I spoke with Rob Perez, director of the independent film “Nobody,” last weekend and wanted to share our conversation with you.   Rob is a great film guy who’s passion and love of film making clearly comes through his words.

Rob’s Background

Rob wrote 40 Days and 40 Nights, which essentially put him on the map. Rob worked for “Filmmaker” Magazine.  He was primarily writing and making a decent living, but realized that he wasn’t “writing movies,” he was writing screenplays. This did not sit well with him.  Rob wanted to get back to writing movies, and thus began this project, which was also his directorial debut.  Just a side note, Rob moved from LA to Minnesota to actually make Nobody and to show investors that he was serious about the film.  After moving to Minnesota he was able to finance “Nobody” within 3 months.  The estimated budget for the film was about $1 million according to IMDB.com.  One thing Rob said to me that really hit home was that “things don’t get made accidentally.” Rob, we commend your passion.

About the Cast:

“This is Sam’s movie,” said Rob. Sam [Rosen] plays Lindeman, the movie’s main character. However, you guys would not know that it took a trip by Rob to see Sam Rosen on Broadway to be completely convinced he could be a leading man.  Josh Harnett had introduced Sam Rosen to Rob, but Rob wasn’t immediately convinced Sam had star power.  It was that trip to Broadway that finally convinced Rob. Sam “reminds me of a young John Cusack.” Rob wanted to find somebody with a sense of self to play Lindeman; someone to be serious but who could also deliver humor.  Sam was that guy.

Mark Margolis was made a direct offer to play the professor mentor. Sam was also made a direct offer, while most other parts were casted via audition.

About the Story:

Rob was really interested about exploring the story of a writer/artist with writers/performance block. We all go through periods in our lives like this, and Rob wanted to tell this type of story. The scenes with Sam and the Rock represent a metaphor for the entire film in that respect.  Even Margolis’s character can’t help Sam in the movie. Thus, there really is no mentor. There isn’t any one person who has the answers.  A big thing Rob wanted to get across was that you just have to find your own way. A lot of it is trial and error; even screw up a bit, before you can really learn and move forward.

Being a First Time Director

“You don’t direct until your third movie,” said Rob. There is a huge learning curve hear. Much like QB’s in the NFL who ride the bench for a few years before moving to the starter role, directing takes a couple run throughs to get your feet wet before you play with the big boys. Rob loved being in the driver seat as he was responsible for every aspect of the movie. You don’t really get it, until you sit in that seat, he alluded to.  “This is not my last movie,” Rob explained.

The Music:

Rob’s childhood friend Ryan Miller, member of Guster, wrote the music for the film. Miller also co-wrote the movie with Rob. Rob said “a lot of the stuff Ryan originally wrote was great, but just not funny. So we went back to the drawing board and re-wrote some of it.” This kind of draft process occurred several times according to Rob.  However, when the finished product finally got made, Rob was blown away. He even said that he thinks the music might even be better than movie itself.

Will we be seeing Nobody in theaters?

Nobody was released on a small scale in Minnesota, which went over extremely well with the locals. For those that don’t know, Nobody was filmed on location in Minnesota. However, Nobody will probably not hit mainstream theaters. The film was entered into several festivals including Sundance, but judges were just not into it. Though, it was ‘shortlisted’ at Sundance, which is always an honor.

Rob plans on taking Nobody on a college circuit as the movie relates very well to that kind of target market. They are looking into distribution including online selling, DVD selling, and TV network distribution.

Future Plans:

Rob’s next project is called “A Perfect Martini,” which is still in pre-production.  He also thinks he is going to go with bigger names in this project to head the cast.

Rob, Thank you so much for taking the time to chat with me. It’s too bad you’re a Cowboys fan though. We at themoviebanter.com wish you the best of luck and look forward to staying in touch.

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