Interview: Dylan McCormick

Four different people, four different hang-ups, four different dreams all heading in the same direction – New York City. New York is where a lot of people test their strengths against the world. It is a force that pulls many people in. Many leave their loved ones behind in search of their dreams in this cold, grey city. A person can change after moving to New York and this is what the main character of Four Lane Highway regretfully finds out.

A young man, Sean (Fred Weller), who used to be a writer, to the extent of even being published in the New Yorker, is now just a laborer working and living in a small college town in Maine. He gave up his dream of being of working writer because of all the complications that come with it and the lack of support from his accomplished father. After a day of work, he returns home and is reminded of a past love, a woman, Molly, who was there for him pushing him to be something, that made him see the best and worst parts of himself. He decides to go to New York to find her. Lyle, Sean’s long time friend and a comedic alcoholic, decides to join him. Along the highway that brings them to New York, Sean reminiscences about himself and Molly – how they met, when she moved in, the little moments that filled their lives and the harsh and unsuspected break up. Molly was once a painter but gave it up because of the complications that go along with it as well. After being with Sean for a long time she felt as if she was missing a part of her life. After the break up she left for New York to give it another try as a painter. This time she does succeed. Molly now lives with an aspiring actress, Sasha, who sleeps around with men to help her forget how depressing her life is. When Sean finally arrives at Molly door he is not given the smile he was hoping for. Lyle can’t seem to quit drinking, Sasha continues to sleep around, Molly is missing the old feelings of love and Sean is left to figure out what he is going to do. They all only have a piece of what they want to make their lives complete.

Four Lane Highway is Dylan McCormick’s first feature as writer/director.

Justin Ambrosino: How did you get into filmmaking?

Dylan McCormick: Well I had been an actor doing a lot of theater and I had acted in a few smaller independent productions and some TV spots, so I had some exposure, but it was kind of a leap from there. First of all, I did not go to film school. I went to school for directing Theater and for dramatic literature. Before making Four Lane Highway I made a short film to both, make a short film and begin to teach myself how to make movies. So that got my feet wet. Then I started writing this script on and off for six years. When I finished and began shopping it around, I was also studying as much as I could about filmmaking and by the time I got the opportunity to direct this, I knew the areas I wasn’t strong in and I surrounded myself with people who were like my producer Chris Roberts, who did Welcome to the Dollhouse and Believer, and a great D.P. Randy Drummond. I leaned on them pretty heavily.

JA: How autobiographical is this film?

DM: Absolutely nothing in the film has ever happened. It is all fiction. But it is autobiographical in the sense when any writer writes characters their conflicts become his own conflicts. This story literary came to me while driving with a friend of mine and I said I’m going to write a story about a man who goes to New York to try and find a woman. From that one notion I filled this whole back story about him living a small college town in Maine. The initial back story of Sean was inspired by someone I had known when I was younger. There was this guy who lived in a small college town, whose father was a fairly important person academically and who always felt this pressure to live up to who his father was. I was always interested in his story.

JA: What was the process of the financing like for you?

DM: Compared to other stories I heard, it was rather painless for me in the sense that I happened to find a couple of people that I had met while being a bartender here in New York at high profile restaurants that were interested in backing it. Partly based on me, partly based on the script. I don’t think it usually goes that way, so I consider myself fortunate.

JA: What were the rehearsals like?

DM: It was great. I had been working in the theater for a while, directing plays, so working with the actors was the most fun part of the whole process. But of course, you don’t rehearse like the way you rehearse in theatre. That was an adjustment for me. The actors in the film are all theater actors as well.

JA: What has the festival response been to this film? Have you made any changes based on the audience reaction?

DM: No we haven’t made any changes because of the audience reactions but the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. What is interesting about these festivals is that you have a little of that experience you have with theater in terms of the audience reactions. You are there watching them and you get to ask them what they thought about that. In filmmaking in general you don’t know how people feel about your film, because it is being shown across the country and you aren’t there. In regards to the festivals, what really isn’t clear is whether the industry has had a chance to see this film, which after all this we will approach them and say this is what happened at the festivals and the audience loved it.

JA: So the film has no distribution yet?

DM: We are in discussion with various people but we are trying to figuring out what is best for the film, best for us and for the distribution company.

JA: Were you concerned with the disjointed structure that you created in the narrative confusing the audience? And is that something you decided to create in post or something written in the actual script?

DM: It is in the original script. In editing we tried various versions of the structure but we ended pretty close to the original script, which might be my stubbornness as the writer. I tried to build a sense of tension and some sort of disorientation. This happens as the main character is trying to piece together these fragments of his relationship in his memory. We tried it chronologically but we felt this was the best way. There is a little danger that people will get frustrated but I’m not sure how I feel about that. Part of me doesn’t mind having the audience work on the story on their part.

JA: How did you find the cast?

DM: Through a casting agency. Fred Weller walked in and blew us away with his acting, but I kept him coming in auditioning with other people, having him jump through hoops. The same with Reg Rogers a wonderful New York Actor. Both the women I already knew, one of them is an old friend of mine Elizabeth Rodriguez, she played Sasha. The truth is I put all of her mannerisms in the film. The last but not least, my wife, Greer Goodman, played Molly. That is always dangerous but I think that is worked out ok.

JA: I sensed a bitterness towards New York, where does that come from?

DM: I think it’s specific to the characters. What we have is four characters that are struggling. They are struggling with their careers and adapting into society. New York turns out to be something that creates conflict for them. I have always been interested in the tension between living in the country against living in the city. New York is the place where the characters are going to test themselves against the world.

JA: Where does the title come from?

DM: It’s a little bit the four characters, a little bit the journey Sean takes in the film, a little bit I like the sound of it. It is also an homage to Five Easy Pieces and Blacktop two film that inspired me when I first watched them as a kid.

JA: Did you ever consider shooting this in digital?

DM: I had always wanted to shoot it with film. When it came time to make that decision, we just decided that this film had a classic character to it. I just wanted to be a filmmaker. And still when I watch a film shot on digital I still feel that it is cold and it is not completely there. You still have to light everything and that is a bulk of the cost.

JA: Do you plan on continuing on in the theatre?

DM: Yes, I do. In movies there is all this pressure that you have to have another script ready. Having one successful film isn’t quite good enough; they want to know what else you have. What is true for me, personally, is finishing this play that I am writing and putting that out there. There is something more immediate about the theater then the whole movie production. You are just in a room with actors everyday for a long time. There is something about that intimacy that I look forward too.

JA: What is this new play about?

DM: It about a lonely woman living in the valley of Los Angeles who is put in a situation where she has to take care a stranger over a period of several days. Hopefully I’ll be finished it in a couple months.

Four Lane Highway premiered at the 2005 edition of the Tribeca Film Festival. The film will be released once distribution is in place.