SILVER ROAD Directed By Bill Taylor

Indie Express: Tell us about your film? 

Bill: The film is about two childhood friends trying to say goodbye to each other.  It really is an example of how sometimes in life it is easier to act on your emotions than to express them. 

IE: How did you come up with the idea for the film?

B: I was in the process of writing my first feature screenplay.   I was on a tight deadline.  I took a short break from writing and was listening to some music.  Sarah Harmer’s song ‘Silver Road’ came on and I had an image of Mark and Danny riding in the pick-up at night on a quiet road out in the country.  ‘Turn of your headlights and go slowly I don’t want this to let up.” 

I abandoned my feature and wrote the first draft of ‘Silver Road’ in about 20 minutes.  It was one of those ‘light bulb’ writing experiences.  I barely changed the script in subsequent drafts.  It all came to me at once and at the worst time possible.     

IE: How did you assemble your production team?

B: My producer, Elise Cousineau and I have been friends for years.  She offered to produce the script and wanted me to consider directing.  We sort of haphazardly ran into the perfect people to fill our production team.  I think when your making a good film, people just appear before you who are as committed as you are.  And then all you have to do is say ‘yes, you feel right’.  I am really amazed at how many extraordinarily talented people I got to work with on this film.  It really made being a first-time director a lot easier.

IE: How did you find your cast? 

B: We went through a casting agency. 

IE: How long did the film take?  (From conception to final edit)

B: I wrote the film in 2003.  It collected dust until spring 2005.  We finished the film in February 2007. 

IE: Tell us a little about your process of directing (writing) this film.

B: My process was always to let the story guide me, every decision I made was about respecting the story.  As first time director you are filled with so many doubts.  You don’t necessarily have the confidence to follow your instincts, so I put the story above everything else.  As a director I knew I wouldn’t have all the answers, but I had so many resources around me (my mentor- Sarah Polley, other filmmakers, technicians, books) to help me find them. 

One of the things I despise about a lot of films that are made presently is that they rely too much on form for the storytelling.  Camera tricks and filmmakers that exist within ‘the culture of cool’ don’t impress me much.  Filmmaking would be better served if everyone showed a little more restraint. This incidentally, doesn’t mean having a lack of vision, it just means trusting your characters and their journey. 

IE: What was the most difficult part of the shoot for you?

B: Hard to say.  So much of filmmaking is challenging.   I hope that never changes. 

IE: Any particular moments from filming that stand out for you?

B: Driving the pickup truck with my DOP shooting out the front window from the passenger seat.  It is the scene in the film when the boys turn the headlights out.  I shouldn’t have been driving (my license had expired), but we were behind schedule, so my DOP and I snuck off to get the shot.  We drove on a road that we didn’t have permitted and had not closed off.  Call it lack of judgment or a zest for adventure, it was the scariest thing I have ever done.  When the lights went out we really couldn’t see a thing.  It was overcast that night and the moonlight wasn’t even there to guide us.  I just had to feel for the road under the tires.   After the third pass at the shot, I called it off.  DON’T EVER DO THAT!!  It is stupid and thrilling and did I mention stupid.  We’re lucky we didn’t meet a tree or another vehicle on the road that night. 

IE: Tell us about the film’s festival experience so far?

B: The film has been largely ignored in Canada where we made it.  It is a very ‘Canadian’ thing to discount its own filmmakers, but the film has been doing very well in Europe and in The United States.  

IE: What are you most looking forward to at the festival?

B: I won’t be able to attend.  Hopefully I will hear some feedback though.  That would be great.  When I do attend festivals, I am always interested in seeing as many films as I can and meeting other filmmakers.

IE: What has been your most interesting Q&A so far?  What was your favorite question?  How was the dialogue afterwards?

B: Nothing really stands out.  There have been several people come up to me and share their stories of being in love with their best friend.  The film puts people at ease and they feel comfortable opening up to me after seeing it and that’s wonderful.  One person told me that he had a friend in high school he was in love with and who he hasn’t spoken to in years.  He wanted a DVD to mail to him.  He said he wouldn’t write anything in the letter, that film said everything he could possibly want express about their experience together.  That was a pretty incredible moment.   

IE: What films or filmmakers inspire you?

B: I am inspired a lot by filmmakers from the 70s (Malick, Ashby, Altman).  Screenwriter Horton Foote is a genious.  Tender Mercies and The Trip to Bountiful may be the most beautiful screenplays ever written. More contemporary filmmakers I like are Mike Leigh, Roy Anderson, and Allan King.  Two emerging filmmakers who excite me are Céline Sciamma  (Naissance des Pieuvres/ Water lilies) and Sarah Polley (Away From Her)

IE: What made you decide to become a filmmaker?

B: Watching Ang Lee’s The Ice Storm.

 IE: What is next for you? 

B: I’m doing a whole lot of writing at the moment.  In the fall I am directing another short called ‘The Young Prime Minister”.  It’s for my mom. 

IE: What is next for the film?

B: It’s on the festival circuit doing its thing.  We are having a DVD release in Germany early next year.  We are organizing broadcast sales for the film as well.

IE: If asked to give one piece of advice to a new filmmaker making their first short film… What would it be?

B: I have two.  Sorry, brevity has never been my thing.  First piece of advice is, don’t shoot a thing until the script is right.  It’s hard to make a bad script good in production.  Also you can save a lot of money by cutting back the extraneous material in your script rather than shooting it and leaving it on the editing room floor. 

Second piece of advice is be nice and respect those working for you.  Truthfully, most short films are disasters.  You don’t have the money, the people, the time you need.  They are challenging.  It is amazing that any short films turn out given the obstacles faced in making them.  I have seen far too many directors lose their cool on set when things go wrong.  I have seen people belittled, hurt and I have seen friendships ruined over filmmaking.  Keep things in perspective.  A bad short film is not the end of the world.  Looking at yourself and knowing that you behaved like an asshole, may be.  

IE: What question would you like to be asked about your film? 

B: I don’t know.  After seeing your film, I would like to produce your first feature of your choosing. I have unlimited money and organizational skills and just love making art.  Do you accept my offer?

(Can you make that happen?  Do you know this person)

IE: What is the Answer to that question?

B: Yes!