NOTE: The following interview took place at this year’s South By Southwest Film Festival and has been edited for re-use for my coverage of VIFF 2018.
“Science Fair follows nine students and one mentor on their journey to the International Science & Engineering Fair, or ISEF, which is like the Olympics of science fairs.” Directors Cristina Costantini & Darren Foster on SCIENCE FAIR which screens at VIFF 2018.
So how did you get into this business? Talk to me a bit about how you got your start and what you have worked on in the past.
Darren: This is my first feature doc, but I’ve been working as a journalist and tv producer for some time now. I started working with my wife Mariana van Zeller as a two-person band, travelling around the world and filming stories for Current TV, Nat Geo, Fusion and more. I’ve done a lot of investigative work about the opioid crisis in America, immigration and some conflict reporting. Science Fair was a refreshing change of pace for me. I absolutely loved working on it. I was really inspired by our subjects and I’m proud to be able share their amazing stories.
CC: This is also my first feature doc! In college, I started watching the work of two young investigative journalists, correspondent Mariana van Zeller and her producer husband Darren Foster. Their work was unlike anything I’d seen before — they went to places no one else would go and uncovered stories of injustices and corruption that network news was missing. After seeing everything they had ever produced, I decided to switch career paths. I started as a print reporter covering mostly immigration at the Huffington Post, and once I got to Fusion I learned how to make television and got the opportunity to work with two of my heros. And then Darren and I got to make a movie about science fair nerds together!
How did this project come together for you? Give me a rundown from the preparation, to shooting, to post-production to now!
CC: SCIENCE FAIR is a love letter to the subculture that saved me. As a dweeby kid growing up in a sports-obsessed high school in Wisconsin, the international science fair became my lifeboat. It validated my passion for science, taught me how to dedicate myself to a goal and set my life on a trajectory that would have otherwise been totally impossible. But most importantly, science fair is where I found my tribe. The idea of doing a documentary about science fair has been an obsession of mine since I first went to the International Science and Engineering Fair as a freshman in high school in 2004. And finally when we got the chance, I asked the wonderful investigative producer Darren Foster if he’d join me.
DF: Cristina and I worked together on an TV doc called “Death by Fentanyl,” which won a duPont Award for investigative reporting last year. We worked really well together. And discovered we had all the same bad work habits. So when she pitched me on Science Fair, it only made sense that we double down on those habits.
What keeps you going while making a movie? What drives you? How much coffee are we talking about here?
DF: Well, coffee first off. Cristina and I are both coffee fiends. But I think what really drives me is that really deep down I love stories and storytelling. I know I’m really privileged to do it for a living, so I work really hard because I don’t want them to suck and then have someone tell me I can’t do it anymore.
CC: When I was a high school nerd myself, I used to come home from ISEF with all these stories of the kinds of kids I met while I was there. I always wished I could transport my friends there so they could see what an inspiring, wonderful, hilarious little world it is themselves. And that deep drive to share the joy of the science fair world with other people has always kept me going through this doc.
What was your biggest challenge with this project, and the moment that was the most rewarding to you?
DF: The biggest challenge was trying to cover the international science fair with a comically small number of passes. We had a crew of only 5 people chasing a dozen teenagers around downtown Los Angeles for a week. It was like Nightcrawler but instead of racing to crime scenes and car wrecks, we were racing to the scene of teenage drama. But the most rewarding thing was to be part of that crew that week, watching everyone busting their ass with the biggest smile on their face. We had a such a good time despite the challenges.
CC: Another challenge we ran into was weaving together the stories of ten characters. The wildly talented producer Jeff Plunkett joined us in post-production and really turned the vision in our heads into a reality. I think the fact that so many of their stories are resonating with people is a credit to his talents as well as the brilliant work of our editors Tom Maroney and Alejandro Valdes-Rochin. They managed to intertwine the stories of ten characters and make you care about each one.
I’m about to get technical, but I would love to know about the the visual design of the movie; what camera did you film with, your relationship to the director of photography and how the movie was photographed.
I have been working with our director of photography Peter Alton for about 5 years now. He’s up for anything and we’ve done some pretty crazy things together, like riding a train across southern Mexico and filming gold mines in guerrilla territory in Colombia. He works really hard and has a contagious positive energy. He was perfect for Science Fair and was across the board every kid’s favorite member of the crew. Pete shot on a C300 Mark II. And the biggest direction we gave was let’s try and capture the kids being themselves and some real teenage moments.
Where is the film going to show next? Theatrical, online, more festivals?
DF: We still have a few festivals on the calendar that we’re really excited about. And we definitely hope we do a theater run. This film is really fun with a crowd if I may be so humble.
If you could show your movie in any theater outside of film festivals, where would you screen it and why?
DF: The White House and/or Congress. Science education needs more support and some of leaders could stand a refresher course themselves.
CC: I second Darren’s answer. We’re living in a time when our adults are acting like children, and our children are acting like adults. I’d love for our lawmakers to see what is going on every day in schools across America, despite their lack of leadership. As many of our leaders turn their back on science, our doc features kids who have decided to step up and take on the considerable challenges that face our world.
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?
DF: Rule #1 – Don’t work with assholes.
CC: Seek out people whose work you respect and ask for input constantly. Maybe this is obvious, but I sometimes find that young people are hesitant to ask for guidance or advice. I don’t think there’s any shame in not knowing every answer. Asking for advice also doesn’t mean you have to take the advice you get.
And final question: what is the greatest movie you have ever seen at a film festival?
CC: Favorite movies of all time are Spellbound and the Departed. I know a strange combination. I just love weird smart kids and I love Boston mobster movies. I don’t know.
DF: Raiders of the Lost Ark is the first film I loved. And I’ll watch Goodfellas anytime.
SCIENCE FAIR is screening at VIFF 2018. For more information visit www.viff.org!