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NC: It was a very pleasant and playful experience. One of the things I loved about working with David is that he would get the scene the way it was written, but then he would go back and say, “Let’s do it with no dialogue to see how you can tell it through your face,” and then he’d shoot another take improvised, so it was a process of discovery. When you have that kind of environment on the set, spontaneous things happen that makes it become electric and fresh.

Tye Sheridan: David has a sensibility where he can tell when his characters become bogged down, so he’d say, “Let’s improvise and play around to lighten the mood and reenergize,” and not a lot of directors have that talent.

I love the authentic look and feel of the characters. What was it like capturing that authenticity on film and is it easier or harder these days to capture that authenticity?

DGG: We live in a world of reality television so it’s less surprising to see a camera on a street corner. I like that the production element can be that much more intimate, because the mystery has been dissolved a little bit. When I was a kid, I watched the behind-the-scenes making of documentary to a movie and it would blow my mind learning the art form behind the magic of it, but now I think everyone has a good, clear concept of it, so there’s not that obsession with that. It’s also a world where people know where the lines of documentary, reality TV, and fiction narrative filmmaking are starting to blur and there’s a lot of value there. You see a movie like Grizzly Man, and if only I could take Timothy Treadwell and I could make an amazing script for him… I think in that way it has become a lot easier. Trying to get a movie that emotionally connects with an audience and invites them into a world that does take you to difficult places and has enough emotional honesty and levity to make that something you want to look at, but with an attractive element to the cinematography and music that brings you in and makes you feel fulfilled. All of these technical elements that make it a rewarding experience and not just the dramatic hammer coming down.

David and Nic, you have both mainstream and independent projects under your belts. What is it like working outside of the studio system and the restraints and liberations it brings?

DGG: Every new project I do is a reinvention of myself and it reinvigorates me as to why I love the industry. The difficulties to filmmaking can be infinite. It can be trying to raise money for a passion project that has no name actors and no high concept. It can also be frustrating when you have all of the money at your fingertips and you made your dream production, but the machines of marketing start swirling that make decisions on things that you thought you had control over, but don’t. But then there’s the enjoyment of seeing a line down the block to see a movie you worked really hard on. So you always have to balance the frustrations of making those movies that get your heart beating. And sometimes its seeing an audience engaged that’s really satisfying.

NC: I have to agree. I think that Joe is unique and original and David’s vision. I haven’t seen another movie quite like it. But if you look carefully at my filmography, then in between the adventure films you will see that there has been a Bad Lieutenant or World Trade Center or Lord of War or Matchstick Men. I want to keep it eclectic. I see myself as a student. I will never call myself a master or a maestro. If you take the path of the student, that means you have try to learn a bit of everything to learn something and strike some kind of new note or sound or expression in the process. I’m not going for grades; I’m going for an education. That means I’m going to continue experimenting and trying new things to evolve and learn.

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