Ride-sharing is a very big part of our every day lives nowadays. Writers Glenn Payne and Casey Dillard, who have been a creative team for years now, collaborated on a new movie called “Driven.” It stars Dillard and Richard Speight, Jr of “Band of Brothers,” “Supernatural,” and “Kings of Con.” Casey and Glenn have been very secretive of the exact plot of the film, however, they were kind enough to take time out of their busy schedules to sit down and answer some questions for us. They discuss their “ARTnership” (nope, not a typo), as well as how it was to work on location in Tupelo, MS.
Melissa Rothman: You are both writers; when did you both know that you wanted to make a career out of it? Did it just happen or was it a purposeful path?
Casey Dillard: It’s something I knew I wanted when I was very young. I tried to take some deliberate steps away from it for a short period of time, but eventually found my way back. At the end of the day it’s the only thing I know I want to be doing for the rest of my life.
Glenn Payne: I’ve been an artist since I was little. You couldn’t stop me from drawing. Usually it was “Spiderman,” “Batman,” or anything that seemed cool at the time. I got into filmmaking the last semester I was in school for Fine Art at MSU (Mississippi State University). From there writing became a necessity just to make films. I grew into it until one day, years later, I started welcomed with such open arms by a fan base outside your circle?
MR: You both have your own fans and following now. Is that a strange feeling?
CD: Definitely a strange feeling, but overall a positive one. I don’t think we’ve run into much fandom toxicity along the way, so my exposure to SPN-world has been pretty positive. It’s awesome how much people want to see their faves’ projects do well, though it definitely adds a little pressure that I hope we live up to their expectations.
GP: Rich agreeing to work on the film with us has definitely opened a doorway into a whole new world. I’m a big fan of “Supernatural,” but I guess I wasn’t overly familiar with the fandom. I had some friends that went to conventions sometimes but I was never in a position to attend anything like that. Every extra penny I made went into whatever the next movie was. New microphone, more lights, whatever I needed.
I’ve been blown away by a lot of it, honestly. The fandom is so layered. I’ve seen and heard of things here and there but I’m mostly familiar with the fans that have so lovingly embraced “Driven,” Casey and myself. People have been incredibly supportive and giving. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen. We try to do our best to show our appreciation but it’s hard to do them justice. We’re both super thankful to everyone who has taken an interest in this project. It means everything to us so their kindness is definitely felt.
MR: “Driven” originally had two scripts; how did you decide on the final one? Was it hard to come to a decision being that you are both writers and have unique visions?
CD: I won a fight. (Smiles)
GP: Casey and I decided to each write a short little snipped of our own stories. Both had to take place in or around a single vehicle. Casey’s was what became “Driven” and mine was more of a “Bodysnatchers” type story, a small town thrown into survival mode kind of thing. With grace, dignity and some articulate trash talking, Casey’s story won out.
We both decided hers was a better fit. And honestly, it was. The key for me was that the car itself played an important part in the story. The car was the character’s job so it helped “steer” the plot (see what I did there?). In my story it was just a tool that gave them a chance to escape. So in the end her story rightly became our charming little horror comedy.
MR: What made you decide to shoot “Driven” in Tupelo, MS, specifically? Do you have roots or connections to the town?
CD: The short answer is simplicity, but the longer one is that Mississippi is the hospitality State for a reason. People really stepped up to help us find very specific locations, donated their time, and made the movie possible. Nobody here is jaded about filmmaking at this point so they’re very patient with us.
GP: Casey is from Tupelo and I’m from the general area. I/we’ve been making movies here for many years, as a result we have lots of connections. There were so many people that went out of their way to help us or to find others who could help us. It was a whole town effort unlike anything I’d ever made before. That camaraderie really added up when we had our huge Tupelo premiere. The theater was packed with around 350 people. Many of whom helped make it happen in one way or another.
MR: Ride-sharing is a big thing nowadays, is that what inspired the idea for this movie?
CD: There is something inherently scary about ride-share driving to me which plays into the first few minutes of the movie. People my age and thereabouts spent their whole childhoods being told not to get in a stranger’s car or not to pick up a stranger and now we give strangers our address over a phone app and hop in their vehicle. You don’t know anything about the person other than their name and that they have a verified payment method. Apparently there’s a lot of ride-share movies popping up these days and I can definitely see why. There’s a lot of opportunity for drama, comedy, and horror in there.
GP: I’m tempted to make up lies about aliens and how they were the
inspiration…instead I’ll just let Casey take this one.
MR: Since the promotion of “Driven” started the term “turd spoon” has been attached to the film. Is turd spoon exactly what it sounds like? What exactly is a turd spoon? Can you
elaborate without spoiling the movie?
CD: Sorry, this must remain a spoiler-free interview.
GP: You’ll have to watch the movie to find out.
MR: What was it like to be in a car for an entire movie? Did being in close quarters with other people cause butting heads? Did anyone get cabin fever?
CD: I think I said at one point that if there were an Academy Award for fart suppression we would
probably all be nominated, but other than being thankful that everyone smelled good it didn’t affect much. There wasn’t much more than the usual amount of head-butting. I guess I had to learn to perform with less of my body than I’m used to and it was sometimes hard to do the more intense scenes where I couldn’t look at my scene partner steadily (since I had to have my eyes on the road).
GP: I don’t think anyone really butted heads due to the close proximity. I’d like to say it’s because we’re all so darn laid back, but it was mainly because we were all frozen. We filmed overnights for the two weeks we shot.
The weather was horrifically cold. If I remember correctly the temps ranged from 4-34 degrees. If we hit 30 degrees it truly felt like a heat wave. We all had on so many layers. There was hot chocolate, coffee, hand warmers, propane tanks and everything else you could think of just trying to keep people alive. So we
didn’t get much of a chance to be too worried about the close quarters. Big shout-out to Michael Williams (our cinematographer) and Zach Lancaster (our sound recordist). They were crammed in there in awkward positions time after time for hours on end. At any point in the film where the car is actually driving Zach, Michael and myself are hidden within the car somewhere just offscreen.
MR: Being a paranormal show fan, I really enjoyed “Stargrassel Paranormal.” Any plans for
more of those or similar projects?
CD: I would love to make “Stagrassle” my full-time job, but until someone starts paying me (or at least paying for the episodes) they will be a little sporadic. The cast and crew for that are so outstanding and I love that little world. There will definitely be more, I just don’t know when.
GP: We definitely want to make more episodes of “Stagrassle Paranormal!” Before “Driven” was even an idea, we had talked about having Rich (Speight, Jr.) and Rob Benedict on the
show together somehow. That show is very close to both our hearts and I can’t wait for someone to pick it up as a full on show. Our dream is to make it in MS and have it available for the world to see. Making people laugh is a great joy that I always treasure.
MR: I know I am dying to know, as well as many others, when can the masses watch “Driven?” Can fans do anything to help get “Driven” available for everyone?
CD: Share, share, share. If you know of a good film festival in your area, let us know and we’ll try to submit. Our festival run will help secure better distribution, but at some point in the not-so-distant future it will be easily available for everyone to watch.
GP: We still have festivals we’re waiting to hear back from so we need to see how those pan out. The larger the festivals we get into the larger a distributor we can possibly sign with, which hopefully will equal a larger release. Blah, blah, blah…showbiz jargon. 🙂 It pains us for people to want to see it so badly and they’re still having to wait, but we very much appreciate everyone hanging in there with us. Hopefully the plan will pay off and, as a result, that many
more people will get to see it in the end.
MR: We here at Nerd Alert News take pride in our nerdiness. So what are your current nerd guilty pleasures?
CD: Definitely no guilt attached to any of these, but I really enjoy the tabletop game Gloomhaven
(and other tabletop/RPGs), I stuck with “Game of Thrones” to the bitter end (though I was late getting started on that one), I will truly watch anything that heavily features dragons, and I have enjoyed the IDW run of TMNT comics. Nerd culture is basically just culture these days so I don’t know what counts anymore!
GP: Hmmm…I’m not watching it at this moment but I always nerd out “Breaking Bad.” I’m a HUGE fan. I hear they’re making a feature film that follows up the series. I need to go work on that sucker for free. I can hand out coffee or something. If anybody has any connections just let me know. If I could get Bryan Cranston, Casey Dillard and Richard Speight, Jr. in the same project I’d be in hog heaven.
Nerd Alert News would like to thank both Casey and Glenn for their time in answering these questions. We all know how busy of a ride it has been for them. Thank you for taking a moment for us. And congratulations on all of their awards, nominations, and festival showings, including one overseas in the UK!
“Driven” looks like a fun film and we have heard nothing but great things by people who have attended showings. Keep an eye on the “Driven” Twitter and Facebook feeds for new announcements.
If you can, catch one of the festival showings. And then come tell us what turdspoon means.
Stay social with “Driven”
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Glenn’s Twitter
Casey’s Twitter
Written by Melissa Rothman
