Q & A: 'Young People F***ing'
By JASON ANDERSON, Film Critic with Eye Weekly / The Globe and Mail
Up close and personal with Martin Gero (Director) & Aaron Abrams (Producer/Actor)
There's some awkward situations in 'Young People F***ing'.
The length of time this movie has taken to make, from conception to the TIFF premiere is...
Martin: Just over three years but from getting financing to TIFF is less than 11 months.
The estimated amount of time off my life span this project has taken is...
Aaron: I think it's added a few years, actually. If we didn't make it, we would've carried it around and eventually we would've gotten those weird lumps that dogs get.
The biggest reason I wanted to become a filmmaker is...
Martin: Lots of reasons. But - and we're not sure the general public knows this - as producers of a film, you get to have a grilled cheese sandwich whenever you want. I'd make another film just for that. It's like being the president of a really small country. Or a diner.
I believed this story (or stories, actually) had to become a movie because...
Martin: We hadn't seen the stories this movie dealt with in any other movie in a way that spoke to us. I mean, sure, there have been movies about sex and relationships... but I, personally, have never f***ed a pie. Not once. You?
Aaron: I've never been in any life-and-death situations, but the closest I get to what I imagine that feeling is, is sexual situations. That s**t is like jumping out of a plane into a world of conflict and romance and all sorts of fun trouble. And the most specific and personal stuff ends up being the most universal - I mean, who hasn't jumped out of a plane into the arms of naked trouble?
The moment when I really thought the project was going to collapse was...
Martin: TH!NKFilm (our worldwide distributor) got sold to an American company a few weeks before we started shooting. Without a Canadian-owned distributor on board, Telefilm would have to pull out their sizable investment, which meant we needed to find a Canadian distributor that was fine with dumping a lot of money into a movie about sex, with a swear in the title and a first-time director who wasn't open to script changes. Oh, and we had to do it in 24 hours. Amazingly, producer Steve Hoban somehow convinced Christal (now our Canadian distributor) to come on board.
The best way to make naked actors feel comfortable is...
Aaron: Casting super-hot people opposite them helps.
Martin: Someone told me to get the crew naked - that person is an idiot. Mostly I would just stare at their bodies, not make eye contact and keep talking about my boner. I think it was the best way to put them at ease. Also, insisting on more takes 'cause I wasn't ?finished? really worked. Basically: putting their comfort first.
The most interesting thing I learned about sex toys is...
Aaron: Not all of them are meant to go in your ass. But all of them could go in your ass.
Martin: And some taste like Grape Crush!
My best-case scenario for how the night of the TIFF premiere will go is...
Aaron: If we could somehow win a hundred bajillion dollars right before the screening, that would be the best-case scenario.
Martin: That and a grilled cheese sandwich.
My worst-case scenario is...
Martin: People not laughing.
For full TIFF coverage, visit eye Weekly's website.