David Spaltro went to The School of Visual Arts in New York City. He has recentally created his first feature film, "...Around". It features a very reflective outlook upon Spaltro's personal experiences over the course of his time in film school and all of the struggles that he was going through. It is very easy to relate to especially with the love of film that is illustrated through out the movie. Really, anyone can relate to what is presented since a lot of universal struggles are dealt with. Spaltro is continuing to work on new material that shows great variance from this, challenging himself further while still keeping his passion for film alive.


Kelsey: There are several similarities between Doyle and yourself. You both grew up in New Jersey and moved to New York City to go to film school. Just how reflective upon yourself and your own life is Doyle and where do the similarities end if anywhere?

David: I would never go so far as to called “…Around” a biopic, but it is a very personal story. The film takes place over four years and so, as a film you need a certain structure that forces you to combine events and people and basically hammer home of the main theme of the film and it’s artc. I also think when you start writing everything becomes fiction because truth is reflective upon the person telling it. You can only give your description or side of events. So “…Around” while having a lot of word-for-word scenes and things happening is really a homage to people and places in my life at a very certain time. Doyle as a character is probably someone I was closer to when I was eighteen and believed I was invincible and unknowing of exactly how the world can work. When you’re that young your more idealistic and brave which are strengths but you’re also very naïve, romantic, stubborn and dramatic. Those balloons can pop really fast. It’s definitely a valentine to that time period in my life though, albeit a bittersweet one. Though, I’m probably just as crazy, passionate, and stubborn as I ever was.

Kelsey: In “…Around”, the relationship with Doyle and his mother is very complex. Explain your vision of having this as a reoccurring element in the film.

David: I think every family has complex relationships that make them up. It was something I didn’t understand until I started writing the film, just every family has it issues and arguments and “black sheep”. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact these people, your family, are the ones who’ve known you so long and intimately that there’s this constant tension even in the best situations. In Doyle’s specific relationship with his mom you have two characters that I believe, while very much in disagreement, have very similar traits. Doyle’s mother is someone who maybe never got out of life what she wanted, never went for her dream and tried to make quick fixes to change it all or putting the blame on others. She never truly confronts the demons she has inside of her and in turn becomes a bit of a demon, putting some of that pressure on Doyle. The journey the Doyle goes through in the film, especially in his scenes with his mother is that she begins to personify his own personal feelings of doubt, insecurity, and pain that he’s kept inside of himself. In their final scenes of the film together Doyle has to take the step, maybe not to conquer all his demons, but to face this particular one which his mother has kind of become because of the lack of communication and real dealing with the issues plaguing both of them. The day you deal with all the past stuff and take on the responsibility of your actions for the rest of your life me this is an essential part of “growing up”.

Kelsey: One of the most beautiful descriptions in the movie is about film itself. What is it that you see in the film medium that makes you want to create films?

David: Film is a perfect medium for storytelling in that there are so many aspects and abilities to collaborate. If you’re a novelist it’s basically you, a typewriter, and your editor. If you’re a cartoonist maybe you’re working with a writer and an inker, etc; Film is basically just, you have the script and then the actors and the people who shape the light and frame the shots and design the costumes and it goes on and on. As a director you’re job is definitely to have a vision, and a strong one at that, but I don’t believe in the idea of an auteur. There are a lot of cooks in the kitchen who can bring more to your soup than just their technical abilities. If you’re lucky, you not only get the chance to collaborate with great artists who understand what you’re trying to do, but who also bring a little bit of themselves and something extra to bring the best of your ideas. I feel I was blessed with that kind of harmony on this project and hopefully future ones.

Kelsey: What were some of your earliest influences in life that have motivated you to do what you have accomplished today making film such a big part of your life?

David: I think I’ve always been interested in storytelling. When I was younger I wanted to be a cartoonist or graphic novelist and while I enjoyed drawing it was something I couldn’t do all the time or when told to. I was more of a doodler and writer. When I was a kid if you gave me notebook and a few markers I’d keep myself busy for hours. When I was six I can remember waiting on line for the original Batman, this long line that went down the block at this tiny theater where I grew up. I remember somehow watching it and realizing for the first time that films were made by people—someone decided to do this and put that on and put that there. I guess it was always in the back of mind and decided it was something I really wanted to try for. It wasn’t until my second or third year in film school when I saw first hand all the elements that can go into the process of storytelling; the lighting, the music, the editing as well as being introduced to a great number of films and filmmakers I’d never seen, that I really fell in love with the medium and it’s possibilities.

Kelsey: In Doyle’s school, he meets several artsy people that he doesn’t always understand. Going to a school specifically for the arts did you have this experience?

David: My first immersion at The School of Visual Arts in New York City was a strange experience and something so completely different then what I was used to coming from where I was raised. I don’t think all artists are strange birds, though I’ve encountered a few. I think some of the greatest artists though have strange social behavior or tic simply because their way of communicating is through their art, they’ve honed it and developed it that way as opposed to verbally or a way one is more accustomed to. I also think the words “art” and “artist” are great covers for people who don’t really have talent or anything to say or the desire to do anything. They simply call it art, find a few people to agree and applaud them, and move on. SVA has a great group of artists in different departments though, maybe some of the best in the world. I think the thing about an art school, especially one located in NYC, is that you get a division of people who are either really struggling to be there financially and others who are on a free ride, and while certainly not every one who comes from an affluent background is an untalented, lazy or foppish flake, I think you do get a few that don’t have any interest in their particular field and it’s just a way to prolong going out and doing something real. I think those are the ones I’m really singling out and teasing a bit in my film.

Kelsey: In “…Around”, Doyle is forced to go through so much to stay in school and really it is just for a small chance to become a filmmaker. With such a competitive field where it can be so hard to stand out or to be heard it seems like it is very likely that it is all for nothing. How do you think this affects the films that are popular and manage to break through this today?

David: Everything really is changing today with all the new technology that is coming out. I know it’s cliché’ to say but I’ve seen the real wonder in some older people in the field and what can actually be done today. You can pretty much gather a bunch of friends and tell a somewhat professional story cheaper than in history. The idea that anyone can go out and make a movie is pretty much a fact. A mentor during my time at SVA told me you have to really think about the kind of career you want to have. Are you making films that are extremely commercial, just for yourself, or are you somewhere in the middle? There may be a million people out there competing to do the same thing you’re doing, but how many of them want it as bad you do and are actually going out there and doing something about it? Someone with all the equipment and connections in the world might still be a terrible storyteller, so go out there and become the best all around person and storyteller you can be, get an insane work ethic and do what you love. I do firmly believe, no matter how competitive it is out there in any field, if you really want to do something, put in the effort and the work, and constantly pursue it than nothing is unattainable. It may take however long it takes but you can achieve success, especially if that is simple doing the thing you love. At the end of the day nothing in life is ever guaranteed so you have to kind of do what you love, first and foremost for the sheer love of doing it in order to truly be happy. All the other stuff is the icing ontop.

Kelsey: What would your advice be for an aspiring filmmaker either trying to make it through film school or trying to make a career on their own?

David: Keep doing and working and don’t give up. Write and make things, even if they are “terrible”. What did you learn from the experience and how can you experiment and improve? Write eighty horrible first drafts of scripts and ideas, because now you’re ahead of the game and have eighty scripts to improve and make work. You got that first draft out though and it can be something. I also feel that you need to go and live life, you need to talk to people of all walks of life and try things and experience things first hand. Go outside and see how people interact, listen in on conversations and how people communicate. Surround yourself with people and things that inspire you. Read books and poems and listen to all kinds of music and see all kinds of film, but don’t rely just on films. When I was at school a lot of kids, some who never had a job or did anything besides watch films, they weren’t making movies about life. They were making films about other films and you get caught in a trap of making things they don’t have any perspective on. It’s not to say you have to be a gangster or superhero to go out and make those kind of movies, but the themes behind that… the humanity and the real things behind the idea of just playing with guns or toys or people doing things so far removed from anyone’s reality.

Kelsey: While writing “…Around”, you were teaching in Seoul, South Korea. Did being so far away from what you were used to make your reflect on your life back home in New York?

David: Definitely. I had just traveled and backpacked through Europe the year before, right after graduating and needed a break from the city. All the places I went and all the beautiful sights, I slowly found myself reminiscing and thinking of the city and missing it. I’m a firm believer that once you’ve lived in New York City for a year or two, wherever you go, you’re always a New Yorker. It’s always in your heart and changes you a bit. It also gave me a chance to really work on the script for “…Around” and really look back at everything from a different perspective, to take the time to step back and see it all again and how it lead to where I was. I was able to return to the city with a draft and mission to get the film made.

Kelsey: One of your first pieces of filmmaking that you worked on was a documentary that was shown in a German film festival. What was the film about and how did your time working on it influence you to continue making movies?

David: I was fortunate enough to attend an experimental high-school called High Tech in North Bergen, NJ. They had a great arts and communications program and when some dancers and musical theatre performers were chosen to represent the US in an arts festival in Oberhaven in Germany in the summer of 2001 I was selected to follow them around with a camera and put together a retrospective on it. It was a great experience in learning to capture moments on the fly and then completely constructing something in post-production. It also showed me that a career in film was possible and would open doors to do things like see the world and travel that I never thought possible before.

Kelsey: What spurred the decision to start your production company, Wandering/Cut Films and what type of films can we expect from it?

David: Starting a company was simply a chance to make a declaration that, when I was unable with the current strike heavy Hollywood climate, to find suitable outside funding to make “…Around”, that I was going to go out alone and do it. My long-term goal for my company though is not only to develop the projects I’m interested in, but to find other writers and directors and storytellers looking to get their own works off the ground. I’d like to be able to introduce a whole new group of people who have something they really want to say and give them the opportunity and the tools and venue to do so.

Kelsey: What are some of your future projects and what would you like to explore through film down the road?

David: I’m working on a few different ideas right now including what would be the next film I get to do hopefully. It’s something completely different from “..Around” in that, if you had to classify it, you’d toss it in the horror genre, but not a “slasher” or “monster” movie. I’d say it’s more in the vein of Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” in that it deals a lot with psychology, faith, and life and death. Ideally I’d like to emulate Billy Wilder’s career in that he never got pigeonholed in any type of genre. He could make a zany comedy like “Some Like It Hot”, a thriller-noir like “Double Indemnity”, and then balance it out with a darkly funny and human “The Apartment” which is one of my favorite films. I’d like to constantly be able to push myself in telling stories and trying new things and also for the amount of money it costs to buy a ticket these days, give the audience something more than they expected to just walk into.

Kelsey: For those interested in seeing “…Around”, what are your plans for further distribution on the movie?

David: We’re hitting the festival circuit now including a few New York and industry screenings I’m putting together my agent. We’ve been getting lovely responses and reviews, especially from the “hometown” crowd in the city. We’re going to be the main feature of NewFilmmakers screening at Anthology Film Archives on Wednesday October 15th, 2008 with a Q&A afterwards for any readers in town that day. Hopefully will be working with a distributor on getting “…Around” out by early 2009.


For more information on "...Around", go to http://www.aroundthefilm.com/
Also, if you haven't, check out the review on the film here at FilmArcade.net.

3 comments

  1. JD // July 22, 2008 at 7:54 PM  

    Wonderful interview.

  2. Anonymous // July 23, 2008 at 12:05 PM  

    Pretty interesting stuff here. This guy pursued his dream how many people do that?

  3. Anonymous // September 16, 2008 at 1:39 PM  

    Awesome experience, cant wait to see what that flick s about now...