Zak Penn directed and released one the best films of 2004, Incident at Loch Ness. Its hard to explain this film but basically its a great mockumentary. It was a big surprise for Penns directorial debut because he is best known as the screenwriter of The Last Action Hero, PCU and X-Men 2.
The story of Incident at Loch Ness is Hollywood screenwriter Zak Penn and German director Werner Herzog as himself, team up to shoot a documentary about Scotland's mysterious Loch Ness monster. While out in the water the boat is attacked by the Loch Ness monster and several key members of the crew are lost. Eventually it all comes tumbling down as Penn begins to freak out now Herzog must fight him to come out of the experience alive.
Penn now acknowledges that the film isnt real but when promoting the film for its theatrical release he specifically kept insisting that the film was a true event to keep up the aura that it created.
Buy the DVD of Incident at Loch Ness
Daniel Robert Epstein: So will I be talking to the real Zak Penn or the evil Zak Penn?
Zak Penn: It will be the real Zak Penn. Ive long since stopped doing the evil Zak Penn since we are so far from the release.
DRE: Incident at Loch Ness didnt make a lot of the money in the theatre but I dont think it was meant to either. Were you happy with the release?
ZP: We were happy it got out there. When you self release a film you have limited expectations because we couldnt afford to put a lot of money into it. I was gratified it played in so many cities and it was still playing in a few places after 20 weeks or so. It got a lot of attention which is good for the DVD release. For me it was a tremendous amount of fun because I got to go do the press tour and do all the festivals. But its hard to judge it in terms of box office because Im used to working on movies that need to make $80 million their opening weekend so it seems irrelevant whether we made $50,000 or $75,000.
DRE: Obviously the film is just coming out on DVD, but has it reached any kind of cult status yet?
ZP: I definitely think it has a chance. Its quickly headed towards cult status which is gratifying. A lot of people who reviewed it said it was an instant cult classic. My goal in making this movie was to make something that would have a cultish following. When we first started this we felt that the DVD would be the reward for the people who got interested in it because it would be filled with the the truth behind the fiction and the fiction behind the truth.
DRE: Were you very involved with the creation of the DVD?
ZP: Yeah, during production we shot a whole bunch of stuff particularly for the DVD. We wouldnt have done the topless scene with Kitana [Baker] except for the DVD.
DRE: What made you decide to hide a lot of the extras on the DVD?
ZP: It was because I wanted to keep the spirit of the movie. Whats obvious if you have seen the movie is that we were having fun with having people guess what was real and what wasnt. Our guiding force for the DVD, since we had so much stuff, was to create a DVD that you could watch, then look at the extras and still not be sure whether it was real. There is nothing on the DVD, that isnt hidden, that would tell you that the movie was fake.
DRE: You and Werner are friends, right?
ZP: We were friends before the movie but when you do something and have fun it brings you closer together. We had a really fun time doing the fake audio commentary on the DVD.
DRE: I listened to a bit of it and it seemed like you were having a good time.
ZP: Yeah a little will go a long way on that. Its worth listening to the hidden serious commentary because its a lot of Werner talking about himself and his work in the movie.
DRE: How was doing the stuff in evil Zak Penn mode?
ZP: Its surprisingly maybe frighteningly easy for me to resume acting like an asshole. One funny anecdote is that when we recorded that fake commentary in the studio, the people in the studio didnt understand that we were acting in character. So when Werner walked out of the studio the woman who owned the place walked in and thought we had some enormous fight. She thought she was getting into the middle of a real argument. I think people are frightened of what Werner Herzog losing his temper would look like.
DRE: Have you ever seen Werner lose his temper for real?
ZP: Only once but it was on my behalf so it didnt seem that scary to me. Hes definitely an intimidating figure. He usually speaks very quietly because hes not a yeller.
DRE: You mentioned that Incident was self-financed. Did you really put up a chunk of the money?
ZP: I didnt put up all the money but I put up a good fraction.
DRE: Whats it like putting up money for a film that was meant to be a cult film?
ZP: First of all its scary. Having been in the business for a long time we did negotiate a deal for the DVD release that is going to help us recoup. The DVD release is much more important financially than any other bit of business. One of the things is that I am well compensated for my work as a screenwriter and it felt kind of good to put it back into something that felt worthwhile. Its still scary because I could stand to lose a lot of money if it doesnt do well on home video. But whatever, you have to take some risks.
DRE: It seems like people in other countries might get the film more than here. How was the reaction to the film overseas?
ZP: The French loved it which is like a Woody Allen punchline. But I would say the best reaction I got from any film I ever worked on was the Seattle Film Festival screening of Incident. Ive also noticed that the film is doing better in Oregon because thats where its been playing for so long.
DRE: Thats odd.
ZP: Very odd. Most of the audiences Ive seen the movie with have been at film festivals where the people are pretty smart and they really got the movie. Seeing it in Edinburgh was a lot of fun as well.
DRE: I know that part of your job as a screenwriter is to go to a lot of meetings with executives. Do they know about Incident because Im sure youre there to talk with them about a different kind of movie?
ZP: My wife is a studio executive and despite what you might think or see in The Player most studio executives are pretty savvy people. Anyone who knows me can appreciate the movie because Im poking fun at myself. There are definitely people who are confused by it because they will say You made this movie? You write movies like X-Men. The people who were most surprised were the ones who thought it was real. We did announce in the trades that we were doing a Werner Herzog movie and then we were pretty tight lipped about what we were really doing.
Also most of the people I have meetings with I know pretty well by now. When I do meet with people sometimes they say I saw you in that movie. Youre that asshole.
DRE: Does the asshole Zak Penn ever come out in real life?
ZP: Sure he does. He exists just beneath the surface.
DRE: What does the asshole Zak Penn want in life?
ZP: Pretty much the death of everyone around him.
DRE: Let me ask a dorky question, what is the asshole Zak Penn doing now?
ZP: Hes trying to get his production deal off the ground which is self financed by his house. He has probably been pitching on a whole bunch of bad comedy sequels.
DRE: Would the asshole Zak Penn ever work with Werner again?
ZP: The real Zak Penn is going to have Werner in his next movie. But the asshole Zak Penn will never work with Werner again. This is fun, I hadnt thought about postulating what happened to my character.
DRE: Wait a few years and revisit it on the Sundance Channel.
So what is up with the next movie? Is it like Incident?
ZP: No its not. I would like to tell you its another unclassifiable and different movie but I really enjoyed working in the mockumentary format for a number of reasons because of the incredible cheapness and ease of shooting. Also my sense of humor gravitates to humor thats real. Im really striving to make my own version of a Christopher Guest movie. Not that I want to rip him off but hes done a great job with making comedies in a certain style and spirit and I want to make something akin to that. The next film is a more straightforward comedy.
DRE: Will it be scripted?
ZP: No it will not.
DRE: A movie that has a poker table with Werner Herzog and David Schwimmer could almost be as surreal as the dinner table with Werner Herzog and Crispin Glover that you had in Incident.
ZP: Thats true though I think Werner and David have met at my house. It will be surreal but I guess the big difference is that people wont be playing themselves. One of the things I really liked about making Loch Ness is, how do you classify Werners performance as himself? He is playing himself but Werner the real person would never do some of things that the character of Werner did. It creates an interesting question.
DRE: PCU has such a cult following, how did that come about?
ZP: My writing partner at the time, Adam Leff, and I really wanted to write about our experiences at Wesleyan University. We wrote it when we were 22 and its all about the PC police at Wesleyan.
DRE: Were you Droz or Gutter?
ZP: I dont think I was either but they are all based on real people. Truthfully the movie was based on my experience visiting Wesleyan as a pre-frosh. I stayed at this place Eclectic but I was probably closer to Mullaney than any of the other guys. But I wasnt black.
DRE: Then they got the jerk from Die Hard to direct it.
ZP: Thats what I used to call him, the jerk from Die Hard. Hart Bochner is a good guy actually.
DRE: When we spoke last time you said you didnt have a handle on how to write the screenplay for Spy Hunter. Have you figured it out?
ZP: Im long done with Spy Hunter and now Im working on X-Men 3.
DRE: Are you doing your own draft of X-Men 3?
ZP: Yeah Im writing a draft. Im also prepping the poker movie and Im having another kid.
DRE: What did you think of the finished version of Elektra?
ZP: Heres the thing. I clearly liked it more than everyone else did because it got skewered by critics. I thought that was a bit unfair. I have my theories but for whatever reason people jumped all over it. Its not a perfect movie but I dont quite understand the level of vitriol for it. We were really trying to do a more stripped down thriller and not a big superhero movie.
When you are a screenwriter there is no way to not disagree with some of what a director does with your material. There are things that [Elektra director Rob] Bowman did and things that the studio did that are the not way I would have gone. But its not something I disavow myself of in any way like Suspect Zero.
DRE: Last time we spoke I asked you a very dorky question about a scene you wrote in X-Men 2 about why Magneto couldnt just break out of his prison much more easily. Heres another one, who was paying the gas bill in Elektras house for 20 years?
ZP: Thats a great question that a number of people have asked. Natchios Estates, even though they didnt keep the upkeep of the house up, was paying all the utility bills.
DRE: That was real nice of them.
ZP: In fact, that is what the sequel is going to be about. Its going to be all about how the estate managed the payments on the electrics and gas. Youre going to see Elektra taking the gardener to task for not doing a good job although he did keep the hedge maze in good shape.
DRE: She could hire Matt Murdock to sue the grounds keeping company.
ZP: I think that will be in Elektra and they will just end up settling. It wont be that exciting but I swear to you we will cover all of these questions in Elektra 2: The Utility Bills.
DRE: Elektra 2: The Utility Bills Unleashed.
ZP: [laughs] And United!
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
The story of Incident at Loch Ness is Hollywood screenwriter Zak Penn and German director Werner Herzog as himself, team up to shoot a documentary about Scotland's mysterious Loch Ness monster. While out in the water the boat is attacked by the Loch Ness monster and several key members of the crew are lost. Eventually it all comes tumbling down as Penn begins to freak out now Herzog must fight him to come out of the experience alive.
Penn now acknowledges that the film isnt real but when promoting the film for its theatrical release he specifically kept insisting that the film was a true event to keep up the aura that it created.
Buy the DVD of Incident at Loch Ness
Daniel Robert Epstein: So will I be talking to the real Zak Penn or the evil Zak Penn?
Zak Penn: It will be the real Zak Penn. Ive long since stopped doing the evil Zak Penn since we are so far from the release.
DRE: Incident at Loch Ness didnt make a lot of the money in the theatre but I dont think it was meant to either. Were you happy with the release?
ZP: We were happy it got out there. When you self release a film you have limited expectations because we couldnt afford to put a lot of money into it. I was gratified it played in so many cities and it was still playing in a few places after 20 weeks or so. It got a lot of attention which is good for the DVD release. For me it was a tremendous amount of fun because I got to go do the press tour and do all the festivals. But its hard to judge it in terms of box office because Im used to working on movies that need to make $80 million their opening weekend so it seems irrelevant whether we made $50,000 or $75,000.
DRE: Obviously the film is just coming out on DVD, but has it reached any kind of cult status yet?
ZP: I definitely think it has a chance. Its quickly headed towards cult status which is gratifying. A lot of people who reviewed it said it was an instant cult classic. My goal in making this movie was to make something that would have a cultish following. When we first started this we felt that the DVD would be the reward for the people who got interested in it because it would be filled with the the truth behind the fiction and the fiction behind the truth.
DRE: Were you very involved with the creation of the DVD?
ZP: Yeah, during production we shot a whole bunch of stuff particularly for the DVD. We wouldnt have done the topless scene with Kitana [Baker] except for the DVD.
DRE: What made you decide to hide a lot of the extras on the DVD?
ZP: It was because I wanted to keep the spirit of the movie. Whats obvious if you have seen the movie is that we were having fun with having people guess what was real and what wasnt. Our guiding force for the DVD, since we had so much stuff, was to create a DVD that you could watch, then look at the extras and still not be sure whether it was real. There is nothing on the DVD, that isnt hidden, that would tell you that the movie was fake.
DRE: You and Werner are friends, right?
ZP: We were friends before the movie but when you do something and have fun it brings you closer together. We had a really fun time doing the fake audio commentary on the DVD.
DRE: I listened to a bit of it and it seemed like you were having a good time.
ZP: Yeah a little will go a long way on that. Its worth listening to the hidden serious commentary because its a lot of Werner talking about himself and his work in the movie.
DRE: How was doing the stuff in evil Zak Penn mode?
ZP: Its surprisingly maybe frighteningly easy for me to resume acting like an asshole. One funny anecdote is that when we recorded that fake commentary in the studio, the people in the studio didnt understand that we were acting in character. So when Werner walked out of the studio the woman who owned the place walked in and thought we had some enormous fight. She thought she was getting into the middle of a real argument. I think people are frightened of what Werner Herzog losing his temper would look like.
DRE: Have you ever seen Werner lose his temper for real?
ZP: Only once but it was on my behalf so it didnt seem that scary to me. Hes definitely an intimidating figure. He usually speaks very quietly because hes not a yeller.
DRE: You mentioned that Incident was self-financed. Did you really put up a chunk of the money?
ZP: I didnt put up all the money but I put up a good fraction.
DRE: Whats it like putting up money for a film that was meant to be a cult film?
ZP: First of all its scary. Having been in the business for a long time we did negotiate a deal for the DVD release that is going to help us recoup. The DVD release is much more important financially than any other bit of business. One of the things is that I am well compensated for my work as a screenwriter and it felt kind of good to put it back into something that felt worthwhile. Its still scary because I could stand to lose a lot of money if it doesnt do well on home video. But whatever, you have to take some risks.
DRE: It seems like people in other countries might get the film more than here. How was the reaction to the film overseas?
ZP: The French loved it which is like a Woody Allen punchline. But I would say the best reaction I got from any film I ever worked on was the Seattle Film Festival screening of Incident. Ive also noticed that the film is doing better in Oregon because thats where its been playing for so long.
DRE: Thats odd.
ZP: Very odd. Most of the audiences Ive seen the movie with have been at film festivals where the people are pretty smart and they really got the movie. Seeing it in Edinburgh was a lot of fun as well.
DRE: I know that part of your job as a screenwriter is to go to a lot of meetings with executives. Do they know about Incident because Im sure youre there to talk with them about a different kind of movie?
ZP: My wife is a studio executive and despite what you might think or see in The Player most studio executives are pretty savvy people. Anyone who knows me can appreciate the movie because Im poking fun at myself. There are definitely people who are confused by it because they will say You made this movie? You write movies like X-Men. The people who were most surprised were the ones who thought it was real. We did announce in the trades that we were doing a Werner Herzog movie and then we were pretty tight lipped about what we were really doing.
Also most of the people I have meetings with I know pretty well by now. When I do meet with people sometimes they say I saw you in that movie. Youre that asshole.
DRE: Does the asshole Zak Penn ever come out in real life?
ZP: Sure he does. He exists just beneath the surface.
DRE: What does the asshole Zak Penn want in life?
ZP: Pretty much the death of everyone around him.
DRE: Let me ask a dorky question, what is the asshole Zak Penn doing now?
ZP: Hes trying to get his production deal off the ground which is self financed by his house. He has probably been pitching on a whole bunch of bad comedy sequels.
DRE: Would the asshole Zak Penn ever work with Werner again?
ZP: The real Zak Penn is going to have Werner in his next movie. But the asshole Zak Penn will never work with Werner again. This is fun, I hadnt thought about postulating what happened to my character.
DRE: Wait a few years and revisit it on the Sundance Channel.
So what is up with the next movie? Is it like Incident?
ZP: No its not. I would like to tell you its another unclassifiable and different movie but I really enjoyed working in the mockumentary format for a number of reasons because of the incredible cheapness and ease of shooting. Also my sense of humor gravitates to humor thats real. Im really striving to make my own version of a Christopher Guest movie. Not that I want to rip him off but hes done a great job with making comedies in a certain style and spirit and I want to make something akin to that. The next film is a more straightforward comedy.
DRE: Will it be scripted?
ZP: No it will not.
DRE: A movie that has a poker table with Werner Herzog and David Schwimmer could almost be as surreal as the dinner table with Werner Herzog and Crispin Glover that you had in Incident.
ZP: Thats true though I think Werner and David have met at my house. It will be surreal but I guess the big difference is that people wont be playing themselves. One of the things I really liked about making Loch Ness is, how do you classify Werners performance as himself? He is playing himself but Werner the real person would never do some of things that the character of Werner did. It creates an interesting question.
DRE: PCU has such a cult following, how did that come about?
ZP: My writing partner at the time, Adam Leff, and I really wanted to write about our experiences at Wesleyan University. We wrote it when we were 22 and its all about the PC police at Wesleyan.
DRE: Were you Droz or Gutter?
ZP: I dont think I was either but they are all based on real people. Truthfully the movie was based on my experience visiting Wesleyan as a pre-frosh. I stayed at this place Eclectic but I was probably closer to Mullaney than any of the other guys. But I wasnt black.
DRE: Then they got the jerk from Die Hard to direct it.
ZP: Thats what I used to call him, the jerk from Die Hard. Hart Bochner is a good guy actually.
DRE: When we spoke last time you said you didnt have a handle on how to write the screenplay for Spy Hunter. Have you figured it out?
ZP: Im long done with Spy Hunter and now Im working on X-Men 3.
DRE: Are you doing your own draft of X-Men 3?
ZP: Yeah Im writing a draft. Im also prepping the poker movie and Im having another kid.
DRE: What did you think of the finished version of Elektra?
ZP: Heres the thing. I clearly liked it more than everyone else did because it got skewered by critics. I thought that was a bit unfair. I have my theories but for whatever reason people jumped all over it. Its not a perfect movie but I dont quite understand the level of vitriol for it. We were really trying to do a more stripped down thriller and not a big superhero movie.
When you are a screenwriter there is no way to not disagree with some of what a director does with your material. There are things that [Elektra director Rob] Bowman did and things that the studio did that are the not way I would have gone. But its not something I disavow myself of in any way like Suspect Zero.
DRE: Last time we spoke I asked you a very dorky question about a scene you wrote in X-Men 2 about why Magneto couldnt just break out of his prison much more easily. Heres another one, who was paying the gas bill in Elektras house for 20 years?
ZP: Thats a great question that a number of people have asked. Natchios Estates, even though they didnt keep the upkeep of the house up, was paying all the utility bills.
DRE: That was real nice of them.
ZP: In fact, that is what the sequel is going to be about. Its going to be all about how the estate managed the payments on the electrics and gas. Youre going to see Elektra taking the gardener to task for not doing a good job although he did keep the hedge maze in good shape.
DRE: She could hire Matt Murdock to sue the grounds keeping company.
ZP: I think that will be in Elektra and they will just end up settling. It wont be that exciting but I swear to you we will cover all of these questions in Elektra 2: The Utility Bills.
DRE: Elektra 2: The Utility Bills Unleashed.
ZP: [laughs] And United!
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
missy:
Zak Penn directed and released one the best films of 2004, Incident at Loch Ness. Its hard to explain this film but basically its a great mockumentary. It was a big surprise for Penns directorial debut because he is best known as the screenwriter of The Last Action Hero, PCU and X-Men 2...