Director Anyrin Talks 63lbs

Director Anyrin recently completed a short film, 63lbs, based on a short story titled The Disneyland Man which was written by Gustav Hasford, the writer behind Stanley Kubrick's Vietnam film Full Metal Jacket.

Set in a parallel world, the narrative is also inspired by The Population Bomb, a book written by Professor Paul Ehrlich in 1968 about the problem of the planet's over-population. Starring Michael Madsen [who also gives his thoughts on the film here] and Sean Brosnan the film is a stark and menacing look at one possible future and the practices needed to survive.

Below Anyrin talks about the film's inception and the difficulties in bringing short films to life.

Tell us a bit about how 63lbs came about and how you stumbled upon the story.

The late writer Gustav Hasford was a great influence on me as a filmmaker, ever since my first reading of The Short-Timers (1979), which went on to be Stanley Kubrick's Full Metal Jacket (1987). I’ve been working on Gustav’s disturbing short story titled The Disneyland Man for a good few year or so, it was this story that hooked me and what I based the 63lbs screenplay on.

Why did it resonate with you?

Because of its potent connection to the global famine and population crisis and personal conflict in the character arc of the films main character, Mr Johnson. 63lbs is a fictional story, set in a parallel world of present day and the narrative stems from the film’s opening quote referencing The Population Bomb written by Professor Paul R. Ehrlich in 1968.

It’s other main protagonist is an innocent and disabled young girl whose delicate yet inquisitive characteristics provoke our deepest fears. It was the connection of their characters that resonated with me. Establishing an atmosphere of menacing undertones and isolation, through which our actors' character arcs would evolve, were my main challenges.

How difficult was it to put the project together?

Real difficult. I knew who I wanted, both cast and creative wise, where I wanted to shoot and how it was to look, so the real challenge was purely timing and preparation. 63lbs was in development for two years; story rights, cast availability, securing the finance and of course, designing the film, ate up time.

How quickly did Michael Madsen come on board and what attracted him to the film?

Once my pitch was cooked... quick! Initially connected through my friend, actor Sean Brosnan, Michael kindly agreed to fully support and participate in 63lbs because of his interest in the narrative and of course his character Mr Johnson. He was the only actor I wanted for this role from the films inception.

And what was the process of finding the rest of the cast?

Once Michael was aboard, Robert Miano followed. Casting my lead girl was the toughest and most time-consuming. We screen tested around 80 actresses for the role of Windy. It’s a fragile role and needed to be treated with delicacy. California provides a tonne of interesting actors and actresses, yet that rare diamond can only be found if one believes in their performance.

Finally, this timid yet inquisitive 10 year old actress called Samantha, performed a reading that completely tuned into the role of Windy. We knew immediately she was perfect.

Where did you shoot the film and was the location a key aspect to the film’s tone and feel?

Completely! As a fine artist, creating an atmosphere is really important for me and a key factor in the universe of 63lbs, was establishing it’s Malthusian tone. Shooting commenced back in March, in and around a forgotten 18th century gold mining ghost town, buried in the heart of Kern County (Mojave), called Randsburg (CA), population 60.

What was the hardest thing about putting the project together?

Not one thing in particular I have to say. Once the 63lbs producer, Mal Crease, secured funding (which was not an easy task in today's climate) preparation, scouting and post production hover in the forefront of my answer to this. But personally, spending three long days prior to the shoot, alone, on location, dressing and prepping my set, was tough yet utterly thrilling.

The post production for 63lbs took months of hard labour and with the love and support from the cream of post production in Soho 63lbs came to life. My dear friend Johnny Burn at Wave agreed for Alex Nicholls Lee to design my sound; De Lane Lea kindly completed my 5.1 and MPC transcoded my footage, ready for Avid. Now we had no budget for this, but what we did have was time.

My editor Frederic “BOD” Baudet is based in Paris, so I was back and forth until he and I agreed a locked off-line. Mark “DOG” Sayfritz wrote a unique score that took the duration of the film’s VFX period. Yet my biggest concern were the VFX for 63lbs. My vision for its VFX were very particular and menacing.

In jumped by my long term collaborator and flame artist, the brilliantly talented Danny Morris, who came aboard as the film’s VFX director. He completed all the Flame work out of The Mill, both here in London and NY. Upon his departure back to NY, this high level of VFX was completed by Giles at the Electric Theatre Collective.

Originally the film was titled The Disneyland Man, why did you change it to 63lbs?

Two reasons, firstly, in a society where the currency is stated as ‘food tokens for flesh per pound’ and our protagonist weighs 63lbs, this title is definitive of its story and relevant to the film’s point.

Secondly, Disney legal does not allow the use of their name on anything media related, unless it is of Disney creation. Although the original name of the short story is titled The Disneyland Man, it was in fact unpublished.

The film leaves the viewer with a lot of questions about the people and the society it depicts; was that purposeful and do you plan to make this into a feature?

Yes, it was. Intrigue is key as can be seen in the teaser [above]. The power of suggestion was more gripping and achievable, I felt, for a narrative this deep, especially considering a film’s running time. Michael and myself are now developing 63lbs into a full length narrative, where those questions will be explored, expanded and answered.

You moved from directing commercials into features and short films; length aside, what are the main differences in working in those mediums and would you like to get back into commercials?

Film making for me became more narrative as opposed to visual, so between my dedication to writing and designing original narrative, both fiction and non-fiction, long form narrative allows me to explore and expand as a filmmaker. I love the creative discipline of directing commercials and the collaborative interactions from which they are created, so yeah! Always interested. 

Where can people see the full length film and what are your hopes for it?

[It can be seen at the] cinema, festivals and [I'm hoping for] a memorable connection with its audience.

What are you working on next?

Outside of the 63lbs film, two projects, both based on true human stories that have been close to my heart for many years.

Lakota Man, a commissioned feature/documentary goes into production in 2014 on the Pine Ridge Oglala/Lakota Sioux American Indian reservation in South Dakota USA. A year or so back, I shot a branded content Lee Jeans film with American Indian activist/actor and close friend Russell Means.

Sadly, he passed onto the spirit world, as the Lakota people say. So, this film will be working closely with Russell’s wife and the Lakota people on the ‘res’. The film will be seen and told through the eyes of an American Indian Lakota youth living on the ‘res’, this film will emotionally capture the influence that Russell’s life has had on them, their families and the American Indian person of present day.

Then there's Outsider, a voyeuristic gypsy love story I have written in collaboration with Irish gypsy traveller and bare-knuckle fighter, Paddy Doherty. Filmed on Paddy’s site outside of Wales using an entire Irish traveller community as my cast and integrating them with actors.