Film Courage: You have two movies coming out that star Bruce Willis. How did this happen?
Matt Eskandari, Writer/Director/Producer: Sometimes when people ask me you just did
two movies with Bruce Willis starring and they think it just happened overnight or just one of
those things that kind of hit but as a filmmaker I’ve been grinding and doing it for more than
a decade. I went to film school awhile ago, I’ve been telling stories, writing scripts,
making movies. So to some people it feels almost like this overnight thing but no, I’ve been
at this for awhile and it’s taken awhile to get to that point where
my work is established enough where people will come to me like Oh we want you to direct this
film or we’ve seen your work and we feel like your style (your vision) would really fit into
the content that we’re creating. That’s how those films came about is I did several
independent films that got a lot of buzz (a lot of attention) and they attracted producers were like
Oh hey we’re doing these other movies, are you interested? We’ve love to hear your take on them
and it’s a process. It’s like a job interview, right? You go in there and read the script
and come up with your vision for how you think that film should be directed.
Film Courage: Can we hear more about this pitch?
Matt: Yes. As a director when you’re going to direct a script from
another writer or a studio project or a production company has,
you have a certain freedom to kind of read the script and come up with your
vision for it and that includes everything from a lookbook to cast to how you think the world
is designed and looked and the visuals and everything just every little detail that
you can go in there with describing how you think that film should be made and it’s everything from
we’re going to use a lot of steadicam and we’re going to use handheld, we’re going to use these
kind of lenses, we are going to develop this sort of arc with the characters and it’s going in there
with a confident vision of how you think that film should be translated from the script to the screen
and that’s really what you’re doing as a director when you read someone else’s script. You’re taking
that and sort of deciphering how you think the best version of that film should be made.
Film Courage: How was it to have this production company was it that worked with Bruce or
knew…there was another company that knew the company that worked with him…approach you and
did you feel like you were validated like Okay now this is a real filmmaking thing?
Matt: Yes, I definitely feel like it was being able to getting approached to direct a script from
another writer that has A-list talent like Bruce Willis attached is definitely sort of a Oh…Whoah!
This is finally a little validation of my work as a filmmaker that people are trusting me with
telling this story. So it definitely elevated the level of okay the stakes are really high on
this one. I really need to step it up and make sure that I bring it 100 percent of my passion
and all the knowledge and experience that I’ve learned as a filmmaker (an independent filmmaker)
for the last decade about okay how do you tell an interesting story? How do you incorporate elements
of indie filmmaking which is kind of like that fast-paced, quick, shooting style into a project
where I have a little bit more money to play with but knowing that it doesn’t mean that you can get
wild with it right? There’s still those parameters of it’s got to come in under schedule, under
budget and you want to be able to deliver the film so that people are always asking for the next one.
Film Courage: Sorry…did they sign on for both movies or was it one?
Matt: No, you do one and then once you…and that’s part of the experience right?
That’s one of the lessons that you learn as a filmmaker throughout your career and
I’ve said it time and time again is work leads to more work. So you do a project,
you write a script for someone and then they are like Oh hey we’re looking for a director to
direct this other project that we have, we really liked your script Matt and that film that you did,
would you like to read this script and give us your take on the project. So that’s one of those
things that both as a filmmaker and everyone in the industry when you work with a DP, he’ll make
a film, he might meet with a producer who will hire him on a film that he ends up directing
or you work with an actor and the film might turn out to be really bad but that actor was really
incredible in the film so you end up hiring him again on a different film. That’s really so much
of this industry and so much of my career as a filmmaker has been just one project leading to
the next in terms of the relationships within that project and the people you meet and the
friends you make and the collaborations that happen leading to the next thing.
Film Courage: What was the emotion like when you found out that you got the…was it the first one?
Matt: Yes, definitely the emotion that I felt as soon as I realized I was going to be
directing this film with Bruce Willis was a lot of excitement. I was just kind of like Whoah! I
better step it up, you know what I mean? I can’t mess this up. I’ve got to do the best I can so
it was sort of like this nervousness mixed with motivation, drive, more dedication. Like okay
I’ve got to step it up and do what I can to tell the best story possible and direct the best film
possible within the constraints that I’ve been given. For me I’ve learned to have more of a stoic
reaction in my career to things and I think that is what has enabled me to have a sustained
career is when bad things happen you have to be able to look at it from a stoic mentality
of okay…that’s bad but we’re going to keep going and then when something really amazing happens
like you’re going to get to do or you’ve got this cool thing or whatever…great, I love that,
that’s good, let’s keep going, let’s keep moving. So it’s having that balance where you can kind of
not let it take you in either one direction or another is one of those things that I’ve learned
earlier on just reading about stoic philosophy and how stoicism helps people in their careers
and it’s something that goes back to ancient Rome and it’s just something that I’ve learned and even
on set as a director I try to have that sort of stoic mentality on set because if you have that
confidence and that sort of don’t let the little things that are going on on set sort of drive you
crazy because they will. If you let either the highs or the lows hit you then you will lose
that sort of control and you won’t be able to just go into it confident, almost like a chess match.
Just go in there with confidence knowing that as things hit you, you can just keep going, take
the hit or then something great happens and then okay this is great, enjoy that little second of it
and then just keep going. Don’t let that thing kind of…don’t ride that high to the point where
you forget what’s in the present, what’s in the moment, what’s happening now.
That’s really been my best bit of advice is to internalize that stoic philosophy in your career.
Questions for the viewers:
If you could work with one movie star, who would it be?