Gareth Smith and Mike Horowitz are filmmakers working in Los Angeles. They've
been trying to make a movie about the possum threat since 1999, but 'message
movies' are notoriously difficult to finance and release. Fortunately, since
Inconvenient Truth, the political climate (no pun intended) has changed.
Thanks to the bravery of Atom Films, this important motion picture has been
made.
Philip S. Wilson is a professor in residence at UNLV and the creator of the
Philip S. Wilson Workspace. He has written numerous scripts for TV movies.
PSW: There's no question that this is an important movie
-- why has it taken so long to get it made?
MH: It's been a struggle. And we don't want to
point fingers, but Hollywood can be really hesitant to make movies with political
subject matter -- a lot of people were afraid this would be too preachy.
GS: We kept telling them that we wouldn't let it get
that way. We want to warn people about the possum threat, but in a fun way.
Do you feel like it's preachy?
PSW: No, not at all. I felt like it was a delicate balancing
act, and for the most part, you pulled it off. Did you have concerns about working
with animal actors?
MH: Yes. And it was just as challenging as we feared.
GS: They say that kids and actors are the toughest-
PSW: Who is 'they'?
GS: People. Filmmakers.
PSW: I see.
GS: Anyway, we were talking to this animal trainer, and he
told us that possums are among the most challenging animals to get a performance
out of.
MH: At one point, we were considering using costumes on a different
species, but-
GS: Cats or raccoons, maybe.
MH: But it had to be possums, ultimately.
GS: Just for realism. And there are some moments, when you
would see something just click in their eyes, and-
MH: Bam! All of a sudden they're killing machines like their
prehistoric ancestors!
PSW: So these weren't the same type of possums?
GS: No.
MH: Of course not. The breed of possums we're warning about
in the movie... they're called Didelphis diabolis. And according to the [National
Science Foundation], they're extinct.
GS: We employed Didelphis virginiana [common opossums], which
look very similar.
PSW: But they have a better temperament.
GS: Exactly.
MH: Yeah. Although it's not like they're well-behaved. There
were a couple of days where we only got a few shots off. They're tough to work
with.
PSW: How about your human actors?
MH: They were much better [laughing].
GS: This was a tough shoot, and they were really patient and
very prepared.
MH: Our lead, Scott Pitts, was sick throughout the shoot, but
he just battled through it.
PSW: I thought he was fantastic.
MH: Yeah, Pitts is great.
PSW: As was Scott Fitzgerald. I believe I saw him in Scorcese's
'Departed.'
MH: No, I don't think so. But Scott Fitzgerald is a really
fun actor as well. I went to high school with him, and he's starred in some
movies we've done just for fun -- so it was great to be able to cast him in
this.
GS: Scott put up with a lot. [Spoiler Alert] We had to put
possum treats in his pants for one of those shots, so the possums were very
interested in his pants.
MH: [laughing] Very interested.
PSW: And this film introduces the lovely Amiee Conn...
GS: And her impressive screaming ability.
MH: Yeah, she can seriously scream. Apparently she's an amazing
singer, but there weren't a whole lot of musical numbers in this thing.
GS: All of our actors were great.
MH: Natasha, Pam, Justin, Stacy, and Ari - we were lucky to
find such good actors.
PSW: Were you able to shoot on location in Alaska?
GS: Unfortunately, no.
MH: We looked into it, but it just didn't make sense budget-wise.
Luckily, we found some pretty nice locations in Northern California, so we shot
there.
PSW: I thought it was very convincing, but then again, I've
never been to Alaska. What has the reaction to this film been like so far?
MH: Pretty good, but we haven't shown it to many people yet.
GS: We're excited to see the reaction and get feedback.
PSW: In a perfect world, what would you like people to say
about this movie as they walk away?
GS: Well, we want them to be excited for the sequels.
PSW: There are sequels on the way?
MH: Hopefully.
PSW: And I'd imagine you want people to help deal with the
possum threat.
GS: Yes.
MH: Definitely.
PSW: And in that vein, you want people to catch and kill possums?
MH: No.
GS: Please, let's make this perfectly clear -- this is not
about killing possums. Modern possums, Didelphis virginiana, they're not the
bad guys here.
MH: They don't deserve to die.
PSW: So what can people do?
MH: Well, this might sound indirect, but the problem is global
warming. If we can keep the permafrost from melting...
GS: Then the killer possums stay frozen underground.
PSW: Ingenious!
MH: One of the things we've been very excited about with this
short is supporting renewable energy. We worked with a company called '3 Phases'
to offset our 'dirty energy' use-
GS: Gas for driving, the generator on set, and the electrical
power at our studio-
MH: With 'clean energy' -- wind, solar, and water power.
PSW: How do they do that?
GS: It's pretty simple. They calculate how much CO2 you were
responsible for emitting, and then you buy a corresponding amount of Renewable
Energy Certificates... clean power that's added elsewhere to the power grid.
MH: It's called an energy offset -- and anyone can do it for
their business or residence.
GS: We're going to add a link to our website if people are
interested.
PSW: That's great. Did you get any cooperation from the National
Science Foundation?
MH: Not really.
GS: Not at all.
MH: I think they're kind of resistant to talk about the possum
threat on the record, but we've talked to various researchers, and we tried
to make this as realistic and scientific as possible.
GS: The scientist in our movie is probably a fairly accurate
portrayal of their position -- they just think other global warming concerns
are a higher priority at this point.
GS: They do good work over there, but-
MH: They're just a little slow on this one issue.
PSW: When will they see the light?
MH: That's a good question.
GS: Hopefully soon.
