An Interview With Filmmaker Jon Weinberg
We have been hearing lots of good things about the upcoming independent feature Funeral Day so we were very excited when we got the opportunity to chat to director, producer and actor Jon Weinberg about his upcoming movie.
Hi Jon it is great to meet you.
Could you tell us a little bit about yourself and how you got into the filmmaking game?
I grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis – St. Louis Park to be exact – (where the Coen Brothers are from – just a little fun fact) and there was really great access to the arts – music, film, theatre, fine arts and I was exposed to it from a relatively young age. I’m not one of those guys that was always making movies as a kid, but my dad had this big ol’ camera which recorded straight to a VHS tape and he was often lugging it around and taking home-movies. I remember on several occasions having him help me make some little movies for school projects. My parents would take my sister and I to the movies and to the theatre quite a bit when we were younger, so I’ve always been excited and influenced by film & theatre.
I was really into music in high school (and still am), but I ended up studying theatre and acting in college and then continued my training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) in London. I directed a bit of theatre during and right after school, but I mostly focused on acting.
Several years ago I was itching to make a film and ended up directing a short film called Yes You Deserve It! which was written by Kris Elgstrand, a great screenwriter and friend from Vancouver who also wrote Funeral Day, the feature I directed. I quite enjoyed the experience and was pleased with the end result. It played some fun festivals, and it was great seeing it on the big screen. It was also nice to have some control over what I was doing. I directed a couple of small things after that, but knew I wanted to take the next step and make a feature, which is what led me to make Funeral Day.
That is a great story and it sounds like a very natural thing for you to eventually get into the directors chair.
You’ve acted in various projects including a large number of short films. Do you feel that short films have helped you understand the business and evolve as a filmmaker?
For the most part anytime I get to work as an actor it not only feels good, but I am continually learning and honing my craft, as they say. I’m not quite sure who “they” are, but “they” say it. No matter what size the project, being on set is a really great way to learn how things work on a film and who actually does what and all the work that goes into each department and position. All of those experiences have certainly helped me evolve as a filmmaker.
What made you want to get behind the camera?
I don’t sit still very well and when things feel slow I feel the need to make something happen. Also, as I said before, I wanted to have a little more control over the things I was doing. I set out to make Yes You Deserve It!, and my intention was to produce something that I was excited to be in. There was a director attached, but when he got busy with some other projects I took on the role of director because I wanted it to move forward. After months of planning it all out and knowing I had people around me that I trusted and who would be there to help me out, it made sense for me to direct the film. One way or another I knew I wanted to get behind the camera, but it happened a little sooner than I expected.
You have definitely made the most of the opportunity and that was great determination to get the project up and running.
Can you tell us a little bit more about your upcoming feature ‘Funeral Day’?
Funeral Day is about a man who wakes up on the morning of his friend’s funeral only to feel what he thinks is a tumor in his “nut” and decides he must skip the funeral in order to start living his own life to the fullest before he himself dies. It’s a dark comedy that explores mortality, getting unstuck, and what it means to take some responsibility as an adult. Again, the screenplay was written by, Kris Elgstrand, and we were so lucky to have such a great cast to help bring the film to life including Tyler Labine (Deadbeat, The Boss, Tucker & Dale VS. Evil), Dominic Rains (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Burn Country – for which he took home Best Actor at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival), Suzy Nakamura (Dr. Ken, Horrible Bosses 2, Go On), Jed Rees (Deadpool, Galaxy Quest, The Ringer) and others.
You had a great cast and crew on board for the film. It can make such a big difference having such fantastic people around you.
The movie will premiere at the Austin Revolution Film Festival where it is up for five awards! Congratulations. How do you feel about how well received the film has been?
Thanks! I’m excited (and nervous) that I finally get to share the film with an audience outside of those that are involved with the film. I feel very fortunate that we get to premiere Funeral Day in such a great city like Austin and at the Austin Revolution Film Festival, a festival that seems to really champion not just independent films but the filmmakers too. Being nominated for the awards is certainly flattering and a nice little ego stroke, but most importantly I hope it will help keep the film moving forward. I actually just found out that the film has been invited to screen at some more festivals including the Twin Cities Film Festival and the Reading Film Festival. Very exciting!
That’s great news. I am sure there are some very happy times ahead for everyone involved in ‘Funeral Day’.
How did you come to team up with the Testicular Cancer Society?
That’s actually a very contemporary story. We were doing a crowdfunding campaign on Seed&Spark to raise a bit more money for post production and I tweeted something about “checking yourself” and somewhat randomly chose the Testicular Cancer Society to include on the Tweet. Mike Craycraft, the founder of the TC Society, saw it and got in contact with me. He told me the story somewhat echoed his own, which I thought was a bit crazy because Scott, the lead character, does and goes through some crazy things. Like Scott, Mike didn’t want to go to the doctor when he felt a lump in one of his testicles. Mike actually ended up waiting 7 months before he saw a doctor. He’s actually very lucky and his experience is what led him to create the Testicular Cancer Society. Mike really felt that the film would be an invaluable tool in helping not just raise awareness about testicular cancer, but to help change how guys address their health issues. Those were his words and I was so pleased he felt that way. It was a no-brainer to partner up with the organization. Check them out at HERE. They are dedicated to increasing awareness and education about the disease and providing support services to fighters, survivors and caregivers. It’s been an education for me as well.
Do you hope that the film will help to raise awareness of Testicular Cancer?
Most Certainly. It’s really quite wonderful that Funeral Day can have any hand in helping bring awareness. Funeral Day is a comedy that deals with some serious issues, so if it can bring some laughter to the atmosphere and facilitate a discussion that might be hard for some to have that’s pretty great. We’re looking at ways to bring the film to college campuses to help raise awareness, talk testicular cancer and independent filmmaking. Makes sense to me.
That’s a brilliant idea to get the film into college campuses, I think that would be a great way of making people aware of testicular cancer.
As well as directing the movie you also appear in it, how did you find doing ‘double’duty’?
One of the producers, Ron Butler, who is also a great actor, was also there as a co-director on set. Since I’m in much of the film it was very important to me to have someone I trusted at the monitor and helping direct the scenes. We had very limited time so I wasn’t able to watch playback as often as I would have liked. I’m not sure how else I would have been able to do it without Ronnie and the other producers on set. And of course the wonderful crew and cast. One of the toughest things about doing “double duty” was having to watch all the raw footage of myself in the editing room. It takes quite a while to get to the point where you can look at yourself like you’re just one of the other actors.
I can imagine that feels quite strange at times.
This being your directorial debut, How did you feel the filming went?
I’m very proud of the film and what we were able to do with our time and budget. That being said there were lots of obstacles we had to overcome before, during and after the filming of Funeral Day. We lost a main location a week before we began shooting and had to scramble to replace it. We did find a replacement but that location ended up being a nightmare so we chose to shoot there one day less then was planned and had to come up with a quick solution of how to shoot the remainder of what was supposed to be shot at that location. We also lost some key actors just before and even during the shoot. While that was a real challenge and we had to hold some auditions after a couple of 12 hour days, we ended up with some amazing actors. I actually can’t imagine those roles with anyone but them. I’m really not just saying that. I feel extremely fortunate to have gotten the cast we did for Funeral Day. It certainly wasn’t an easy shoot, but that is often the nature of the beast. Tears were certainly shed, but lots of laughs and smiles were had too!
It is good that you were able to work through these setbacks and sometimes jumping in at the deep end is the best way to learn to swim.
Did you learn a lot from your first experience in the directors chair?
I learned so much. It’s hard to actually quantify or describe all that I learned. From forming an LLC to working out all the contracts, to the casting, to creating a shot-list and working with the cinematographer and the rest of the crew and the actors, to learning about equipment and working with the editor and the colorist and the sound mixer and the composer, to getting a poster and a trailer made and on and on. It’s quite amazing how much goes into making a film and putting it out into the world. I do want to take a moment here and thank everyone who worked on the film and helped make it happen. And an additional shout out to cinematographer, Jeffery Cunningham, editor, Jay Trautman, post sound guru, Darin Heinis and composer Ariel Blumenthal. Such a talented & hard working bunch!
Excellent. I am sure they will all appreciate your thanks and appreciation.
Being fans of Doctor Who we were happy to see you had done some voice-work on the Doctor Who and Sara Jane Smith audio dramas. How was that experience?
It was really great. Just after I graduated from LAMDA I auditioned for a roll in a sci-fi audio series called Space: 1889 and got the part of Lucas H Tyler, a cowboy on Mars. He is such a fun character and one that I would probably not get to play on TV or in a film. That’s certainly a great thing about voiceover. What one looks like rarely comes into play. Everyone involved was so great and I learned so much just from watching the other actors. These were working British actors. One had just finished a production at the National Theatre and another just finished shooting a big film. It was really amazing to be working with them. The director and producer of the series, John Ainsworth, was so great and encouraging and was also a director on a number of other series including Doctor Who. John later brought me on to voice some great characters on the Doctor Who audio series as well as on the Sarah Jane Smith spin-off. They really were so much fun.
It sounds like it was a blast!
Were you a Doctor Who fan before or after the experience?
Doctor Who was not as popular in the United States then as it is now, so I knew very little about Doctor Who at the time. I had to quickly learn not just what a Dalek was but how to pronounce the word. I certainly became a fan because of the experience. The Doctor Who audio series uses many of the past doctors & characters so I had the pleasure of working with Peter Davison, Sarah Sutton, Nicholas Briggs, Elizabeth Sladen and others. I feel lucky to have worked with Elizabeth before she passed away several years ago. Doctor Who is such an institution in the UK and now all over the world and I’m delighted that I’m a tiny part of it.
I bet it was a fantastic experience getting to meet all those people who worked on the series.
Before we ‘EXTERMINATE’ the interview, have you got any upcoming projects you can tell us about?
I’m working on a few things including a series called Psycles, created by Ethan Rains. Ethan is a wonderful actor, writer and director and is the brother of Dominic Rains who plays TJ in Funeral Day. The three of us are producing the series and we hope to share more details about the project very soon. I’m also looking for the next film to direct so if you have any ideas or a great script do let me know!
It all sounds very exciting for you in the very near future! Good luck with your screening at the Austin Revolution Film Festival and all your other screenings. We will also be eagerly anticipating news for ‘Psycles’. Thanks again Jon.
If you are in the Austin area then we highly recommend doing all you can to attend the Austin Revolution Film Festival and catching a screening of Funeral Day. Also, keep you eyes open for a screening of Funeral Day at a festival near you.
