AARON GOLDEN
CO-WRITER/PRODUCER OF AS EASY AS CLOSING YOUR EYES
Film Synopsis: Academy Award-nominee Abigail Breslin presents As Easy As Closing Your Eyes. The story of a grieving mother who battles her addiction to a black-market drug that gives her life-like dreams about the son she lost.
WHERE TO FIND ME:
Q&A PART 1
1. What inspires your work?
I get inspiration from all over the place - hilarious moments, beautiful songs, great stories - but I do think that a lot of inspiration comes from watching other films. Cinema's ability to hold a mirror up to our existence, feelings, thoughts, fears, joys, makes me want to work in the medium and make many more mirrors!
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2. What films did you watch as a child?
I was a huge Star Wars kid. When I was 13 I mailed a picture of myself to the Star Wars casting director to try to get an audition for Anakin Skywalker. Apparently I didn't get it, 'cause I'm still waiting to hear back.
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3. What directors have influenced your work?
Spike Jonze, PT Anderson, Lee Chang-Dong, Asghar Farhadi, The Coens, Tarsem Singh, so many others but there's a few!
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4. Name one film that you think everyone should watch.
In Bruges
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5. If you could adapt any book/play/piece of literature, which would it be?
A Canticle for Leibowitz
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6. Who are your favourite writers.
Charlie Kaufman, Andrew Niccol, Martin McDonagh, PTA, Craig Mazin to name a few.
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7. Name a film score that make you feel something.
There are so many, but I always come back to the American Beauty soundtrack. Thomas Newman is such a trailblazer and that soundtrack has everything.
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8. Who is an actor that you would love to work with.
Amy Adams because she is extraordinarily talented and incredibly kind and gracious.
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9. What was the last film you watched? (and would you recommend it?)
The last film I watched was an indie called Last Stop In Yuma County and it was a fantastic contained indie film with a great story and performances.
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10. What is next for you?
There's always something in motion but the biggest thing is getting our feature set in the world of As Easy As Closing Your Eyes off the ground.
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1. Tell us about your film As Easy As Closing Your Eyes ? What`s it all about?
As Easy As Closing Your Eyes is a sci-fi drama about a grieving mother who battles her addiction to a black-market drug that gives her life-like dreams about the son she lost.
2. Can you tell us about the creative process in making your film? What drew you to this project?
Parker Croft and I have been working together for fifteen years, and we've often returned to themes of mortality. It's a tricky subject, though, and I think creating Amesten helped us explore our relationship to death from a fresh vantage point.
3. How long does a film like As Easy As Closing Your Eyes take to make?
We shot the film in six days, but the whole arc from pre-production to finished film took about a year.
4. What challenges did you encounter?
The biggest challenge was how many roles each of us had to take on. We were so lucky to have so many incredible people in our cast and crew. At the end of the day, though, indie filmmaking requires producers to take on lots of hats, and let's just say, our necks are sore!
5. Do you have a favourite moment when filming/creating As Easy As Closing Your Eyes ?
Our day filming at Las Virgenes Preserve was grueling... climbing up and down mountains in 100 degree heat... but in retrospect I'm so proud of what we accomplished that day and I really think of it fondly.
6. How was working with your cast and crew? Do you have any stand out moments?
Our cast and crew was marvelous. Obviously when working with a child actor, there can be challenges. But Dawson was a such a pro and our set teachers Laura Gary and Bettina Russo were wonderful. Really just felt so lucky to have so many heavy-hitters on our team.
7. Can you tell us more about the sound design of your film?
I actually recorded our production sound, and then we were extremely lucky to bring Ian Chase on the team, who was one of the re-recording mixers on Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. Ian is an incredible sound designer and worked very closely with Parker to get every sound detail correct.
8. Where did you get the inspiration when creating As Easy As Closing Your Eyes ?
The inspiration came from a line in Ray Kurzweil's book The Singularity is Near "Death is a tragedy... when people speak of losing a part of themselves when a loved one dies, they are speaking quite literally, since we lose the ability to effectively use the neural patterns in our brain that had self-organized to interact with that person." The thought was - what if we could create a drug that reactivated those neural patterns?
9. Was there any films that inspired you when creating As Easy As Closing Your Eyes ?
One of the benchmarks for grounded, human sci-fi is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and so I think that's often close at hand when thinking about this film.
10. What have you learnt from making As Easy As Closing Your Eyes ? Would you do anything differently next time?
I think our biggest mistake was taking on a few too many roles... moving forward, when we attempt something ambitious, we won't cut any corners with required personnel... you need a dedicated first AD!!
Q&A PART 2