With the recent release of Play The Game out in theaters scattered across the nation, I was able to talk to the writer and director of the independent comedy, Mark Fienberg.
Melissa: When it comes to creating David (Paul Campbell), how did you do it? Is there any sort of inspiration you drew from a family member, yourself or somebody?
Fienberg: Well, David as the ladies man was probably the ladies man that I hoped I would be someday, but not necessarily the ladies man I am. You know, all of the dirty tricks that you learn through the movie were deifnitely things that my friends and I developed when I was single. They always seemed to work with them but never worked for me so I didn’t know what I was doing wrong. The character, I think, is more of the guy that I dreamed about being than what I actually was. I know several women in Chicago who would vouch for me back in my single days.
Melissa: When it comes to the five steps, he follows religiously throughout the movie, have you or anyone else that you know try to use the five steps?
Fienberg: We have! We tried those five steps on some girls, do that sort of thing. We kind of exaggerated the situations out, more for the movie, and we tried it before and it definitely worked. If you studied social psychology you kind of learn that there’s scientific truth practiced sometimes when people want only what they can’t have and the grass is always greener and they all play into the way were genetically programmed. That’s what those five steps talk about and I used them in my own life. The one that I used that worked was when I ran into this person and I literally drove three hours to go, knock on her door and made up some excuse for why I happened to be in town and it turns up I ended up marrying that woman so it worked out in the end.
Melissa: That’s perfect! What was it like working with stars like Liz Sheridan, Andy Griffith and Doris Roberts?
Fienberg: It was fantastic. I’m a first time director, so this is my first movie ever. So working on a movie with these actors like Andy, Doris and Liz, it was just fantastic. It was also nerve wracking in a sense that who am I to direct these people. They were just fantastic and as it turns out, there’s a saying in Hollywood that the half of directing is the casting process and I found that to be true. Meaning that after making a casting decision like that, the hardest thing for me as a director was just to get out of their way and let them do their thing.
Melissa: What was your most memorable time during the filming of Play The Game?
Fienberg: The most memorable time…I would have to say when we did the bedroom scene. It was a funny scene to shoot, but it also ended up on a scary note. I mean Liz Sheridan was wearing a red silk nightgown and my crew put some silk sheets on the bed without telling me. It made it very slippery and as she was lying down on it while we were shooting. Then she started to slide off the bed and I had to run and catch her. Yea, I say to this day that I saved her life.
Melissa: For all those who haven’t seen it yet, what should they expect out of the film?
Fienberg: Well I think they should expect comedy and the other thing I think they would get out of it is that they should expect to learn a little bit on a few tricks on how to pick up that guy or pick up the girl and that’s what I think younger kids get out of itot they work on it as an inter-generational Hitch, like that movie with Will Smith. But learning a few dating tricks and the audience it shows how it reflects on them in real life with being lonely and being in love and companionship just like the rest of us and yes, even sex so we didn’t pull any punches when it came to that. That’s the way things are in real life, the deep dark secret that none of us really want to confront, cause it is uncomfortable thinking about it, but older people have sex. So that’s one of the things we wanted to show in the movie.
Melissa: Yeah, you certainly did.
Fienberg: Yea, you know and it made people uncomfortable and that’s kind of the point. You know that my grandfather was the inspiration for the role of Joe (Andy Griffith). He started dating again when he was eighty years old and he came to me for dating advice and I admit, it made me a little bit uncomfortable hearing the details of his love life. It certainly wasn’t something I wanted to think about, but it was also really cute and nice, touching and endearing to see someone at that age get back into the dating world to look for a companion. So I thought that was kind of sweet.
Melissa: Derailing a little, could you tell us a little about your upcoming projects?
Fienberg: Sure. I have two other independent films that I’m already working on, one of which I am halfway through raising the money. There’s a bigger budget film that one of the studios is interested in and I’m getting interest now as a television and commercial director. I’m getting offers to direct television commercials because of my business background. I have an MBA, which is kind of unique for a director out here in Hollywood.
Well, I know that Play The Game is out in selected theaters right now and has already gotten a wider release. I’m looking forward to see how everyone else likes it.
