Kevin Asch: Holly Rollers
By Ron Gilbert
Kevin Asch and I sat at a table at Bob Dylan’s 18 Street Café in Santa Monica, California to discuss his first feature “Holy Rollers,” as a director. I realized that coffee wasn’t necessary because I got my caffeine rush from Kevin’s creative energy in discussing the making of his film, and his collaborative efforts reminded me of directors like Sydney Lumet and my buddy Mark Rydell.
Ron Gilbert: Okay, we are both from NYC, so let’s jump right in on “Holy Rollers”—a film about Hasidic Jews. Only 2 others come to mind: “The Chosen” and “PI.”
Kevin Asch: I know, but my film is based on a true story about Hasidic Jews who were drug mules in the late 1990s and transported ecstasy from Amsterdam to Brooklyn. My producer and friend Danny Abeckaser who plays Jackie read about this and thought it would make a great film—unexplored territory. So he got development money and we started working on the script in 2007 and it has been a journey which ended up as a film in Sundance where we were finalists for the Grand Jury Prize.
RG: I had heard about it, but lucky for me, I saw it in the Los Angeles Jewish Film Festival and so here were are. I see that you are a graduate of the School of Visual Arts in NY. Is that where you first started as a filmmaker?
KA: That was my formal training. I was a teenager who just started making films and I knew that this is what I wanted as a career. Sort of like Spielberg whose films have inspired me and in this instance these particular films: “Witness,” ”ET” and “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”
RG: I was thinking more Martin Scorsese and “Mean Streets.”
KA: Yes, that is true. I wanted to create that look for the film and I worked very specifically on the camera techniques with cinematographer, Ben Kutchins We took lots of photographs showing the setting and so you feel that you are looking in on this life as it is happening on the screen.
RG: So you were looking to create a mood.
KA: Exactly. In addition, I wanted to set the mood with the choice of music and worked very closely with composer M.J.Mynarski. Memorable music like ‘Godfather One’ which has you humming the theme, and especially for Sam Gold (Jesse Eisenberg) as the main character, who has an emotional undercurrent as he goes through his transitions.
RG: Well, I felt that you really pulled some terrific performances from your actors. As an Actors Studio member that really impressed me.
KA: Acting always impressed me and I felt it was necessary for me to really learn more about the process, so I studied acting in New York with Joe Paradise. This gave me insight and I now was in touch with the techniques of method acting. That is where I met Danny A.
RG: Danny brought Jackie the drug dealer to life; it was like he lived the life.
KA: [Laughs.] In a way, he did. Danny ran clubs in New York and he was able to create that scene in a very authentic way. He had wanted to be an actor and found a character that was an easy fit for him.
RG: Well, the shoe fit. Tell me more about the other actors and writing the script.
KA: Once I had the framework for the film script, we brought in the writer Antonio Macia and along with the actors, we kept on going through the script and used improvisations to really pull out all the stops. I also know how important the rehearsals are and allowing the actors to feel free with myself and Antonio right there in the mix. Sam’s conflict has to be seen internally, so his work with the other actors was essential. Ari Graynor (Rachel) affected him just by her .Sam has a strong similarity to Harvey Keitel in “Mean Streets.” Justin Bartha (Yosef) just had all the dimensions for his character, which we saw in his play in NYC.
RG: So you shot mostly in NYC. How much was the budget?
KA: We wanted an authentic look for this film because we felt it was critical and we went to Amsterdam and shot there. The film was wrapped in 19 days and the budget was $1million.
RG: So your film is competing with today’s big budget $200 million dollar films and bigger names.
KA: That is okay. We aren’t in competition with them. Just wanted to do it our way.
RG: You had a great team and I feel that you will be there competing with some of those other films when the Oscars come along.
KA: Thanks!
RG: You will be an inspiration for young filmmakers. What is on your film plate for the future?
KA: We are preparing our next film “Kings Highway,” also in Brooklyn.