“ARKANSAS is about fathers and sons and fatherless sons and the cyclical nature of violence and the American dream and feeling disenfranchised from modern society… plus a little drug dealing. And a love story.” Director Clark Duke on ARKANSAS which screens at the 2020 edition of SxSW Film.
Editor’s Note: While SxSW was officially cancelled on March 6th, 2020, the below interview was one of many that already took place prior to the festival. To respect the creators, all already performed interviews are presented in their unedited entirety below. All of the below works WILL make their way out into the world in one way or another, and we will update this article with updated information when we have it. — JW
You are back at SxSW this year! Tell me about what you have had here in the past, and your favourite aspects of the city.
I have been to SXSW before as an actor for KICKASS and I’M DYING UP HERE, but it’s a totally different feeling being here as a director. Being from the South, it’s been a longstanding dream of mine for my feature directorial debut to have its world premiere at SXSW. So this is a whole new kind of surreal thrill for me. I love Austin and I wish I had better, more specific advice on where to go and what to do in the city, but the reality is that every time I’ve been here has been for work as an actor and therefore I was mostly herded from one scheduled appointment to the other, surrounded by a team of publicists, treated like veal or a delicate flower that would wilt if it was left unattended for over an hour. Hopefully this year I can do a little more exploring and let my hair down, but I doubt it!
So let’s hear more about you and how you got started in the business and what you have worked on in the past?
I’m from rural Arkansas but somehow I’ve been working as an actor for most of my life. I went to film school at Loyola Marymount University where my thesis film was CLARK AND MICHAEL, alongside my pal Michael Cera. After college, I had every intention to keep writing and directing and producing and editing, like I had on CLARK AND MICHAEL, but the acting work kept coming steadily and was an absolute blast for the most part and it took me a few years and turning 30 and my grandfather’s passing to give me the grit, tunnel vision, and sense of mortality necessary to undertake making an independent film from the ground up. That said, making ARKANSAS is the most fulfilling work and happiest I’ve felt since I made CLARK AND MICHAEL all those years ago.
How did ARKANSAS come together?
As seems to be the case with most indies and labors of love, it was a long fucking road. I optioned the book, ARKANSAS by John Brandon, about ten years ago. Between acting gigs, it took me a few years to get the script where it needed to be. Then it took a few more years of trying to get people to read that script. Then trying to get people to finance it. Then trying to convince said people I was capable of directing and acting in it. The moment it became real- like really real- was when Liam Hemsworth said he wanted to star in it, for which I will always be so grateful and indebted to him.
What keeps you going while making a movie? What drives you?
Actually making the movie was an absolute pleasure. You don’t sleep for weeks but you’re so happy and full of adrenaline you don’t care or notice. The part that’s hard is everything leading up to production- raising money, attaching actors. That part was an absolute drag. I started smoking again during the money-raising period, but I don’t recommend that. I quit smoking after we finished post production.
What was your biggest challenge with this project, and the moment that was the most rewarding to you?
Like I said, raising the money and getting the cast was a brutal, years-long period. And then after we had all that stuff in place, it all fell apart. Twice. The second time, it was about 3 weeks before production was slated to begin. So we had to pick up and move from Arkansas to Alabama with a new cast and 3 weeks of prep total for the film. I’m pretty sure we didn’t have all our financing locked until the night before we started shooting, so I would say the most rewarding moment was rolling the cameras on day one, because it felt like “Well shit, they can’t stop us now!”
I am about to get technical, but I would love to know about the the visual design of the movie; what camera did you film with and how the movie was photographed.
My relationship with my DP, Steven Meizler, was huge. Cannot be understated how important the relationship was to the film. I could not have made it without him, especially the scenes where I’m also acting on camera. He was my foremost collaborator during production. We shot the film on a RED DSMC2 camera with a Monster Sensor. Anamorphic lenses, which gives the movie a more filmic, organic look and gives us some great bokeh. Not to mention the sense of scope it gave to a film that’s mostly a character piece with people talking but I wanted to feel as much like Once Upon a Time in the West as possible. We shot 2.4:1.
What are you looking forward to the most about showing your movie here in Austin?
This will be the first time I have seen the film with an audience. So I am simultaneously looking forward to that and vaguely terrified.
After the film screens at SxSW, where is the film going to show next? Theatrical, online, more festivals?
Limited theatrical and everywhere else on May 1. I believe the DVD comes out on May 5, my 35th birthday.
If you could show your movie in any theatre outside of Austin, where would you screen it and why?
The Cinerama Dome at the Arclight Hollywood.
What would you say to someone who was being disruptive through a movie?
I may have a biased sample because I mostly go to theaters in LA that are 21+ and filled with other film lovers, but I don’t see this type of behavior very often, to be honest. I think those bad eggs are at home watching TV these days. Or I’m just not watching movies at the mall AMC with rowdy teenagers.
We have a lot of readers on our site looking to make movies or get into the industry somehow. What is the ONE THING you would say to someone who is wanting to get into the filmmaking business?
I would tell them to watch Mark Duplass’s 2015 SXSW keynote. Mark is more eloquent and inspirational than I am. That keynote was a big kick in the ass for me and my film and my life. I did not know Mark at the time, but we’re friendly now and I’m very happy I’ve had the chance to tell him how much that keynote meant to me.
And final question: what is the greatest movie you have ever seen at a film festival?
Truthfully, I’ve only ever been to festivals in a work capacity, so I haven’t gotten to watch many films in that environment. My all time favorite movie currently alternates somewhere between CASINO, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, THE LONG GOODBYE, JACKIE BROWN, BOOGIE NIGHTS & SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE.
For more information on this film and to follow its progress into the festival world, point your browser to www.sxsw.com/film!