Interview with the Director - Conor Dooley

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background in making films.

I'm Conor. I live in Brooklyn. I have kids and a wife, and they're the best kids and a wife I've ever met anywhere, so I feel lucky. Growing up, I always wanted to make films. I saw Labyrinth in the theater as a little kid and then saw a making-of documentary and it blew my mind. It was the only career I ever considered. I went to NYU to study film, but then ended up being an artillery officer in the Marines and now pay my bills as a creative director in advertising. But making films is still my passion. And I'm so fortunate to be able to continue that pursuit in parallel with these other things.

How did Gold and Mud first come together as a project?

I knew I wanted to do some sort of piece to showcase Ana's talent, not that she needed my help with that. But I was keeping a close eye on my brain to see if any ideas popped up that fit that bill. One night I was falling asleep, and the first scene of the film popped into my head. The peanut dialogue exchange. I wrote it down on my phone because I thought it was funny, but a lot of times things I think are funny at night aren't funny the next morning. But this still was. Anyway, the idea of telling a sprawling story with only little glimpses of moments became part of the whole thing and I wrote it up over a long weekend and sent it to Ana, who is a friend, and she said yes! Then nothing happened for a long time until one of our producers, Lexi Tannenholtz, came aboard and lit a fire and then the ad agency that employs me ended up funding the film as the first project produced under their newly formed Orchard Studios, which was amazing.

So much of the film hinges around the performance of Ana Fabrega, with some very extreme close up shots. Tell us about the experience of directing Ana for the film.

It was a joy, as you might expect! To me, she could carry a silent film. She has a Buster Keaton quality she can tap into. And since I wanted to essentially tell the offscreen story by showing how it reflects on her face, that sort of skill was required. She considers herself more a writer and comedian, I think, so some aspects of this performance and character were sort of a different challenge. But she absolutely nailed it. And she's just great to work with.

Talk us through writing and shooting that final monologue at the end of the film.

I wanted it to feel like the brakes had been slammed on, after all the quick snippets preceding it. And in that shift, sort of create the feeling that these other scenes could potentially be flashes of memories. So, the subject matter became about sifting through memories and feelings for what is and was real, through a cloud of age and dementia and whatever else you want to assign to it, and I wanted the style of language to be more considered and literary than everything else in the film to further emphasize the hard turn. It also lulls you into a certain headspace that allows the final scene to land properly, I think. Poor Ana had to spend a decent amount of time in hair and makeup for that moment, and was wearing huge cataract contact lenses that you can unfortunately barely see, unless you're looking for them. It took us a while to get one of the contact lenses out when we were done. It was probably the most dramatic behind-the-scenes moment on set and it was not actually dramatic at all. We got it out. But for about 30 seconds I felt really bad about making her wear them.

We saw you have a background in commercials as well as short films. Are films like Gold and Mud a creative escape from commercial work, or do you bring an element of that into your short film making as well?

Definitely a creative escape, not that my advertising job isn't creative. But having this outlet for creative catharsis allows me to be much less precious about my advertising work when it gets dramatically changed throughout the process of making an ad. It's very hard to protect an idea in advertising with so many other stakeholders involved. Which isn't a bad thing, necessarily, it's just a fact of the process. So, I need things like Gold and Mud in order to feel like I've made something that really reflects me as a creative person or artist or whatever. It's good for my mental health, which tends to benefit my work and family life. It's an important piece of the life puzzle.

What projects are coming up in the future for you?

I have a couple feature scripts in the works. A couple shows I'd like to pitch. Nothing set in stone yet, but something more robust that a short, is my hope. And as soon as possible!

Any message for our Melbourne fans?

The idea of having Melbourne fans is very flattering! My message is: thank you for being a fan of this film, if you are. It really means a lot when something I've put my heart into is appreciated by anyone who isn't me. I hope to make more things you like. I would hate to let you down. Also, would you mind if I move there? Things are weird in America.