Sundance 2008 Interview: (Chusy) Haney-Jardine (Anywhere, U.S.A.)

[IONCINEMA.com is proud to feature the rookie and veteran filmmakers showcased and nurtured at the 2008 edition of the Sundance Film Festival. This is part of collection of emailer interviews conducted prior to the festival – we would like to thank the filmmakers for their time and the hardworking publicists for making this possible.]

Chusy Haney-Jardine

[IONCINEMA.com is proud to feature the rookie and veteran filmmakers showcased and nurtured at the 2008 edition of the Sundance Film Festival. This is part of collection of emailer interviews conducted prior to the festival – we would like to thank the filmmakers for their time and the hardworking publicists for making this possible.]

When did you know you
wanted to become a filmmaker?
I didn’t really want to be a filmmaker. I wanted to be a surfer or a tennis
player. Per chance, when I was working on the account side at a multi-national
ad agency, a client presented me with the opportunity to write and direct some
fashion commercials (I had excellent hair in my 20s—this was my qualification to work in the world of
fashion) for cinemas in Venezuela.
I’d never seen a film camera before and so I taught myself how to expose film
and spool a camera in one day with a book written about film in the 50s. I cast
people from a mall and edited the film. I loved the experience. That’s when I
decided that I wanted to be a filmmaker.

Can you discuss your
filmmaking/directing background (your previous experiences or pivotal experiences)
that have led you to where you are today…
I’ve directed T.V. commercials, mostly in Latin America.
In America I’m
the king of toilet bowl commercials (I’ve done three!). I attended the AFI, the
directors program. There I made my only other film, a short entitled, Monkey Park.
It stars Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, and Ray Wise.

Can you discuss the genesis of Anywhere USA – how did the initial idea come about or
how did this become a story you wanted to tell?
After film school I worked in a variety of remunerated ‘positions’ (teaching,
bagging groceries, translating, graphic design, food stylist, production
assistant, house painter etc.) and put the dream of making a film on hold. I
spent those years in purgatory writing journals, replete with 12 cent aphorisms and sometimes extremely candid
meditations about my life, wondering if all that interior mining would one day
yield gold.

Eventually I started to create composites of characters and storylines that
drew from my own life. As the creative impulse to make a film became more palpable,
I agonized about what story to tell and (I know this seems acutely
narcissistic) netted out on making a film about myself, about MY America, using
these characters and storylines that I’d been writing about for years.

Eventually I framed these and it became this film—a personal portrait of my America. 

Can you elaborate on what kind of work
went into the pre-production process (how long you’ve been working on this
project prior to pre-production and what specifically you did to prepare, and
were there specific people involved in this process that are worth signaling
out?
As abovementioned this film has been percolating for a few years. Most of the
pre-production energy went into finding extraordinary human beings to portray
the characters in our films. All the credit goes to my wife, the producer and my
casting director: Jennifer MacDonald.

Casting for the film: how did it come
together?
I wanted my film to be interpreted by non-actors. I love actors (I’ve worked
with the most extraordinary talent– Tim Roth, Amanda Plummer, and Ray Wise),
but most of my work in advertising features people plucked from the street, so to
speak. My financial limitations also dictated that choice. In our casting for
this film, we went to malls, Super Walmart, yard sales, fast food restaurants, convenience
stores, car dealerships, and around our neighborhood. We approached and met
hundreds of people. Most thought we were making a porno, (I have the face of a sinner). My
wife was 100% responsible for the casting.

What aesthetic decisions did you make
prior to shooting?
We approached each segment with a pre-considered aesthetic. Our first piece was
shot framed assuming a 12 year old was photographing the film from his height and
perspective. No camera movement whatsoever was allowed into the first segment.
The second segment, Loss, which is a more visceral story incorporates a lot of
handheld work and camera moves. The third segment was shot like masterpiece
theatre gone awry in wide shots and little editing.

If you could name just one – what stands
out as your most favorite experience you had during filming?
Working with my family, coming together and putting all our energy into making
this film. When we got the phone call from Sundance I lay on the floor weeping and
in the background you could hear my five-year-old screaming: we got into
Sundance! We found an Oscar! My daughter keeled over with joy and joined me
weeping on the floor.

Anatomy of a scene: What was the most
difficult sequence during production?
The most difficult scene comes in the second story, the story that stars my
daughter, Perla Haney-Jardine. In her story she has to come to terms with the falsehoods
of certain childhood myths. I had deprived her of any script or storyline
because I didn’t want her to realize that it was, well, false. When I gave her lines seconds before
shooting, she suddenly realized that there was no truth behind those myths and
I could see her emptiness, her grief. You will see that moment in the film. I
realize in retrospect how perverse it was for me to be the messenger.

What was the most challenging aspect of
the production?
My health. A tick attached itself to my derriere and eventually it attacked my
central nervous system with a disease called Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. This
was at the outset of production. I blacked out and woke up two days later. It
took me a while to recover…If there is any torpor to my answers or if all this seems gobbledygook,
then blame it on the tick.

What are you hoping that future
audiences will take away from this film?
I’m hoping to foment the desire to see it repeatedly and for audiences to
discover the many layers that inform the piece.

At what part in the timeline did you
consider submitting the film to Sundance?
We’re independent filmmakers! Sundance is the le plus ultra destination for
independent filmmakers… We actually steered all our decisions towards the goal
of submitting our film to Sundance. We figured it was lofty and perhaps
presumptuous to do as much, but we rolled the dice. We figured if we didn’t get
accepted we’d keep on knocking on doors. Lord. 

If ever there is a Kill Bill: Volume 3 – do you
think the adult B.B Kiddo will be the last man (in this case woman) standing? [Note: Chusy is the father of Perla]
Duh, of course she will. She’s B.B. Kiddo.

Anywhere, U.S.A. is part of the U.S Dramatic Competition section at the 2008
Sundance Film Festival. It is currently seeking distribution.