MCN Interview: James Wesby and Melik Malkasian

The Auteur:
Director James Westby and Star Melik Malkasian
by Noah Forrest

I saw Film Geek on a snowy day at a small movie theater around the corner from my apartment called Quad Cinema.

I was with a few friends and we just wanted to see something diverting for seventy-five minutes while the snow pounded down outside. So, we purchased tickets to this tiny film with a micro-budget and we all had a blast.

The film follows Scotty Pelk, the titular character who works as a video store clerk. Scotty doesn’t just watch films, he devours them. While he may prefer the more obscure films, he has a pure joy for simply watching moving images on the screen. While Scotty’s story is played for laughs, there is something poignant about the film for all of us who love to escape into the movies.

After Film Geek, I made a mental note to follow what the filmmakers do next. The director, James Westby, and the star, Melik Malkasian, have teamed up once again for a film called The Auteur which is playing at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. This is another movie about movies, but in this case it follows the “world’s greatest living porn director” named Arturo Domingo.

Here’s what Mr. Westby and Mr. Malkasian have to say:

Noah Forrest: Can you tell us a little bit about how The Auteur came about? Where did the original conceit come from?

James Westby: It started with wanting Melik Malkasian (who has played the lead in every movie I’ve made) to play a suave, slightly anachronistic character who takes himself (and his art) very seriously. Melik is comparable to Peter Sellers; he is terrific with accents and also does an impressive baritone even though his own voice is decidedly not one.

So it always starts with a character for Melik to play, then everything else sort of emanates from that.

NF: Was there any idea that perhaps since you’d already made a film about a love of regular films, maybe the next logical step was to make a film about the love of porn?

JW: Um, this is definitely another movie-geek movie. The idea of a porn director who is a genius on the level of Fellini just seemed really funny. So did the idea of him being an alumnus of USC Film School. As I wrote it, the character of Arturo became equal parts Fellini, Scorsese, and Coppola, with some Kubrick thrown in.

So it had more to do with these directors and their personalities than pornography per se. Although Damiano and Russ Meyer figured in as well.

The ridiculousness inherent in porno movies, crossed with the bombast of many Hollywood films, allowed for some outrageous set-pieces. And lots of nudity. And stupid puns.

The Full Metal Jackoff scene in The Auteur is maybe my proudest moment ever, followed by the Dyke Club sequence.

The Auteur is full of all sorts of dorky, nerdy film stuff; my favorite example is a photo of Arturo and Frank E. Normo on the set of Five Easy Nieces (Arturo’s USC student feature) playing chess, which duplicates a photo of Kubrick and George C. Scott from the Dr. Strangelove set.

Also there is a famous line of John Ford’s (from Peter Bogdonavich’s documentary on the great director) that Arturo barks at a patron during a Q&A.

NF: I was a big fan of Film Geek and I see that it’s become something of a cult film and I always wonder if this is something that a filmmaker aspires to; making a cult film? Did you think when you were making Film Geek, “gee, I really hope this becomes a cult movie?”

JW: We thought the movie would play for friends and family. My producer Byrd McDonald and I had a few screenings here in Portland and people seemed to like it. We took it to the IFP Market in New York, got more good response, and then it premiered at the Sarasota Film Festival, where it won the Independent Visions Award. We were excited because both Gary Busey and Leslie Caron were in the audience! Anyway, after that awards ceremony Seymour Wishman from First Run Features approached us and said he wanted the film. This was strange, not only because we didn’t ever expect to get a distributor, but also because their catalog consisted of mostly political documentaries like The Trials of Henry Kissinger.

Film Geek seems to have quite a life on dvd, though we have not made a dime on the film (not grousing, just saying). The fan emails are sure nice, though, and continue to this day. It is very odd, however, that so many people don’t understand what happens at the very end of the film! Perhaps that is a good thing. I suppose it could have been clearer…

To answer your question, though, cult movie status is sure a nice eventuality; probably a close second to Box Office Domination.

NF: How did you meet the star of Film Geek and The Auteur, Melik Malkasian? And what made you think that he could be such a dashing leading man?

JW: I met Melik 16 years ago, when we were both 20. I was diving into my first (b&w 16mm) feature and put up an ad for actors at Portland State University, where he was a Theater/English major. He answered the ad, read with me, and got the part immediately. The film was called Subculture, and I acted in it with him. He was a really amazing actor and blew me right off the screen. The movie was well-photographed but very poorly conceived. Melik and I became very close friends and played guitars together and bonded over the Beatles and stuff. I never acted again.

The year after Subculture we made another 16mm feature together (this one in color) called Bloody Mary (which was kind of a rip-off of Blood Simple), wherein Melik played a murderous bad-ass in a small Oregon town; that was probably the first sign of how truly chameleon-like (and dashing) he could be. It turned out he could grow a killer moustache.

NF: The Auteur is based on a short film you made prior to Film Geek. How much material that was in the original short made it to the feature film? Did you use the short as a guidebook or was it just an inspiration?

JW: The short was simply a three-minute piece with the character of Arturo sitting in a studio, recording a commentary track for his latest dvd release; we made it in Los Angeles in 2001. The character was conceived at that point as a cross between Ricardo Montalban and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog.

In the short Arturo mentions his “Bobby de Niro,” Frank E. Normo, who became a major character when I wrote the feature (written for John Breen, also of Film Geek). In the short, Frank was just a name.

Cut from the short were mentions of a few Domingo titles that also found their way into the feature: Dyke Club, Gang Bangs of New York, and Requiem for a Wet Dream.

NF: You used to work in a video store; how do you think that helped you in becoming a filmmaker? And how autobiographical is Film Geek?

Working in video stores (which I still did when making The Auteur) definitely helped shape me as a filmmaker because I watched everything. People like Savage Steve Holland and Martha Coolidge kind of ruled my world in high school, before I had access to free unlimited video rentals. At the store(s), I would read the back of the VHS boxes all day and take home probably twenty movies a week. Better off Dead and Valley Girl are great films, by the way.

I really like working in a video store, and I especially miss the feeling of getting there early in the morning to open up for the day.

Film Geek is autobiographical in that I can—and do—go OFF on directors and movies and have something of an encyclopedic, savant-like memory for film minutiae. And it’s true that the recent release of Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole—finally!-- on DVD was a very important occurrence in my life.

BUT unlike Scotty I am married and have two daughters, and have other interests like books and guitars and things.

NF: Film Geek seems to be almost like an indie romantic-comedy version of Breathless in that it seems to be using that run and gun style with your camera. How much of an inspiration is the French New Wave on your work? Also, can you tell us a little bit about the process of setting up a shot using a DV camera?

JW: The inspiration is huge, though Contempt remains my favorite New Wave film, and is one of the least run-and-gun of all of them. However, Breathless, Alphaville and Truffaut’s Shoot the Piano Player and their off-the-cuff-ness bode huge on Film Geek, and I appreciate the mention. I have the Criterions of all three of those, which are fantastic. I am also proud to have the same birthday as Jacques Rivette, whose Julie and Celine Go Boating needs to come to dvd already.

The look of Film Geek was very calculated, in that we were trying to make it look like a PBS documentary from the early `80’s. Or an After-School Special. In other words, it was just out of the box, point and shoot. Shooting that way is a blast, if it fits your movie—you can just keep grabbing shots and cutting them in as you edit. Film Geek’s aesthetic in particular embraced sloppy rack-focuses and pre-slate zooms.

NF: You clearly have an unfettered love for cinema, but will you see absolutely everything for the pure joy of watching the moving image (like Scotty from Film Geek) or do you try to be more discerning about what you spend your time on?

JW: I see a lot less than I used to, and have indeed become more discerning. Also I seem to watch a lot of movies I have seen many times before. The worst part is standing at my dvd shelves trying to decide what to watch. Sometimes an hour will go by and I’ll need to sit down and rest.

TV-on-dvd is a wonderful phenomenon. What I keep putting on lately is The (BBC) Office, both seasons and the Christmas Special. I really love cringe-inducing comedy, and Ricky Gervais gives maybe the best performance I have ever seen. My wife and I bond over that show, much the same way that we did when we first met over This is Spinal Tap.

NF: What’s next on the dock for you? Do you have anything you’re currently working on?

JW: The next project is an adaptation of the 1971 Charles Willeford novel, "The Burnt Orange Heresy." It is a fantastic book, something I have been obsessed with for 15 years. It concerns a sociopathic art critic who is hired to steal a painting from a famous Surrealist. It’s sort of a cerebral film noir; really dark and funny. Byrd McDonald (producer of FG and Auteur) and I have written a script and it is another Malkasian vehicle. With any luck we can get one of the French New Wave Directors to play the old Artist…

Also I have written a script called Douchebag, which is set in 1988 in Bellingham, Washington, and I like to describe it as a comedy version of Eyes Wide Shut.

There are many films in the works. I spend most of my time writing screenplays.

NF: The most important question (especially for someone who made a movie about a cinephile): what are some of your favorite films?

JW: I’m so glad you asked! Well, the afformentioned Contempt, Sunset Blvd, The Sweet Smell of Success, Belle de Jour, Fellini’s Amarcord, the Coens’ Big Lebowski, Scorsese’s Raging Bull and TheAge of Innocence (which in an odd way were two of the biggest influences when we were editing The Auteur), Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers, Altman’s The Long Goodbye and Three Women, Buffalo `66, The Limey, Mr. Hulot’s Holiday, AHard Day’s Night, Le Samourai by Melville. Morvern Callar, Chungking Express, Trash by Paul Morrissey. Caveh Zahedi’s I am a Sex Addict. All of Kubrick and Buster Keaton. Woody Allen. That covers an awful lot of ground...

I’m also very fond of the Ealing Studios films, particularly Kind Hearts and Coronets. Recently I really enjoyed Zodiac, The Darjeeling Limited, and the Duplass Brothers’ Baghead. Ok, I’m done.

And here’s my conversation with the star of Mr. Westby’s films,
Melik Malkasian:

Noah Forrest: So, how did you meet James Westby? And how does it feel to be someone’s muse? Does he treat you better than the other actors on set?

Melik Malkasian: It’s funny. I met James within days of deciding I would never pursue a career as an actor. In the early 90s, I was in University studying theatre and my aim was to be a classically trained Shakespearean actor. So I went to New York and auditioned for a British drama academy where I could do that. Months went by as I waited for news. I was turned down. So I shaved my head, quit all my theatre classes and decided I had no future as an actor. That was a week before I saw James’ hand-written ad on a bulletin board calling on actors for an independent film. For whatever reason, I called. My audition with James (sitting across from him at his kitchen table reading my lines into a tape recorder) was terrible. But he put me in his first feature, Subculture. We became friends and have worked together on films ever since.

I’m happy to be a muse as long as it means great parts in movies.

On the set, James actually spends very little time talking with me about film stuff. Most of our communication has already happened in the months preceding the shoot. He and I have a great short-hand on the set about what he needs from me, so he has time to focus on other things.

NF: Tell us about your character in The Auteur. How does he differ from your role as Scotty in Film Geek?

MM: Arturo Domingo is a proud, passionate iconoclast who burns up everything and everyone in his life in order to create his films.

Scotty from Film Geek is a sad, socially inept twerp that struggles to make sense of life outside of the world of film.

Two very different characters.

NF: How much research went into playing the role of a porn director in The Auteur?

MM: I modeled the character on Italian directors, Federico Fellini and Tinto Brass, among others. Also, I spent time with an Italian women who helped me with my accent and the little Italian I spoke in the film. As for porn, I’ve never watched it in my life (cough!).

NF: Film Geek was the first time I’d seen you act, but you’ve been doing work for a while now. How difficult is it to make it as an actor in this industry? And how important is it to have a champion like James Westby?

MM: Well, without a director and friend like James who continually trusts me with important parts in his features, I would be consigned to random supporting roles in Television, which is exactly what I was doing in L.A. in the 90s. So to answer your question…very.

NF: Film Geek has become something of a cult film. What do you expect the reception to be for The Auteur?

MM: I love that Film Geek is now officially a cult film. That, to me, means so much more than it becoming a smash hit critical and box office phenomenon. Of course, both kinds of success are great. And I hope The Auteur enjoys some of both. I’m really fond of this new film and I am thrilled that it’s getting the attention it is.

NF: Do you find that people expect you to be a lot like Scotty from Film Geek? Are you recognized more since the release of that film?

MM: I do get recognized from Film Geek. But it’s actually rare…so I’m happily anonymous most of the time.

NF: Do you have any interest in acting for filmmakers other than James Westby? If so, who are some directors that you’d like to work with?

MM: Absolutely! I’d love to work with other brilliant, intuitive filmmakers. Top of my list right now would be Paul Thomas Anderson and Wes Anderson.

NF: How involved are you with the process of the film? Since you and Westby have worked together before, does he respond to your input?

MM: I am lucky to have James as a friend and “champion” because he is truly open to any new idea that will add texture or dimension to the characters and story. As a filmmaker, he’s willing to listen and experiment all the way up to the moment we’re about to shoot…all while maintaining his vision for the picture. As an actor, and a collaborator, his openness is a real blessing.

NF: Since you’re the Film Geek, what are some of your favorite movies?

MM: Heavens Above!, Reflections In A Golden Eye, The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter

April 22, 2008

- Noah Forrest