“Timely Look”: Interview with Oliver Irving, director of How to Be

Less than 2 weeks until we unfortunate souls that couldn't see the movie in theaters get to see How To Be on DVD.Can't wait! :))

Very refreshing interview (not all questions are about his RobArtness) from popmatters.com with How To Be director Oliver Orving:

When Oliver Irving began writing How To Be in 2004, he couldn’t know that when the film finally premiered at Slamdance four years later, his timing would be so fortuitous. Irving’s first feature film follows Art, a 20something aspiring musician in the midst of a “quarter-life crisis.” Now, following the release of Twilight, the casting of Robert Pattinson as Art looks brilliant. Irving made the rounds on the festival circuit with sold-out screenings and a cache of audience awards (including an Honorable Mention at Slamdance, Best Feature at New Orleans, and Best Actor for Pattinson at the Strasbourg International Film Festival).

The film is also timely in its subject matter. In a season of too many arrested development male-bonding comedies, How to Be offers a version suffused with a wry charm. Picked up by IFC Films in February, the movie screened at the IFC Center in New York in April and premiered on IFC Festival Direct on 29 April.

The festival schedule for How to Be grew leading up to the IFC release, with more and more sold out shows.
I’ve been really touched by the strong positive response to this film. It has been amazing, the support we have had. That is why we took the bold step of booking our own cinemas, so we could tour around, screening the film and try to see as many people as possible.

You’ve watched the film with multiple festival audiences. Has the reception changed from last winter to this?
When it first screened, it did have a really good response. What has changed is the numbers of people in the audience. Some people have seen it several times as well, so members of the audience are really starting to be familiar with the characters and even coining catchphrases in some instances, which is great. I love hearing the laughter during the film, I really do; it makes it all worth it.

How to Be sold out its first screening at the DC Independent Film Festival in March. Before the session began, the director of one of the accompanying short films made the joke that he was shocked so many people wanted to see his film. What do you think about droves of Robert Pattinson fangirls turning up at an independent film festival?
Every so often, someone will love the movie and not have even really heard of Rob and that is reaffirming. But then, often people will say, “I came because of Rob, but I loved this film in its own right.” I can tell from what they say that their response is really genuine, so I am just glad that Rob’s star factor has brought in potential audiences. We have found that actually one of the groups of people who responded favorably to the film turned out to be the same as those who might be fans of Rob—so it was the right audience to start with. I’m glad the film won the Grand Jury Honorable mention at Slamdance long before Rob’s stardom flared up. That eases my neuroticism somewhat.

The DCIFF program describes the movie as “a timely look at the increasingly growing phenomena of grown-up children living at home, frustrated creativity, and self-help.” Is that their take on it or yours?
It comes from our synopsis. But it is interesting to hear different people’s opinions as to what the film is really about. I love that everyone seems to take away a different particular element.

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