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EXCL: Strause Bros. Look Up to the Skyline


Source: Rob G.
March 10, 2010


Looking out the window from the apartment of Greg Strause to the amazing view which overlooks most of downtown Los Angeles is how the director first explains to this Shock writer where the idea for Skyline (the flick he's co-directing with his brother Colin) came to fruition.

"What if it's the end of the world right outside your window? And what if you've got boxed seats," asks Greg. "That was really the hook that we started with and then Josh [Cordes] and Liam [O'Donnell] started crafting the story."

It all began over lunch where the two brothers and two writers got together to hash out a plotline based on this initial concept. "We were really frustrated to see how hard it was for even really big established directors to get a project off the ground. And there's something really strange about the way the film business works. No one actually owns any of the stuff you would need to make a movie. It'd be like if our visual FX company didn't own any computers. So, with that mindset, we invested in all our own cameras and equipment. Owning a camera means that I can go at any moment I want and go film stuff."

"It was that mentality that made us realize we don't need anyone else to do this," continues Greg. "Here we are now with a small crew, but with a very 'can do' attitude. We want to do more with less and have fun."

Learning from their previous experience on Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, the Strause brothers are not only shooting the movie independently and completely with all their own gear, but are also in the very apartment complex where Greg lives. (Hence the incredible window view.) "The building is huge," explains co-director Colin. "It's an $80 million building. It's brand new. No one's ever shot a movie here before. And now, after us, we don't know if anyone else ever will," he laughs.

What we've heard thus far about the story for Skyline has been fairly vague. But we do know that it involves "a group of party-goers who wake up to discover a mysterious bright light outside. When they investigate the source of the light they start to realize the true scale of the terror that awaits them." After the crew screens for me the teaser trailer shown at the Berlin Film Festival, along with a few already completed sequences, it's fairly obvious what exactly that bright light in the sky is that these people are looking up to.

"The whole beginning of the movie is the disappearance of a group of people [into the light]," says Colin. "But that's only about 10 percent of the movie. You get a third of the way into the movie when shit starts to happen. That's when the cat is out of the bag."

Putting two and two together and knowing I'm (understandably) not going to get much details about the latter half of the film considering the filmmaker's desire for secrecy, I ask if the duo are reuniting with Amalgamated Dynamics who did the Aliens and Predators in their last film. Greg confirms, "Yes. Tom Woodruff Jr. and Alec Gillis are doing designs for the film."

In regard to the cast, on-set are Texas Chainsaw remake's Eric Balfour, Donald Faison from TV's Scrubs, Scottie Thompson, Crystal Reed (from the upcoming Teen Wolf) and (the even lovelier in person) Brittany Daniel. Which of this gang makes up the "party goers"? Writers Cordes and O'Donnell explain that Donald Faison plays Terry, a former New Yorker, now LA entrepreneur who's throwing the bash. Flying in from New York is his best friend Jarrod (Balfour) with his girlfriend Elaine (Thompson) to reunite with his bud for the event. And that's when the mysterious light first appears.

"We liked playing with the idea of someone from New York coming to LA, visiting his best friend and not being used to the glamour," Cordes illustrates. "Because we've seen it before where we have a bunch of privileged people at a party and they have their problems, then something happens and as an audience, you think 'I can't relate to any of these people or their personalities'. We tried to avoid that and give you people that you really care about and you'll think 'Oh my God, what would I do if I were in that situation?'"

Although Faison and Balfour's characters were best friends back in New York, the dynamic between the two has changed since last they saw each other, which only adds to the drama in their friendship. "Jarrod is at the definitive crossroads of any man's life when he finds out he might be a father," reveals O'Donnell "And the more modern take on that for us is whether or not he wants to be a father, because that happens these days. We all make choices. People can relate to characters like that."

Back on set, the brother's seem to be in their element. With the help of the small yet dedicated crew, the shoot seems to be going very smoothly and even the actors are extremely playful between multiple takes. "Compared to the studio process which beats you down, this is actually a lot of fun," confesses Greg. "And we're getting to do what we want. It's liberating and awesome."

"I guess we won't be able to blame anyone if everyone hates this movie," he jokes, no doubt in regards to fan reaction for AVP: R, a sentiment we get the feeling the director himself shares with the fans. "This one's on us. We will have to take responsibility on this one."

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Comments

Posted by: Hollywood Is Dead on March 10, 2010 at 09:32:36

"It's hard to get a project off of the ground", = "No one will hire these too bumbling nincompoops after they massacred Alien and Predator". Good luck with your crappy Cloverfield rip-off, guys.

Posted by: Hollywood Is Dead on March 10, 2010 at 11:08:57

"two", not "too". Not that they'll notice.

Posted by: Robg on March 10, 2010 at 13:00:47

Hollywood Is Dead - Where are you getting the CLOVERFIELD comparison? It's nothing like that, it's not shakey cam first person perspective at all.

Posted by: Robgoblin on March 10, 2010 at 17:16:07

Hollywood is Dead = Someone from the AvP message boards. Get over it douche.

Posted by: Nunya on March 10, 2010 at 23:49:21

Hollywood is Dead - Um, no that is nothing like Cloverfield except for people having a party. Goddamn, you are a moron.

Posted by: Nunya on March 11, 2010 at 21:34:53

Who's defending them, moron? I'm just saying it's nothing like Cloverfield. God, you are stupid.

Posted by: Hollywood Is Dead on March 12, 2010 at 09:40:26

Actually you're too stupid too see that this is obviously an attempt to cash in on the retarded "Cloverfield" "shaky gritty" genre. Now kindly piss off, you internet trash!

Posted by: LiamOD on March 12, 2010 at 23:09:48

It's definitely NOT "shaky" or filmed with a first person camera ala Blair Witch or Cloverfield.

Posted by: Hollywood Is Dead on March 13, 2010 at 15:05:48

Great, so they're just going to steal the inciting incident. Real impressive!

Posted by: Jacqueline Cordes on May 17, 2010 at 19:05:12

How can anybody diss a movie that have yet to see? Oh, and by the way, what films do any of you naysayers have in the works? Let me know so I can piss on them before they even hit the screen!

Posted by: Big Jack on May 18, 2010 at 08:15:39

Those than can - DO
Those who cannot - Criticize
Given the rehashed tripe that is visited upon us – let us say “Clash of the Titans” as an example; which wasted millions on millions not to mention our time to view it – how does one belittle and independent creative effort prior to seeing the final result?

Extremely preposterous and presumptuous of those who can hide behind their anonymity on-line; commenting during a Cheetos break from the virtual world they spend their time in.

Posted by: Desperation Jones on May 18, 2010 at 12:32:00

I want to see this film. I want the brothers to succeed. I hope they have awesome creatures, and effects (both practical I hope) from Amalgamated Dynamics. I hope this movie kicks ass. I hope and dream of a distant future, one filled with interesting film concepts that push the boundaries of thought and cinema. Barring that, I will settle for original entertainment and unique properties getting produced.

P.S.- AvP was ruined the minute the first film was created to be PG-13.They created a real stinker, which was followed by a slightly less stinkier stinker in AvP:R. At least AvP;R had an interesting take on the PredAlien, even it was populated by douchebag characters and terrible deus-ex-machina convolutions. But at least they went edgier with it this time, instead of pandering to a group of teens in the hopes that they will buy the new line of action figures they blew a goddamn city (because really neither franchise can win) and then basically offed the remaining characters in order to set-up a sequel that will feature what I felt should have been the original concept: Space Marines vs Aliens vs Predator, just like the games and comics I grew up loving. So while Hollywood is Dead May hate AvP:R, I thought it to be infinitely better than its ****house rat of a predecessor.
Take, for instance, that scene where the PredAlien heads towards the maternity ward...well, that was the equivalent of the end of a Mastercard commercial. Priceless.

Posted by: kc on July 26, 2010 at 18:26:25

Check out this exclusive interview about the rise of the ‘Strause Brothers’, directors of ‘Skyline’. http://bit.ly/aVFT8N

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