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David Wain has made a name for himself doing just about
everything when it comes to comedy. Hes a writer, director and actor
best known for The State and Wet Hot American Summer.
{sidebar id=1}His new film, The Ten, hits DVD today and boasts a pretty expansive cast in ten short segments based around the ten commandments.
Wain talked with IESB about the film and what he has coming up both online and on the big screen.
IESB: Can you start by giving us, in your own words, a description of the film?
Wain: Its ten silly, funny stories. Each one is inspired by one of the ten commandments. Its all held together by Jeff Reigert, played by Paul Rudd who is our master of ceremonies.
IESB: How did the idea for the film begin to take form?
Wain: Ken Marino and I worked together for twenty years. We wanted to conceive an old-fashioned throwback omnibus movie that is made up of different stories like a Kentucky Fried Movie kind of thing or Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex. We thought that the ten commandments was a great framing device so we kind of locked ourselves in a room and spun these tales together and then we got people to be in it (laughs) and kind of put it all together.
IESB: It has a really impressive cast. How did that come together?
Wain: Well some of them were people that Ive worked with over and over again through the years. My whole group The State and people I worked with on Stella and Wet Hot American Summer and stuff So one third of the cast is my company and colleagues in the comedy world Ive worked with or been friends with over the years and secondly there were people who went through the normal audition process and the other third of it was just actors we didnt know who; bigger name actors where we just made our wishlist of our favorite people for each role and somehow they said yes.
IESB: Do you find it easier to cast for shorter segments than for a full movie?
Wain: I think so. I mean, it was a puzzle because no one was making their schedule around us. If an actor was interested in it and they had a free day, we would work with it and try to do it all in one day. I think that our flexibility was what helped us to get some of these people.
IESB: When you were in the writing stage with all of these commandments, which was the first one to jump out with a storyline?
Wain: Huh, thats an interesting question. I think maybe the Jesus one was one of the ones that came out pretty quickly because we were just interested in doing something different in another language like a Y Tu Mama Tambien kind of thing. Each of them we just sort of batted around like What if? What if? What if? and then we just came up with the story.
IESB: You mentioned a few movies you looked at as influences. Where there any others that helped shape The Ten?
Wain: Well, we didnt really study those movies because our own background is all sketch. The State and lots of tv and other things. We were more drawing from our own background as far as style and feel of it went. But then as far as each piece, they all had stylistic touchstones that we were trying to be like. The CAT scan piece had, you know, certain kind of visual stuff. A little more stylized and Wes Anderson-ey, maybe. The puppet piece had a slightly darker feel to it. The goof piece had a much more handheld, Law and Order kind of feel to it. Another ones like a Mexican movie and one of thems like a mixed media piece and one of thems animated.
IESB: Which one gave you the most trouble to shoot?
Wain: Well, Mexico was an interesting shoot because we were shooting in Mexico on a very low budget with a non-english speaking crew very quickly. Pretty much everything was kind of stolen. We just ran into a marketplace or a farmhouse and just grabbed what we could. And there was dealing with live animals and other such things. Sometimes crew people just wouldnt show up and youd have to figure it out. This was an independent film so its at a low budget and were moving so fast and theres the crises of a location falls through at the last minute or an actor falls through at the last minute. I cant think of any fascinating stories at the moment.
IESB: Was it very segmented shooting where you would do one part and then move on?
Wain: No, it was all over the place. On any given day we would shoot a scene from three or four different commandments. We really had to just do it around locations and cast. We would shoot one actors green screen and part of the finale song at the end and then on another wed shoot an interrogation scene for one and a library scene for another.
IESB: Are you familiar with Kieslowskis Decalogue series?
Wain: Yeah, thats what this is stolen from. I had seen it and really liked it. As a movie viewer, my tastes definitely run more towards the serious and dramatic. I feel like when I go to see comedies, its like staying at work. I really love The Decalogue and a lot of his stuff and that popped into my head. Its a good thing to steal.
IESB: Do you know what project youll be moving into next?
Wain: Well, I just directed this movie that was called Little Big Men, but its currently untitled. Its also with Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott and Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Jane Lynch and Elizabeth. Im editing that right now and getting it ready for a release hopefully in August. Im doing a web-series, Wainy Days which is a short film every week on mydamnchannel.com. Both of those things take me through into next year and then well see.
IESB: Do you have a dream project that youve always wanted to do?
Wain: Well, one of them is a State movie which is my old comedy troupe. Were actually working on that right now.
IESB: Is it going to be one big story or will it be broken down into sketches?
Wain: I cant say yet.
IESB: It seems like theres a sort of renaissance of film comedy where a lot of people are working together and theres a lot of crossed talent. Since youre a part of that, is it something you can feel going on?
Wain: Yeah, it definitely feels like the appetite for comedy the Apatow-appetite is definitely growing. I think it goes in cycles. It has to do with two or three big movies that really capture peoples imaginations and then people are interested in those people and it grows from there. I sure youll see it if you look back on the history of comedies. But yeah, it seems like the community is growing in both size and quality.
IESB: Do you have a preference for writing either full-length films or shorter sketches?
Wain: No, I love both and Im grateful for the opportunity to do both because I like the variety. Thats also why I like to write and direct and perform. I like doing different types of work. Creatively, I think theyre all parts of the same beast. I dont see those disciplines as so completely separate from one another.
The Ten is now available on DVD.
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