Interview with Megan Griffiths

A little while ago I reviewed an indie film called The Off Hours, which lays out a twilight crossroads for a young woman working a dead end night shift job. The film is beautifully shot, and puts a seldom-seen working place world into deep focus.

Anyway, I was lucky enough to be put into contact with writer-director Megan Griffiths, and she was kind enough to answer some questions about the film and her work as a director.


What inspired you to make a film about the world of the night shift worker?

I was working the night shift at a film lab in Seattle, and it started to get to me. I started to wonder what working in those in-between times would do to a person over the long term. There's such a loneliness to that existence. The hours creep by, but the years seem to accumulate very quickly and before you know it you've let a lot of your life pass you by. I wanted to paint an honest portrait of what could lead people to this place and what it might take to get them out.

How do you go about scripting such a thing? IE. What is the starting point for your script - theme, character, setting or something else?

It definitely started with the theme. The setting came next, and I chose a diner because I felt it would lend a rich palette and be a visually interesting place that would also allow for people of different worlds to interact. The central characters grew from the settings, and the supporting characters grew organically from there because every central character who lived in this diner world needed their stories rounded out by the other people in their life. This may be obvious, but this script was never outlined--the story was driven exclusively by the characters. The changes that take place may feel minor as they occur, but each individual character's world is inextricably changed by the final frame. I feel like this is how people end up where they end up in life, through many small choices made over time. Once you start noticing the cumulative effect of these choices, even the littlest decision becomes magnified.

The dialogue often seemed very organic and naturalistic, was any of it adlibbed?

It was generally scripted. The actors all responded very strongly to the script and didn't really want to stray too far from it. I was definitely always open to improvisation, and there are a few fantastic lines that came straight from the actors' brains. The one actor who improvised a lot was Bret Roberts. He gets bored quickly and usually won't say the same thing two takes in a row. It can be a challenge in the editing room, but he came up with some of the best lines in the film, so I wouldn't have it any other way.

How did you go about earning the Sustainable Style Foundation tag, was it very much a conscious decision? Is this something you'll do on all your film projects?

It was definitely a conscious choice. I started brainstorming in the very early stages of this project with Rebecca Luke (the film's costume designer and the co-founder of the Sustainable Style Foundation) about how to make more sustainable choices. It is important to both of us to try to reform the wasteful habits of the average film production, so we determined that The Off Hours should be the guinea pig for all these ideas. The producers of the film (Lacey Leavitt, Mischa Jakupcak and Joy Saez) were all very supportive of this and bent over backwards to create an environment on set where these choices were supported and encouraged. I definitely hope to keep it going on future projects--my new film Eden will also have an SSF Tag.


How did The Off Hours differ (production and budget-wise) from your first film, First Aid for Choking?

I made First Aid for Choking very early in my career. It was a very small film, but I was able to gather a fantastic team of people who I had met in film school and on other film projects. It was entirely self-funded and self-produced, which I determined that I should never attempt again. The Off Hours ended up being made for a higher budget than FAFC, but not much higher. My producers and I tried for many years to raise money to make the film in a more traditional way, but ultimately that didn't happen and we ended up making it for a micro-budget. The real difference between the two films was the amount of experience I'd gained and the connections I had been able to make in the Seattle community in the eight year lapse between films. I worked throughout that time in a variety of capacities and learned a lot and made great friends who ended up lending their skills to The Off Hours.

How does your current film, Eden, differ (production and budget-wise) from The Off Hours?

Eden was a script that came to me after The Off Hours played at Sundance. The budget was larger than The Off Hours--still not huge by Hollywood standards, but large enough that the cast and crew were paid union wages and we could afford to build a few sets from scratch. The crew is very similar between the two films--I was extremely happy to be able to bring back the people who had donated their time for The Off Hours and pay them for Eden. The two productions were actually pretty similar other than the dollars behind them. The subject matter is very different, as Eden delves into much darker territory than I did with The Off Hours.

How did Beau Bridges get involved with Eden?

It happened in a pretty traditional way--our casting director sent the script to his representatives. Beau responded to the character, we met and hit it off, and he signed on. He watched The Off Hours too and afterwards told me it made him feel like he was in good hands.

What else can you tell us about Eden?

It's the story of a young Korean-American girl who is abducted and held outside of Vegas at a human trafficking facility for over two years. Over this time she has to make a lot of difficult and complicated choices to ensure her own survival. It's based on a true story that is incredibly gripping and powerful. I was really honored to be able to interpret this woman's story for the film and I'm really proud of it.


Do you feel that your work as a writer-director has certain unifying themes or elements?

I'd say the common ground is probably a devotion to drawing authentic characters with a non-judgmental eye. I'm drawn to films about characters who have depth and flaws, and I always try to keep this in mind when I'm writing.

What are ten of your favourite films?

Always a tough question, but I'll give you the first ten that come to mind, in no particular order: You Can Count On Me, Rushmore, The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Walking and Talking, Peewee's Big Adventure, Dead Man Walking, Being John Malkovich, Barton Fink, Midnight Run, Annie Hall.

Do you have any plans for your next film?

I have a project called Sadie that I'm working on getting funding for now and hoping to shoot in 2012. It's about a 13-year-old girl who is struggling with issues of morality at home while her father, who she adores, serves repeated tours in the Army in Afghanistan. I also have an untitled comedy script I'm currently writing with a friend.

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions.

Thank you!