CHRIS NEUMER: In some bio I read that you graduated from film school in 1985 and I wondered did anything from film school help you at all here?
JEFF NATHANSON: I was actually an English major in college and then I went to one year at the American Film Institute, but not in their directing program. I was in their screenwriting program. In the screenwriting program you’re never allowed to be near the camera, so it was just another screenwriting class.
CHRIS NEUMER: So they instill that in screenwriters from the beginning, "Don’t go near the camera!"
JEFF NATHANSON: There’s a separation. It’s a segregated world even in film school. The directors are king and the writers are in another bungalow and the directors go out and make their movies and the writers write whatever they’re going to write. They teach you the reality of the film world.
CHRIS NEUMER: So doing The Last Shot really was like a kind of film school for you.
JEFF NATHANSON: I’m sure people will take exception to that because I came with a pretty good base of knowledge about film.
CHRIS NEUMER: And have a little common sense too.
JEFF NATHANSON: I guess so. I think being a director is a lot like being a parent. At some point, you just have to know that your kid shouldn’t play with matches. That’s a bad idea. I think being a director is like that. At a certain point you have to go with your gut and say, "I think it’s a bad idea to bring in the rubber chicken right now."
CHRIS NEUMER: That’s an axiom that seems like it could be applied universally.
JEFF NATHANSON: (laughs) Right. Exactly. Just go with your gut.
CHRIS NEUMER: During your preparation, did you watch any films that were similar to yours, if only to ensure that you didn’t have any characters named Larry Levy or something like that?
JEFF NATHANSON: No. I truly didn’t think that there were going to be any films like this. I know you mentioned that one, but this year I don’t think there will be one that comes out that resembles The Last Shot. So I’m not too worried about that. I did go back and watch the movies that I kind of grew up loving from the late '60s and '70s.
CHRIS NEUMER: Any specifics?
JEFF NATHANSON: All the comedies–the young Woody Allen, the early Robert Altman and Mel Brooks, Harold and Maude and The Graduate. I loved the fact that there are moments in those movies that stay with you throughout your entire life, lines of dialogue that you never forget. To watch those films that have a lot of dialogue, they aren’t like the films made today that are big concepts and fueled by bigger gags. I wanted to make a film that got back dialogue, just two guys talking. My favorite scene in the movie is just the two of them sitting on the plane talking as they fly to Providence. Why did your wife die, is she in the business, why would I marry a whore. I just like two guys sitting and talking. That’s what made me laugh. Stylistically, I tried to get back to those films.
CHRIS NEUMER: During the course of our interview, you’ve talked a lot about what you liked about The Last Shot's story and the characters, etc. Did you find yourself ever having to do a manual override to get you into director perspective as opposed to that of a screenwriter?
JEFF NATHANSON: Absolutely. It’s just the way the brain works. Screenwriting, you’re just locked in a room with your word processor, you can visualize things any way you want. It’s a completely different thing to then say, "Now I’m going to film this." I storyboarded the whole movie, I took the extra time and didn’t leave anything up to chance because I didn’t trust myself. I didn’t know visually what my style was going to be or how I wanted to shoot things. I wanted to keep things real.
CHRIS NEUMER: What do you mean keep it real?
JEFF NATHANSON: I like comedies when they’re straight not when they’re…
CHRIS NEUMER: So no Vaseline lens.
JEFF NATHANSON: Yeah. I knew I wanted to again go back to a certain style from the 70s when it's not all about incredible strange camera angles or the fast editing of today. I was trying to make a comedy that could have been made in 1977. Stylistically that was where I was coming from.
CHRIS NEUMER: Were there any other traits from the current era–I know you mentioned a couple–that you tried to avoid when making this film?
JEFF NATHANSON: I think that it’s not always about how cool the camera can look, how much movement you can get. It really is about the content of the scene, hopefully. It’s about letting things breathe a little more and letting things go on a little more.
CHRIS NEUMER: Substance over style.
JEFF NATHANSON: Exactly. It goes back to being a writer. First and foremost, I wanted to tell the story and not get in the way of that. I didn’t care if people at the end of the movie went, "Omigod! Jeff’s style of direction is unbelievable. We’ve got to get him to do our Pepsi commercial." It wasn’t my interest.
CHRIS NEUMER: I can see that, you seem more like a Mountain Dew man anyway.
JEFF NATHANSON: Well… That was the overall goal, There are modern sensibilities thrown in as well. It certainly isn’t a movie from 1977 and isn’t a dated film, I don’t think. I think my style if I direct more will change and evolve, just like any person.
CHRIS NEUMER: You got me thinking about Todd Solondz with your use of the word ‘if’. He talks about how he hates directing, can’t stand being on set, despises the whole act. It’s just torture for him.
JEFF NATHANSON: He looks a little tortured.
CHRIS NEUMER: I can image even if he were working in a library it would be much the same way, but he applies it to moviemaking and says each new day brings another pain. Are you looking to jump back into directing again sometime soon?
JEFF NATHANSON: I wasn’t tortured at all. First of all, Todd makes films that are incredibly harsh and have moments that are truly painful to look at on screen. This was a comedy and we were laughing every day. I cast a bunch of people who are really funny and who made me laugh all the time. I’d walk on set and there’d be Matthew or there’d be Alec or Tony Shalhoub or Buck Henry or Joan Cusack, so every day there’d be someone else who I’d been watching for years who made me laugh who be doing my stuff. For me it was the opposite of torture. It was pure bliss. It was exciting and I’d love to do it again.
CHRIS NEUMER: Are you actively pursuing it?
JEFF NATHANSON: Yes.
CHRIS NEUMER: Last thing for you, I know Tom McCarthy was the guy in the van, how did that work out?
JEFF NATHANSON: That was weird, I just cast him and one day on set he came up to me and said, "I made this little movie." I asked him what it was called and he said, "The Station Agent, it’s up at Sundance and is going to come out soon." Then all of a sudden, the guy is getting all these awards and is on the cover of magazines. It was great, he’d directed a film, Tim Blake Nelson has directed a movie, Alec directed a movie, Tony Shalboub’s directed a movie, so not only did I have a bunch of people who were really funny, but they understood what I was going through. And that came about by accident. It was great, they all had opinions and gave advice and I welcomed it and loved it. They were terrific. Everybody understood what I was going through and were able to help whenever they could.
CHRIS NEUMER: Did any advice stick out as being pertinent?
JEFF NATHANSON: Um….
CHRIS NEUMER: Stay away from tattooed women?
JEFF NATHANSON: (laughs) I still am calling them for advice. Before I started doing press, I called a couple of them and asked what it was like. Now the movies out, now what? Almost from the beginning to the end, I’d never done a rehearsal before, so I had to call up one of them and say, "Just so you know I’ve never been in a rehearsal before." Wanna give me any idea what’s this going to be like? So that’s just the way it is. If you have people who like the project and want to support it, they’re able to let their egos slide and not get afraid and say, "Here you go, Jeff, we’ll help you out." It was a nice little family.
