Film Gecko

Interview with Ross Partridge of "Baghead"

by Jane Boursaw on July 15th, 2008

Baghead is making the rounds at film festivals and stirring up plenty of interest. I had a chance to talk with Ross Partridge, who plays Matt in the film. Read on for his thoughts on film distribution, simple movies about humanity, and why it’s good to have a lot of irons in the fire. 

Jane: I haven’t had a chance to see Baghead, but it looks really cool.

Ross: I hadn’t had a chance to get it to anybody because of the piracy issues with distribution. So they don’t really allow many copies to go around, but it’s been making its way around the festivals.

Jane: So it was picked up by Sony Pictures?

Ross: Sony Pictures Classics, yes.

Jane: So, how does that work? I know it got rave reviews at Sundance, so then do the companies screen films there and decide which ones they’re going to pick up?

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Ross: Yes, pretty much. It’s anybody’s guess who’s going to buy what. The crunch of everything even infiltrated into the film business. We were fortunate to sell. We were the second or third narrative that actually sold. We were one of five films that were acquired at Sundance, and then over the past months, I think a few other films like Sugar got acquired, as well, which is a film from Ryan Fleck. Sony purchased a bunch of films this year.

Jane: Yeah, I was thinking they picked up quite a few films.

Ross: Yeah, they were in the forefront. They picked up The Wackness and a film that won the Grand Jury Prize called Frozen River. It’s a beautiful movie directed by Courtney Hunt. It’s a little stressful when you go there and you’re hoping to sell your movie. The first night of the screening of Baghead, we had a lot of distributors there and everyone was very excited about it. Then you have a couple of days where you don’t actually have a concrete deal in place. So the rest of your Sundance experience is a bit hairy because you’re waiting to hear. It’s kind of like waiting to give birth, I think.

Jane: Tell me a little bit about Baghead. I’ve watched the clips, and I love movies that are a little offbeat.

Ross: It’s so offbeat, and I’m so proud of it. It’s a genre bender, so it’s a hard movie to place into a specific genre. People say it’s like a horror movie, but if you go into it thinking that, you’re going to be very disappointed, because it’s also really funny. We like to think of it as a comedy with some tense moments that turns into a drama at the end.

Baghead is about four disgruntled actors who are trying to break into the business and they go to a really bad film at a film festival. My character, Matt, is so desperate to try and be somebody, he kind of befriends the director, whom he knew from before. They’re like, if Jett Garner can make this crappy movie that everyone’s paying attention to, so can we. So let’s make our own great American screenplay.

But we’ve never been in a major motion picture, so we have to do it ourselves, which I think is kind of fun in this day and age, because everyone has access to video cameras. So they go up to a cabin at Big Bear, owned by the uncle of one of the characters, and after some alcohol and everything that starts to transpire, we realize, oh my god, we have no ideas. We’re pathetic. One of the characters gets a little too drunk, and she stumbles outside and thinks she sees something in the woods. So she concocts this idea about a guy staring at her in the woods, and she couldn’t tell what it was, but it looked like he had a bag over his head. Of course, my character’s like, that’s a great movie, that’s the movie!

Jane: And sometimes those ideas make the best movies. Like Jerry Seinfeld’s show about nothing.

Ross: Life and its simplicity is always the most engaging, I think. It’s refreshing to look at the subtle, smaller things. Jay and Mark (Duplass, directors, writers and producers) have such a great eye for catching those great moments of life.

Jane: I was trying to think of when these kinds of movies came into our consciousness, like Fargo… It seems like there’s a lot more movies like that now. Maybe we’re just enthralled by the basic things of life or something.

Ross: I’ve always believed that the blue-collar blueprints for humanity are simple, but so right on. Like the Franny McDormand character in Fargo…her heart was just so well intentioned and misguided by other things. In Baghead it’s just taking a camera out and capturing people in their truest form. It’s almost very voyeuristic, very documentary style.

Jane: That’s what I thought, too, that the clips seemed like a documentary.

Ross: Yes, there’s something about it that’s immediate with these kinds of movies. Some movies feel very contrived, put together, and well assembled and it just doesn’t feel as real.

Jane: Now I’m curious who the person with the bag over his head is, but don’t tell me because I don’t want to ruin the movie.

Ross: I won’t tell you because it does become very scary. At Sundance, it was so much fun to watch people laughing all the way through and then all of a sudden screaming their heads off and then laughing at themselves for screaming. They’re like, I can’t believe I’m screaming at this. It’s a very active movie experience, for sure.

Jane: I kept thinking, well here’s a guy with a bag over his head. Wouldn’t you be able to tackle him and take the bag off?

Ross: Right, but you don’t know what else he’s carrying.

Jane: Hmmm!

Ross: Yes, there’s a whole other element of Baghead-dom.

Jane: I was looking at your IMDB page, and you’ve done a lot of different things in the business. You’ve been around awhile!

Ross: Yes, I have. I’m old.

Jane: It’s good, though, right? What’s the alternative? That’s what I always say.

Ross: I know. There’s not much of one for me.

Jane: Do you have a particular thing you like to do in the film business, or do you prefer doing a lot of different things?

Ross: I like to do a lot of different things. I just did another film with Mark and Jay called The Do-Deca-Pentathlon, and I’m a coproducer on that film. It’s hard when you’re an actor just to maintain. The filmmaking process can be so much fun, but you want to keep working all the time. I have a hard time sitting still, so I’m always trying to generate new things and create more work. I’ve written, directed, produced and acted. I love it all.

Jane: What are you working on right now?

Ross: I’m writing something that I’m hoping to shoot in early fall. Then I’m co-producing a documentary about a friend of mine whose father was diagnosed with MS, and then it’s discovered that his father was an assassin for the CIA. So, it’s about the two of them getting to know one another. I’ve just written a pilot that I’m trying to shop around, as well. I also have a theater company, so we’re always looking for new plays.

Jane: Lots going on.

Ross: Yeah, but it takes a lot of stuff to get something going. You have to have your hands in a lot of things.

Jane: Anything else that you want to say about Baghead or anything?

Ross: Mark and Jay are two of the most talented people I’ve worked with, and I just feel like their future is so grand. They have a real unique sensibility, being able to create a movie that crosses genres and do it in such a small and entertaining way. With the saturation of big movies this summer and a lot of them not doing as well as anticipated, Baghead is a great alternative. It’s just so much fun.

Jane: Does it have a theater release date?

Ross: Yes. It’s going to be released July 25 in New York and Los Angeles. They did a pre-opening in Austin, because that’s where Mark and Jay are from, and then it’ll start off in a few smaller cities but the main release date is July 25. After that, it should be in pretty much every state.

Jane: Awesome. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for it and spread the word. Thanks for taking the time for me.

Ross: No problem. Thank you. If you need anything from me, let me know.

Images: Baghead, Sony Pictures Classics, 2008 

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