SXSWorld
Issue link: https://sxsw.uberflip.com/i/631812
2 2 S X S W o r l d | F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 6 | S X S W. C O M It's funny to talk about a film before you're done. We're still a few weeks out from locking the picture," says Mike Birbiglia about his new film, while taking a break from editing during the last week of December. Don't Think Twice, the second film Birbiglia has written and directed, will have its world premiere at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival. His debut feature Sleepwalk With Me, based on his one-man off-Broadway play, screened to wide acclaim at SXSW in 2012. Birbiglia's entertainment career started when was in high school and attended a live performance of comedian Steven Wright: "I went home that night and started writing jokes ... I didn't get on stage for a few years but I was writing jokes." Once he became a performer, Birbiglia gained exposure with his highly rated stand-up specials on Comedy Central between 2004 and 2006. The stage version of Sleepwalk With Me, which is based on Birbiglia's actual struggles from REM Behavior Disorder (including a sleepwalking incident in which he jumped through a second-story hotel window), opened at the Bleecker Street Theatre in New York City in 2008. Later, as it evolved from a successful play into a movie, Birbiglia found challenges to the structure of his story. "For Sleepwalk, we found the movie four weeks before picture lock," Birbiglia remembers. "We were struggling in the edit for a long time. We would show people cuts of scenes that got laughs in the live show, but they didn't laugh." Geoffrey Richman, the editor on Sleepwalk With Me, as well as Don't Think Twice, came up with a solution. At several points in Sleepwalk With Me, the film blends into dream sequences, but the audience isn't supposed to know what is happening. "He [Richman] has a really excellent grasp of how and when the viewer knows certain plot ele- ments. You want to present the images so the audience doesn't get ahead of itself," Birbiglia explains. "It was Geoffrey's utter patience and tenacity that made it work," he continues. "We realized that in the show, I was talking about events in the past tense. On stage they can tell that I'm okay. So we came up with a shot where I'm driving a car and talking to the camera, and the audience can tell it's in the past tense. We shot that in post. All of a sudden the same scene that is previously getting no laughs started getting huge laughs." As for his latest film, Birbiglia is exploring new ground. "Don't Think Twice is a sort of Big Chill ensemble film set in the world of improv comedy," he says. Birbiglia stars in the film alongside Gillian Jacobs, Keegan-Michael Key, Chris Gethard, Kate Micucci and Tami Sagher. "They're an improv group but also a group of best friends," he explains. "Their theater closes when they lose the lease. One of the members gets cast on a television show and that forces everyone to evaluate what they are doing in their life." "As far as I know, it's the first film that captures long-form impro- visation on film," Birbiglia emphasizes. "The way that we filmed the improv scenes was to specifically use Steadicam shots. It magically puts the viewer on stage. We shot it almost like a fight scene or dance scene, as opposed to your typical performance where you're shooting from the audience's perspective." "The dramatic scenes of the film are not improvised," he adds. "I worked on the script for two years." Cold Iron Pictures and The Film Arcade are the film's financiers. "Shortly after Sleepwalk With Me, I had a meeting with Miranda Bailey, who runs Cold Iron, and who also produced Diary of a Teenage Girl," says Birbiglia. "She was really game for doing something different. I specifically didn't shop the script around at studios. I wanted to make it in an independent way as opposed to the restrained glossy studio multiplex version of this story." However, lately Birbiglia is no stranger to mainstream studio films or popular episodic series. His recent acting credits include Trainwreck (playing Brie Larson's husband), The Fault in Our Stars, Hot Pursuit, Inside Amy Schumer, Girls and Orange is the New Black. "It's weird ... I spent 10 years in New York trying out for acting parts and never booking anything. And then, since Sleepwalk With Me I've acted in over a dozen projects. Mostly from people calling and asking," he says about being cast in films without having to audition. "It's also a way for me to see how other directors direct," he notes. "I did nine episodes on the last season of Orange is the New Black, and there's a different director on every episode. On one episode, I'm being directed by Nicole Holofcener. Wow, this is a dream come true .... I'm 37-years-old but I'm still learning my craft." And in that craft, Birbiglia sees himself further exploring the classic pairing of humor and pathos: "I want to make films that use comedy as a tool but not as an end in itself. Life is sad and funny, and if you don't have both, it's not authentic." T Don't Think Twice will World Premiere at SXSW Film 2016. Check sxsw.com/film for more information. Mike Birbiglia Hones Filmmaking Craft with Don't Think Twice by michael bergeron " D on' t Think Twice ca s t (clo ck w i s e fro m to p): Ke e g a n - M ich a el Key , Ch ri s G e t h a r d , Ta m i S a g h e r, G il l i a n J a co b s , Ka te M icu cci, a n d w rite r/d ire c to r M ike B irb ig l i a J O N PA C K