Photographer Tommy Flanagan
Max, congratulations on your debut film! Can you start by telling us a bit about
“THINGS LIKE THIS “and what inspired its story?
Thank you so much! It’s been a huge journey. THINGS LIKE THIS was born from dating in New York during my 20s. Living as a young guy plus sized guy in Hell’s Kitchen I had some very strange and funny things happen to me. And I had done a few roles in a few movies and TV shows and everything just had kind of slowed down. My acting teacher at the time, Amelia Campbell, who I owe so much of my career to, said “you should try writing” and it took me awhile and I dug deep and had to have a real leap faith to do it because it’s tough to believe in yourself and to bet on yourself.
And then you’re wondering what should I write?
I decided to write what I knew which was dating in New York City and the fear and overwhelming beauty of falling in love because falling in love is freaking terrifying but it’s the best feeling too so I wanted to really explore what that is what does that mean to be afraid of falling in love while struggling to embrace love because of the anxieties we carry with us and that’s where it was born.
How did you balance these roles, and did you find that one role influenced or
impacted the others in unexpected ways?
Weirdly I felt like with this movie doing multiple things made it easier for me. Like it allowed me to see the whole picture from every angle. And as an actor that was helpful because your character has to grow, and being able to dive into this project through the writing and the directing definitely helped me paint the fullest picture as an actor that I’ve been able to so far. And I think being the actor helped me as the writer and as the director because it helped me find the pacing & allowed me to connect to the cast in a way that made all of our scenes just extremely collaborative and joyful.
It’s a privilege to get to do a job like this where you have a chance to explore so many parts of a project and I hope I’m lucky enough to do it again and again because it’s the best job in the world.
What challenges did you face during the production of THINGS LIKE THIS, and
how did you overcome them?
Getting this movie made was an uphill climb from the moment I wrote the script. We had trouble raising the money to make this independent film. We found it was tough because people really didn’t want to give money to a queer independent picture. Funnily enough, our funding ended up coming all from straight people who just resonated with our story and resonated with what we were trying to do.
When we got on set, we obviously had the normal troubles that an independent film has where you know cast dropped out at the last minute or just things became unavailable like locations, but at the end of the day, we really got lucky because we had an amazing crew, the best cast in the world and we got to make this movie.
Can you describe your approach to character development for your role in the
film?
Joey (Pollari) and I knew that the thing that was going to make this movie work was our chemistry. If you didn’t believe that our characters were meant to fall in love then this whole film falls apart. So a lot of my character work came from doing zooms with Joey at night because I was busy doing preproduction for the film during the day. And also by the way, when you’re the writer of the piece, obviously I’ve been thinking about this character for five or six years so I was ready when it was time to film it. I was ready to play Zack Anthony, and I hope that I did him justice. But at the end of the day, it’s just an actor’s dream to be able to build a character from the ground up and I got to do that here.
What was the most rewarding aspect of working on “THINGS LIKE THIS”, and What do you hope audiences take away from the film?
The most rewarding thing is getting to make a movie and more specifically getting to make this movie. Getting to see this project from beginning to end getting to watch our crew and cast put it together.
I got to tell the story that I wanted to tell and that is the most rewarding thing I can imagine. I hope I get to tell many, many more stories, but I feel lucky to have gotten to tell this one.
I hope what audiences take away is that falling in love is universal and the fear of falling in love is terrifying but it’s also universal and when you let yourself just kind of let go and feel love in every part of yourself that’s the most beautiful thing in the world.
As both a director and actor, how did you ensure that your dual roles did not conflict or compromise each other’s quality?
This answer is pretty simple. I surrounded myself with people I trusted both in front of and behind the camera. I knew that if I hired the right people around me then they would call me out if I ever got in my own or the movie’s way. By doing that I ensured that the process would be smooth.
What was the collaboration process like with your cast and crew?
I always said that my job and that it wasn’t as Director but as team leader. I come from a theater background, and so my view is always that film should be collaborative and that the joy of making art together is that we get to do it together. So every time we were on set every voice that was around me was meant to be heard. I wanted to work with every person on that set. That’s why I hired them. Our actors and our crew they felt that trust in me, and due to that we were just able to create a very smooth and organic process in creating this art.
Were there any standout moments or key contributions that significantly shaped the film?
Every single person who is a member of this cast as member of this crew they all have significant impacts on this film.
But this movie does not happen without the belief of Buzz Koenig without him helping me and working on the script with me for years. This movie just does not happen so I’m just grateful to work with someone who believes in me and believes in this project and I’m just grateful that we’ve been able to work together this whole time. Also Danny Chavarriaga, my best friend and vice president of my production company without his fortitude and his belie this film doesn’t go forward either.
And lastly my family because without them being my rock and you know really being there every time I called them making sure that I was mentally well making sure I knew I was supported. I have the most amazing family in the world and I could not be more grateful
Can you share any specific influences or inspirations that shaped your directorial style or the film's overall aesthetic?
I’m very influenced by classic romantic comedies like most of the Rob Reiner and Nora Ephrom collaborations. And also very inspired by John Hughes and the Brat Pack and the coming of age romantic comedies of the 80’s. Also very inspired by 30 Rock and Tina Fey in general. Her writing was seminal in my growing up as a creative.
It’s funny though if you looked at a list of my favorite films of all time most are action or drama or even horror.
I see it as part of my job to watch content so I watch a new movie normally like 3 or 4 times a week when I’m not on set. It’s a great way to wind down and also be inspired by other artists.
How did you handle feedback and criticism during the filmmaking process? Did any particular piece of advice or critique stand out to you?
As I mentioned I wanted to hire people who would call me out and so having that open door and open ear policy made it fairly simple for people to come to me with feedback.
On our first day of shooting we were about to pack it in for the night and it had been a fairly long day. We were shooting a scene with Joey Pollari and Taylor Trensch and we were getting Joey’s coverage. And I had called that we were wrapped for the night but Joey came up to me and he asked if he could get another take. I trusted him and told him to go for it and what we got was gold. It gave the actors the permission to not only ask for that but the knowledge that we were here to collaborate and I want going to impede on their process as actors.
Looking ahead, how do you see “THINGS LIKE THIS “influencing your future projects?
I think it’s made me very aware that I want to keep writing and directing. I want to work on all different kind of projects and to be clear I want to act and also act in other people’s projects. I’m just saying this didn’t scratch the itch of creating my own content. I’ll have to continue to do that.
Are there any new directions or themes you’re excited to explore in your upcoming work?
Oh you’re just going to have to stay tuned. But let’s just say I’m just getting started in telling the stories I want to tell.