Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1514626
T H E H O L D O V E R S | P E R S P E C T I V E 8 3 I grew up a huge Alexander Payne fan. I went and saw each of his movies over the years in the theater and always loved how he towed the line between heart and humor. My dad, who passed away a few years back, was a big fan of his movies as well. They were always something we could connect over, even when we didn't see eye-to- eye on other things. So, when I first interviewed with Alexander years ago, I was both excited and terrified to meet a hero, but within minutes, all that fell away and we were laughing like old friends. Our friendship was instant. The Holdovers is one of those scripts that comes along once in a lifetime. Alexander and I met a few years before when prepping on a potential film to shoot. We got all the way through scouting when the plug got pulled on the film just three days before we were supposed to start shooting. We were heartbroken, to say the least. So, when Alexander sent me The Holdovers script a year later, I was so excited at the possibility of making something together. When I read the script, I laughed and teared up. I was deeply moved by the characters and by the strained relationship between Angus and his own father, which hit me on a personal level. David Hemingson's script was a thing of beauty, so layered with sentiment and laughter. Alexander had yet to do a period film, and with period experience I had on season three of True Detective, I was very eager to put to work what I had learned. Alexander and I share the same thoughts on period films, that a lot feel exaggerated and cartoonish, so we very much wanted to do the opposite here and make the sets feel authentic and real above all else. Our main goal became to create a film that not only takes place in 1970, but to look like it had been made in 1970. So, Alexander, our incredible director of photography, Eigil Bryld, and I set out to only embrace techniques that were being used in 1970 and before. We also dove into watching our favorite films from the era and would often watch certain films over and over, especially the Hal Ashby films: The Landlord and The Last Detail. These films became our main resource for the look, feel and technical aspirations of the time. I quickly dove into research of Massachusetts boarding schools in the 1960s and '70s. I was then able to pull together a look book which we used as our guide before heading out on an initial week- long director's scout in Massachusetts to make sure we felt good about shooting there. Alexander is very much from the school of wanting to shoot in real places. He doesn't want to be on a sound stage. He thrives in real environments with real people, often casting real non-actor people in his films. A local location manager, Kai Quinlan, came on a few weeks before we headed out and put together some schools for us to look at. She did such a great job and we all had so much fun together driving around and visiting the schools. We had a great week of scouting and decided it would be best to shoot the film in the state where it had been written for. The film's main obstacle was going to be COVID and the majority of the schools not wanting us to shoot while students were there. We would have to find what we needed and shoot it all within the school's winter break. We couldn't find one school that would fit all of our needs for our 1970 world, so we ended up shooting in five different schools/locations to complete our one school's look (Deerfield Academy, Groton, Northfield Mount Hermon, Saint Marks School and Fairhaven High School, respectively). A. DOWNTOWN SHELBURNE FALLS, MA STOREFRONT. SET PHOTO. B. BILLBOARD DESIGNED BY NATE CARLSON, WHEATPASTE ON WOOD. SET PHOTO. C. WINNING TICKET EXTERIOR. DOUBLE-SIDED LIT-UP SIGN DESIGNED BY NATE CARLSON. BUILT OF METAL AND PLEXIGLASS. SET PHOTO. D. & E. WINNING TICKET INTERIOR SHOT ON LOCATION. SET PHOTOS. F. RESEARCH IMAGES FROM LOOK BOOK. F