Imagine you’re a movie writer or director and the producer of the movie gives you certain guidelines to follow in your writing. Sounds, reasonable, right? Your challenge is to write and produce a movie, with just 8 simple rules to follow in your writing. Oh, and one day on the set to direct and shoot your story. Yes, you read that right- ONE DAY.
It may seem crazy, or even impossible, but that’s just what happened in the making of Do Not Disturb- a new movie produced by Mali Elfman that consists of 5 (mostly) separate stories that take place behind the door of Room 316 and held together by both the room and a maid working in the hotel (played by Diva Zappa.)
I had the chance to sit down with two of the directors- Brandon Nicholas and Jon Mann-Krieger- to chat about the movie and its stories, as well as what went into its making and how it all came together. Take a listen after the jump!
If you’ve watched the movie, you know that the last two stories are linked more than the previous three. What may be surprising, however, is that all of the above rules apply. Each director is given 8 rules to follow and one day to shoot their short. And even as the final two stories overlap more than the others, the result is two separate, yet continuous stories with different tones that blend together seamlessly.
How so?
The fourth story in the movie, “Intrinsic“, is a dark tale with a twist followed by another twist and resulting in a mess (so to speak) that sets up the fifth installment. In “Intrinsic”, written and directed by Jon Mann-Krieger, dark humor is injected in an otherwise humorless event- at least for the characters involved.
The transition into the the fifth and final segment of the movie, “Death Takes a Holiday Inn“, written and directed by Brandon Nicholas is subtle but its tone trades dark comedy for dramatic and supernatural.
While it’s true that Jon and Brandon collaborated more with one another than the other directors, they knew as little as possible about the other one’s story- a fact that makes the movie and its respective parts all the more intriguing.
One thing’s certain- if you’re a fan of dark comedy, Alfred Hitchcock or The Twilight Zone, you should watch Do Not Disturb. It has a little something for everyone. Check out the film’s website HERE to read all about it and the awesome people that helped make it a reality. There, you can also see all the different ways you can see it for yourself- none of which include an expensive night at the movies. (just another bonus).
Jon Mann-Krieger Interview:
Brandon Nicholas Interview:
