An Interview with Eric Byler
by Jonathan W. Hickman
http://einsiders.com/features/interviews/ericbyler.php

Small films work best when they are built around small, tight
stories. It also helps if the story is smart and sexy.

Charlotte Sometimes is a unique, intelligent, human film that just
happens to be subtly sexy cool. A remarkable achievement for first
time writer/director Eric Byler on a micro-budget (shot for
$20,000), the film has won awards at South by Southwest and the
Florida Film Festival. Now, Charlotte Sometimes is vying for the
John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award for best film made for
under $500,000 and one of its stars, Jacqueline Kim, is up for a
best supporting actress Independent Spirit Award.

For some unexplainable reason, Charlotte has been beaten up on IMDB.
I would be surprised if the people voting it down on the esteemed
Internet database have actually seen the film. After all, it cannot
be seen theatrically at this time and has been screened only at a
few film festivals. I wonder whether a movie like Sex Lies and
Videotape would have received similar treatment had the Internet
been in full swing when it was released. Like that deliberate
Soderbergh classic, Charlotte requires patience and the rewards are
great.

Byler and I talked by email and telephone about his film.

Einsiders.com: What do you say when folks call your film boring?

Eric Byler: Hmm, I rarely watch "exciting" movies, so I'm at a bit
of a disadvantage. Not that I don't enjoy them; I grew up watching
them. I mean, certain events-- murder, blackmail, aliens attacking--
they make for exciting drama. But the films that speak to me are
usually about people rather than events. As a viewer, I hate the
feeling that the characters are secondary to events, or, worse, that
their thoughts and motivations are being manipulated to maximize
dramatic effect. I prefer the feeling that the characters were
already there, existing, long before the events began--in this way,
their story is interesting to me simply because I believe in their
humanity.

Charlotte Sometimes is a film about people who hide more than they
show. My aim was to bring the characters to life in a way that is
believable and interesting, and disguise myself so thoroughly that
you almost forget these moments existed on paper before they were
photographed. To do this, I asked my actors to discover their
characters, and one another, using some organic and, I guess, pretty
unusual techniques. Also, I was forced to eliminate several of the
conventions of "exciting" movies-- including hyperbolic events,
melodrama, and certain camera angles.

If I were forced to repeat the choices of other artists, I couldn't
see the point of being one.

EI: Where did you get the idea to make Michael (played by Michael
Idemoto) sexy, yet not really interested in sex, at least, not
casual sex?

Eric Byler: I was always intrigued by men who behaved that way--as
if they weren't interested in sex. Women sometimes ask it of us,
implicitly of course. It's the unspoken contract: if you pretend not
to want me, I'll pretend not to know.

But there's something else going on with this character. I've
noticed that a lot of Asian American men are very private when it
comes to sex, so much so that they might be interpreted as "not
interested in sex." The challenge for me was to deconstruct this
vibe. Michael Idemoto came to the table with some fresh ideas on the
character. Really, I think he pulled off a miracle with his
performance. His relationship with Eugenia Yuan's character is
completely emasculating, but he's not only sexy, he's commandingly
sexy, composed, dignified, and most importantly, he's kind to her.
Then, he finds himself in a psychological jousting match with
Jacqueline Kim's forceful, sexually aggressive anti-heroine--a
character who would eat most of today's leading men for breakfast.
And he manages to tame her with what amounts to a direct, candid
expression of higher principles. I don't know what made me think I
could find an actor who could do both of these things convincingly.
If I hadn't, I'm afraid the film would have been a waste of my
parents' money.

EI: Your parents must be pretty cool folk.

Eric Byler: They're the greatest.


EI: Your comments about Michael made me think about the effect an
actor can have on the finished product. How much of what you wrote
actually ended up on the screen?

I followed the script pretty closely, except for the final scene,
which I rewrote during production. A number of scenes weren't
exactly in the script because I didn't want the actors to know what
happens until cameras were rolling. For instance, the first half of
the scene between Justin and Darcy in the hotel room was only one
sentence in the script, but in the film it's quite developed. I
didn't give Matt and Jacqueline any direction until moments before
we shot it. There's a list of similar improvisations on the web site
if you want more examples.
http://www.CharlotteSometimesTheMovie.com/funny_facts.html

EI: The sex in Charlotte Sometimes is aggressive, stimulating, and
adult. What do you think when sex is trivialized in films like
American Pie?

Eric Byler: The only scene I can think of from American Pie is when
the kid has sex with the pie. I didn't find it trivial. That's
pretty serious, actually. I was worried he'd get caught and of
course he did, it was funny... but sex can be treated in different
ways.

For me, a love scene is no different from any other scene. It should
be well acted and well directed. It should have a beginning, middle,
and end. And most of all, it should move the story forward. Too
often, love scenes in films have the exact same effect on the story
as the old fashioned "kiss-and-cut." The only difference is we have
to watch a 2-minute montage of body parts before the story can
resume with the understanding that "now these people have had sex."
The love scenes in Charlotte Sometimes are essential turning points,
not just for the plot, but also for the characters and the theme.
You really couldn't understand the film without them.

EI: Darcy is played by Jacqueline Kim who has a pretty good
filmography. How did you get her involved in such a small film?

Eric Byler: I wrote the role for her and never imagined anyone else
could play it. Back in '97, I sent her the script and asked her to
participate in a table read. We were both pleased with the result,
and she agreed to play the role. The size of the budget was never a
factor for her. She believed in the project, and supported it one
hundred percent for five years now. It's odd to say she supported
it, when, really, she's been the heart and soul. Her character's
final words express the theme of the film. With a lesser actress, I
never would have let those ideas reach the surface, I mean, not in
the form of dialogue.

EI: How did Jacqueline react to her Independent Spirit Award
nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category?

Eric Byler: She didn't even know we were being considered, so she
was pretty shocked. The nominations are a tribute to everyone who
worked on the film, but Jacqueline is the only one who was there
from start to finish. We had high hopes, but when I think back
to `97, really, this is more than we could have imagined.

EI: I think that it is interesting when a filmmaker goes from making
a big budget film to making something very small. You know like
Soderbergh did with Full Frontal. Was making a small film a
financial necessity only?

Eric Byler: It was a financial necessity, yes. I had never made a
big film, never made a feature, actually, and I'd only worked on
one. I had five thousand dollars to my name when I started the
project. My parents and uncles helped, but none of them are
millionaires.

EI: What feature did you work on?

Eric Byler: Greg Araki's Splendor. I was the camera trainee.

EI: Any suggestions for working with a small budget?

Eric Byler: I would say your chances for success are better if you
make a personal film. Think of the ideas or the moments that meant
the most to you in your life, and just be honest and reveal. If you
try to emulate big budget films, whether it's to pay homage or
because you want to be commercial, you'll probably fall short. You
just don't have the resources. Base your artistic decisions on what
you know from life, rather than what you know from movies. You'll
make a better film that way, at least for my taste.

EI: What made you go with an all-Asian cast?

Eric Byler: There are plenty of films and plenty of filmmakers out
there who ignore Asian Americans. If our own filmmakers did the
same, then where would we be? One of my goals as a filmmaker is to
present Asian Americans as real people, who are interesting as human
beings, without having to kick someone and/or get paid for sex.
Another goal is to stay true to my vision, so, it was a question of
artistic integrity more than anything.

EI: What was your vision?

Eric Byler: Well, that's my way of saying I imagined the characters
as Asian American. That's why I had to cast it that way. It's a big
part of the story.

EI: You know, you don't exactly look Asian.

Eric Byler: Yeah, I've had to answer a lot of questions about my
ethnicity. Why would someone who can pass for white make an Asian
American film? The explanation that my mother's Chinese, and that I
grew up in Hawaii is good enough for most people. I hope my films
will help make room in people's minds, not only for Asian Americans,
but also for people like me, who identify with more than one race. I
don't know. If Tiger Woods can't make a dent, I don't know how I'm
going to. But, both Charlotte Sometimes and my next film American
Knees have Asians of mixed ancestry in key roles. It's a start.
People need to realize there's a marginalized community within the
marginalized community. I take exception to the inference that an
artist of mixed ancestry shouldn't make films with ethnic content.

EI: Charlotte Sometimes is really a drama about young people that
happen to be Asian. If you decide to tackle a story that centers on
an Asian theme, do you think you might catch some criticism?

Eric Byler: We'll see when American Knees comes out. The novel (by
Shawn Wong) has a lot of political and social criticism, and I've
retained some of that in the screen adaptation. But also you have to
understand Charlotte Sometimes isn't exactly sheltered from
criticism just because the social commentary is less overt. There
are very few films in the public eye that represent the Asian
American experience, so people are sensitive and sometimes critical
of the films that reach the mainstream. For instance, many Asian
Americans are private when it comes to sex, but my film is very
candid. Overall, the community has been very supportive of me as a
filmmaker.

EI: Michael in the film is Japanese but his love interest is
Chinese. How do these ethnic differences play into real Asian
relationships? Is this an issue in Charlotte Sometimes that I missed?

Eric Byler: There are some historical and cultural barriers between
the different Asian American groups, but I think we've begun to
unite through shared experience. We're all perceived and treated
pretty much the same by the mainstream.

Differences among specific groups of Asian Americans were not the
focus of Charlotte Sometimes, so I was able to look at any actor as
long as he or she was Asian. I'd be pretty surprised if "Japanese
vs. Chinese" occurred to Michael or Eugenia even once while cameras
were rolling. I certainly didn't discuss it with them. Michael's
Japanese because a Japanese actor won the part. Lori's Chinese
because a Chinese actress won the part.


EI: I guess that you identify with Matt Westmore's character.
(Reader Note: In Charlotte Sometimes, Westmore plays the half Asian
live-in that is one corner of a love square.)

Eric Byler: Well, I identify with all the characters. But I can see
why you'd compare us, because he's Hapa (half Asian). I considered
casting someone non-Asian, but that would have called too much
attention to race. Matt was the perfect choice because he allowed
the character to represent an "outsider" exactly as much as I'm
considered that way-- which is impossible to define, and for this
reason the film's view on race is hard to define too. A good test as
to whether Hapas are really Asian in our minds is when we see them
in bed. Responses have varied tremendously.

EI: Sounds like there is another story there, one with definite
adult implications.

Eric Byler: The story's already there, if I get what you're saying
correctly. But, yeah, it will be a recurring theme for me. In
American Knees, the Hapa character is a woman choosing between two
lovers, one who's Asian and one who's Caucasian. I expect the
interpretation will be that this choice defines her. If she chooses
a white guy, she's white. If she chooses an Asian guy, she's Asian.
It's ironic that an interracial man, like Matt's character in
Charlotte Sometimes, can date who ever he wants and stay in the same
category he was before. It's like how men keep their name.

EI: I'm always surprised by the frank and mature way foreign
directors handle sex. I mean take Y Tu Mama Tambien for example.

Eric Byler: Sex on screen should be surprising. Y Tu Mama Tambien is
a great example.

Foreign directors approach sex as they approach all aspects of
drama, with uncompromising honesty and creativity. American
directors have less freedom right now. Our films are usually
business ventures before all else. Surprises can be risky in that
way.

EI: I wonder whether success will kill the hunger and dull the edge
of your future films. You know, there just might be something to the
theory of necessity being the mother of invention. Also, all the
really tough kids grow up in households where dirt was a part of
their environment. Do you see where I'm going?

Eric Byler: Yes. But, it's not success that dulls the edge. It's the
loss of creative control. For better or for worse, I made every
creative decision on Charlotte Sometimes because my family paid for
it. I may never have that authority again. If I'm going to keep that
edge, I'll have to fight for it. But don't worry; dirt will always
be a big part of my environment.

Jonathan W. Hickman