A comedy adventure about a resourceful caveman that conceives one of the most overlooked creations in human history: the stairs.

Interview with Director/Producer Kyle Romanek

Watch Arg Stairs on Prime Video

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

I was approached for the concept of this story by a good friend of mine from film school. We produced a shoe-string budget feature together six months after graduating and we knew we wanted to do something with a little more ambition. The screenplay was not written for low-budget but because of the area I was working and the day job I had as a documentary nature cinematographer I felt like we were in a great position to shoot with our own finances.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

What I think is unique about our film is that it’s an incredibly unusual premise with a familiar execution. When we tell everyone the concept most people imagine either a YouTube sketch or off the wall experimental movie. I think most people will be completely immersed within ten minutes and find it has a more conventional structure than you might expect.

How do personal and universal themes work in your film?

One of the prominent themes of the film is about taking things for granted. Our main character takes what he has for granted and we wanted to reflect that feeling in our audience by showing them how easy it is to take common place inventions for granted. Most people we’ve spoken with did not even think of Stairs as an “invention” until we told them the premise.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development?

Most of the development has been in knowing what to cut. The original screenplay was over 120 pages. There were a lot of scenes that dragged and jokes that were taken too far. The screenplay was tightened up considerably and through editing the film even more was cut. Sequences and jokes that we liked were still removed because they distracted from the larger story.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Most of our feedback has been about certain character dynamics. One of the pros of editing while shooting over the course of a year is you have more wiggle room to make changes if needed. A lot of them have been small adjusts in the way a scene was covered or an extra shot to clarify a characters intention. It’s amazing to see what a huge difference a few frames can make.

Has the feedback surprised or challenged your point of view?

We weren’t expecting the feedback that we received in regards to the character perspective but after having a discussion it made a lot of sense and we got to work planning changes.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

We would like to find an audience that’s willing to give a movie with such an unusual premise a chance. We firmly believe that the story does work in a more conventional manner than most people would expect and there’s significantly more heart than the silly nature would suggest.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

We really just need vocal fans and reviewers to get the message out there. We understand that people are hesitant about spending their money and time on a film, especially when the cast and crew behind it is full of unknowns, but if there were trusted voices assuring them it’s deeper than they’d expect then they might be more willing to give it a chance.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

I think one of the more dramatic points of the film is about not taking things or people for granted. We hope that viewers will genuinely leave seeing things a little differently. It’s too easy to assume that if something is there, it always will be.

What’s a key question that will help spark a debate or begin a conversation about this film?

One of the primary internal debates in the film is about the nature of work and reward. How much responsibility does someone have to ensure that a product their benefiting from is the highest quality possible?

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I just finished Directing a TV pilot with WMZ entertainment called F.A.M. It was written by one of the leads of this movie and my producing partner came on board as well. We’re still in post on it, but we’re very eager to find a home for this TV show.

Interview: July 2017

_________________________________________________________________________________

We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. 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

_________________________________________________________________________________

Arg Stairs

100 Minutes

Directed By: Kyle Romanek (Kyle graduated from Full Sail University and won an Emmy award for cinematography for his work on OWN’s Super Soul Sunday.)

Written By: Sean Morse-Barry (Sean graduated from Full Sail University, and was a staff writer on the Second City produced variety show “After Dark with Julian Clark”.

Produced By: Kyle Romanek and Sean Morse-Barry

Currently Seeking Reviews:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/argstairs/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/arg_stairs

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/argstairs/?hl=en Self Funded

We will be premiering at the end of this month, on Friday July 28th at the Tampa Bay Comic-Con Film Festival. The screening is from 8:30PM to 10:30PM.

The movie will be available in mid August on iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Streaming and Vimeo On Demand. An exact release date is still pending.