EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN GROUP INTERVIEW

In the upcoming romantic comedy EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN, both the films stars and the writer/director are out to show that they are more than the genre they have best represented up to this point.

Writer/director Jason Todd Ipson, a fan of comedies, gained notice with his creepy horror film UNREST as one of the first films in the After Dark Film Festival.

Star Jay Jablonski, who plays Jake, a lovelorn fish market owner who pretends to be Italian to woo a beautiful girl, it is a friendship with Ipson that began with UNREST and continues with many other projects. Jablonski himself is a passionate horror fan.

For Cerina Vincent, best known for her role in CABIN FEVER, it's a chance to break out of horror and into a whole new genre. Having started in comedies, it has come full circle in the role of Marissa, a Spanish veterinarian who also pretends to be Italian to please Jake as the two slowly fall into love.

To promote EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN, the three sat down with the Colonel at the Warwick Hotel in New York City to discuss their latest films, stereotyping the Italian culture, the status of horror today, and the future of film in a lengthy discussion and Crypt exclusive.

COLONEL’S CRYPT: Jay and Cerina, what was it about EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN that attracted to you it?

CERINA VINCENT: I had been dying to do a romantic comedy. Kind of being known in the horror genre, I wanted to do a film that my really big Italian Catholic family would really love and appreciate. Then, for me, it was like any other audition. I got the script in the middle of a crazy pilot season and there were stacks of auditions and I saw the title, EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN, and I didn’t have to open it, I knew I was going to love it. Jason Todd Ipson wrote it and every single page was fantastic, I was laughing out loud. The role felt so me and it was one of those things where I felt that I had to have the part. I auditioned for Jason a few times and I read with Jay once.

JAY JABLONSKI: It was hands down I think after Cerina read. I didn’t have any part of the casting process except for the fact I was reading opposite her but it was obvious to me that she was certainly the right choice.

CV: He’s so sweet and he’s also awesome. It was one of the most fun auditions ever because it’s rare that you actually get to act with another actor for an audition and it’s even rarer when the actor is good so it helps a lot.

JASON TODD IPSON: It’s funny because when you audition, the process is on this film we had 20,000 applicants which usually comes from a management and agencies, but every Italian-American wanted to be in the film so we had a huge bunch. So out of that 20,000, they get filtered down and the casting agent brings a certain number and will bring a wave that I’ll sit down with the producers. What’s awesome is in the casting process on almost every single film I’ve been involved with someone walks into the door that literally blows your socks off. Cerina came in and she was just awesome and immediately felt she was the girl. I wanted to go outside and ask for her number because agents and managers can screw things up but I thought she may think I was creepy. I thought she was awesome and was great for the role but then we had to go through the dance of letting the agents know that we wanted her and they would come back saying she’s booked on pilots, there’s no way to get her, but we wound up getting her. How Jay came involved was different. Jay was in UNREST, which I did before this, and he came in and did the same thing Cerina did for EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN, so I wrote the film for Jay which is how he came involved. He’s too modest to say that so I figured I would.

JJ: Thanks Jason (laughs). Jason and I met on UNREST like he said. Shall I tell the story?

JTI: Go ahead.

JJ: When he was casting for UNREST, I was shooting something else at the time and I couldn’t make the first two auditions because of scheduling conflicts and Jason was like if this guy can’t make the audition, screw him. Fortunately, the casting director told Jason to just see the guy. I come in and Jason is just slumped in the chair and just went, “Go ahead and read.” At the end of the audition, he was sitting upright and smiling. I walked out pretty happy thinking everything was OK and a couple of days later I got the part. We were shooting UNREST and we went out to dinner one night and Jason tells me that he wanted to write his next script for me. I thought it was cool but the thing is there’s a lot of talk in LA. You don’t know what’s true and what’s not and fortunately for me Jason was true to his word as he’s always been and nine months later, the birth of EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN was presented and we started shooting a couple of months after that. I read the script and I was laughing out loud. I was in South Africa doing a commercial when I was reading that and I called from South Africa saying it was hysterical and awesome. It was just as much fun shooting it as well.

CV: I feel like everybody will enjoy this film, every age bracket, you don’t have to be Italian but if you are Italian, you can relate to so much into it.

JJ: My favorite aspect of the script other than the comedy is that it is such an ensemble piece. I know the way Jason writes is that every character is there for a reason. They’re not just there as setting. They are there for a purpose and they all contribute to the central idea of the story. With this movie, it holds true but this movie doesn’t make an audience feel stupid. It doesn’t sugarcoat issues that a lot of romantic comedies will. There’s a sense of reality to it and I think it’s great and rare to see that. A typical romantic comedy is where everything is tied up in a neat little bow and it’s perfect.

CV: It’s exactly how I feel too. The typical stereotypical romantic comedy has this formula that can be very annoying in a way.

JTI: I love romantic comedies.

CV: I do too but the normal studio romantic comedy has this formula and what I love about this is that it’s a little different and better. It’s completely over the top in some aspects but more realistic in others.

CC: Jason, why was it specifically Italian for the movie?

JTI: My wife is Italian and when I did UNREST it is a darker film. I guess the secret to my style is I don’t go by genres. I don’t think I would call UNREST a horror film. It’s more of a psychological thriller. Anyway, it was a very dark space. We were editing the movie, Mike Saenz and I, and it was just so dark I was getting more and more depressed because I do get depressed (laughter). I went to my wife and I felt I had to do something fun because when I was in film school, I went to USC, and when I was there I always did comedies. She had a film for me and being she’s an Italian woman, she said the title was EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN. I felt it was kinda dumb (laughter). Then she pitched me the concept and it was even worse but I did like the title and she went around singing the title. I don’t know if it’s a real song or not. Anyway, I would like to do a comedy. I love romantic comedies. I love the films of Woody Allen and Ed Burns. I work on inspiration. I hate to say that but Woody Allen has said that “Eighty five percent of success is just someone showing up.” I wish I can do that. I feel like I have to have something get under my skin. I did have a dream one night over what I wanted to do and all my thoughts of the past couple of months came into this dream. I woke up and I wrote the entire outline that night.

JJ: No he woke up and called me (laughter).

JTI: Yeah, well I woke up at two in the morning and called Jay at like six-thirty telling him I got the film, don’t worry about it. To answer your question, it’s the combination of my wife, who came up with the title, but also because I grew up without an identity. I grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah as a non Mormon, non religious person. I went through my ancestry and found out that I was Danish. I looked into my Danish background and got very excited. What’s great about Italians is they are very excited about their backgrounds but people aren’t offended by it. If you make a movie called EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE DANISH or EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE BRITISH, it doesn’t make any sense, but for some reason we all really do love some aspects about Italians. We love their food. We love their passion.

CV: Their love of their family.

JTI: Exactly and it just seemed like a good backdrop for a beautiful, heartfelt story about the meaning for love. In all actuality, I consider EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN to be a buddy film wrapped around a romantic comedy. It’s both, it’s not just one, and I think that’s why people who are not necessarily fans of romantic comedies really love it.

JJ: If I may interject, what’s so great about it is the fact that it is also a buddy film. When you watch the interaction between myself, John Kapelos, John Enos, and Richard Libertini, there really is that friendship aspect there where when you’re with your guy friends, you bust on each other. That’s the way it is. I think we really portrayed that in a true manner. The difference between this and what would be considered a chick flick is that a guy will be able to relate to the film in the way the guys all interact.

CV: I’ve been saying that it’s a film the guys are going to love because of the ridiculous guy humor, but then it’s all about love and soulmates and ticking biological clocks, everything that girls can relate to as well.

CC: I did like that there wasn’t an over the top raunchiness and that Jake’s friends were different ages but were all believable as friends.

JJ: That’s great too. There are so many comedies that focus strictly on shock humor. That’s funny. It gets laughs and everything but I think it’s more difficult to write something like what Jason wrote in that it is not so raunchy. It’s not just we’re going to say something to get a laugh.

JTI: You think these guys would take bullets for each other which I think would be half the battle. The secret for casting for me has always been to cast the best actors in the roles that are cool people in that you can feel their warmth. I feel that in this movie we’ve had a fantastic cast of actors. It was the ability for these guys to truly be friends that comes across on screen. On some of these films, sometimes one of the things going against the romantic comedy genre is that the two leads that are supposed to be in love clearly aren’t and what works in this film is that Jay and Cerina just have the perfect chemistry. They are close friends. They like each other and it’s discreet in a way that’s very important.

JJ: That was a huge aspect that we did get along so well from beginning to end. You never know if you are going to mesh well with the person that you’re going to spend the most time with and fortunately for us we enjoyed working together and looked forward to the scenes we shared.

CV: We had so much fun and that’s rare because ninety-nine percent of the time you’re plugged into this cast where you may not who your love interest is supposed to be and it can be very hard to…

JJ: (interrupting) Have a sex scene.

CV: Have a sex scene, thank you Jay (laughter). It’s very hard. It’s so awkward but with this film I was excited to go to work everyday.

JTI: You can see the two people on screen don’t even like each other and they’re making out.

JJ: I have to say that it was awesome too because working with guys like John Kapelos, Richard Libertini, and Cerina, they are all veterans and total professionals. This was my first lead in a film and there are guys who’ve done a lot more work and they just might be, uh…

CV: (interrupting) Assholes (laughter). Sorry.

JJ: Yeah. They’re certainly not going to support you and want the light on them but these guys were insistent from the beginning and they were very supportive that this is about my character and they wanted me to excel. They helped me with everything.

CV: It was true. They were so supportive.

JJ: There were no performances, myself included, where nobody was trying to put the spotlight on them. Everybody worked well as a unit and I think it shows in the film.

JTI: I have to give credit where credit is due to the company that made the film. Asgaard Entertainment, which is James Huntsman, Jamie Burke, and myself, and we would rather get rid of someone that is a star that won’t get along. Also for me I wanted you to believe that you could go into any local fish market and meet these guys. I lived in Boston and one of the things that shocked me in Boston was that I would go into a Laundromat and you would have blue collar people talking in very educated levels way beyond me. I’m fairly educated. As far as academic credentials, I’m white collar but when I heard these guys in the Laundromat, they would know more about politics than I ever did. I thought it was cool to contrast the academic world and the real world. So with this movie, I wanted first for the audience to have fun, and also that I wanted people to feel that these people exist out in this world.

CC: One of the things I related to in the film is that like Jake, I am Polish, but for some reason, I keep on hearing that people think I’m Italian. Maybe because I have dark hair, dark eyes, and speak with a New York accent.

JJ: There’s such a stereotype that if you have a New York accent you are automatically Italian. For me, my last name is Jablonski, my last name is Polish but I am three quarters Italian. I was raised in a much more Italian atmosphere but we had the kilbasa.

CV: I’m three quarters Italian but everybody in LA thinks I am Persian.

CC: I wanted to ask you because Cerina you’re known for your horror roles, and Jason and Jay, you have both done UNREST together, what’s your feeling towards horror today?

CV: I’m going to have to be really honest. I was never a big horror fan before I got thrown into the horror world so I have become a horror fan. Now I’m very picky about which horror films I like. I don’t want to say anything negative about anybody’s films but there’s a lot that just drives me nuts and they’re just not very realistic. There are also a lot of films that are really smart and interesting that I love and appreciate. I just really love the genre as a whole. There are so many wonderful horror fans that are so supportive. It’s this great community that I suddenly got to be a part of that I never knew existed and I am grateful to be in that world.

JJ: I have been a die hard horror fan since I was a little kid. It is my favorite genre to watch. I do think that there is no greater fan base than horror fans.

CV: That is totally true. They’re so loyal.

JJ: They are the most loyal, outstanding people in the world. They get so into it, it’s awesome. I think horror has taken a different turn since the 1980s slasher films but there’s been some great stuff out there lately. Movies like HOSTEL and HIGH TENSION took horror to a whole new level and showed a whole new world, starting a new trend put it in a horror/porno thing that kind of went there but there were so many good stories.

CV: This is going to sound weird from me being that I was in an Eli Roth film but I do love Eli. I think he’s done a great thing for horror. Do you agree with me?

CC: I’ll admit that I’m not the biggest fan of his films but you can’t deny that it did help kickstart the genre again.

JJ: The neat thing about HOSTEL was that the movie showed guys getting butchered which was the other way around from the normal setting.

CC: That was different for a change.

JJ: But with all due respect for Eli, when I did UNREST with Jason that was scary in a totally different aspect. The idea of possession and a body’s soul being at unrest until properly buried…

CV: That to me is more terrifying than being in a cabin.

JJ: And in UNREST, we shot in a functioning morgue in a hospital. That was about as creepy a feeling as you could get.

JTI: Your question is about the horror genre but it is applicable to every genre. I think we live in the best and worst times of film there are. On the one hand, I look at my job today as trying to deliver unique films to an audience. It has never been more difficult because you have everything under the sun at your disposal in terms of graphics and your imagination. You’re not living in the 1980s where you have an idea and there’s no way to get it on screen. Today, any idea you have for a movie can get on screen. I think for the horror genre, you have the potential for the greatest horror films of all time coming out now. Going back to UNREST, it’s much more of a 1980s film where you’re going into the mind rather than going to shock you with the graphic violence. It’s an interesting transition period for all films. What we did with this movie and with UNREST is that we’ve made 35mm films. To do that ten years ago was difficult. To do that 20 years ago was unfathomable. In today’s world you have HD cameras that cost less than a car. You have an entire planet of people that can make their own movies and in doing so you have people that never would’ve been able to make movies making great stuff but also you have some films on a whole slew of stuff that aren’t on the same level. I think horror is the one genre where the fans outshine the material. The horror fans are awesome and going to parties with these guys, I wouldn’t trade them for anything. They outshine the material that they are actually excited about at times.

CV: I was going to say that again coming from more of that world, I did start off doing comedy and I’ve been excited for an opportunity to play a lead in a romantic comedy to show that other side because I feel like nobody knows that I can do this (laughs).

JTI: We had a party when the first cut was done and we invited all of our horror friends in Los Angeles. It was cool because all of these guys loved Cerina for her horror roles came out and most of them don’t like comedy. Afterwards, they were all ecstatic to Cerina and felt she was awesome. That was a great feeling.

JJ: That was awesome because you have these hardcore, Gothed out horror fans in the audience and they are so supportive because it’s a built in fan base.

CV: We’re all in the horror world and it’s fun.

JTI: Remember GOOD WILL HUNTING when Ben Affleck’s character tells Matt Damon’s character that he hopes that he is gone?

CC: I remember that.

JTI: I felt a little bit that way with Cerina at this screening because all the horror guys were like “You can now go out and do other genres, you don’t have to do just horror anymore” and that was very funny to me.

CC: Jason, you touched upon a good topic about shooting on 35mm film and the fact that it’s more affordable than ever to make feature films and I’d like to know from all of you is what’s your opinion about this digital boom?

JTI: From a director’s perspective, I have to honestly say that I cannot wait for film to die. I’m also a professional photographer, so I shoot with a Canon 1PS Mark 3 and to be able to bring that into Photoshop, alter it, and go out and get what you want is awesome. 35mm still has huge advantages of HD which is why I will continue to shoot on 35mm until probably three years into the future where it will be gone. I cannot wait because the flow of working on HD is so much better than it is on film. On film, it’s got an aesthetically better look. The reason is that there’s more stops between light and dark so you have better detail on 35mm.  We’re just around the corner from that changing. Call it whatever you want, HD, 24p, as soon as it will get into the same latitude and expand that dynamic range, it will blow film away and it’s an inevitable step. I love the guys that are pioneering, David Fincher, Robert Rodriguez, even Spielberg’s started to go into that direction. However, with that said, I was grateful I was trained as a 35mm director because directing a 35mm is so much more difficult than the skills that you have to have. The reason is that film is so expensive that you have to edit it in your head. The job of a 35mm director versus the job of a film director is different and you see a generational gap. When we shot scenes of some of my short films at USC and UNREST, it was gone and you didn’t see for a week and a half so you had no way of knowing if it was covered or your film canister blew up so the job itself was more difficult and I am grateful I was trained under that generation because for us it’s like you cut a film in your head while you’re shooting it so when I watch Cerina and Jay perform in EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN I’m like “We gotta go again” and they would be “But it was awesome” but I felt we had to go again because I know how to cut a film in my mind. I think I’ll get lazier with HD because I think if the HD trend shifts over I’ll be able to expand my creativity where I’ll want this part of the screen to get dark and that part to be light and you’ll be able to play with all that but at the same token I’ll get lazy because I’ll just do an extra take since it won’t cost anything so it’s a definite balance.

CV: I personally prefer film. I just feel like everything looks better. I don’t know a lot about the HD world but unless you have a director and cinematographer who gets it and makes it look really great, I prefer film.

JJ: The thing I love about film and I’m not a director is that I love the imperfections of film that you don’t have in HD, and that I think lends a unique value to the project. I think Jason is right that in three years the HD cameras will be able to pick up everything that a 35mm camera can.

JTI: Let me give you a historical perspective. In 2002 I did my student thesis film called PEEPING TOM and at the time we wanted the absolute cleanest look we could possibly have so we got a Kodak film stock that was the cleanest and there was no grain whatsoever in this stock. When we shot EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN, we wanted the dirtiest film stock we could possibly find and it was exactly the same Kodak film stock that was the cleanest five years before. That tells you something. The cleanest film stock in 2002 is by far the dirtiest in 2007, and it’s not even made anymore by the way. We had to import the film stock from all over the world to use it, from South America to Asia because it’s not even made. This argument about the purity of film and whatnot is unfortunately not reality because the reason why I can’t wait for HD is because you can put filters on it to make it look grainy and you can bring back that look of film that’s no longer there. Kodak and all these labs have completely eliminated any film stock that has any grain in it whatsoever. There’s a reason for that. The only advantage of film today and I’m willing to go on record is the latitude difference from the high end to the low end. That’s it. There’s no other advantage to film today.

JJ: It really does allow so many people to have access to filmmaking. If that’s what they love and it’s their passion, it’s just awesome that people are having that opportunity to create their art in whatever genre they want to do it.

JTI: My generation was the last generation that was trained on 35mm and a lot of reasons I am offered a lot of jobs is because I am a 35mm guy and they don’t trust anybody who’s very new because they’ve never shot on that medium. It’s that crazy.

CC: I also think there’s been some great films over the past decade shot on video but there’s also a lot of bad films as well.

JTI: This is the period where the bad will be filtered out for sure. Look at this film, it’s an independent film that’s going out in limited release but will be expanded wide. There are sixty studio films made today and there are 200 total films released in theaters. Ten years ago you had about 700 independent films that were shot. Now you have 12,000. Two years from now you’ll have about 20,000. I don’t mean to brag but it’s a testament for EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN that we got a theatrical release because there are 12,000 films we are competing with to get into theaters.

CC: I agree but I also think we’ll see more of what Warner did with RETURN TO HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL which had that interactive choose who lives or dies concept. Being you were such a huge part of that Cerina, how was that experience?

CV: It was insane because when I got the original script it was one thing but when I got to Bulgaria where it was shot and it was something completely different and there were all these added pages. As an actor, I read the script and then I map out my character arc. Where you start and where you’re going so when you’re shooting on the first day, for example you’re shooting Scene 33, I know where I’m going to be. That was hard for me because suddenly with these different endings, you have a character that makes one decision which totally changes the character arc.

JJ: It’s like those choose your own adventure novels?

CV: It was exactly like that.

JJ: Wow.

CV: That was a challenge for me but when they were shooting they weren’t calling it an interactive, choose your own adventure thing. They were calling it branching and we were looking at each other going “What the hell is branching?” That was very tricky.

JTI: If I were going to do that, I would direct the film the way it was supposed to be and then I’d call everybody back and say “It didn’t work so let’s do this” and I would try to do it that way because I think it would be impossible to give an actor a choose your own adventure story and have them do a good job. For example, how does Jay play the role of ending up with Cerina if one of his choices is that he’s going to end up with the Isabella character. It sounds cool. I’d like to think it would work but you have to nail the performance.

CV: That’s exactly my point. If Jay were to play the “I’m going to end up with myself or Isabella” which are two completely different characters and two different decisions. I wasn’t really stoked about my performance in RETURN TO HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL and I don’t want to blame that on it. There were many other factors but I did feel very, very confused about things.

CC: I did see the regular version on regular DVD and when I viewed at a friend who had it on Blu Ray or HD DVD, whichever format it was on, I started to go through it and make choices and after the fourth ending I just went “Fuck it” and turned it off. (Laughter)

CV: And shooting it was so confusing because we’re shooting this scene but then the same scene but we’re branching. I wasn’t sure if it was the real movie or if we were branching? I feel like what Jason said is the way to do it. Shoot the whole movie. Obviously you need to have a lot of money because you have to set up and then set up but shoot the whole movie as one character and then reshoot with different choices.

JTI: That would be cool if we could do that.

CC: So what’s next for all of you?

JTI: I’m working on a project called ONE NIGHT STANDARD which is a romantic comedy. I can’t get the comedy out of my writing. It was supposed to be a drama but it’s just too funny. It’s going to shoot in Washington D.C. That’s going to be the next film I do and then I’m doing a film that I’m attached to called SUICIDE BOMBER which is a pretty charged film. We’re casting that now and I’m also working on other side projects.

JJ: I was working on a Robert Evans produced short called MIND GAMES. I have a movie coming out in February called KIDS IN AMERICA by Universal with Topher Grace and Anna Faris. I have a couple of other things in the works. I just did an episode of CSI: NEW YORK and THE SECRET LIFE OF A TEENAGER.

CV: For starters I’m starting a film in November called COMPLACENCY directed by Steven R. Monroe who I worked with on IT WAITS. It’s a really dark comedy/drama about people becoming complacent in their marriages. It’s a fun and different role. I’m also a writer and I have a book out that came out last January from Harper Collins that I co-wrote with my friend Jodi Lipper called HOW TO EAT LIKE A HOT CHICK. Do you have it?

CC: I’ve heard of it. I don’t think I fit the demographic. (Laughter)

CV: I have another book in the series coming out in January called HOW TO MAKE LOVE LIKE A HOT CHICK.

CC: Now that I’ll pick up. (Laughter)

CV: Thanks. It’s basically giving girlfriend to girlfriend advice about relationships. I also co-write for the Huffington Post. Also a horror script that I wrote called ADRENALINE got option. I really want to make that film so I’m hoping that financing will go through and that could happen.

JTI: Cerina is one of the busiest and beautiful women ever. It’s very impressive that she’s an actress and so much more. She’s gone through “I’m going to write a book to being on the best seller list.”

CV: Thanks. I’m also doing another thriller that will go out soon.

JJ: “The Autobiography Of Michael Jackson.” (Laughter)

CV: No not that. It’s based on a personal experience so that’s that.

CC: Thank you all for your time and best of luck with EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN. With that, I leave the last word for all of you.

JJ: Thank you for your time and we’re very proud of this movie and hope people will love it.

CV: Please everybody go see EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE ITALIAN. This film is adorable, charming, and we’re all very proud of it. We’re all very passionate about it. People seem to love and enjoy it and we hope that everybody in the country will get to see it and love it as well.

JTI: I would like to thank you Scott. I checked out your website and I like it a lot. The other thing I’d like to say is that it’s an interesting time as we’ve talked about because a lot of these small films are getting squeezed out entirely. It is a positive thing when films like this work but even more than that, I think it’s positive to remember that the reason we are into movies is because we are fans. This movie is made just to enjoy yourself. It’s not meant to be pretentious. It’s not meant to be high art. It’s meant for you to have a good time. Love movies because of movies. Just enjoy them. Don’t look for every little thing against it. Celebrate it. Go to www.everybodywantstobeitalian.com if you like the film and show your support.
 

(Special thanks to Falco Ink)