shots Unsigned: Dario & Dom

Directing duo Dario & Dom along with the help of Compulsory have put together a humorous and riveting short film Talking Heads starring musician and actor Jordan Stephens. 

Talking Heads deals with a man called Jay facing a sexual dilemma in the bathroom, that plays with classic dick joke's with a unique take... a talking penis called... Dick. We couldn't quite believe our eyes when watching this one, and obviously had some questions to ask...

Can you tell us a little about your backgrounds and your route into directing? 

Our parents are working class immigrants, Italy and Poland respectively and between them ran a barber shop and a cafe in a park… so as you can imagine, we had no connection to filmmaking. In fact we think they laughed when we said we wanted to make films (they are very supportive these days thanks mum and dad!). 

So there was a lot of feeling in the dark, and lots of mistakes to figure out not only how to direct but how to enter the industry itself. When we were coming up, there wasn’t nearly as much information and resources for getting into film as there are now, it was always by some luck a friend of a friend of our parents who knew someone who was kind enough to meet us and give us some tips and hints. From then it was a day on set here, work experience in a production office there, in fact, Tantrum was the first place that gave us both a job. It’s there we really learnt a lot about how the ad world worked.

every short film we shot was littered with mistakes which helped us figure out how to improve on our next one.

Did you both study filmmaking? How did you learn your craft?

Financially film school was not an option for us, instead we went through the acting route. Full disclosure, we’re pretty naff actors, but it was a means to an end - we figured out that instead of running on set, acting would actually get us closer to the Director and DP and just absorbed their process, picking up as much as we could. 

We were really fortunate to meet some lovely film school grads who let us borrow kit for us to shoot our own stuff. So our craft was really on the job training, every short film we shot was littered with mistakes which helped us figure out how to improve on our next one.

How long have you been working together, how did that start?

We met in secondary school and lived around the corner from each other, so we would walk to school together or hang out at each other's houses, rent a movie or go to the cinema. Soon enough we were just mucking around shooting sketches on our webcams before upgrading to home video camcorder, it was all pretty rough, with no real purpose, but it was all very formative. From then it just naturally developed into a working relationship. 

Individually we have incredibly diverse tastes, but one thing we always found pretty in tune with was our approach to filmmaking, we just have this organic synchronicity to storytelling, structure and execution. We’re fortunate, as we're sure most co-directors will say, that you challenge each other's suggestions, not as competition, but in the spirit of finding the best possible version of the idea. It’s really nice sharing those successes (and sometimes failures) with someone else. 

we were fascinated by the awkward side of sex, particularly when men’s emotions are involved. 

What was the idea behind the film Talking Heads?

The film came about really out of necessity. We'd been going through a creative dry spell, trying to figure out the kind of stories we wanted to tell that would really capture our personality and style. Our usual spitballing sessions weren’t working either, so we went for a walk to clear our heads, and in typical fashion that’s when the idea struck us. 

We were moping about personal failures when the conversation reached an awkward point, what do men fail at a lot, but don’t talk about. Sex, obviously. It was uncomfortable, but we were intrigued. When it came to sex on screen, we’d been fed images of male sexual prowess: it’s all about skill and endurance that serve our ego. But we were fascinated by the awkward side of sex, particularly when men’s emotions are involved. We knew we had to do things differently, be brutally honest, personal and unique. That’s when we knew we were going to make Talking Heads.

ABOVE: The cast and crew of Talking Heads.

What was it like working with Jordan Stephens? How do you convince someone to act alongside a... penis?

We have casting director Jemima McWilliams to thank for locking Stephens down. It was definitely a challenge casting an actor who was willing to, pardon the pun, expose themselves on screen both literally and figuratively. Stephens stood out for a few reasons to us, firstly, he’s involved heavily with male mental health initiatives, he was drawn to how the script explored those themes without coming right out and saying them. 

He admitted the idea was both fascinating and scary at the same time, if we didn’t stick the landing, the idea could come off in poor taste. So having him question the character motives and dialogue was a great help that let us fine tune the script up until the shoot. He also found a way to make the voice performance of Dick feel like the rational extension of his character Jay and not just two opposing characters with vastly different voices. We had a lot of people question our decision, but we stuck to our guns and ultimately we feel like it paid off. 

We had a lot of people question our decision, but we stuck to our guns and ultimately we feel like it paid off. 

Dare I ask, how did you make the penis come to life? 

That would be the absolutely incredible work of Gustav Hoegen and his entire team at Biomimic Studios. We always knew we wanted to go the animatronic route, we wanted something that felt real, tactile, even a little icky but above all, human. We also knew that, with the right puppeteering, the penis could be its own character. 

Hoegen is really in demand, working on the likes of Star Wars and Marvel movies, but he was looking for a challenge, and coupled with our shared love of Paul Verhoeven and the visceral quality of 80s and 90s film prosthetics he was down for the task. Landing him was a huge win. 

ABOVE: Behind the scenes on Talking Heads.

What were the biggest issues you faced in pulling this project together?  

Well, for one, money.  We weren’t surprised that no funding body was keen to give us money about a guy and his talking penis! So we just hustled, taking our fee from each directing job and putting it right into the budget. That usually meant working double to pay bills and you know, live life. It’s not an approach we’d personally recommend anyone else doing, but it was our only real option at the time. 

The other issue was actually finding people who believed in us. Talking Heads was our calling card to showcase the kinds of stories we want to tell, executed the way we wanted. That meant fighting for our vision, and we had plenty of talks with producers, colleagues and creatives who all questioned a talking penis film. So it was a lot of sleepless nights about what if the vision was wrong. But once we started locking in a team that believed in and were as excited about the project, we felt even more confident in our vision. We genuinely couldn’t have done it without them. 

That meant fighting for our vision, and we had plenty of talks with producers, colleagues and creatives who all questioned a talking penis film.

How long was the shoot and what was the most challenging aspect of the project?

Initially we anticipated the penis puppet would be the biggest challenge, but once we saw it in action and how perfectly synced the movements were to the dialogue, we knew our audience would buy it. 

The biggest challenge was actually time. We had a set-build day, but only two day shoot, and really needed another, but it just wasn’t a viable financial option. We’re pretty meticulous with shot lists, but when you’re midway through a scene, and the clock is ticking, you need to be prepared to get creative with shot choices, dropping some and fighting for others. It’s ultimately about finding a balance between story cohesiveness and retaining our voice. It’s tough for sure, but it definitely makes you more adaptive as a filmmaker in the long run.