Face to Face with... Danny T

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When Dan Trachtenberg isn’t directing commercials or co-hosting popular internet podcast shows (the Totally Rad Show), he sometimes finds the time to make short films.

His latest is a tense thriller which keeps the viewer guessing until the end. Here, the director, who is represented by Great Guns London for all territories outside the US, tells us about getting engaged, creating a twilight zone on Super Bowl Sunday, and having fun with PSAs.

How did you and Mark Walker come up with the story? Was it inspired by anything in particular?

My writing partner, Mark Walker, and I were very excited about the idea of telling a very gritty cop story with vampires as the criminals. Sort of like The Wire with vampires. 

Where was it shot and how long were you there?

We shot the flick in 1.5 days out in Pomona, a suburb of Los Angeles County. We had mistakenly planned our second day of shooting on Super Bowl Sunday and thus had to be sure and make that a half day so the crew could all make their parties!

Was it always the intention to keep people guessing until the end?

We had come up with that 'gritty cops with vamps' thing originally, and then when linking up with Black Box TV we realized we had to give it a Twilight Zone-esque twist. That was a large part of the fun in the filmmaking, to keep people guessing. Because it is a Twilight Zone style thing - people are gonna be guessing at a twist from the beginning - so we had to give them more than one red herring.  

Can you tell us more about the kid in the cupboard’s character?

The ""kid in the cupboard"" is one of the characters that has bitten off more than he could chew. A vampire who snuck into this family's home at night, started to kill them one by one and before he knew it the sun came out and he got trapped…

The performances are pretty good, what was it like working with the actors?

I loved working with these actors. I like casting 'real' and these actors were all interested in not only the 'truth' of the situation, but the 'reality' as well. The actors all had to play the reality of their situation that the audience only realises post-twist. In comedy terms it would be called ""playing it straight"" and it’s the filmmaking that makes the viewer think something else is going on. I'm thinking of the HENRY character in particular.

Would you ever consider making it into a feature?

Since the film has come out I now have a team of agents/manager and have already started talking to some very cool production companies about making this into a feature, so we'll see… I'd really love to. What you don't see in the short is our very fresh take on what a vampire could be so I’d love the opportunity to expand upon that.

Would you like to do more films in this genre and what sort of film do you like as a viewer?

I'd love to do more films like this (suspense/thrillers). I've always loved the idea of making genre movies that are ABOUT something. Making something that is both popcorn and profound. Examples of this go from Jaws to No Country for Old Men. I love those kinds of flicks. The same applies to the way I approach commercials. I always try to get to the heart of the subject as I feel it makes the sales message more potent.

Tell us about a situation when you’ve ‘bitten off more than you can chew’ in your career or just everyday life?

I'm directing commercials (just got back from doing a PSA campaign in Ohio), I’ve recently signed to Great Guns in all territories outside the US, am doing loads of meetings about developing features, hosting the Totally Rad Show every week on Revision 3 (which entails quite a lot of watching movies, playing games and reading comics), and I’m also currently planning my wedding! So I certainly feel like I've 'bitten off more than I can chew' right about now... Actually, scratch that, there’s always more room on my plate. I’m loving it!

Will you be in Cannes this yearand what do you think is going to be the big winner?

I sadly won’t be able to make it to Cannes this year (prior commitments for that week) but I will be doing a talk with some of the Great Guns crew in Berlin in July and will be over to the UK to hang with the GG guys after that.

I wouldn’t even want to hazard a guess as to what the big winner would be this year. There’s so much interesting work being done globally, with more and more coming from emerging markets like Shanghai and Singapore these days. I’m increasingly interested in interactivity and cross-platform work, as I feel we, as an advertising community, have barely scratched the surface there yet.

And how’s TRS going?

We still put out the Totally Rad Show five days a week and it's an absolute blast.  I really love communicating, you know, that’s the big thing, so whether its telling a story visually or discussing those that have been told, that's what I love.

What have you seen/read/watched recently that would be relevant to shots' readers?

Well Portal 2 is not only one of the most FUN games to play, but also one of the greatest stories told in that medium - not just the story itself - but how it is told. Just brilliant.

Is there anything else you’ve got lined up to tell us about?

I'm very much looking forward to these PSA's we just shot for the Ohio Food Bank when they come out. I hope they will get the message across in a meaningful way.  And look for another short film from me to come out very soon – it's FX laden and badass and something videogame geeks like me will have a thrill with I'm sure.