Jake Schreier made his directorial debut earlier this year with Robot & Frank, a movie that won over the critics and enjoyed success on the festival circuit.
We caught up with the filmmaker to chat about the movie, working with Frank Langella and what lies ahead.
- Robot & Frank is about to be released on DVD here in the UK so can you tell me a little bit about the film?
Robot & Frank is about a man named Frank who is an older gentleman who lives on the outskirts of a rural town in uptown New York. He use to be one of great jewel thieves in the country but now his kids are taking care of him and he is a pain to take care of.
The kids buy him a caretaker robot; which at first he hates because it makes him clean up and exercise and do all the stuff that he doesn't want to do.
The main things that these robots do is find a project to keep their charges active and engaged in their lives - the only thing that Frank has ever loved to do is steal things. So they become a little heist duo in this small town in upstate New York.
- Robot & Frank started out as a short film ten years ago so how did the project develop over the years? How did you get on board?
Chris Ford, who wrote the script, went to film school together at New York University. There was a short version of this that was his thesis at NYU that I 'produced'; that means very little when you are in film school.
He made it and it was good and we didn't think about it again until about four years ago when we were looking for something to develop into a longer project.
We came back to that idea as we thought that there could be more in it to build into something that could be a feature.
- Christopher Ford wrote and directed the short so how keen was he to develop this story further into a feature film?
He was in to it. Both he and I and a bunch of other friends from NYU have been working together since film school. So we knew that we wanted to make something in a longer form and it really was just a question of what idea made sense.
We were looking for something that was achievable on an indie scale but also had something that really made it stand out. We thought that that idea had so much in it and so it seemed like a good idea to flesh it out.
- This movie marks your feature film directorial debut so how have you found the transition into features?
It was definitely pretty mad cap. We had two weeks of prep and then a twenty day shoot. It was also something that I have wanted to do since I was sixteen years old and so I have been preparing for that.
You hope that know what you are doing: you don't, of course, but you pretend. You then see how it comes out and I am very happy with everything that has happened with it.
- A twenty day shoot is not really that long so how did you find working under such tight time constraints? Or did you quite enjoy working that way?
No, I would definitely take more time next time. But when you only have that much time then it does help to have an amazing cast like we had.
Frank Langella was so wonderful and can give you this amazing performance, retakes and then move on. It really helps you out to have people that have so much experience and so much talent to bring to the project.
- The cast list for this movie is terrific so can you tell me a little bit about the casting process?
When we wrote it we didn't have anyone in mind. Frank really took to the character and he was very invested in making sure that it was not going to be a silly robot movie; which is not what we wanted to do either. So we knew that we had really found the right guy.
And there is a lot of him in that part. He also made comments on the script to help us get a perspective on getting near that age.
Everyone who came on board brought so much of themselves and was really invested in it; it was pretty fabulous to watch.
- Frank Langella is wonderful in the film so what were you looking for when you were casting the central character?
I think that we were looking for... Frank is obviously enormously talented but beyond that we were looking for someone who could understand the tone of the film that we were trying to make.
We needed someone to understand that while it is an off the wall premise we were taking it very seriously.
There's comedy and there's drama and we need someone to see through the conceit and realise that it was a story about companionship and ageing. We wanted someone who wanted to take that seriously and act it that way.
- He is obviously not working opposite another actor when he is shooting scenes with the robot so how difficult a process did you and Frank find that? And how did that work on set?
It was difficult for me because working with a robot... there is a girl called Rachael Ma inside the robot suit so there is something there. Being in a robot suit was not a pleasant experience in a hundred degree temperatures in upstate New York.
For him it was just a breeze as it didn't matter if she was standing in frame of if we just had robot head on stick as a place holder. He was just so in the moment at all times no matter what weird stuff was going on around him. It really was amazing to watch?
- How did the design of the robot change throughout development - it is interesting that it is only the height of a child?
Yeah. We did a lot of research into the actual robots that are being built for this purpose; taking care of old people.
There is a balance between needing to create something that is function in the real world but is also cute and none-threatening; you don't want this scary robot taking care of old people. So they always end up being these unassuming little spacemen.
We thought that it had to tall enough to reach the shelves but had to be as small as possible to make it as cute and none-threatening as possible.
- How did you pick Peter Sarsgaard for the voice of the robot?
He is an actor that I have always loved. The robot lines are all quite clipped and are all done in the same tone; we just recorded them in a row we didn't record any interacting in a scene.
But we wanted someone that even when we put a filter on the voice to keep that monotone feel that there was a still a natural level of empathy in his voice.
Even thought that this character is a robot you have to come to care about this character by the end of the film. Peter had such an amazing wealth of that that no matter what he does it comes through.
- As I said the line up is fantastic with Frank Langella, James Marsden, Liv Tyler and Susan Sarandon all on there so how did you find working with them?
It was great; it was definitely a little weird. We had very little prep and no rehearsals and so most of the cast didn't meet until they were on set together. So it all moved too quickly for me to be intimidated.
When you have people that are that great it allows you to make something special and they brought so much and were so ready to go. It really did make my job so much easier.
- How have you found the response to the movie so far?
It has been wonderful. When you are making it you have no idea if it is going to come out at all; it is an independent film and so you have to take it to the festivals first.
It has gone around the world and it ties in to what people are talking a lot about, and that is how are we going to take care of out elderly? And does robotics have a role?
Many people feel very differently about that and so it is funny to see people respond to the film and what they take away from it.
It is just a little idea that you have worked on and then all of a sudden it is out there; it is not a huge film but it is a small piece of culture. It has been fun to watch all of that happen.
- The movie played at a series of festivals last year including London so how did you find your whole festival experience first time around?
It has been great. It has been quite a whirlwind. I sneak in every now and again and see a part of it and you get the audience's responses; it is fun to see that the response is the same all around the world at different moments in the film. It has been a real pleasure.
- You say that you have found the response has been very similar so what have you found that people are taking away from this movie when they see it?
The thing that we hear the most is people could of the cinema saying 'I want one'.
Obviously there are people that find it somewhat depressing that people can be taken care of by a robot while others think that it is great; it is interesting to see that play out in people's comments as we have taken it around the world.
- This is an independent feature and here in the UK we are hearing more and more about how difficult it is to get projects like this off the ground and made. So it is as challenging a process over in the U.S. at the moment?
It is challenging to make any sort of film no matter what level you are making it all. I was lucky to have great producers who handled that part.
It is never easy to make smaller movies but I think that it is great that people keep finding ways to do them and get them out there.
It is hard to quantify how hard or how easy any of this stuff is because it is so hard to make any kind of film.
- Finally what is next for you? Are we going to be seeing you back in the director's chair?
I hope so. Chris Ford and I are working on another script that is another future/sci-fi project. I also have a couple of other things in development but I don't know which we will be shooting next. Hopefully I will be back soon.
Robot & Frank is out on DVD & Blu-Ray now.