Where God Left His Shoes: Q&A with the Director

Q&A WITH WRITER AND DIRECTOR SALVATORE STABILE
Q: I am sitting down to talk with writer/director/producer Salvatore Stabile about his new independent film Where God Left His Shoes, starring John Leguizamo. This is Sal’s second feature film. His first, Gravesend, which he directed when he was only 19, attracted the attention of Oliver Stone and Steven Spielberg. Since then, Sal has written for numerous television shows, including The Sopranos and Rescue Me. Where God Left His Shoes, is produced by Paul Allen’s Vulcan Productions, and will premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival.

Q: Congratulations on your new film. It’s a very honest and inspiring story.

Sal: Thank you.

Q: What was your main inspiration for writing it?

Sal: There were a few things. I’ve wanted to do a father/son/family story for a long time. I grew up just outside Coney Island, and it wasn’t easy for my parents to raise three children. There were a lot of times when it felt like we were going to make it. But we did, and I think the reason was because we always stuck together as a family, no matter how difficult things got. So, when I set out to write the script, the most important thing I wanted to show was a family going through the most difficult time of their life, and in the end come to the decision that no matter how bad things get, they will stick together and survive as long as they have each other.

Q: Your producer said you wrote the script very quickly.

Sal: It usually takes me 3 months to finish a solid first draft. With Where God Left His Shoes, I finished it in 3 weeks. What was even more surprising, only a week after finishing my first draft, I found financiers who wanted to make the film.

Q: Wow.

Sal: Looking back, I remember my agent reading it and calling me up the next day and saying it was the best script I have ever written. I didn’t believe it - not that it was my best script, but that my agent actually read it in one night. That’s how I knew this was something special.

Q: How do you feel now?

Sal: Now? I’m just happy I got the chance to make the film. Over the last 10 years working in the business, I’ve learned that if 10% of what you write gets made, you are considered wildly successful. I also learned that in order to be happy, and to survive this business, you have to remove all hope and expectation.

Q: Paul Allen’s Vulcan Productions, how did you get them to read your film?

Sal: A lawyer who was doing another film with them read the script and thought it would be a perfect fit, so he sent it to them. They really responded to it, so we had a meeting and I told them my vision for the film, which they liked. From there, we came up with a budget they approved and started casting.

Q: What was your relationship like with your producers?

Sal: Very respectful and harmonius. Dan Edelman and I worked on Gravesend together, so we were totally in sync. And Richard Hutton and Michael Caldwell, from Vulcan, are filmmakers at heart. They knew exactly how to assist me in realizing the vision of the film. They knew when to step in and make suggestions and they knew how to do it in a way that inspired me and everyone else. I look forward to working with them again real soon.

Q: Where God Left His Shoes. It’s a great title and such a unique phrase. How did you come up with that?

Sal: It’s an old Italian saying. My father would say it all the time. When I was a kid, we moved into this apartment, and I remember him looking all around the place and saying, "Well, it’s not where God left his shoes, but it’ll do."

Q: This is your second feature that you directed. Your first, Gravesend, came out in 1997. I think I remember the story...you made it in film school when you were 19?

Sal: Yes.

Q: For $10,000 or something like that?

Sal: Yep. That was crazy.

Q: How did that prepare your for Where God Left His Shoes?

Sal: It taught me how to cut production expenses, and it taught me how to solve production problems creatively, without throwing money out the window.

Q: You mentioned that you took your time in deciding what you wanted your second film to be. Why is that?

Sal: After Gravesend came out, there was a lot of pressure on what I was going to do next. The truth is, I think I realized that, although I made a film which showed some promise for me as a director, I really needed to learn my craft. I had all of these opportunities and I didn’t want to blow them by making a bad, or the wrong, second film.

Q: Is that why you’ve done so much writing and producing for television?

Sal: Yes. I made a very conscious decision to work as a writer as much as possible, so I could hone my craft as a screenwriter, get on as many sets as I could and watch more experienced directors.

Q: So, after writing Where God Left His Shoes, did you feel you were ready to direct again? Or was there still some doubt?

Sal: I think there’s always doubt, no matter how successful you become. But it’s that doubt that fuels me to go above and beyond my own, and everyone else’s, expectations. But to answer your question, yes, I felt that I had grown enough, both as a person and filmmaker, to bring the film the respect and integrity the script called for...that’s why my first choice for the role of Frank was John Leguizamo.

Q: What was it like working with him?

Sal: Frightening, at first. He’s one of the best actors of our time.

Q: What did you do to prepare?

Sal: John and I worked closely on the character and the emotional reality of where he should be at each point in the script. But beyond that, the way I work is, I let my actors do whatever they want for the first two takes. Then, I help them bring out other choices that I may want in the editing room. But by allowing them to interpret the material without my comments or direction, they bring their own essence to the character...an essence that I would never be able to see unless I allow them to be free.

Q: Sounds like an actor’s dream?

Sal: I find that giving an actor a lot freedom allows more opportunities for things to happen that you never expect.

Q: Where did you find the kids? They were amazing.

Sal: Yeah, it’s scary how talented they are. My casting director, Sig De Miguel, found both David and Samantha. David Castro, who play’s John’s son in the film, was only 9 when we shot the film...He is so talented...he has a long future ahead of him.

Q: Did you employ the same approach with the children as you did with everyone else?

Sal: Well, I actually discovered that kids are better actors than adults. They retain things so much better…they never forget their lines or how a scene evolves. Kids have very little self consciousness, so when they’re in the scene, they are very natural and truthful. My process with them was simple, I would talk through the scene with them, address any questions they had and then we would shoot. The only other thing I did was to make sure the environment was very peaceful. I went out of my way to let them feel like it was ok to make mistakes...but they never did.

Q: Did John work with David Castro a lot off set?

Sal: Both John and Leonor Varela, who plays the mom, had a huge hand in helping their performances. John is the most humble actor I have ever met. He was so prepared and focused and giving. I think his generosity and spirit elevated everyone’s effort. And Leonor bonded with the kids as if they were their own. It was like this instant family.

Q: You mentioned that you tried to create a peaceful environment on set. Most of the film was shot on location in New York City, amidst crowds of people. You shot in Rockefeller Center, Washington Square Park, Times Square, 34th street, on trains and train tunnels...how did you make those sets peaceful?

Sal: At first, I tried to control everything...it was very stressful. There were thousands of people all around us and focusing wasn’t easy. But on like the third or fourth day my AD pulled me to the side and said, "Sal, it’s bigger than you. Don’t try to control it. Try to go with it." That’s what I did and it really helped.

Q: Because so many of your locations were unmanageable, did that compromise your visual style?

Sal: No, it actually helped us execute it better than originally envisioned. My DP and I worked very closely. We wanted the film to feel honest and real. Our goal was to make this family feel like they are all alone in a city of five million people. We drafted an intense shot list, chose every lens carefully and visited each location several times to map out the shots so we were on the same page when we got to production. We also watched a lot of films together, specifically films from the Italian neo-realism era, which are my biggest influences as a filmmaker. Films like Umberto D and The Bicycle Thief.

Q: It sounds like you are a huge advocate of pre-production?

Sal: On an independent film, it’s the most important stage of production. It can make or break you. And in my case, I was only allowed to have the kids on set for I think it was 6 hours a day. On a 25 day shoot, to get the performances we got, in all the elaborate locations we shot at...that was an amazing feat.

Q: What was the hardest scene to shoot?

Sal: Wow, the hardest scene?...I think there were two. The Times Square scene and the scene towards the end in the restaurant.

Q: How did you pull off the shots of John Leguizamo begging in Times Square?

Sal: I used very long lenses and set the camera up about a block away, so no one saw what we were shooting. And then I set John and David out to military island in the middle of Times Square and let them do their thing.

Q: Your producers said that someone called the police on you during that scene.

Sal: Yeah. There was some rich looking suit guy, who saw John and David begging. I guess he didn’t recognize John and he didn’t see the cameras. So, to him, it looked like this father was making his son beg in the cold in the middle of Times Square. The guy walked across the street, over to the NYPD traffic control officers, and he starts yelling that a man was making his son beg in the middle of the street.

Q: What did they do?

Sal: The cops, who really didn’t know the content of what we were shooting, rushed onto the scene only to find out it was our movie. But the funniest part was, the guy who went to the cops was still pissed off. He yelled at me, "That’s not right! I gave that kid money!" So, I gave the man, who looked like a millionaire, his dollar back and wished him a Merry Christmas. Ah, New York!

Q: You made this beautiful film...now, what would you like to see happen with it? What are your expectations?

Sal: My hope for the film is to find a distributor who is as passionate about the film as I, and everyone else was about making it. Also, I hope it finds a huge audience and makes a lot of money, but not for my own benefit. My producers and I are donating a part of the film sale and proceeds to homeless families and charities around New York City.

Q: That’s very generous.

Sal: None of us made any money up front. We all worked for a back end. Then, while we were doing location scouts and research in various shelters around the city, I think we all felt that to make a film like this and not give back to the people who need it more would be negligent. So, while we were filming we ran a clothing, food, toy and money drive for several homeless shelters. It was very successful. It was by far the most special part of the film.

Q: Sounds like it.

Sal: We ran the drives all throughout production. Then, the day after we wrapped, myself and a few others loaded up three huge cube trucks of stuff and went all around the city right before Christmas, and gave everything out to all the people in the shelters. I remember pulling up to one place and there was this woman who I gave a bag of clothes to, and she looked at me and said, "Thank you for remembering us." I wish I could have done more. I felt guilty leaving her there.

Q: That’s how I felt when the film ended. I didn’t want to leave that family. I wanted to do something to help them. And then song that plays over the credits, it brought me to tears. Who sings that?

Sal: It’s called "The Rain Don’t Last." It’s an original song performed by an up and coming artist named, Hope. She’s amazing. I met her in Los Angeles. Her and her brother were performing on Venice Beach and I heard her singing and approached her right there. The tone of her voice was so soothing, it was the perfect fit for the ending... It really makes you feel like everything will be alright.

Q: It does. It’s beautiful.

Sal: Since then, she signed a huge deal with Atlantic Records and has an album coming out soon.

Q: Sounds like all’s well that ends well.

Sal: Thankfully...and hopefully.