Interview (Written): Sean Baker

A conversation with the filmmaker of the indie movie ‘The Florida Project’.

One of my favorite 2017 movies is The Florida Project, co-written (with Chris Bergoch) and directed by Sean Baker (Prince of Broadway, Starlet, Tangerine). I had the chance to watch a special screening and follow-up Q&A with Baker when he was a guest at the DePaul University School of Cinematic Arts Visiting Artists Series and was blown away by the genuine humanity evidenced in his storytelling sensibilities.

This interview in Deadline is an example of those filmmaking instincts.

DEADLINE: Families on the East Coast go to Disney and Universal’s theme parks and drive right by the people you focused on here. What compelled you to shine a light on ordinary lives of people who are just invisible to most?

BAKER: My co-screenwriter Chris Bergoch forwarded me news articles about the situation in Kissimmee. His mother relocated there and he loves those parks. He just got wind of this situation just being there. He knows the topics I’m interested in and forwarded me all these articles. I was taken aback. I didn’t know that this was happening.

DEADLINE: What did the articles depict?

BAKER: You can actually Google ‘Kissimmee Motel Disney’ and you’ll see plenty. The statistics about the growing problem happening along Route 192, where all of these motels that were once tourist-targeted became the last refuge for people trying to keep a roof over their heads. The juxtaposition of children living in these conditions outside of what we consider the happiest place on earth for children was intriguing, but the same thing is happening in Anaheim, Boston, Chicago, New Jersey, nationwide, because of the affordable housing crisis.

I thought we would shine a light on this if we made an entertaining film. Tangerine taught me that if you win an audience over with comedy, then hopefully have a soulful message at the same time. I grew up with The Little Rascals, and always try to work a link into every one of my movies. This film was my opportunity to do a full out tribute to those Our Gang comedies.

DEADLINE: So instead of an expose, you made a movie about these unsupervised kids who were small enough to be oblivious to their hardships. Did the carefree nature of your trio of kids reflect the attitude of kids you met doing research?

BAKER: We went to some of these motels. They would be using the parking lots basically as their back yard. Wiffle ball, tag, kids being kids. You saw a change when they actually started to get a little bit older, 10, 11-years old where you can tell they’re a little more understanding of their situation. That was sad. We saw there was a change in their moods, their everyday personas. A lot of the young girls or boys we met who were in their preteens had a much different attitude than the ones who were 6 or 8.

DEADLINE: What informed your guerilla style of filmmaking, in natural settings where people in the background don’t even know a movie is being filmed?

BAKER: The non-judgmental approach to characters comes from the Italian neo-realists, the British social realists. Especially Ken Loach and Alan Clarke and Mike Leigh. Some have said I focus on marginalized communities but it’s not like that was my mission statement. I’ve just told stories that interest me, and that I’m not seeing enough of, on groups of people and subcultures that are often not seen. It’s because I want to see more of that and I want to learn and that stems from the Italian neo-realists, the British social realists. And the work of Chang-dong Lee, the South Korean director who did Poetry and Oasis and Secret Sunshine. Incredible. A film like Oasis I don’t think could be made here in the United States. It’s too edgy, it’s too dangerous, but it takes two outcasts and just puts a complete human face on that moment. That’s a director I admire greatly.

Here is a scene from The Florida Project:

Please, do yourself a favor: Go to a theater and experience The Florida Project. Use your dollars to support quality independent filmmaking.

For the rest of the interview, go here.

Movie website

Twitter: @theFLproject.