+BEHIND THE SCENES
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BEHIND THE PRODUCTION
This film was shot in the Los Angeles area—including Palmdale, Lancaster, and Agua Dolce in the spring of 2018.
Like all short narrative work, this project could not happen without the extreme generosity of all those involved. The team was a tight, intimate bunch of friends and longtime collaborators. Each dedicated and highly practiced, giving the whole effort an alchemic effect that allowed us to achieve the large scale feel of the final product. We didn't have much beyond our own skills and a shitload of effort.
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The script and storyboarding process set the stage for us to explore the viability of our concept during prep. Working in Los Angeles allowed us to explore locations in our own backyard and devise creative production design solutions that we could afford. And as an unconventional casting process took shape in the weeks before shooting, we then embarked on a bootstrapping method of production, favoring more light footprint shoot days over fewer conventional days—shooting only what was needed. Nothing more. Nothing less.
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ANDRÉ STRINGER : WRITER / DIRECTOR
A veteran in the business of visual storytelling, Stringer’s move into the scripted narrative form is fulfilling a lifetime mission of creating compelling experiences in all forms. André embodies the notion of the multi-disciplinarian - writing, directing, editing, and finishing his own work utilizing years working in each field over his career. He engenders an atmosphere of trust and collaboration on set and in all the aspects of the production through his hands on approach to filmmaking.
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“There was nothing like the experience of all the cylinders firing on our set. We had to shoot whole scenes in a single sunset, so moments like the entrance and exit of the plane became hyper focused—dirty, sprinting, and wildly in the flow. The array of elements at play—story, atmosphere, light, and special effects came to bear and the talent of the players in our little arena really came to life.”
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ALEX ESSOE : LIZ
We saw Alex in the cult horror film Starry Eyes and immediately saw her ability to bring a savageness and physicality to her character. In our film, her character Liz is struggling with the infidelities and mistakes of the past, effectively closing her off from connection and intimacy. This sets the stage for her descent into mania and Alex took that foundation and make it wild and mortally nasty.
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"We go to some extreme places in this short, my favorite of which had to be Liz and Ryan's final showdown. Following the car crash, there was this massive fight scene that had very specific choreography, followed by bullet effects. It was late, we'd been shooting all day and night and now we had to go balls out in what was, essentially, the climax of the film. André kept us upbeat and focused, he kept morale high and still was able to guide us toward what was needed for the scene, never letting on how exhausted he was himself. Adversely, when we shot a more intimate moment between Ryan and Liz and the hot springs, Andre knew how to create a respectful and intimate setting, allowing us to be more vulnerable. I mention this because it cannot be overstated how important it is to work with a director who knows what they need and how to get it. Bravo, man."
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IDDO GOLDBERG : RIAN
We knew Iddo well from Peaky Blinders and Defiance as a versatile actor who could immerse himself in the role of Rian, playing the imperfect man fated to undergo a sharp and disturbing transformation. Iddo, a director and photographer himself, imagined Rian as beset with guilt and shame for past mistakes and Iddo wore that bagage in all of his mannerisms as he brought the chain smoking Rian to life.
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"I’ll never forget shooting the violent driving sequence in which RIAN is driving LIZ out of the desert (before they get into their fight). André helped propel us into that moment so much that before I knew what was going on I was driving myself and Alex (with a big part of our production in the back of the van) at an insane speed in a very dark desert to almost flip the van over. A crazy moment but a testament to André wanting the mood to be right and things to look as they should.”
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JOHN LYNCH : CINEMATOGRAPHER
John is an internationally renowned cinematographer and has spent many days on many continents on set with André. As a UK resident, he spent a month in California to help bring this film to life—organizing a team of generous, like-minded technicians to come to bear on our ambitious story. His delicate touch and deft navigation of the complexity of the narrative form played a key role in elevating the atmosphere and impact of the script.
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“I was lucky to have had the opportunity to spend many weeks in Vancouver and New Zealand with Andre working on a commercial right before we shot this film. We spent our days together on set talking and sketching out the vision of the Attaché. It really honed down the idea. Not only the technical approach, but the emotional undulations we wanted to take the audience through and how we could do it. We used a combination of the Cannon K35 55mm on the RED Monstro and the Leica Noctilux .95 on the RED Helium to give us an extremely narrow depth of field, accentuating the emotions—focusing in on the characters eyes and hands. This naturally separated the characters from the background and at times even losing them within the bokeh.”
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QUITO COOKSEY : PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Quito started thinking about this film when it was only a concept. His exploratory into the world of the film, refining the impressive plane crash concept into a shootable set, and his consultation on the fashioning of the CGI wolf all were indispensable contributions. Insanely practiced in the world of commercials, Quito brought a hands on approach to the fashioning of the visual language, painting the scorch marks himself.
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“One of the challenges was to make the spilled and burnt jet fuel pattern on the ground. Since we were doing drone aerials the pattern of the burnt fuel was really important. From a plan view of real crash sites, we noticed that there was typically a distinct pattern of blackened earth radiating outward or in the direction of the inertia of the plane. It had an almost ink blotter Rorshack look to some of them. Other sites were just total obliteration and no clues to the direction or what even crashed there. Since we were shooting on private land and the site had to be cleaned up afterward I decided to go with a black and grey temp paint. Black being the majority of the base paint that was sprayed onto the earth and a grey for highlights and contrast that went on top. The lead Scenic had to drop out of the project so my 3rd rate scenic experience from early in my career had to suffice.”
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JULIAN KING : 2ND UNIT DIRECTOR & CO-IDEATOR
Julian is another longtime collaborator of André’s and is one of the creators at the heart of this film. He and André co-concepted the story, consulting on the screenplay, as well as working on the live-action production as a second unit director. Julian worked on every day of shooting, and his multidisciplinary skill set made him an invaluable mind at the heart of this improvised production—one day a writer, another a director and others a cinematographer.
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“Andre and I regularly send each other reference images. One night I remember sending him a painting of a plane on fire, midair in the process of crashing above a patch of farmland. When I went over to his house the next week, I was surprised when he showed me the beginnings of a script inspired by that initial painting. Sitting there in his kitchen, I read those first seven pages and we began a back-and-forth dialogue about where the narrative could evolve to next. Within a fiery, inspired handful of minutes, we had the basic events of the final film in place.”
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DENNIS BEIER : PRODUCER
Viability being key, Dennis brought a pragmatism to the production, focusing our efforts on what was essential to the story, and keeping our decisions pointed toward impact and communication. Staying with the production through post and finishing, Dennis kept an open dialogue with the team and helped foster the powerful community that emerged from the intimate process of shooting.
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“When I met Andre at a coffee shop listening to his concept and vision for the first time I was thinking this sounds crazy. The scope of a remote hiker story, plane crash, car chase, accidental killing, animated wolf… that doesn’t feel like a short film. Realizing Andre was dead serious and he’s nobody who likes to fuck around I felt this was the challenge I was secretly waiting for. Working on a very tight budget and we would only be able to spend what’s absolutely necessary while guaranteeing everyone’s safety was the goal. I remember we ate a lot of Panera Bread which I haven’t touched again until this day.”
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THOM MURRAY : COSTUME DESIGNER
Thom’s experience styling for film in Los Angeles led him to collaborate with André on a number of commercial productions, paving the way for Thom to join our production as key stylist. His thesis statement of this brief was realism—make sure the styling is simple and natural yet poignant. When Thom chose Liz’s costume, it was truly unexpected—the “we’ve come a long way baby” graphic— a commentary on the narrative journey that we were undertaking.
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"Working with Andre on The Attaché was a unique opportunity to take our time developing the characters to find their voice. It was a joy to watch him bring his vision to life over the course of this shoot."
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MATT D'ELIA : WRITER
A writer and director, Matt jumped into the development process when we had an initial draft of the script, infusing the drama with added friction and a more nuanced feel for the characters. He also was a huge contributor to the casting process, bringing his friends and contacts into the fold. Matt’s extensive experience writing and working in the narrative form provided invaluable perspective that can only be gained by years at the keyboard. His time on set was also important, he kept a keen eye on story arc and performance.
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“Working with Andre has been one of the better professional experiences of my life, and this was no exception. With his collaborative, hands-on, highly symbolic and deeply intuitive approach, he isn’t like most directors— that is to say, he has an actual vision. Scope, craft, wonder, intensity, darkness, the power of the unknown and the allure of the uncanny— and that’s only scratching the surface. When he first sent me a draft of the script I knew how special the final product could be, and of course he did not disappoint. I am honored to have played a small role in helping him bring THE ATTACHÉ to life.”
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ERIC ULBRICH : CAMERA OPERATOR & CINEMATOGRAPHER
Eric is a phenomenal cinematographer in his own right, and his offer to operate was a beautiful gift to our production that meant him turning down paying jobs to manhandle the anti-gravity rig for a large portion of our days. His fiery dedication and delicate framing were key to achieving the hero images we captured. His experience building novel gimbal rigs allowed us to achieve the impressive scale on a budget and a tight schedule. When it came time to film some essential pickups, Eric stepped in to serve as cinematographer.
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“The first glimpse of the plane crash site after Liz and Rian discover the Attaché felt like a real opportunity to play a longer shot. Andre wanted to let this devastated world breathe on screen as this dramatic scene shows the beginnings of their descent into madness. It was a challenging shot to do and I lost a few leg hairs stepping over flame bars, but I remember when watching playback how powerful the shot felt. You get a real feeling of the ruin of the plane and these two people who are overwhelmed by what’s going on around them both externally and internally.”
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AARON COHAN: DRONE PILOT
The Attaché was a unique opportunity to explore the objectivity of a roving camera style, and Aaron’s command over the drone as a camera platform was essential in achieving that. Aaron provided a platform that could explore and move through our shooting locations in the vast expanses of desert, firmly placing the characters in the world of our film and allowing us to follow them across remote parts of the desert and unruly topography. Aaron allowed us to really ‘get out there.
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"One of the moments that really stands out for me working on The Attaché, was an evening we were doing some vehicle tracking through a high region of desert outside Agua Dolce. Using the drone was an effective way to feel the vastness of the area and the solitude of the vehicle as it traveled through the expanse of the desert. Headlights and silhouettes of trees were the only visible elements telling the story, but that’s exactly what the scene needed. I remember really feeling like we were setting a mood and telling part of the story in that moment, rather than focusing on the mechanics of the shot itself."
+BEHIND THE SCENES PHOTOGRAPHY BY TRACY CHANDLER & CHANCE FORMAN.