Jackson Stewart is one of those directors whose style and technique helps him to stand above many of his contemporaries so we chatted to him about his latest short, Stereo-Vision.
NYX: Last time we chatted you were promoting the wonderfully retro chiller Beyond the Gates, what have you been up to since then?
JS: Indeed! I've been mainly working in development on a number of different films. I was attached to write and direct a remake of 'Cherry 2000' with Ed Pressman producing, had a project with Bob Shaye's company that was in development, and lots of other random assignment work. I've got another project with my good friend Luke Heyne (director of Mope) that got super close to filming last year but this business is quite fickle as you know. It was really nice to get back behind the camera and film Stereo-Vision. I felt like I'd learned a lot in the time I made Beyond The Gates and had much to prove.
NYX: Where did the idea for Stereo-Vision come from?
JS: Great question. My pal Luke Piotrowski and I started spitballing ideas about different stories for anthologies, most of which were in a similar space to this. He came up with a handful of them and I did the others ultimately for a feature anthology. This one was fairly personal to me and related to a lot of stuff in my own life, specifically around the tough parental relationships and a deceased Father. I've also been fascinated by self-help figures or supposed gurus pushing a narrative that's at odds with the way they live behind closed doors and wanted to thread that in to the narrative.
NYX: Did you own such a device when you were young?
JS: I did! I remember the first time I looked through one it blew my mind. I must have been about three years old, the feeling was incredible. I think it was something for a theme park but it really gassed up my imagination and made me feel a powerful sense of wonder in my young mind. I always think about how we could make this stuff feel a similar way and recapture that in adulthood and what the consequences might be from that.
NYX: How hard is it to keep the story to a short length, could it have easily become a feature at all?
JS: Funny you should mention, we are planning a feature. The script is written though it's a little ways off. This more condensed version did come first but all the mythology which is somewhat obfuscated in it is clarified to a much larger degree in the feature. Frankly, all my director friends I admire watched this and prodded me to turn it into a feature.
NYX: Did you have a cast in mind whilst you were writing it?
JS: Sort of... I didn't have anyone specific in mind but I knew I really wanted the Mom to look like a close match to the daughter but also have the actress be somewhat recognizable and maybe a little surprising to see together. When Jocelin was interested in it, Jill was the perfect choice to play the Mom as she played similar roles back in the 80s / 90s and frankly looked nearly identical to her in some photos. It was cool to get both of them together in this project and Jill was someone I have admired since I saw her in 'When A Stranger Calls Back' around age 12. I also wanted to cast my friend Matt Betinelli-Olpin and Chad Villella after their work in 'Southbound' and really liked having them aboard in it. Both of them nailed the tone and were a breeze to work with.
NYX: The effects are subtle but so effective, were they hard to achieve?
JS: Pretty much all of them are in-camera effects which go a long way. Even the glowing effect in the Stereo-Vision eyes were done with a pair of LEDs on a hero stereoscope. The backlit figure that is watching over Alexis was all done on set through a complicated series of VFX plates and maneuvers with an actor standing there. I'm really happy with how those came out.
NYX: Was it a long shoot and where was it shot; the house looks amazing?
JS: We actually only shot for two days but our plan was really ironed out in the month or so leading up to it. Bryant Jansen, my DP, helped craft a (no joke) 120 page booklet with every set up, camera move and all my shots. It was amazing having him aboard and I really need to also shout out Jenny Messer my production designer who I worked with on Beyond The Gates. She is such a pro and has excellent taste. Two of my best friends Tyler MacIntyre (director of Tragedy Girls) and Luke Heyne (director of Mope) also lent a hand in production. It was an amazingly supportive crew who worked very hard and I appreciated all of them.
NYX: Once again retro technology plays an important part of the story, will this always be evident in your work?
JS: Oddly enough, it is becoming a bit of a theme. I am not sure how that happened but people seem to get excited when I bring these antiquated items up in meetings or phone calls, much more so than some of the other projects I've tried to get across the finish line. The arena of forgotten/misfit toys is one I am quite happy to play in and will likely have more in that space.
NYX: It has a superb line, "You're not messing around with weird Satanic infused technology or something are you?", where did that come from?
JS: Hahaha that thrills me to hear you liked that line. I thought it was fun to just call out what the obvious thing to the viewer would be straight from the ne'er-do-well boyfriend's mouth. Whether that's the actual mythology, I won't confirm but it gave me a laugh to write it and I hope it does with the audience too.
NYX: Do you get nervous when your work is shown at festivals?
JS: Not so much now. I remember before the premiere of Beyond The Gates being so terrified thinking of watching this thing with a massive theater full of strangers. It felt a bit like inviting 300 people to watch the birth of your first child and it's a real nerve wracking, vulnerable experience. That said, the rewards of it were immense and it ended up being one of the best days of my life. However the movie goes down with an audience is informative whether that ends up being good or bad. You've always got to be in a space to learn and not operate from ego or fear.
NYX: What’s the reception been like around the world and do different audiences enjoy different parts of the piece?
JS: Watching it with the crowd at FrightFest was a great experience. It felt like everyone was very tuned in and the audience was pretty upset that it didn't keep going. That was a lovely feeling as some times people can't wait for something to be over but I really put myself in this thing and it was pretty cool to see people connect with it. It's playing Beyond Fest this week so I hope it goes over well there too!
NYX: So, what are you working on at the moment?
JS: I'm working on a comic book adaptation with a massive Korean producer who worked with a recent academy award winning director, the aforementioned feature version of 'Stereo-Vision' and an anthology I'm directing with Luke Piotrowski writing that we're about to film some more of in a couple short weeks. Stereo-Vision is the first piece in that and we are doing the other segments in short order.
NYX: Jackson Stewart, thank you very much.
JS: Thank you, it's always a blast chatting with you!
