Troy
Troy has loud sex. Troy has loud sex 24/7. Troy shares a wall with Thea and Charlie. Troy is ruining their lives… Or is he saving them?
Interview with Director Mike Donahue
Congratulations! Why did you make your film?
As a director, I’ve always been interested in looking at how people navigate loneliness, restlessness, and the competing needs for stability and comforting routine vs. chaos and stimulation. In large cities, we live pressed up close against our neighbors, and our lives - in both their daily routines and their moments of piercing pleasure or grief - often become intertwined with those of our neighbors in unexpected, unnamable ways.
Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?
If you want to laugh, and you like stories with heart, joy and surprise. Also, our cast is incredible and I'm partial, but: their performances are great ;)
How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?
We came up with the idea / wrote the first draft before the pandemic -- but the pandemic has definitely heightened our sense of isolation -- and I know for myself, walking my dog every day and seeing the other masked pup parents out and about -- for several months, those were the only other people I really saw on a daily basis. I definitely started to create entire lives and stories for them in my head, and those total strangers became a monumentally important part of my daily life.
The opening montage -- we only used about a third of the material we shot. We had so many fun ideas for snap shots and juxtapositions there, but it wasn't until we were in the editing room that we started to find the narrative structure of the opening.
What type of feedback have you received so far?
People usually talk about the humor first -- that the film actually made them laugh out loud multiple times. A lot of folks single out the tone, which I love -- how grounded the performances are, that the escalations into increasing absurdity feel genuine and real, not played for laughs. I hear a lot about the sense of ally-ship and empathy in the film, that Troy is never reduced to caricature and how touching Thea & Charlie's connection to him is. And people often talk about the pacing -- how quickly the narrative moves, how quick the cuts are / how tight the snippets of scenes are. (Coming from the theatre, the ability to pace/structure a story-in-time like that was one of the things I was most excited about playing with, and that definitely guided our approach to structuring the script).
Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?
I'm always thrilled when people notice and talk about tone, tone is one of the major considerations that drives my work. And I'm hugely relieved that people do actually laugh! I'd seen the film projected in a small theatre when we worked with our incredible colorist Sam Daley, but I missed our premiere at Tribeca -- the first time I actually saw the film screen with an audience was at Outfest, when we played to a packed house at The Ford (which seats ~1200 people!!). It was terrifying and thrilling hearing that full house vocally respond. In theatre, I get to spend weeks watching the show with an audience to be able to fine tune laughs and audience response -- but we never did test screenings of course, so I had no idea what would actually happen! I was also surprised (in a great way), that folks there didn't just laugh -- but audibly connected to the heart of the movie -- there were a lot of full house awww's and sighs.
What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?
I'd love to keep reaching new audiences. I love creating work that is joyous, and I love making people laugh -- I just hope people enjoy what we made, and for the 16 minutes they're with us, that they just get to have fun.
Also, we made this story with these actors in mind, they are all incredibly talented folks I've been blessed to work with in the theatre -- I'm so proud of all of their performances, and I want everyone to see them!
Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?
Journalists -- we haven't had much written about the film; festival directors -- we're about six months into our festival journey, but it's been incredible getting to see the film screen all over the world and I'd love to keep going; buyers/distributors.
What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?
I hope it touches people, brings them joy, surprises them a little bit, and makes them genuinely laugh out loud.
What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?
This isn't a question so much but -- every time I talk to folks who have watched the film, they inevitably share their own neighbor noise stories. People have shared some CRAZY wonderful delicious things! It does seem to be a near-universal experience, and it's wild what people do when they think no one is listening.
Would you like to add anything else?
Thank you for reading!
What other projects are the key creatives developing or working on now?
Jen Silverman and I are working on our first feature together, with Pacific Electric producing. It's not a feature of Troy, but Troy is definitely a thematic and tonal comp for the short.
Interview: December 2022
We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series, music video, women's films, LGBTQIA+, POC, First Nations, scifi, supernatural, horror, world cinema. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela
Troy
Troy has loud sex. Troy has loud sex 24/7. Troy shares a wall with Thea and Charlie. Troy is ruining their lives… Or is he saving them?
Length: 16:07
Director: Mike Donahue
Producer: Evan Jonigkeit
Writer: Jen Silverman
About the writer, director and producer:
MIKE DONAHUE is a New York City-based theater director. Troy, his first short, premiered this past year at Tribeca, and has gone on to play at around 30 other festivals so far, including Sundance Film Festival (upcoming) and Outfest (Audience Award Best Narrative Short). Select theatrical work: the LA premiere of Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance (Geffen Playhouse); the world premieres of Matthew Lopez’s The Legend of Georgia McBride (Denver Center/MCC/Geffen) and Jen Silverman’s Collective Rage (Woolly Mammoth/MCC); and Little Shop of Horrors with MJ Rodriguez, George Salazar, and Amber Riley (Pasadena Playhouse).
JEN SILVERMAN is a screenwriter, playwright, and novelist. Honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts in prose and the Guggenheim in drama. Jen also writes for TV.
EVAN JONIGKEIT is an Emmy nominated producer who is primarily known for his work in front of the camera, as an actor. He has produced on an array of projects from awards shows, short & feature narrative films, documentaries, fund raisers, theatre and branded content.
Key cast: Adina Verson (Thea), Michael Braun (Charlie), Florian Klein (Troy), Dylan Baker (Strange Man), Dana Delany (Dee), Pooya Mohseni (Jo), Max Jenkins (Nico), Phillip James Brannon (Leo), Samantha Sherman (Sam), Kristin Villanueva (Lou), Billy Carter (Billy)
Looking for: journalists, film festival directors, producers, buyers
Instagram: @mike.m.donahue
Website: www.mikemdonahue.com
Funders: Self-funded
Where can I watch it next and in the coming month?
Sundance Film Festival (Part City, Utah + Online, Jan 19-29, 2022)
Flickerfest Short Film Festival (Bondi Beach, Sydney, Jan 20-29th, 2022)