Where did the idea for The Pool come from?

I met this writer T.J Hundtofte though the Internet and he had an idea for a film that was centered on the notion that in life, everyone is either being bullied, is a bully to someone or an observer to someone being bullied. We both realized that at certain stages in our life, we’ve done all three. We wanted to do a very realistic portrayal of that. I think kids can be much more cruel than adults. It was interesting for us to show a very secluded environment where there is no parental supervision. When you grow old, you can determine when something is not moralistically right. I don’t think that really applies to kids. There is a kind of primal element to them. We wanted to show that.

How did you come across the screenwriter on the Internet?

I just finished making the Confession, my last film, and did not really know where to look for another writer. I went on the Internet and I came across this one person in particular, T.J Hundtofte. He won a few major screenwriting competitions in the best short film category. I hustled him a little bit and eventually, I wore him down, I suppose, so he finally agreed to try to work together. He showed me a script for The Pool, but it was quite different than the finished film. It was a lot longer, about 23 pages, and had a lot more stuff happening and it wasn’t as focused. But I really liked the core idea. And the bathroom scene, in particular, which remained practically untouched in the film-- that image of a guy in a mirror almost mutilating himself.

The actors seem very comfortable and natural in front of the camera. How do you achieve that?

The most important thing for me when I work on a film is that everyone has fun on the set. I think you get more from your crew and your cast if you make them enjoy the process. It’s really important to me that everyone feels that its their movie. It’s very important that you take people’s input, especially the actors, because they are the embodiment of each of the roles they are playing. If things aren’t working, I rewrite the script based on the actors’ thoughts. There was one line that Thomas Kelly just could not say properly. It would come out really false and fake. So I asked: “How would you normally say this?” He would say it in a different way and it was more original, so we changed it. When you work with kids in particular, you have to do things differently. I did not want to over-rehearse the film, but I felt it was important that they all felt comfortable with each other and with their characters. I let them hang out for two weeks or so prior to the shoot. We would go into town and get a meal together or go to a cinema. It was important to make them comfortable around each other and establish a comradery to make it appear like they were friends in the film.

There is shift in power happening with characters in the Pool that really adds to the drama.

Yes, there is shift in dynamic between Charlie and Sam, a transfer of power in the last scene of the film. For the first time in his life, Charlie realizes what he’s done and all of a sudden he loses all of his power and becomes very self-aware. He is not a bad person. He is just so oblivious to the damage he causes. He is like a force of nature. His character was based on my experiences growing up. It’s interesting because in the initial stages of working on the script, we always thought that Sam was the main character, but it is actually Charlie because he is the one who learns a lesson. Sam takes charge of his own life from this point forward and he is presented with a choice. Does he want to grow up and get out of the pool or does he want to stay a child forever and become one of those urban myths and legends? There is almost a Peter Pan quality to Sam’s character.

The notion that there is something about or in the water is compelling, isn’t it?

The water works as a medium in the film. It has a mystical quality to it. We wanted the pool to serve as a gateway to the next life. What we tried to do was to make a film that is slightly ambiguous so everyone could take what they wanted from it. But to me, the film is really about a choice the character is presented with: grow up or become an urban legend.

Charlie says: “He is gone” as opposed to “He is dead.” Is there a difference?

Charlie realizes that Sam has transcended somewhere. The story of a pool is very allegorical, actually. Every society has its myths, stories and urban legends that this film can be reminiscent of. Some people even relate it to St. John’s transformation into Heaven. It reminds me of Peter Pan who goes to Neverland because he does not want to grow old. There is a difference. He has not died. He has transcended.

How many short films have you made?

I never went to film school. I am self-taught. I made a few messy shorts with friends of mine that also wanted to be filmmakers. I hit a point in 2007 where I said to myself: I am tired of making these little films, because they are not really going anywhere. I wanted to work with a proper crew. I found some professionals and we shot a short film called Confession and that really opened my eyes to a wider world of short films. It got into 40 major festivals and played in cinemas. Then I made The Pool. And now I just received funding for my next short, which is going to be called The Switch.

What are the qualities that make a good short film?

A short film should be short. One of the things I constantly notice from seeing films at festivals around the world is there are too many shorts that are just too long. You can see a great short film that is 15 minutes, but it’s almost always a few minutes too long or in some case almost twice as long as it should be. That is actually one thing I really loved about Soft, a short film by Simon Ellis. I think it was perfect, not one frame too long in it. If I were to give advice to filmmakers when it comes to a short format, I’d say: be really ruthless with your script and then the edit. Directors like to hold on to things, but you have to be aware that you are making a short film and not a feature. You can’t get away with a five second establishing shot unless there is a very good reason why it’s there. And I would also say: get the best possible actors and crew. If I were the smartest person on the set of my film, I would be concerned. I want to have a great cameramen and a great production designer who know way more than me. So if you can do that, everyone will bring something to the table and you end up with something much better than you started with.