After the SXSW screening of Todd Rohal’s hilarious “The Catechism Cataclysm” we had a chance to meet-up with Todd, as well as the star of the film, Steve Little, and the co-star and executive producer, Robert Longstreet. “The Catechism Cataclysm” is a whirlwind of a comedy shot on a micro-budget (and with the help of Kickstarter) in the backwoods of Washington. It also played at Sundance, where it was picked up by IFC Films.
(From L-R) Robert Longstreet, Todd Rohal and Steve Little
Death To The Movies: Alright guys, it’s great to have you all here. I want to start first by asking about the film’s title. It’s such a great title, did it come before you started production or was it something you came up with afterward?
Todd Rohal: The title came pretty early, I thought it was an intentionally bad title because it was unpronounceable.
DTTM: [laughs]
Todd Rohal: But no, the title was supposed to be unpronounceable. You’re kind of not supposed to be able to read it when it’s written out in that font, which is kind of for death metal bands. It’s a sort of code. Like to have a name written out in that insane typeface you may not be able to read what it says, but if you know that band then you just know what it is. It kind of ties into some Japanese things too, like Japanese symbols mean things and stuff like that… I just made that up now, but it sounded good [laughs]. But it also has to do with the catechism things of having to memorize lessons or rules of the church and Steve’s character is going through this crisis within the church of leaving and coming back. So, there’s a bit of a mess of disobeying the laws that are set forward in that and also set forward in the storytelling.
DTTM: Watching this film, it felt like you guys had a lot of fun making it. I think that almost made it more enjoyable because you rarely feel that in films anymore. What was the vibe on set?
Robert Longstreet: Oh man, I had a ball. I’m really glad that came through. I felt like I was at camp, like getting to play with a buddy or a new friend you meet over a summer and he’s someone you just hang out with really intensely for that one month you’re at camp. I mean that’s what I felt like. I was just so happy because I had wanted to work with Todd ever since I saw “Guatemalan Handshake”, I sent him emails, phone calls, and I just did not leave him alone. Thankfully he wasn’t repulsed by that and somehow we developed a friendship and then this film happened. And I was also a fan of Steve, so to work with him was just a pleasure. For me it really was a joyride.
DTTM: Steve, was it an enjoyable experience for you as well?
Steve Little: It was. It was weird because it was kind of like a vacation staying out there a little bit. I mean it was definitely hard work but it was also a lot of fun. But you know, when you perform there is this seriousness of it because there’s investors, or you want to make sure you get the shot, but then also if you’re not having fun then that is kind of contagious. So it’s weird, because there is a business aspect, but you also wanna… play. You know? That’s always the weird thing about it for me.
DTTM: What about for you, Todd? Was it fun or was it stressful? I’m sure it can be stressful to be on a short production schedule with a tight budget, but was it still a fun experience for you?
Todd Rohal: It should have been a disaster. It should have been horrible. It should have rained everyday and been hard on the crew and it also should have been really difficult for the actors with what we were asking them to do. But from the day I landed in Seattle to start shooting it was like every phone call we got was a good one. It was just constantly good news or something funny to add to the project, or something to up the production value of what we had. So, for me it was one of the best times of my life. I really had a great time watching these guys, and just felt much more comfortable directing.
Robert Longstreet: I can add something here. That kind of attitude comes from the director. It trickles down. I think the reason why it was so fun is that Todd just seemed relaxed and would come to us and make sure we had what we needed. He was such a great guy for the whole thing, and really happy to be there, which not everyone is on a lot of these movies. With smaller films like this, it’s more a labor of love. Everyone wanted to be there, no one is just taking paychecks and going home. But yeah, a good experience really starts with the director and trickles down.
Steve Little: I will say, the crew didn’t get paid or anything like that. So as an actor it makes it kind of hard for you to then complain. Not that we were getting paid a lot, but we were at least getting a paycheck.
DTTM: Robert, you were also the executive producer on this film. Did that add a little more weight to your role on set?
Robert Longstreet: Not at all. I wrote the first check and was so happy to do it because as a fan I really wanted to see the next Todd Rohal movie. I never even meant to be in the film. He wrote it for Steve and another actor, but that actor couldn’t do it because of a conflict in his schedule. Then when Todd asked me to do it, I didn’t believe him. I thought because I wrote the first check and got other investors he felt obligated, so I initially declined. I just wanted to invest and give him that 70′s experience where everyone says “yes” and the director is king. But then I finally agreed to do it and I’m so glad I did.
DTTM: How many days of production did you have?
Todd Rohal: It was 12 days. It probably should have been a few more. There were some things we would have liked to spend a little more time on, but it was scheduled really tight.
DTTM: You didn’t encounter any weather problems shooting in Washington?
Todd Rohal: No, we didn’t. But the day after we wrapped it snowed.
Robert Longstreet: Yeah, the day we were pulling out it was raining and then later snowing. But literally, the last day it rained. Up until then we didn’t have a single drop. So yeah, it was blessed.
DTTM: You guys put this film on Kickstarter.com to help raise funds. How was that? Would you go that route again?
Todd Rohal: I hated the idea of doing that, not because of the site, but I didn’t want to announce that we were making this movie in case it turned out to be a disaster or something. I didn’t like the idea of that happening and then someone coming up to me and being like, “Hey, how’s the movie going? How’s that fifty dollars I gave you? Did that… go well?” I didn’t want that guilt. Coming from making “Guatemalan Handshake” where we didn’t pay our investors back at all, it’s kind of odd because you run into those people fairly often. They are very nice folks and deal with it, but now with Kickstarter people give you that money and what if you never finish that movie and now there’s like 50 or 100 people that are wondering what happened to their money. So, I was really hesitant to announce that we were doing this movie, I was happy with just doing it very quietly. But we were in Seattle and all these crew people said, “We wanna work. We want to do this thing and we’re willing to do it for free.” and so we needed to pay to feed and house them. So, we needed to raise this extra money. We put it on Kickstarter and immediately money started coming in. We’d be out location scouting and would constantly be getting these emails notifying us of all these donations we were receiving. A lot of our friends gave big chunks. So it was nice, you feel like you’re not harassing people as much. It paid for the housing we needed for everybody, it was pretty great.
Robert Longstreet: And now, I mean, this movie sold at a profit. I remember when Kickstarter first came out, I had a really cynical idea about it. I was like, “Fuck you, go find your own damn money. Don’t like pass the UNICEF bucket around to everybody.” But now I love it and have contributed to a bunch of different productions on Kickstarter. I think it’s a great idea. I actually feel like it’s a great community that should go on, I really like it now. But I bet there are still a lot of people out there that feel bitter about it like I initially did.
DTTM: Did you guys sell after Sundance? Is that when IFC picked it up?
Todd Rohal: Yeah, we worked with Cinetic, which was crazy. I mean this was a small movie and then to sit down and talk with John Sloss, who works on real movies and then is working with us and our little movie. But they all genuinely loved the movie which is great to see. You want people who are working for the movie to genuinely love it. There are people out there who will work on a project just to work on it. It was such a great experience to be at Sundance and play at The Egyptian and have John Sloss come up afterwards and give me a hug. It was a thrill. I really believe that his heart was genuinely into this kind of movie. John really gets the difference in comedy and where it’s coming from. It was just great to see him back something that we just kind of pooped out in the woods… well, I shouldn’t say it was that easy. It was a hard poop.
DTTM: The tagline for the film, which I love, how did that come to be? Was it just thrown out there and it stuck, or was it always part of the film?
Todd Rohal: That tagline comes from the song “Hand of the Almighty” by John R. Butler, that we use at the end of the film. One of my oldest friends’ fathers went to school with that guy and told me about it… when I heard it I wrote it into the film and it’s been an honor to have it in there.
DTTM: Does IFC plan to keep the tagline when the release the film?
Todd Rohal: I don’t know if IFC will keep it (or our poster) just yet — we’re just getting into those conversations, but they seem to like all of the sensibility surrounding the film so far.
DTTM: I want to talk about the chemistry between Robert and Steve. I thought it was very funny and natural. Was there a lot of rehearsal time? Did you improvise much?
Steve Little: Well, I met Rob a year and a half ago. It was only for ten minutes for a reading on Todd’s film “Scoutmasters”. Then I met him for dinner the night before we started shooting this film and that was when I feel like we really officially met. There wasn’t too much time to rehearse. Todd had written an outline and only got us the script a couple days before shooting. We rehearsed every day before shooting, but it wasn’t like these stories you hear where we had weeks to rehearse before we even thought of shooting.
DTTM: So, were you signed on to “The Catechism Cataclysm” pretty early since you were already involved with “Scoutmasters”?
Steve Little: No, I just did a reading for “Scoutmasters.” But for this film I got an email that said “Do you want to do this movie? It’s about a priest who drops his Bible in the toilet.” I thought that was really funny so I checked with my mother and she laughed so…
DTTM: I thought Steve was a perfect casting decision, was the role written specifically for him?
Todd Rohal: I got an email from David Gordon Green after they filmed the pilot for “East Bound and Down” saying to take notice of Steve’s performance. Once I saw the episode it was like seeing Danny Mcbride in “All the Real Girls” where there was this feeling that this guy is going to become a superstar. But as we saw with Danny, that doesn’t always happen right away. It wasn’t until “The Foot Fist Way” that people really started taking notice of Danny. So, I felt like Steve was in a similar place and after his reading for “Scoutmasters” I wrote this part for him.
DTTM: Was there a specific scene in “The Catechism Cataclysm” that was especially challenging from a production standpoint?
Robert Longstreet: The argument scene was very hard to film. Because we rescheduled it last minute and were a little unprepared. We got the script so late we were trying to memorize our lines real fast and I also was real scared because I had to sing a song that day, but that ended up getting cut.
Steve Little: The first scene in the coffee shop was a little tough, but logistically the canoe scene was probably the most interesting. We had a raft connected to the canoe with steel bars.
DTTM: The soundtrack for the film was great, will that be available to purchase?
Todd Rohal: There are talks about it, Joey Stevens who did the music just knocked it out of the park. He also did the music for “East Bound and Down” and “Observe and Report”. He’s got such a huge range of capabilities and is just super talented.
DTTM: Shooting with the Canon 7D, how was it working with a DSLR camera for a change?
Todd Rohal: It had its good points and bad points. There is a time where you just had to stop caring. I really just wanted to make this movie. While they are not perfect and did slow us down sometimes, I set it aside and realized the material was more important. To just be able to go out and make something that looks so great for such a fraction of the price is amazing. It’s more about actually making the film rather than what you’re actually making the film with.
Todd Rohal w/ Producer Megan Griffiths
DTTM: Ben Kasulke was your DP on this film, didn’t he shoot like 5 films this year?
Robert Longstreet: I swear there is more than one Ben Kasulke out there. I think he found a way to clone himself.
DTTM: With all the connections to “East Bound and Down”, having Danny Mcbride and David Gordon Green as producers on this film, and of course Steve starring in it, are there any talks for you, Todd, to be involved with the next season?
Todd Rohal: Yeah, I’m gonna be the star of the next season. No, I haven’t been told anything about doing the show. That’s more of their thing. I love watching that show, but I have no idea what they are up to.
DTTM: The film isn’t the easiest to describe because it’s not of a specific genre. If someone was recommended “The Catechism Cataclysm” on Netflix through other films they have watched, what would the other films be?
Todd Rohal: Actually IMDB has already done it for us. It recommended “Oh, God!” the George Burns movie, “Saved”, “Don’t tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead” and “Christmas Vacation”. So it’s pretty spot on.
Robert Longstreet: Good Lord, yeah.
Steve Little: I got one. It’s “Sister Act” meets “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. [laughs]
DTTM: Thanks for taking the time guys, it was great talking with you.
