Publish Or Perish is a tonally diverse film. You unexpectedly see this film taking unprecedented turns in a short 100-minute runtime. How do you manage that in the filmmaking process? Because it is essential to balance the comedic cracks and the dark twists altogether.
Honestly, Abhishek, this is more of a David question (chuckles). I am not going to give you a good answer. Let’s just say it’s the crisp, precise, and thorough editing. We have actually won a couple awards in that department during the film’s run at festivals. And I feel that is what does the job of balancing each shot and frame carefully enough to make cinematic sense of it all.
I don’t want to spoil it. There is a scene that we shot as a jaw-dropping twist, but, in the post, David decided to edit it so that it sent the viewers into laughter. While watching that unfold, we were serious; it actually made the audience laugh. And it was beautiful. That could be what dark comedy does for you. I love the film.
How did you get the film out, given that Hollywood went on a collaborative strike with WGA recently, ending it while SAG was still on halt?
We had shot this film two years ago and were ready to start promotions when strikes began. We are a SAG production, so the actors would have been unable to promote the film. So, I immediately applied for the wager, and I was lucky to get it. The people at SAG were great and really helpful for us.
I also realize that strikes are more significant than one project. It’s an impact of enormous scale and is about millions of workers on the line in this industry. So, we synergized with SAG over a fundraiser we organized for them. The idea of the fundraiser was to inform people what these strikes are about and how significant they are. We were happy to put our efforts out for the guild. The situation was complex and frustrating, but it worked out in the end.
Lastly, how involved did you become with the genuinely creative aspects of the production process? And I mean besides all the business aspects of it.
YES! Thank you for asking. I was involved. I’ll admit that only some of my inputs made sense. But I did throw in some suggestions. And thanks to David for patiently listening to them even if he had to discard some of them. To brag a bit here, I suggested a crucial scene in the film, and it has made the final cut. That’s all I can say without spoiling it.
