Derek Magyar: Taking Off
Derek Magyar is best known for his lead role as a sensitive gay hustler in the cult hit Boy Culture. In 2012, he produced and directed his first feature length indie drama Flying Lessons starring Maggie Grace (Taken 2), veteran actor Hal Holbrook and Academy award nominee Christina Lahti. Making genuine inroads as a filmmaker, Magyar credits his filmmaker/professor father for teaching him the technical aspects of movie making as well as his own acting experience. The film is intense and interesting and has garnered attention in Hollywood. It tells the story of a young woman (Grace) who is forced to reckon with her father’s suicide by returning home after hitting rock bottom.
IFQ was delighted to catch up with Derek to hear more about Flying Lessons and the challenges associated with completing his impressive directorial debut.
Independent Film Quarterly (IFQ): Tell me about the catalyst for your film Flying Lessons?
Derek Magyar (DM): Flying Lessons was the result of a script a close friend of mine wrote and he showed it to me with the intention of having me play the young male lead role of Billy. I found myself really attached to the core of the story and I wanted to find a way to get this movie made. The more we worked on it, the more I became attached to the story until it felt right that this be my first film as a director. I let go of playing the role of Billy and focused on directing it and next thing we knew after a lot of hard work and fundraising, we were on location!
IFQ: Were you pleased with how Thomas Kuehl’s script translated to film?
DM: I was pleased in a lot of ways with how Tommy’s script translated to the screen. It is a character drama that fused a lot of story lines together and that isn’t easy. It isn’t easy on the page and then when in translates on the screen; it’s even more difficult. I learned a lot about how things do in fact translate from page to screen and took away a lot of lessons learned both good and bad about it as it relates directly to Flying Lessons.
IFQ: How did you hook up with him?
DM: Tommy and I were good friends prior to Flying Lessons. He was working for Ryan Murphy at the time, and he brought it to me one evening after I had finished a show that my theatre company called Filament Theatre was doing. I read it and that was it.
IFQ: Were you sure that a family drama would interest your audience?
DM: I wasn’t sure that it would interest my audience. I felt it would interest a select type of audience. As an actor first and foremost, it was an actor’s piece for me to direct and I am glad I did that as my first film. [There was] so much to take away from this amazing journey and apply into the next film we make.
IFQ: Apart from your formidable acting skills, how did you learn the art of direction?
DM: I learned from working on sets as an actor and also learned from my father who is an amazing filmmaker and also is an amazing teacher. He was head of the film school at the AFI for many years and then became asst. Dean at the Chapman Film School. I was lucky enough to receive an intensive education from him prior to filming that was invaluable. I can also say that what I learned while making Flying Lessons taught me more than anything and that going into our next project, the difference in my personal level of knowledge and things that will happen again and things that won’t happen again on the next picture. All things that I wouldn’t know had it not been for Flying Lessons.
IFQ: Do you like feel comfortable dabbling family drama or dysfunctional/complicated relationships?
DM: I do feel comfortable dabbling in family dynamics because it is something I “dabble’ in my own life with. I have an amazing family and we have been through a lot together that has made us stronger and I feel I have a sense of being able to relate to the family dynamic.
IFQ: Which director do you most admire?
DM: Right now the director I admire most is Paul Thomas Anderson. He is a true innovator but, I have a long list.
IFQ: Congrats on your distinguished ensemble cast for this drama. Maggie Grace is a great choice to play the lead role of Sophie. Did you know her personally?
DM: Maggie and I met through Flying Lessons and she is a wonderful actor and woman. She is smart and takes her work very seriously.
IFQ: The candle Billy stills holds for Sophie is very believable, did you feel a love story was important for any particular reason?
DM: Yes, the candle needed to be there for Billy and Sophie. There is something about the love they share that just doesn’t go away and you can either ignore it or listen.
IFQ: The common ground between Sophie and the Sheriff (brilliantly played by Halbrook) is interesting. Can you expand on their significance and how was it working with this veteran actor?
DM: Working with Hal was amazing! He is a brilliant actor, a dear friend and a wonderful man to learn from. He gave a lot to this film by just having his presence on set and being around the rest of the cast and crew. Maggie and Hal were important because as one man is losing the memories he wants to hold on to so dearly for better or worse. Sophie is doing everything she can to repress the memories she has of her father and what she went through and that was something we tried and really wanted to explore.
IFQ: Where was the film shot and were there many challenges?
DM: The film was shot in the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley about two hours north from Los Angeles. It is heavenly.
IFQ: Securing distribution through New Films Cinema was quite an achievement for a directorial debut. How have audiences been, how was the distribution deal structured and will it reach European audiences?
DM: The world of distribution is a scary one I must say! It has been quite a wild ride with New Films, but I am happy to say that it will be available in Europe for people to see and that anytime a film is bought and distributed, you must remind yourself what an achievement that is in the first place.
IFQ: What’s next?
DM: I am lucky to say that I have two major films coming out this year that I am very proud of. The first comes out this March and it’s called Phantom, and it has an amazing A-list cast that I was blessed to work on. Also, I star opposite Luke Evans in the thriller-horror film No One Lives which, Anchor Bay is going to release at some point in 2013. Also I am currently doing a couple of television shows and am also working on the teaser for Boy Culture as a TV show. So, I am lucky to have a lot going on right now and I hope to capitalize as best I can on it all.