Rob Nilsson is one of the most popular underground filmmakers of the 20th century. He has created works with such actors as Bruce Dern, Ron Perlman, Pam Grier and many more. A veteran filmmaker of over 15 works, he has been working since the late 1970s. Koch Lorber has just released three of his works on DVD, Heat and Sunlight, Signal Seven and On the Edge.
Check out the official website for Rob Nilsson
Daniel Robert Epstein: what are you up to today?
Rob Nilsson: Were getting ready to finish shooting number 8 in the 9@Night series. So were in pre-production today.
DRE: Thats awesome, are you doing that out in San Francisco?
Rob: Yeah were shooting one scene in San Francisco and another couple of scenes over at a house in Glenn County.
DRE: Explain the idea of the 9@Night films, please.
Rob: This is a series of nine pictures that start at 9pm with about 40 to 50 fictional characters from the edges of life. It comes from my workshop that Ive had for about 16 years out in the Tenderloin area. It is a drama workshop for homeless people, inner-city San Francisco residents and professional actors. There are some people you would know like Ron Perlman but mostly they are from the workshop.
DRE: How is it that Heat and Sunlight, Signal Seven and One the Edge all came out at once on DVD?
Rob: Richard Lorber the head of Koch Lorber films is an old friend and David Fox, who used to be his partner when it was called Fox Weber, is my agent for sales. I guess they decided that it was time that some of my old work got out to the public. So they pushed it ahead and were trying to get some of the other older work out as well.
DRE: How do you look back on these films?
Rob: We actually shot inch video, which is an arcane medium, but probably most people dont even know about it.
DRE: Yeah, I know about it sadly enough.
Rob: Ah, an old timer. I actually like because it is a rougher with a grassroots feel that works perfectly. We were some of the first people to blow up video to 35mm for Signal Seven.
DRE: What made you decide to use video for that?
Rob: Prior to that I spend two or three years raising money for On The Edge and I just didnt feel that I wanted to be a fundraiser. I was a filmmaker so I just wanted to prove that a good piece of art could be made that way. I was interested in expanding the media, making it more democratic and also making it more possible, for films about you and me as opposed to films about Robert De Niro, Jon Voight or whoever.
DRE: Was Signal Seven an improvised film?
Rob: Both of those, Signal Seven and Heat and Sunlight are based on a technique that Ive worked out over the years, that I call direct acting. Its a way of preparing actors in the production process as opposed to having a lengthy screenplay where youre recreating. I want to create it only once and pick out the little miracles.
DRE: It is interesting that you dedicated the movie to John Cassavetes. It has always been rumored that he used improvisation but that has been put down by his wife and Peter Falk many times.
Rob: At the end of Shadows he added some improvisation but John was my hero and truth be told there are several scenes even within the ones he wrote. People put him down for it by saying he is not a real artist because he cant write a screenplay. That is ridiculous.
DRE: That is complete and total horseshit Ill have to say that. He is probably one of the best filmmakers that ever lived.
Rob: I agree with you. John was exceptional; he showed us that it was possible to make films about you and me. When I saw Shadows I said my god, I had no idea that you could actually create drama from people living in your neighborhood. For Shadows he found them through an ad in The New York Post although many of them later became actors. He showed that in any square block anyplace in the world there is a brilliant actor, a brilliant director and matters of opportunity, interest and faith. Ive been working in the Tenderloin and Ive found people that in any given moment are as good as any actor making a million dollars a picture. Ive made films in Japan, South Africa, Jordan and all different parts of the world and I always find these wonderful people. The one thing that you are trained in from the time the sperm hits the egg is living a life and being alive and if you can unleash all the things that all people have inside of them you have an amazing force. John was the first one to do that.
DRE: How are these three films personal for you?
Rob: With Signal Seven for example, many of the actors involved were friends and were actors on the fringe that I didnt even know if they were going to make it but they are still acting. These guys didnt back down, they are still down in LA and will occasionally get roles. I played the lead in Signal Seven and I had thoughts of jealousy and I wanted to explore what it is that brings these kinds of violent feelings up against love feelings. Why is the person that you love the most the one that is going to cause you the most pain.
DRE: Do you ever feel like you missed the independent wave that launched the people like Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith?
Rob: Im always going to do what I love to do. You cant count on a wave. I can get the crumbs from the table and make my movies.
DRE: How did you first get into making films?
Rob: I was living in Africa with a bunch of friends of mine and we just got the notion. We went and made an hour dramatic film with a beat up old 8mm camera. Im a painter and a poet. But cinema is where you can do it all.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Check out the official website for Rob Nilsson
Daniel Robert Epstein: what are you up to today?
Rob Nilsson: Were getting ready to finish shooting number 8 in the 9@Night series. So were in pre-production today.
DRE: Thats awesome, are you doing that out in San Francisco?
Rob: Yeah were shooting one scene in San Francisco and another couple of scenes over at a house in Glenn County.
DRE: Explain the idea of the 9@Night films, please.
Rob: This is a series of nine pictures that start at 9pm with about 40 to 50 fictional characters from the edges of life. It comes from my workshop that Ive had for about 16 years out in the Tenderloin area. It is a drama workshop for homeless people, inner-city San Francisco residents and professional actors. There are some people you would know like Ron Perlman but mostly they are from the workshop.
DRE: How is it that Heat and Sunlight, Signal Seven and One the Edge all came out at once on DVD?
Rob: Richard Lorber the head of Koch Lorber films is an old friend and David Fox, who used to be his partner when it was called Fox Weber, is my agent for sales. I guess they decided that it was time that some of my old work got out to the public. So they pushed it ahead and were trying to get some of the other older work out as well.
DRE: How do you look back on these films?
Rob: We actually shot inch video, which is an arcane medium, but probably most people dont even know about it.
DRE: Yeah, I know about it sadly enough.
Rob: Ah, an old timer. I actually like because it is a rougher with a grassroots feel that works perfectly. We were some of the first people to blow up video to 35mm for Signal Seven.
DRE: What made you decide to use video for that?
Rob: Prior to that I spend two or three years raising money for On The Edge and I just didnt feel that I wanted to be a fundraiser. I was a filmmaker so I just wanted to prove that a good piece of art could be made that way. I was interested in expanding the media, making it more democratic and also making it more possible, for films about you and me as opposed to films about Robert De Niro, Jon Voight or whoever.
DRE: Was Signal Seven an improvised film?
Rob: Both of those, Signal Seven and Heat and Sunlight are based on a technique that Ive worked out over the years, that I call direct acting. Its a way of preparing actors in the production process as opposed to having a lengthy screenplay where youre recreating. I want to create it only once and pick out the little miracles.
DRE: It is interesting that you dedicated the movie to John Cassavetes. It has always been rumored that he used improvisation but that has been put down by his wife and Peter Falk many times.
Rob: At the end of Shadows he added some improvisation but John was my hero and truth be told there are several scenes even within the ones he wrote. People put him down for it by saying he is not a real artist because he cant write a screenplay. That is ridiculous.
DRE: That is complete and total horseshit Ill have to say that. He is probably one of the best filmmakers that ever lived.
Rob: I agree with you. John was exceptional; he showed us that it was possible to make films about you and me. When I saw Shadows I said my god, I had no idea that you could actually create drama from people living in your neighborhood. For Shadows he found them through an ad in The New York Post although many of them later became actors. He showed that in any square block anyplace in the world there is a brilliant actor, a brilliant director and matters of opportunity, interest and faith. Ive been working in the Tenderloin and Ive found people that in any given moment are as good as any actor making a million dollars a picture. Ive made films in Japan, South Africa, Jordan and all different parts of the world and I always find these wonderful people. The one thing that you are trained in from the time the sperm hits the egg is living a life and being alive and if you can unleash all the things that all people have inside of them you have an amazing force. John was the first one to do that.
DRE: How are these three films personal for you?
Rob: With Signal Seven for example, many of the actors involved were friends and were actors on the fringe that I didnt even know if they were going to make it but they are still acting. These guys didnt back down, they are still down in LA and will occasionally get roles. I played the lead in Signal Seven and I had thoughts of jealousy and I wanted to explore what it is that brings these kinds of violent feelings up against love feelings. Why is the person that you love the most the one that is going to cause you the most pain.
DRE: Do you ever feel like you missed the independent wave that launched the people like Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith?
Rob: Im always going to do what I love to do. You cant count on a wave. I can get the crumbs from the table and make my movies.
DRE: How did you first get into making films?
Rob: I was living in Africa with a bunch of friends of mine and we just got the notion. We went and made an hour dramatic film with a beat up old 8mm camera. Im a painter and a poet. But cinema is where you can do it all.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
courtneyriot:
Rob Nilsson is one of the most popular underground filmmakers of the 20th century. He has created works with such actors as Bruce Dern, Ron Perlman, Pam Grier and many more. A veteran filmmaker of over 15 works, he has been working since the late 1970s. Koch Lorber has just released three of his...