Interview of the creator Jason Leaver

Interview liée à la websérie Out With Dad

Interview du créateur de la Websérie Jason Leaver

You seem to really trust your actors. You use little dialogue.  Facial expressions and hesitations play a big part. Is it something important for you?

It is a very important part to me.  I think sometimes movies and TV say too much, or seem too perfect.  In life, think about how often we communicate without a word, or sometimes we use the wrong word, or sometimes we can’t think of – or we change our mind part way through a sentence.  That’s how I write.  An actor friend of mine once cautioned me against writing dialogue this way because he said it doesn’t give the actors enough freedom and they don’t appreciate that.  I see his point, but I guess that’s when my role as a director sneaks into my writing.  I’m giving them direction right there in the scripts.  So far they haven’t complained!  When we’re rehearsing and filming I encourage them to stumble, pause and think before speaking even more than what’s on the page.  Also, we often drop lines from the script because we realize when rehearsing or filming that some lines are unnecessary.  Those words might be said with their eyes.  I’ve even come to write lines in the script that aren’t even spoken; I’ll write dialogue that begins with “this line is only spoken in her mind”.

Some of the feedback I’ve read says people don’t like the acting because it’s awkward.  I think perhaps they’re so used to seeing actors saying their lines perfectly and smoothly that anything different seems wrong.  I guess you can’t please everybody.

When developing each character, did you find inspiration in friends or people you know in order to make them more realistic?

Yes, I did quite a bit when writing.  But then when working with the actors things changed and they became all new people.  I would love to ask the same question to the actors.  Where are they drawing from?

Nowadays, even though mindsets seem to have changed in our society, parents are still portrayed as reacting negatively towards their child’s coming out in films or series. Do you agree? Why is that?

That might be so.  Perhaps it’s true because “dramatic”.  To quote Nathan in episode three, “the writers are creating conflict”.  I’m doing the same thing with Vanessa’s mother.  I have different conflicts between Nathan and Rose.  For Nathan, his problem isn’t that she’s gay – it’s that she’s keeping something from him.

When surfing the web for information to help his daughter, the results that Nathan gets are pretty depressing. Later on, his friend Johnny criticizes the USA in a very funny way. Do you think that acceptance is so different in the USA and Canada?

I get the impression that there is a difference.  I’m told this is true by gay friends.  Not everywhere in the US, but certainly in the more conservative and religious states.  I’m also told that we have that here in Canada too, which is disappointing.  I live in Toronto, a very multicultural and secular city.  We’ve got all sorts of people living in what is considered the most diverse city in the world.  Being gay isn’t a big deal here.  Or so it seems to me.  But who am I to say?  I’m a strait white man.  I don’t have to worry about acceptance.

To be honest, I was a little afraid about Johnny’s line.  I wondered if I was going too far?  Was I being too political?  Yet all my friends who read the scene for me said it was their favourite line!

What’s been the public response on the web so far? Is it difficult to put yourself on the map?

It’s been quite a ride! The response was mixed in the beginning, but I think that was because people had to get used how the story was going to play out.  Now the response is overwhelmingly positive.  People ask every day when the next episodes will come.

Putting ourselves on the map?  So far all we’ve done to advertise is social networking.  Somehow the folks at AfterEllen.com and OneMoreLesbian.com heard about us and shared us with their audiences.  That was the best thing that happened to us.  Now other sites like yours and a new one, called pnt.tv have been sharing Out With Dad.  We’re continuing to make as many connections as possible.

Have you ever thought of sharing bloopers online?

I’m working on an blooper reel now!  But you know what?  We didn’t have many bloopers… so I’m not sure how funny it’ll be.  I was surprised at how rare mistakes happened.  What a cast!

Jason Leaver

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A propos de Isabelle B. Price

Créatrice du site et Rédactrice en Chef. Née en Auvergne, elle s’est rapidement passionnée pour les séries télévisées. Dès l’enfance elle considérait déjà Bioman comme une série culte. Elle a ensuite regardé avec assiduité Alerte à Malibu et Les Dessous de Palm Beach avant l’arrivée de séries inoubliables telles X-Files, Urgences et Buffy contre les Vampires.

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