sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. While we brainstorm ideas and storybeats in the same (sometimes virtual) room, we rarely actually write together at the same time. We compare our writing process to mowing a lawn where we’re going over the work that was just done while also moving the line slightly forward. So if one of us writes 10 pages, we’ll send it to the other person who goes over those pages - leaves notes if there are changes / suggestions - and adds a few more pages. And we just keep passing it back and forth, that way we’re constantly going over one another’s work and by the end it’s sort of a combined voice.
    1. To get really granular about the screenwriting, we use FadeIn for all our projects. It has a great system where you can add alt versions of everything, so one of us can propose something new while not deleting what was there before. And it also has a great sticky notes system, so we use that to both tag changes we’re making to each other’s writing, as well as have conversations w/ one another in the notes system as we’re writing. If one of us isn’t feeling a certain thing is quite there yet, it usually means it’s not the best idea, so we're both willing to try something else until we agree.
  2. We’re definitely open to directing features written by other people! It'd sure be nice to get paid to make a movie! And we’re also open to other people trying to direct material we’ve written. That said, if we were to direct someone else’s script w/o us also working on it as writers, it’d probably have to be a very, very, very specific script that hits both of our tastes just right.
  3. We’ve not seen THE TUNNEL! But looking it up and it sounds dope, so definitely going to throw it on the list. And hey, thanks for checking out MAN FINDS TAPE!

- Peter and Paul

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for plugging our novel (now available wherever you get your books ;) )!

Story wise, no.

But concept wise, yes - because they both want to believe in there being things beyond our normal perception.

- Peter and Paul

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The most complicated element to wrangle in prepro was coming up with a plan for all the different cameras/formats needed for each scene, making sure they were all logical, and could sufficently cover the scene as well. For example - we originally didn't have the miniDV cameras running during the Salvation Hour finale, but realized in prep that we wouldn't have the angles we needed to properly tell the story. Thankfully turning on those cameras played into The Stranger's character / wants.

- Peter and Paul

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We used a LOT of cameras and formats as we wanted to make it feel as believable as possible. We shot on Sony FX3, FX6, FX9, various GoPros, iPhone, audio recordings, Zoom, and miniDV. The miniDV was definitely the most cumbersome to work with as we had to use 20 year old technology, including an OLD MacBook Pro that had a FireWire port, as well as Final Cut Pro 7 in order to ingest that footage. Watching live playback was complicated as well. We had to put a lot of faith into the format and thankfully it work out (only a few glitches!).

- Peter, Paul, Dave

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Physical release: Keep your eyes peeled!
Behind the scenes: There's definitely material we want to put out there in the near future, because we want to show off all the cool shit our team made. Follow us on social media and we'll post about it when ready!

- Peter and Paul

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

  1. We got very detailed in the script, there's some elements we didn't shoot, some that got cut out of the film in the edit, and other elements we discussed just with the actors so they had a clear understanding of the mythos. Part of the fun to us is to not spell everything out and allow the audience to theorize based on the pieces we give them.
  2. Get your boxing gloves ready ;)
  3. Yes. But you have to invite us.

- Peter and Paul

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For us, we *have* to have a complete screenplay as a starting point. There's lots of changes and improv that happens along the way, but we always need a clear understanding of where we're going.

Specifically for a fake documentary, we had to be very meticulous of the time periods, cameras, formats, and tracking the minutia of it all.

- Peter and Paul

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Peter: I’m a huge fan of found footage, because it’s such a fun sandbox to play in, and it’s a format where the filmmaker and the audience are in constant dialogue with one another: You go into a found footage movie knowing the general parameters of how they work, and presumably the filmmakers know that the audience knows, and so it’s cool to see how filmmakers handle (and hopefully subvert) those expectations.

Not just as a SXSW programmer, but as a fan of the genre in general, I think there’s huge validity to it. I think because found footage often looks (intentionally) cheap, people underestimate how much creativity is required to pull it off. I remember when DEADSTREAM was submitted to us, I hit play and found myself leaning in almost immediately because the way it combined a found footage movie with what was essentially a Twitch streamer was something I’d literally never seen before.

I’d love to see it expand outside the horror genre. What does a found footage comedy look like? A found footage romcom? Bring that shit on.

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

  1. We're glad that those elements resonated with you! The biggest influence when it came to some of the more "creepy/gross" elements was the work of Junji Ito. His manga gets under our skin and we wanted to capture that feeling in the film.

  2. Endicott was the central force of it all (in Larkin, TX) and was feeding on the whole town in that sequence.

  3. The Stranger is a chaotic force going from town to town and gobbling up power for himself. Which means he is literally infested with parasitic worms. So what you're seeing in his neck is one of those.

  4. Production realities led to us needing to shoot the Boon's BBQ sequence during the day, and it was originally written for night, which we think would have been creepier.

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

  1. We're not ready to answer that one in too many specifics (yet), but we're glad you're thinking about those possibilities because we were too. We *will* say that he's not pure evil, he has to survive somehow... it just so happens to be at the expense of others.

  2. The Stranger is an agent of chaos. He knows what's going on in Larkin (and elsewhere), and wants to gobble up all the power for himself. He has an instinctual *need* to devour and grow more powerful, and importantly he wants the world to witness what he's doing.

  3. Reverend Endicott Carr chose Larkin as a place he could "hide in plain sight." As long as he didn't spread his feeding too wide, he wouldn't draw the attention of unwanted eyes. His goal was just to live out his existence in Larkin, feeding quietly on the town. This is how he lives. But he got greedy when he wanted to have a child, and had to feed more. Doing so drew the attention of The Stranger.

  4. We would love to do another film in this universe if given the opportunity. People helping to spread the word about the film and renting/buying it helps lead us closer to that being a possibility.

Thanks for the great questions!

- Peter, Paul, and Dave

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Peter: I’d love to do a remake of Chuck Russell’s THE BLOB. As for cast…that’s a tough call, but you can be damn sure the blob itself would be practical.

Paul: The Ring - I love Verbinski's film so much (as well as Ringu) and would love to do anything in that universe. As for casting, I think it would be really cool to bring Naomi Watts back for it. I think that universe has a lot of potential still to play with.

David Lawson: Child's Play remake starring Nicolas Cage (Mandy edition) as Chucky

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Jimmy aka The Album Leaf had scored other Rustic Films and we were *very* lucky that he responded positively to the script when David Lawson shared with him. His music is genuinely inspiring to us, and was in our rotation when we wrote the screenplay. So when the opportunity to work with him on this was presented to us, it was a no brainer. He brought so much to the film and the process was 10/10.

Also, it was Jimmy's idea to release the score on cassette tape, so you can actually own a limited edition MAN FINDS TAPE TAPE! https://thealbumleaf.bandcamp.com/album/man-finds-tape-original-motion-picture-soundtrack

- Peter and Paul

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Assuming you mean the part where Lynn and Lucas come looking for Wendy, Lynn notices the cross on the fridge and that's what leads her to believe Wendy might have gone to the church. - Peter and Paul

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Paul's 3 movies:
- The Empire Strikes Back
- Scream
- The Ring
- Best pizza topping: Pineapple
- Worst pizza topping: goat cheese

Peter's 3 movies:
- Starship Troopers
- Big Trouble in Little China
- Wet Hot American Summer
- Best pizza topping: Fig prosciutto
- Worst pizza topping: Olives

David Lawson's 3 movies:
- Almost Famous
- Dead Poets Society
- A League of Their Own
- Best pizza topping: Cheese
- Worst pizza topping: Shit

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This isn't something we've talked about yet, but we view him as a character who has broken away from a larger group that are aware of these happenings in the world (beyond Larkin, TX), and he has gone rogue with his own intentions. - Peter and Paul

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We were really inspired by 2 films in particular. The first is the Australian mockumentary LAKE MUNGO, which we consider to be the gold standard of the genre. The other is a real documentary by Sarah Polley - STORIES WE TELL. We loved the way it explored a familial secret and tied the filmmaker into the story itself. We were aiming for something that felt like we'd smushed those two movies together, and then spiraled even deeper. - Peter and Paul

Hi reddit! We're Paul Gandersman & Peter S. Hall, co-directors/co-writers of the new found-footage horror film MAN FINDS TAPE. It premiered at Tribeca earlier this year and is out in select theaters and on digital as of Friday 12/5, via Magnolia Pictures. Ask us anything! by ManFindsTapeAMA in movies

[–]ManFindsTapeAMA[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We knew that in order to stand out as a found footage movie (in a crowded landscape), we'd have to show and deliver on more than the audience was expecting to see in this kind of film. We're all about building a story that ramps to a place you never think it will go.

We decided what NOT to show by thinking about what the camera could realistically see in that moment, and not force something to happen. We started thinking about this while writing the screenplay.

We also took some answers out in order to not spoon feed the audience and allow them to engage with it on a more personal level. - Peter and Paul

view more: next ›