Dylan Greenberg is a very busy teenager. While most high school students are cramming for midterms or worrying about relationships, Dylan is busy booking a theater and appearing on Sirus XM to plug her new movie. WAKERS, premiering Janurary 17th at Anthology Film Archives in New York City, was shot over the last few months on a nearly non existent budget. The high school senior acted as cinematographer, editor, casting director, special effects technician, composer and even caterer on the 2 hour feature film featuring Matt Katz-Bohen of Blondie as well as an eccentric cast of offbeat teenagers.
An Interview with the Director:
What is your movie about?
Greenberg: Wakers is about a little girl who asks her father to read a book to her. Upon opening the book, he tells a tale of a rebellious teenager named Blessing who is introduced to an enticing new substance. Upon inhalation of the substance, she experiences beautiful hallucinations. However, the hallucinations soon turn deadly when her friends begin getting murdered. She realizes a living being, a party-drug Freddy Krueger if you will, is murdering her friends in the hallucinations, and it is up to her to stop it. Along the way, she encounters a possessed psychic who shoots lasers, a demon wheelchair, and a sexual encounter that turns out to be more of a supernatural one. Some bedtime story!
What would you say the most difficult part of making a movie is, especially at such a young age?
Greenberg: I think the most difficult part is getting people to show up. This movie had absolutely no money behind it. It was me and a camera. So, whether or not the actors would show up was out of the kindness of their own heart, or their desire to be in a movie. With a 35 person cast, that was really tricky. Luckily, I was working with some really great actors and actresses and most of them pulled through.
Now, you're not just the director here. How do you manage to do so much on the set at the same time?
Greenberg: That's always how it's been for me since Day 1. When it comes to movies, I'm good at a lot. I have my own vision and sometimes its easier to do everything by myself. What many people don't realize is that I'm also a musician, I've actually just released an album last month, so the way i think about films is very musical. I compose some of the music for the film and sometimes I adjust the way the film looks to the soundtrack as opposed to the other way around. However, I think my favorite part of the whole process was doing the special effects. There's a lot of old school stuff you wouldn't see in Hollywood movies these days. I use a lot of stop motion. I planted pyrotechnics in miniatures and blew them up to give the appearance of things exploding. I poured tons of fake blood on my actors, which I made myself out of blueberry juice and corn syrup. It's a lot of fun, actually.
What was it like directing bigger actors alongside your teenage friends?
Greenberg: It's funny because some of my teenage friends have actually been in some pretty big stuff. My friend Azul Zorilla was in Stand Clear of the Closing Doors, which is this great indie movie. But I also really appreciated how accepting the bigger actors were, especially adults who didn't know much about my work. I worked with Matt Katz-Bohen of Blondie, Lloyd Kaufman who directed The Toxic Avenger, Robert Prichard from Class of Nuke Em High, Steve Grillo from The Howard Stern Show, and Reverend Jen who had this wonderful wacky show Electra Elf and last year she wrote her own movie Satan Hold My Hand with Janeane Garafalo. They all did everything they were asked to, no matter how crazy or silly it was. They all understood filmmaking and they understood art. It was cool to see my friends acting right alongside people who really have had first hand experience acting in bigger productions, or in Matt Katz-Bohen's case, touring and appearing in music videos as a keyboardist for an internationally acclaimed band. Everyone had a real warmth to them and I'm so grateful they were generous enough to work with me.
What do you have to say to other young filmmakers out there?
Greenberg: GO FOR IT!! Anyone can make a movie. Take out your phone and start filming something fascinating. You don't need fancy stuff, or thousands of dollars. In our culture, I feel that we reinforce the idea that you can't make a good movie without money. You don't need money to make a movie, you just need your imagination!!!
An Interview with Blessing C.S:
How would you describe the experience of acting in a feature film at such a young age?
Blessing: For me, it's a pretty cool experience. it's also scary bc of the exposure. acting has never been my thing.
What is the most difficult part of acting in a movie as notoriously crazy as Wakers?
Blessing: Acting, definitely. the improv gives you a little more breathing room, but it's always been difficult for me. I fuck up.
Who are your cult film inspirations?
Blessing: John Waters and Wes Anderson.
Wakers premiers Janurary 17th, 9:00 PM at Anthology Film Archives in New York City at 32 Second Avenue and 2nd Street. The trailer can be viewed below:
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