Don Thacker’s well-received comedy/horror Motivational Growth has met with thunderous applause at a plethora of film festivals. Now, it’s about to invade lounge rooms.
How did you get involved in the film, Don?
Motivational Growth’s very existence is one of chance and serendipity. It’s producer and I were attempting to get funding for a wholly different film at the time we landed on MG’s budget; a wicked little passion thriller about particle physics, modal phenomena and unrequited lust called
“Flexure.” We weren’t getting any kind of buyin for a first-time director with a film about physicists breaking spacetime with the power of feelings, especially not one where the protagonist has a physical relationship with the particle accelerator building itself, but our pitches were interesting enough to warrant that golden question any indie filmmaker wants to hear at the end of a sour pitch, “do you have anything else?”, followed by the not so golden, “anything cheaper?”
We didn’t have anything else. Flexure was our cheapest pitch. I, of course, said we had loads of things; I’d just need to put together a package. A few days later I’d pored over all of my saved idea stubs constructing something that I thought would play well within the substantially lower budget. Eventually I found the magic combination of Ian, his busted apartment, The Mold and Ian’s struggle to understand what’s happened to him. I put these things together and pitched my heart out. The result comes out on VOD in September (2014) and DVD/BluRay soon after. Boosh.
The film is a mixture of tones. How do you describe it?
I wrote a dark comedy fantasy. A film about a sardonic protagonist dealing with a depressing situation by way of insanity and a confusing but wholly solvable mystery.
It has gotten a ton of traction by horror fans, however. It has been embraced by that section of the filmgoing populace, and I couldn’t be more elated by that. I am a massive horror fan myself, and to have MG included in that genre is such a gift.
When all is said and done, filmmaking is a collaborative process. The filmmaker only has fifty percent control of that animal. It’s his job to be so good at that fifty percent that the other fifty percent, the audience, agrees with and supports his vision. In the case of Motivational Growth, I feel that I did the best that I could with my fifty percent and that the audience has gone above and beyond with their half. If they call it a horror film, it’s a horror film and I’m proud of that.
Was Jeffrey Combs attached from the outset?
Nope. I wish. I might have gotten more money to shoot with if that were the case. He was my first choice for The Mold from the outset, however. He was who I heard when I wrote the part. I wrote things that I thought would sound awesome coming out of Jeff’s face. It worked. Those things, when they come out of his face, sound wicked awesome.
Has the film played at many festivals? What was the feedback?
I expected this weird little flicker to top out at four festival screenings and one “Grand Jury Weirdest Movie” award. That was the moon I shot for. I just wanted to see it out there, and to see other people see it.
It has screened at thirtythree different festivals, all over the world, and taken home twenty-eight awards, fifteen of which are bestoffest. It has opened three film festivals and closed four.
I’ve traveled with it all over and the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m proud, amazed and shocked. Mostly shocked. That’s not to say I am shocked that people liked my film; I worked very hard to make a film I think people will enjoy on some level, even if it’s just the “WTF did I just watch?” vibe. I’m just shocked that the screenings, reviews and actual human feedback I have received have been so fully weighted toward the positive.
Almost makes a guy think he can make another film. Hint: I’ve made another film.
How important is the internet as a marketing tool in a film like this?
Invaluable. Absolutely invaluable. I ask a lot of questions during my Q&A sessions. I flip it. Flipmode. Flipmode is the greatest. You know, as a shorty I was always told that if I ain’t gonna’ be part of the greatest, I gotta be the greatest myself…
Anyway, I ask a lot of questions. One of those questions is how people heard about the film. The Internet. That’s how. That’s always how. We’re in the future right now, man. Hoverboards and stuff.
Has Motivational Growth opened up doors for you as a filmmaker?
Yes and no. It’s not out yet. It will be at the end of the September (2014) and as soon as that happens I’m sure it’ll be hollywood SWAT teams busting through my door dumping body bags full of million dollar bills all over me as I roll around in an indoor swimming pool full of hard to find LEGO and prerelease alphas of HalfLife.
Until then, however, it’s just great to have successfully made and sold a film. That’s a huge boon to any filmmaker. Make and sell a film. Show them you can do that one task and they’ll send a SWAT team. Personally it’s opened a ton of doors, though. My company, Imagos Films, makes little minimovies (people call them commercials, but that’s so gauche) for video game companies to keep me in ziplock bags full of tens in a bathtub full of totally common LEGO and fifteen unopened copies of The Orange Box. Those spots actually got me my second feature, not MG (as it’s not out yet), but the experience of making and selling MG has honed my craft, sharpened my skillset and given me the pretension I need to say things like “honed my craft.”
If there’s a message in the movie, what is it?
Kids, don’t do drugs. Is your love strong enough? What is love anyway? What’s it even got to do with it? Everybody wants to rule the world, yeah, but things can only get better. If you need to, feel free to shout; let it all out. I’m talking to you. Come on.
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