An Interview with Jack Peterson

Q: How did you and your co-director Tim Richardson come up with the idea for this film?

A: Funny thing, that. We were kicking around a few ideas one night and suddenly it occurred to me how much people love rings. Ringing bells, telephones ringing, ring around the collar…and I thought what a terrific concept for a motion picture.

Q: Were you concerned about similarities between your film and another major movie trilogy?

A: Hmm, never noticed. What movies?

Q: The Lord of the Rings.

A: No…doesn't ring a bell. See there….that word ring again! Told you people love it. We're going to be rich…

Q: You claim to have a large amount of creative control in the film, yet I don't see a single picture from the set that has you anywhere in it.

A: That's because I prefer to work from the trees. That way I have a much better view, as a director, of the big picture. We'd get on location and a wench would be waiting to hoist me up in the air as far as I could go. Believe me, the film looks much better from 40 feet above ground.

Q: Were their any creative differences with the screenwriters Tim Richardson, James Pickens and Michael Kouroubetes?

A: Oh, nothing major. We quibbled a bit about the name for the main character. They wanted Frudo and I was dead set on Marble Lou Simms. Things like that.

Q: What was it like trying to make Indiana and Michigan look like a fantastical environment for the film?

A: Well, I grew up slapping fish in New Zealand all my life and I got rather sick of seeing all those beautiful mountains and wonderful waterfalls. For me, the cornfields and gas stations of the Midwest made for a much more interesting canvass.

Q: What did you enjoy most about this production?

A: Without a doubt…the craft service. I just happen to love generic pop tarts and peanut butter so I was as snug as a bug in a rug.

Q: Do you have any plans for your next film project?

A: Not for certain, but we've been kicking around the idea of a story about a teenage boy wizard and his naughty adventures… "Hairy Pooter and the Chambermaid's Secrets." It's more of an art film.