1BR Almost Wasn’t Made
[Interview with writer/director/cast]
Director David Marmor talks about how this edgy horror/cult-thriller was born of his experience moving to LA, Naomi Grossman gushes over the entire cast (totally neglecting her own awesome performance) and Producer Alok Mishra has us all in tears with his super descriptive stories about the rocky road to 1BR being made
If we’re being honest, Rob and I were really nervous for the 1BR interview. We’ve done a few interviews over the years, but this was going to be the first time we sat down using video. What if I had stuff on my face? Or what if Rob accidentally picked his nose, like he sometimes does? Or what if I mispronounced somebodies name (which I did, g-damnit)?
So, the good news is, they were really nice, guys… and not scary at all. Rob did the thing that he does where he was all polished and prepared and asked great questions. Meanwhile, I did the thing that I do where I laugh awkwardly and veer off from talking about the movie, to instead focus on things like hair and drugs. They totally rolled with it (I think).
We talk about everything from 1BR, to Northwestern, to COVID, to eating hallucinogenic worms to how they lost their original female lead days before filming.
A bit about Naomi Grossman:
You probably know Naomi Grossman best as the fan-favorite “Pepper” on FX’s American Horror Story: Asylum & Freak Show. Naomi was also was a Primetime Emmy nominee for her role in Ctrl Alt Delete. And gosh darnit if she wasn’t sweet and funny with the best smile (picture below does not represent her actual smile).
A bit about David Marmor
A San Francisco native, David Marmor studied computer science at Harvard and directing at USC. Don’t worry, I made sure to point out that I went to Augustana College, to level the playing field. His award-winning short films have screened at more than 60 festivals worldwide and aired on television on IFC and CBC. 1BR is his first feature, and it is a strong debut.
A bit about 1BR:
A young woman named Sarah leaves behind a painful past to follow her dreams and ends up scoring the perfect Hollywood apartment. But something is not right. Unable to sleep, tormented by strange noises and threatening notes, her new life quickly starts to unravel. By the time she learns the horrifying truth, it’s too late. Caught in a waking nightmare, Sarah must find the strength to hold onto her crumbling sanity…or be trapped forever in an existential hell.
1BR premiered at Fantasia Fest in Montreal and had a terrific festival run. It was later picked up for distribution by Dark Sky Films.
Check out the interview and more importantly check out 1BR, on whichever streaming service you use!
For all you aspiring filmmakers out there, here is the Joe Bob Briggs video Alok mentioned where he talks about making a film no matter what:
