SIFF Interview: Short Film Director Ian Ebright on Giving the Devil a Fix
To paraphrase a really annoying zeitgeist movie from a couple of decades back, short film programs are like a box of chocolates. To extend that metaphor, you may not know what every filmic bon-bon in a SIFF Shorts Program candy box is gonna taste like, but SIFF’s shorts programmers get it right with reassuring frequency.
The Devil Needs a Fix, which screens Sunday, May 28th as part of the #FilminWA shorts block at the SIFF Uptown (start time at noon, tickets here), is a sweet bite of dark genre chocolate. It’s a meditation on man coming face-to-face with evil embodied, in which a reporter (Stefan Hajek) interviews a charismatic, white-suited Mephistopheles figure (Steven Soro) in a Seattle coffee shop one afternoon.
No, it’s not the first time (nor the last) that you’ll see a variation of this time-honored scenario played out, but this sophomore short from Seattle-based writer/director Ian Ebright sports some great performances, a smart and funny script, genuine creepiness, and a great twist that doesn’t show its hand too soon. It’s an engaging stylistic about-face for Ebright, whose powerful debut short From the Sky tackles tensions in the Middle East head-on.
Ebright talked to me about the whys and wherefores of delivering a fix to The Devil, and about returning to SIFF as a filmmaker for a second time.
Your first short From the Sky won quite a few awards and got considerable festival play, including SIFF. Did you feel any sort of pressure of expectation when you began The Devil Needs a Fix?
I had another short in progress to make after From the Sky, and was definitely feeling self-imposed expectations to do something cause-oriented and “important,” but I’m glad that follow-up short fell through. By the time Devil presented itself about six months after, I was just curious in a more healthy way, and interested in exploring this story I’d always wanted to try but kinda forgot about. I decided to follow those feelings of curiosity and interest and let that be good enough, and I’m glad I did.
The Devil is a polar opposite of From the Sky. What was the inspiration behind Devil’s creation/development?
It was honestly two really bad years that spoke the loudest. I had no intention of doing another short at the time Devil materialized. I was developing a TV series and didn’t want to put in the work required to make and market a short, so soon after the long effort on From the Sky and so close to the follow-up short falling through. It was a tough period of unemployment and financial strain, marital strain, and more, which brought up all of these existential questions and feelings. I had a feeling what I was going through was universal- not self-indulgent, and I tend to be attracted to stuff that I think will connect with people because it’s human and universal rather than specific to me.
As entertaining as Devil is, it’s the twist that, I think, makes it pop. Without getting spoiler-y, which came first—the overall concept, or the twist?
The overall concept came first, but the twist was very close by. I was thinking about that in-between short film script I had written that fell through, and a couple of things it did well that I wanted to play with again, in terms of audience expectation and the actual outcome. There is an early film by David Mamet and a more recent, excellent film starring Scarlett Johannsen that both popped into my head as references as I was obsessing and honing the logic and framework of my story. These inspirations felt like a nice outer boundary or point of reference to help me stay confident in what I was trying to do.
How does it feel to be screening again at SIFF?
It’s great to be back at SIFF after From the Sky played there in 2014, and it’s easy to take it for granted because it’s right in our backyard, but SIFF really blows so many other film festivals out of the water in terms of audience, organization, and programming. It’s nice to be programmed with works by local filmmaker friends, and I always get to meet filmmakers I’m new to and feel their sense of excitement and perspective. It’s an honor, and always memorable. And the fact that there’s more than 10 people in the theater watching your short film is super appreciated.
What is next for you creatively? I’m assuming you’re thinking about feature film directing at some point.
I’m still working on that TV series which Eric Frith (the editor of From the Sky and Devil) and I have been co-writing and co-producing for three years, and I’ve been outlining a feature-length script that I hope to start writing soon, and would love to direct it as my first feature. I’m hesitant to even acknowledge these projects as nothing goes the way I expect it to, and that’s probably better than my plans. Best for me to focus on the story, put one foot in front of the other, and do the next task.
