Virgin Megastore Interview with Evan Aaronson

VIRGIN MEGASTORE
INTERVIEW


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Before the popularity of voyeur genre films like The Blair Witch Project, The Truman Show, Ed TV, and Clerks, there was a little movie called Nothing. Virginmega.com spoke with Evan Aaronson, writer, filmmaker and now recording artist on the new release of this film chronicling his lifelong search for meaning, inspiration, familial roots and cute girls.
	NOTHING VHS $19.99 VHS $19.99

Brandon Judell at AOL Critics' Choice said...
"Like an Albert Brooks who can't misfire, like a West Coast suburban, post-pubescent Woody Allen, like a Sartre on laughing gas, Aaronson has created a film that will have you floored... Sprinkled throughout Nothing, there are literally hundreds of moments that are so beautifully structured and about so much more than they appear to be at face value, you wind up being awed that Aaronson, in his relative youth, is so totally in control of the medium. He knows how to milk every visual sometimes with a disparate remark, an off-the-wall observation, or a wit so sharp you're taken aback. His editing sense is flawless. His personality delightfully flawed. It's the perfect comingling."

		Virgin: Nothing Made us laugh out loud several times, which is no mean feat. Do you find your own film funny? Evan Aaronson: Oh, absolutely. I can’t actually say that about a lot of things but basically I made a film that I would want to see. It is very different, very unique, but I really like it, I love the film in fact and I can’t say that about a lot of the things that I have done. Virgin: So you consider this is a great piece of work, something you can stand behind? Evan Aaronson: Oh definitely! Virgin: How do you feel about the comparisons to Albert Brooks and Woody Allen? Evan Aaronson: I was very flattered! I mean I am a huge fan of Woody Allen especially some of his early work and that’s exactly the kind of career I would like to have- actually both those guys careers, so it’s perfect. I couldn’t have asked for anything more. I like to see myself as a little younger and hipper than those guys though, a Gen-X version of them maybe. Virgin: I understand you are a filmmaker, writer, actor and director, as well as a recording artist-whew- that’s a lot! Evan Aaronson: I know! I am very creative and kind of all over the place, but I like to do a lot of different things. My favorite is probably the performing, the music thing, but my default drive is definitely as a writer, producer. Directing would probably be at the bottom of the list because it is kind of a pain, actually, directing films. I am trying to see that my writing is executed properly, that is probably my biggest concern. Virgin: Do you have more creative control with writing? Evan Aaronson: Yeah, you don’t have that much control period in directing. When you’re writing, in the distance between your head and the proverbial pen, there is not that much that can go wrong, but when you are directing a film, there are lots of variables, the actors might mess up, the locations might not come through. There are so many little things that could go wrong that it is that much further from your original idea in your directing. Virgin: You had mentioned Woody Allen and Albert Brooks earlier, but are there any other filmmakers or films that have inspired you in your writing and filmmaking? Evan Aaronson: Interesting, I think it is just my life that inspires me more than any filmmaker. In terms of what’s going on in society, just reading the newspaper or watching the world news. At the time the film Nothing was made, a film like mine was really unheard of. I like to think of it as the first of its kind. I also like to think that it was symbolic of a generation that was going on at the time and was not being talked about. It was made before the term Generation X was really coined (Nothing was filmed in 1992) I really tried to be real and honest and I don’t think a lot of people were doing that at that time. If you look at the films today like The Truman Show and ED TV a lot of these films have the same kind of theme as Nothing. Even Blair Witch has a similar 'Real Life' theme. The Comedy 20 Dates as well. These films obviously had a lot of big marketing dollars behind them, which I didn’t. Nothing was always an underground thing that only people in certain groups and urban areas knew about. But the film was made before all these other films. Virgin: So what is your next project? Evan Aaronson: I actually have a project called Baggage coming out with some name actors in it, that is not a comedy. I really would like to stick to comedies although this one was a bit of a departure—it was drama. It features Mariette Hartley, M. Emmet Walsh and Vincent Schiavelli, who was the guy in Ghost who played the crazy ghost on the subway train. That will be done soon. Virgin: Was this new project initiated after Nothing’s success? How did this come to fruition? Evan Aaronson: I initiated this myself, nobody helped me out on this. I was pretty much self-contained in that I wrote the script, and I am not relying on the industry to help me out because I think that the industry requires validation from others in order to promote or accept anything new, so I did this myself. I raised the money, formed a corporation with a friend and we did it all ourselves. It has taken a long time this way though, as the film was shot two years ago and we’ve finally got the finishing funds in now and we’re doing it (wrapping it) now. Virgin: You also directed a video for the band Kottonmouth Kings? Evan Aaronson: Yeah, I listen to them too- they’re pretty crazy but very cool. Virgin: Thanks Evan, and good luck with your new projects.