The Escort – An Interview with Will Slocombe
By Stuart Alson
Lyndsy Fonseca in THE ESCORT.
Director Will Slocombe recently premiered his latest feature film THE ESCORT at the 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival. THE ESCORT follows a sex obsessed journalist who throws himself into the world of high-class escorts when he meets and bonds with a Stanford-educated prostitute. After the film’s World Premiere, Independent Film Quarterly spoke with Slocombe about the challenges of indie filmmaking, memorable on-set stories involving Bruce Campbell and Rumer Willis and his love of CARNAL KNOWLEDGE.
IFQ: How did you come on board as Director of THE ESCORT?
Will Slocombe (WS): I was actually brought on by the DP, Kyle Klutz. We met through our friend Leigh Janiak. Kyle shot her movie, HONEYMOON. Kyle said he was on this new movie and would I like to read the script and I said yes.
IFQ: What was your reaction when you first read the script?
WS: I thought it was sexy and funny and cool. I immediately thought CARNAL KNOWLEDGE.
IFQ: Indie film shoots can be quite difficult due to smaller budgets, crew and number of shoot days. What were some of the challenges during the shoot?
WS: Schedules are always insane on indies, but this one was particularly nuts. Especially because Michael and Brandon, bless their hearts, had written about thirty billion characters into the script (we actually spent a ton of time on set casting as well; frantically emailing back and forth with our casting director, Matt Maisto; watching reels between takes). I owe our genius 1st AD, Dave Gross, my life. One of the first things Dave said to me was: “Your job is to make the movie look good. But it’s also to make your day.”
IFQ: In addition to numerous characters, there were a lot of great locations. How did you go about securing them?
WS: Our producers, Mark DiCritofaro and Matt Harper, were extremely helpful with that. They had a ton of experience in the film world, and knew everyone. The coolest location we got was through our producer Blake Goza. Blake’s dad knew a guy who knew a guy who had this palatial estate in Pasadena. I think the guy was a big lawyer or something. Anyway we spent most of the first week trying not to piss off his wife. I remember Bruce Campbell in particular tried to play fast and loose with the house’s no onset smoking policy at one point…
IFQ: That’s really funny. Any other memorable on-set stories?
WS: Well, there was the time that Rumer Willis showed up to set with her hair suddenly died pink. We had to scramble to solve that one. I think it involved a wig.
IFQ: The film was beautifully shot; who would you say has influenced your filmmaking style?
WS: Again, Mike Nichols was a big one for this movie. Deadpan elegance. A subtle old school sex comedy more than a splashy Hollywood rom-com. It should feel a little dingy and sleazy and tough. Again, CARNAL KNOWLEDGE.
IFQ: THE ESCORT just had its World Premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival. What are your thoughts on the film fest scene in general, and in particular LAFF?
WS: For directors, film festivals are great. All you do all day is drink beer and talk about yourself. It rules. LAFF is a really exciting festival because you have the whole industry focused on your little movie. I also like that LAFF, especially our LA Muse category, is a celebration of the LA indie film scene—which can sometimes not get as much love as other indie film scenes. But there’s great stuff happening out here, and we’re thrilled that we get to be part of it.
The Orchard acquired all North American rights to THE ESCORT. The Orchard will release the film on July 28th in the U.S. and Canada across all VOD platforms, including iTunes. Foreign sales are being handled by Taylor & Dodge.
