Walkden Entertainment (aka Peter Walkden) had the honour and pleasure of chatting with Gene Fallaize, director, writer and executive producer of Control (2023), available on DVD and Digital from April 3rd, thanks to Eagle Entertainment.
Let’s break the ice with a fun question: do you own a self-driving car?
No, I don’t; I drive a manual because I don’t trust the gears to change themselves! I’m just kidding. I don’t have anything against self-driving cars, although shooting 90% of a feature film inside any car is enough to put you off that particular type of car for life!
Let’s break the ice again: what is your all-time favourite movie and why?
My all-time favourite movie is Frank Capra’s ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ (1946). It’s not only shot and performed beautifully from a technical point of view, but as a story, it is perhaps the most fulfilling and enriching story I’ve ever seen and one in which all of us can learn lessons about life and our place in the world. I watch that film at least twice a year, once at Christmas (obviously), and usually once if I need to occasionally give myself a pep talk if things are feeling tough at work, which I definitely needed to when making ‘Control’!
As director and writer for Control, how did you develop the story?
We were actually working on another project when I had the initial idea for ’Control’ when I read somewhere that Tesla‘s has a ’summon’ feature, which, as I’m basically just a big child, excited the hell out of me because it made me think of Tim Burton’s Batman when Michael Keaton says “car” into his remote control and the car comes to him, which I thought was so cool that modern cars can do the same thing. It also scared me a bit, though, as I thought that now cars can be summoned or controlled by a cell phone, then what if the phone was hacked – which we know can and does happen – could the car, in turn, be controlled by the hacker? That was it, really, and when the right moment came, I wrote the script quite quickly, and we got rolling.
Do you personally enjoy directing or writing more?
To be honest, I write mostly out of necessity. However, as someone who has worked as a script doctor on many projects in the past, I have a lot of experience in writing. So, I started writing more original material, which I like. However, directing is and will remain my main passion and focus. There’s nothing like being a director in the world, and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.
Kevin Spacey is fantastic as “The Voice.” Have you always had Kevin Spacey in mind for this role?
‘Control’ came about initially as a gap filler between productions as my team and I were in the final stages of prep for another feature when our lead actress on that film was cast as a series regular in ‘Bridgerton’, so we knew we had about 8 months before we’d get her back. This was in September 2022, so that’s when I wrote the script for ‘Control’. As I was writing it, for about the first 5-10 pages, I had Kiefer Sutherland’s character from ‘Phone Booth’ (2002) in my head, but then I remembered that we had spoken to Kevin’s team previously, so I wrote the rest of the film specially for and with Kev in mind for the role, and just hoped he would respond well to it, which thankfully he did!
How did you react when Kevin Spacey accepted the part of “The Voice”, and what was it like working with him?
I was delighted when Kev accepted the role. He is an incredible actor. His two Oscars are proof of that. He has brought to life some of the most memorable characters in film history, so, of course, I was very excited to be working with an actor of his calibre. Working with him was great, both leading up to the recording sessions and while capturing his performance, which was a fantastic experience to see someone like that at work, and even more so when it’s your words he’s performing.
Speaking of performances, how did Lauren, the film’s lead, go on set pretending to be stuck in a moving vehicle most of the time?
Lauren was just brilliant. I knew we would have to go with an unknown actor for the role, but very early on I knew that Lauren was going to be perfect for it, as she’s a very good dramatic actor, and it needed someone that could be on screen and hold audiences attention with just her face for 90% of the film, which I think she managed brilliantly. Practically, it was 7 days of her being in the car with just a dummy in the back most of the time, but we were nice enough to let her out of the car between setups.
Given that the film is set heavily in a self-driving vehicle, was it challenging story-wise to keep the movie enlightening, engaging, and thrilling?
‘Phone Booth’ (2002) was a key inspiration for the film, along with ‘Moon’ (2009), which are both pretty confined films with one main character talking to another, so I studied those and tried to make sure it didn’t become too stagnant by ensuring there are enough peaks and troughs. You can’t maintain a peak all the way through any film or the audience will lose interest, so it’s important to give breaks in between the action scenes to take it all in, which I hope we achieved.
While making Control, what was your biggest hurdle/challenge?
Like most independent films, the biggest challenges are money and time. We knew we absolutely had to be finished with the film by May 2023 in time to sell it at the Cannes Film Festival and to get back on with our regular-budget feature, so time was a massive challenge on this, which meant that there were certain compromises. The same with the budget. We would have loved to have more money to play with, and we could have done so much more with it, but it takes time to raise money, so we had to go with what we had available, which limited everything we could do. But my team and I all did the very best we could do with the limitations we had, and I’m proud of my entire team for pulling off such a huge task successfully.
What was your most enjoyable moment while working on this film?
My favourite moments were on the last day of main-unit filming, where we shot the end scenes of the film. I don’t want to give too much away, but there were a lot of vehicles, a lot of extras, and just a lot going on. Plus, I got to break something big and expensive for the film’s sake, which is always fun! So that was a great day. Also, the day of the World Premiere in London back in November was pretty special, as it was a day of media interviews before heading to the venue. There’s nothing like standing in front of 500 people about to watch a film you made to make you question everything you’ve done for the previous year, but it went great.
Do you have any upcoming projects that you can reveal? Would you like to continue making films in the thriller genre?
Yes, my team and I are currently working on a thriller at the moment, which goes into the unexplored background story of another story that already exists as a movie. I can’t give much more at this stage, but it’s something I’m extremely excited to be directing. As for thriller films in the future, I’d say thrillers are probably my favourite genre as an audience member, but as a director, for me, it’s all about the story and the characters. I don’t really care what genre a story identifies as, as long as it’s got a story and characters that I care about and want to see more of. If it does that, then I’m open to any genre.
As our interview ends, why should the people of Australia check out Control on DVD & Digital from April 3rd?
I think ‘Control’ is worth watching primarily to see two great actors in action, Kevin Spacey in his first commercially released film in several years, and one which adds to the rich history of characters he has created, and also to see fresh talent in the form of Lauren, who manages to not only hold her own alongside a 2-time Oscar winner, which is not easy but also gives a great performance in her own right. If anyone is interested in Kevin Spacey, thrillers, or films about AI or future technology, then it’s definitely for them. And if not, give it a watch anyway, as my blood, sweat and tears all went into it!
Control (2023) is available on DVD & Digital in Australia starting April 3rd!
18th March 2024
Written by Peter Walkden
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