuzzy about these vampires and I kind
of wonder I mean that is something
that's been true of your work in the
past there is a kind of sweetness to it
and I wonder is that intentional or you
try guys trying to make it really mean
and aggressive and it just comes off
that way nah I think anything from New
Zealand everything is kind of polite
it's just polite comedy it's a you know
like pot comedy and like dude comedy and
movie owned but we're not really like
that down there we're not both cut it's
just polite it's like I don't want to
get in the way if you were to personify
New Zealand it would be a very big bulky
man
it's very insecure do you do like me
we know I wonder does the aggression
kind of get channeled in some other way
or is it just not there I think this is
even though it is kind of sweet this is
probably the darkest comedy that we've
done there is a lot of murder in blood
this litter that's true we've put that
now when you say that you know there
wasn't this interests in Hollywood then
how did you guys go about getting the
movie made you had a short film that you
know was very well received but then
what happened next what were the next
steps actually the short film we kept a
secret for a long time but we we were
financed privately through actually
through producer here in the States and
because we're in New Zealand you get
funding through the New Zealand Film
Commission as the usual way to do it but
it's quite a bureaucratic system and
it's taxpayer money so you've got to go
through you know a lot of there's always
channels you've got to go through and
often involving script development we
would have had to hand out our script
and they would have notes on it about
you know particular story lines and
lines and things like that when you we
were going to use it as a basis to
improvise from yeah we knew we would
find the true story like a documentary
in the editor were there any things that
surprised you about the process of
making the film now given that it was
improvised you know kind of were there
places the story took you because of the
performances or did you have a pretty
clear sense of where you wanted to wind
out we knew where the story was going to
wind up we had a script but we wouldn't
show the actors the script only Teicher
and I knew that we was going and the
crew but we try to surprise the actors
to get their reactions and to get their
natural you know Cadence's and speaking
and those kind of thing mm-hmm I agree
I'm agreeing with it I was there you
guys have known each other for 20 years
and you're still able to work together
I mean tell us a bit of anyway together
through our assistants we communicate as
we're how we communicate we yeah I mean
we do other stuff as well so it's not
constant we sweetly see other people
with a arrangement yeah well is there
one person who is kind of the instigator
and then the other person was kind of
like oh I'm going to keep up or does
that change from you know kind of one of
you to you I think time depending on how
you're talking to the answer will change
we'll both say well I say that we're the
leader and the
when you keep it from the other one you
know just just care there you get honor
yeah this this our job by the one tyke
has been doing a lot of drama kind of
stuff lately so this was try I was
trying to get him back into comedy
use your legs Wow sit back and rock huh
okay and punching hi yep hi yep and how
do you guys divvy up the work given that
you guys are very close collaborators
given that you guys you know both have
top billing as directors and writers of
the film is there you know alienness
directors and writers if you look at the
poster we well cuz I did more experience
working with crews and input schedules
and that that side of filmmaking so I
took care of most of that technical
stuff and then because we didn't show
the actors the script
Jemaine would just work closely with
them and describe explain what was
happening in the scene and what we
wanted to get out of shape the scenes
that we're here do you guys feel
comfortable working with other writers
and directors or do you kind of imagine
you know your favorite work your best
work is when you guys have that control
over the process
I've never does the first one with
co-directed something and it was good
but sometimes working with other writers
has had we've worked to get we've
written together for a long time so it's
a bit easier so tell us about working in
the United States as opposed to working
in New Zealand and you know just the
roles you pursued and the frustrations
perhaps or we'd love America are so good
to us is a very good country it is true
I mean we were doing things in New
Zealand mostly mostly theatre and if it
weren't for our success in America we
probably wouldn't work that well any
good New Zealand wouldn't have given us
any chances its look like the fact that
you proved yourself yeah yeah
Tiger Tucker was nominated for an Oscar
for his fish short film and if we win
for that I wouldn't be able to film he
wouldn't have made me yeah and have been
able to make another they kind of made
me the government made me do more films
after that on one level you know you
could say New Zealand is this place
that's kind of bicultural because you
have the indigenous component you have
the Maori component and then you have
this you know kind of from the British
Isles component but then now that you
have this big Asian inflow
so you have Pacific Islanders from you
know other parts of the region we're
settling I imagine that has to have led
to some cultural change is slowly
getting better you know like for
instance we did when we did the short
film version of shadows in 2005 and you
know you've seen the way we dress with
frilly shirts and everything we did one
scene where we walk through the main
street of Wellington it was a Friday
night which is a big rugby night and
rugby is sort of like a religion in New
Zealand and so everyone was out in the
streets men and women a speedo as well
we're doing this to us but we would walk
down the street and basically just got
called homos and the entire way
down this big stretch from guys and
girls and you gotta admit some of the
girls were into it hey let me go into
town you must try to blend in not
walking this way coming into town it's
really cool because just for one brief
moment I feel
and then but then cut to 2012 when we
tried to recreate that that seems we
thought I was really you know
interesting to to get those comments
from people so we went down Street and
we couldn't find anyone to do it would
call us that we'd written it into the
script because we're expecting people to
do it take to yell out homo Edda but it
didn't have a once so you see that's
become a lot more tolerance maturing of
frilly shirts why don't you girls smell
you're on crutches Oh God what are you
talking about it we don't smell our own
crotches we smell each other's crotches
and it's a form of greeting you're on
Kemp yeah don't don't come on it's okay
cuz I know this guy let's count
Euler don't swear sorry they say we
werewolves knots what are we we're not
we think one thing I wonder about is
just you know given these kind of to you
know kind of fundamental streams of New
Zealand's culture if some of the
qualities you're identifying that kind
of diffidence that insecurity you say
you know is this something that is
coming from one half is this coming from
let's say that kind of you know the
British half or is it also coming or do
they reinforce each other in this way
yeah but also the older and older
generation because it seems as though
you know kind of our generation and
younger don't care yeah
but the older generation were very
skeptical and when we were trying to you
know do stuff get TV shows or whatever
in New Zealand when were younger that
generation would would stop our
generation and still a lot of net
generation run things in the TV world
and stuff and it's very hard to convince
them of stuff is it fair to say that
people of indigenous origins in New
Zealand
you know have a more yeah I mean are
there barriers still I mean kind of
feeder is there a sense in which you
know kind of in terms of having a public
profile in terms of yeah barriers but
are known in New Zealand will admit it I
always live in another countries though
so like there's more of a sense of
ownership there's more of a sense of
like actually a little more release or
theory and yeah yeah a lot more
opportunities but you know that we have
a Maori TV channel we've got you know it
we've got
the what - Marty political parties you
know who have seats in parliament we've
got dr. woo yeah we're a lot more
involved this is a bit silly but I mean
when you're telling the vampire story
you know clearly these are all guys with
silly accents but I mean is this also
partly an immigrant story as well yeah
that's obviously yeah yeah I think
vampires are great you know work you can
look at them as basically anyone who
lives them and imagine to anyone who's
you know there's trouble fitting in you
know they're yeah they're differently
represent immigrants and also not only
are they out of their countries they're
out of their time you know they're
centuries we're from different centuries
and they also represent smaller
subcultures or even like you know Goths
and you know and make PMO's or any any
group that's like smaller marginalized I
think that it's like a perfect parallel
for because I when we were walking
through town like we'd dressed up like
this yeah you'd see I've ever seen
seeing like a couple of these goth kids
who like so looked over at us like oh
wow there's some different people you
know had some people like us you know
the reason I brought you here is to tell
you that I'm a vampire
Stu took it pretty well he's definitely
my best mate and I'm not gonna eat him
but they ever offer you spaghetti you
shouldn't eat it and they offered me
biscotti vampire mates don't need human
mates and no matter how much I want to
eat him I'll never eat him because he's
my mate Hey sure
yeah one thing I found cool about it is
that even though it is about a
subculture let's say a marginalized
group you know these vampires it's also
just about their internal dynamics
rather than purely about how other
people look at them it's kind of about
how they deal with each other and I
thought that was kind of striking it was
that something that you kind of would
want to see more of in kind of accounts
of let's say immigrant subcultures were
liberals just kind of you know more of
an internal perspective like you know
what do they think rather than how are
they affected by groups outside of them
I think so yeah I think that what's
relatable is just it's a pretty
universal story you know about a group
of this was just like a family you know
my characters kind of like the mum and
it has characters like the dad and the
family and then you know and deacons
like the teenage son and then they get
this new kid coming into the fold and
disrupt everything and then we will
think that's growling dairy lilies yeah
a dolphin years old that's just a
British sitcom really are there any
other stories that you guys you know
have in mind that you guys want to
pursue in the in the coming years we've
done a few shows in New Zealand where we
use video and put it in a live theatre
place and we've talked to you about
doing another one of those with some of
our other New Zealand dreams you know
Rosa Johnny Depp in there either it
would be good to bring it here though to
America we're writing a TV show idea
which is an anthology each episode being
a different kind of world or genre and
so any that'll be a place for lots of
ideas that we've had and we'll get other
writers hopefully if it goes ahead - um
- join us on there and gentlemen your
most
so much fine then what
so where can people find the movie the
what we do in the shadows opens in New
York and LA first on the 13th of
February and then on the 20th it goes to
take in more City and on 27th another
team something like that slowly creeping
on creeping across America
the virus thank you very much guys
you're working