Trailer Addition (1+1= Trailer #2)

Another day, another trailer. Cody (Cody Sorensen) and Laura (Anna Reichert) go at it about Cody's tendency to go sockless.

"Lemme go into my closet and get my stankfeet."

GATTESCO'S (VHS Feature) Trailer #2 from VHS Feature on Vimeo.

VHS Vanity (fair, fair)

Evan (far left) with cast members–from L to R– Nick Ochs (Sonny), Ryan Kopperud (Nick), Trevor Anderson (Billy) on the banks of the Mississippi. Photo by Pang Maggart, Line Producer.

An Interview with Director Evan Drolet Cook by Laura Stevens and Greg Hernandez (Jeffrey)

On the way to his job at the Walker Art Center, Evan Drolet Cook spotted a woman walking with an umbrella. Being that it was a sunny day with clear skies, Evan immediately began pondering the meaning of the woman's meteorologic companion. Did she know something he didn't? Did she get some kind of super-exclusive weather report? That it didn't rain for several more days didn't stop Evan from thinking about this seemingly mundane encounter. Sooner than later, a process was born. Armed with the idea that one commonplace object can change perception, Evan began carrying his own umbrella with him every day, weathermen be damned. A Post-It note adhered to his apartment door reminds him to take it with him and every day, he takes a photograph with it. Evan's sense of wonder for the ordinary is exemplified by the dialog in his upcoming film where he, "dawdles in refuse like the ethics of mass texting or urinal heights." Laura Stevens took time out to meet with Evan at the Dunn Brothers Coffee Shop across from Loring Park, which was used as a backdrop for several scenes in the film.


Laura: What things do you enjoy most in life?

Evan: Laughing; I like to eat good food; This falls under [the heading of] laughing: good conversation.

Laura: What is the biggest problem you are facing today?

Evan: I have a few creative balls in the air that I have to keep lobbed up in the air, if you will. They are seventy-five percent full of helium but they're inevitably, slowly, dropping to the ground. But if I give them a whack I can keep them up. But the load is lessening everyday. So that's good. Usually when I finish something, it just means that I load something else on top of myself again to start again.

Laura: How many creative projects do you have going at any given time?

Evan: Right now, five.

Laura: Are all your projects created equal?

Evan: Ultimately they're all equal. I'm of the belief that anything you output you should stand by, so you should really labor over it thusly.

Laura: What is your biggest priority right now?

Evan: The movie (Gattesco's).

Laura: What is your greatest passion?

Evan: Telling stories in one way or another. Whether it's writing them or– I mean, it takes all sorts of forms. Whether it's oral or written or, you know, an artwork itself. A sculpture can tell a story. Marty (Marosi; Script Supervisor] and I were walking by the U recently and she pin-pointed that the kind of art I want to make– which is like an odd or witty idea– not that it's completely banal, not in the banal sense of it being boring, as been done so much in art already, but in the banal sense that it's simply taken from our everyday world and used how it's intended to be used– not directly subverted– like the umbrella. She said we should hang hammocks on the mall at the U, from the trees. You know, one day there's no hammocks and then all of a sudden the next day there's like 60 hammocks between trees in the springtime. And so a hammock is a very kind of banal kind of thing. But you look at a hammock– it's [in the shape of] a smile, A., and B., it's a thing that provides comfort and especially if you were to put one up in the spring when kids are, like, winding down their year and they're super stressed out, the weather's getting beautiful, people are falling in love, I think it would be very interesting. So Marty hit the nail on the head in terms of the kind of things that I'm passionate about. That in itself is a story. “Who put this hammock here?”; “Can I use this hammock?” Every person that interacts with the hammock is a story. That's storytelling, in a way. And the umbrella is storytelling in a way; it jams the signal to everyday life. If a person looks at it, even for a second, and wonders, “Why is he carrying an umbrella today? Is it gonna rain?” their life is altered, ever so slightly. Of course, subconsciously speaking, they have no idea.

Laura: What is your idea of an ideal life?

Evan: One where I get to live close to my family and I get to wake up every day– I strive to make the first ten minutes of my day [so as] not to be the worst ten minutes of my day. That's what I want to ultimately accomplish. What I think will get me to that is a life of making art and a life of living... close to my family and friends, which is where I grew up [Minneapolis]. I like it here and I want to stay here. So my idea of an ideal life would be one of freedom.

Laura: Are these ideals you've talked about attainable?

Evan: Maybe, I'd say. I'm definitely attempting it, regardless of what the outcome may be. There are definitely days when I question, “why am I working myself in this way and to what end,” all those important questions. Any creative person– I mean there's such great rewards for being spotlessly creative. But it's not always recognized immediately so it's important that you know that going into it. I really do believe though that that first ten minutes of your day is the key... You're not pissed that you have to wake up, for whatever reason it is. You're A., well rested, B. you're well fed , C. you're waking up next to whoever you want to wake up next to and D. you're going to do what it is you feel you want to do. It's how you wake up, your mental state. The fact that you're happy to see another day. It's always so underestimated but it's so fucking instrumental and primary, I think. So those first ten minutes are the realization of all of those factors.

Laura: What makes you happy?

Evan: “Things that make me happy” [Laughs]. There's this phrase that I recently came across “Let your smile be your umbrella”. The cynic in me takes that phrase to mean, “be blindly happy and let that protect you”. So for me lately, I've been thinking of that [saying] in reverse: “Let an umbrella be your smile” So the umbrella makes me happy I guess you could say, which is kind of a stupid thing. But doing that a lot of times makes me smile.

[thinks]

Thinking of different things I want to create over the course of however long it is that I get to create stuff. That makes me happy...

[thinks]

And the love of a good woman certainly doesn't hurt.



The umbrella in Telluride, Colorado.

Evan Drolet Cook continues his post-production work on the Gattesco's which is moving into sound mix and color correction next month. Additionally, The umbrella project, It's Gonna Rain (Better Luck Next Year Sam Hsieh), continues to take on twists, turns, and torrential drizzle including a companion book and an art installation set for 2010.

Trailer (is) Home

Yeah, yeah. We've heard it all before. It got here eventually didn't it?

Click below to watch the trailer (4:30– which is long, so let it load, please

GATTESCO'S (VHS Feature) Trailer from VHS Feature on Vimeo.