How long have you been doing movies? How did you decide to start making movies?

I’ve been making movies for 16 years. I started making movies following on from many years of being a movie-lover. Even as a child, I collected many VHS tapes, then later on DVDs, then Blu-Rays, etc.. Eventually it occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, I could be a filmmaker. As the widespread digitisation of the industry was only just happening at that time, and I lived on a secluded military base in the middle of a forest in Germany, this seemed like a highly unlikely path. It was a path I pursued with great enthusiasm nonetheless.

 

Why did you do this project?

The concept for this story was arrived at during one of the COVID-19 lockdowns, during which I was staying at a home on the rugged Yorkshire landscape in the UK. My producing partner and Director of Photography, Joas Burggraaf, suggested I write something for us to shoot with that landscape as a setting. At the same time, my co-writer Lawant and I had decided to write a muscular and genre-twisting story. So these two strands came together concurrently, wrapping around my initial concept of an espionage story against a rural backdrop, to yield this production.

 

(If you can say). How much budget did you have to do this project?

This movie cost roughly 70K.

 

Was it self-funded or did you get budget/producers/investors?

Our studio partially self-funded it, with additional investors and external budget provision via key partners and screen funds.

 

How long did it take from the initial idea to being able to release?

We’re on the festival circuit now, and have been since roughly November 2022. If we take that point as the beginning of our ‘release’, it took 20 months from idea to release. We treated it like a major feature-length movie, without cutting corners, making it as big as we could and wanted. Which was fun!

 

Are you happy with the result?

Yes, very. Some productions require so much compromise that you feel you’re far away from what you set out to achieve by the time you complete the movie. Möbius’ Trip feels very, very close to what set out to achieve — and that is a wonderful feeling!

 

What phase is this project in right now? Are you in the initial phase of sending it to festivals, middle phase or finishing the circuit?

I would say that we’re in the initial phase of the festival circuit, as most of the festivals to which we’ve submitted are taking place in the latter half of 2023.

 

How has your experience been with the festivals so far? Where do you think they should improve?

Speaking for this movie in specific, it’s clear to us that some festival selection people/committees don’t want the whole movie. I understand why; they have so much to get through. I do feel, however, that you then don’t do the work of the filmmakers the justice of a proper ‘selection’. If it’s a problem to watch lots of movies, maybe you’re in the wrong business [laughs]. In our case, it’s imperative to watch all the way to the end to get the full experience, the journey of the the characters and the construction of the narrative itself. Anything less will deliver a significantly reduced experience. I’m sure this is the case for many other movies as well - we’re not that special, as much as I want to believe we are.

For festivals in general, there’s quite a wide range of interactions. Some festivals are quite passive, some are clearly motivated only by fees and money, and others are incredibly engaging, proactive and deliver a whopping experience for the filmmakers and the movie viewers alike. I think festivals in general can improve by actually notifying on the date that they say they will notify. Some take longer to inform, and that can be trying.

 

Normally, filmmakers use many references, favorite directors, favorite movies, etc. Were you inspired by any director or film? If so, tell us your references.

The references that Director of Photography Joas Burggraaf and I use are really between us. In general, however, I can say that I am hugely inspired by Ben Affleck, Philip Barantini, Kathryn Bigelow, Rian Johnson, Sam Mendes, Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro, Sally Wainwright, Edgar Wright and I firmly believe we can all bow to the mastery of Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould.

 

Your favorite movie?

I don’t have a single favourite. My top 5, in alphabetical order, are: Brick (2005, dir. Johnson), Goodfellas(1990, dir. Scorsese), A Single Man (2009, dir. Ford), There Will Be Blood (2007, dir. Anderson) and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (2005, dir. Jones).

Favorite series?

There are so many amazing series out there now. I’m of course a huge fan of both Breaking Bad (2008-2013, cr. Gilligan) and Better Call Saul (2015-2022, cr. Gilligan & Gould), in addition to Battlestar Galactica(2004-2009, cr. Larson & Moore), Happy Valley (2014-2023, cr. Wainwright) and many more.
And of course Family Guy (1999-, cr. MacFarlane & Zuckerman).

 

Do you see yourself making movies in 5 years? Where do you see yourself?
Absolutely, yes. If all goes well, I am still working at the studio that hired me when I was at my lowest point professionally and reignited my fire (Monkeyshoot Studios), writing, directing and producing both my own projects and supporting other filmmakers with theirs. Always with an emphasis on Story First.

 

Do you have any other project in mind?

We have our first major feature, a military drama, to shoot and post-produce this year, with another feature - a drama in the world of classical music - planned for after that. We are deep in planning to make a feature adaptation of Möbius’ Trip and we have four other productions now in consideration with a streaming provider - so we hope that one of those may go through as well. We also have some series in development, and I’m excited to explore that space.

 

What do you ask of 2023 cinematographically speaking?

I’m not the best judge of cinematography on our team. In terms of cinema this year, I’m excited for Dune: Part Two (dir. Villeneueve), Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (dir. Gunn), Oppenheimer (dir. Nolan), and Spider-Man Across the Spider-Verse (dir. Santos, Powers & Thompson) — not to mention Barbie (dir. Gerwig), naturally!

 

Your best experience in a movie theater?

From my own work: Seeing my first production with Monkeyshoot Studios (Divide by Zero (2020, dir. Bun)) screen at the Oscar®-qualifying HollyShorts festival at the end of its festival circuit. What a fantastic way to end an immensely gratifying run, by seeing your work play at the Chinese Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.

From the world of cinema: Watching Avengers: Infinity War (2018, dir. Russo bros.) and Avengers: Endgame(2019, dir. Russo bros.) were spectacular experiences due to the masterful decade-long build-up that Marvel had overseen under the guidance of producer Kevin Feige and the excellent, multi-layered build-up of the writers and directors. I don’t know if that can ever be matched. On quite the other side of the coin, A Star is Born (2018, dir. Cooper) affected me on so many levels I went to the cinema to watch it a total of six times. Both of these movie theater encounters were exactly what you ask: EXPERIENCES.

Thank you for the interview.

Interview with Matt Jaems
The Netherlands, 12 April 2023