A tenure-obsessed English professor accidentally takes a student’s life. Desperate to protect his career, he makes a fateful decision, sending his life spiraling out of control.
indieactivity: Now that Publish or Perish is complete, what are you feelings about the entire project?
David Liban (DL): I am very proud of this film and feel very gratified by the responses we’ve been receiving. People are very much getting a kick out of the project.
Casting is one of those steps in a films production you have to get right. How did you get through it?
David Liban (DL): I had Timothy McCracken in mind for the lead when I was writing the film because we worked together on my previous feature and I knew he had the goods… and we get along great so I knew it would be a rich working experience. Because we were shooting Publish or Perish in Denver, we worked with local talent agencies, Radical Arts and Big Fish Talent, and they sent us loads of audition tapes that gave us loads of options. Then we scheduled in person casting calls for the people we wanted to see again.
The Official Trailer for Publish or Perish
Timothy was present for these and his input as an actor was great, and I could see the on-set chemistry where needed. Also my producing partner Jonathan Miller and I would consult often and talk about who we thought would be great for the film. So all in all it was a very calculated process and we found some really talented people. Some of the actors we cast were people I knew from CU Denver where I work. I needed a couple of college aged students and had in mind some people I worked with before, in class… and on previous films.
Timothy also recommended James Shanklin as the Dean; he had worked with him on a stage play of Anna Karenina. Then James recommended Katie Michels for Emily… so it was a very organic, yet thorough process.
What went into the pre-production process for Publish or Perish?
David Liban (DL): Pre-production is really where we get the film in order… as you know. We spent close to 4 months prior to principle photography. Our Production Designer, Kelly Spencer dug in deep to get an idea of what I wanted and flesh out the spaces, the costumes, and the look of the film… based on the locations.
I myself did much of the scouting and working with our production manager, Chris Beeson to find and secure the locations that would be both cinematic and appropriate for the story.
I also worked regularly with my DP, Trevr Merchant and went through all 100 scenes to determine how to shoot it to give it the look we were going for. We were looking at lots of films to decide the look. Even though it’s a comedy, I was really looking at more of a low key lighting design… hinting at Noir.
We liked the movie Under The Silver Lake and Fargo as inspirations for what I was hoping for. I wanted it to be dark to reflect the story, so the humor would often be in contrast to the images.
In addition, I would meet regularly with Timothy as he dissected the screenplay to better understand each. Moment, the characters and the drive our protagonist was going through.
Of course we were a SAG signatory so we needed to manage that, which can be very complicated and often nerve wracking for those of us without that sort of knowledge.
And of course there were the financial elements, accounting and state incentives… which I think Jonathan Miller is better qualified to discuss.
And all of us were doing the pre-production while we maintained our day jobs, which added to the stress.
Without giving anything away, tell us a little bit about the script, how did you come up with the idea?
David Liban (DL): I am a professor at the University of Colorado Denver where I teach film production and also the chairperson of the Film and Television dept. I’ve worked in several institutions in my career and throughout there was the “carrot” of tenure looming in the distance. It’s the goal… the want… the fear… – for if you don’t get tenure, you lose your job.
So while I was going through tenure the stress of it all presented to me many “what if” scenarios. Academia is loaded with personalities who often don’t see eye-to-eye, people you see every day who have duplicitous agendas… it can be ugly and those same people could potentially be the folks deciding on your tenure case… so it’s wise to ‘play nice.’ That is where the idea came from.
Who is Publish or Perish for? Who do you think would enjoy it the most?
David Liban (DL): Publish or Perish is for anyone who is drawn to dark comedy, and your ok with mature content. It’s for people who have ever had an adversarial relationship with a superior. We’ve shown the film at a dozen or more festivals with audience ranging in ages and gender and we’ve been getting great feedback from all. The content is definitely for mature audiences given the language and some violence, so if you’re not offended by that sort of thing, and you lean into dark comedy, then this is for you.
How long did it take to shoot the entire film?
David Liban (DL): e had 23 days of principle photography and 2 days prior for some specialty sequences.
How did you work with actors to get the best performances? Give us a typical on set direction at production?
David Liban (DL): I cast people who I knew had an idea who the characters were before we hit the set. So I would pretty much let them know where the characters were before and after this scene, the emotional intensity of the moment, the dilemma of the moment the character was experiencing. Then, I would let them do their thing… make an adjustment or two and then let them explore.
If we had time, I’d let them try an alternative performance that might surprise or provide alternatives in the editing room. And often those different ideas were just what we needed. I really love to let the actors practice their craft and try things that are unexpected. Of course if there are specific things that I needed for the story to unfold as I had it planned, then I would reign them into what was needed.
Publish or Perish had talent working behind the scenes. How did you handle creative differences?
David Liban (DL): That is really the hardest thing for me as a producer/director. Basically, we hired the people we wanted to work with, people who were dedicated and professional. I feel like if I treat people with respect, they’ll see that and give their best effort. But for the most part it went smooth… as a set can be. As for creative differences, people really trusted my vision and I trusted theirs.
I had my fingers in all elements, but if you have the right people on set, you can trust them to do their work well. If my production designer said.. “this is a better color”… I would trust her…. That is not my world. If my DP said… “David… embrace the dark…” I would trust him. And when I felt I had to get something specific… everyone was on board. It was all very respectful.
What techniques do you use to ensure a film is cohesive and flows well throughout the story?
David Liban (DL): Having had written the screenplay, I was best equipped to tell the story. I knew the characters inside and out. Logistically, we are shooting out of sequence so you need to trust your Script Supervisor to tell you where we are in the script at that moment. So again, it’s collaborating with your team.
What shots and camera angles do you prefer for particular scenes and why?
David Liban (DL): I don’t know if I can answer that because it all must reflect what is going on in the scene. What is the emotional intensity. I love wide shots to give the audience a wider perspective and I love wide angle lenses for closeups. Trevr Merchant, my DP and I looked at what we could do to make talking heads be more cinematic.
But mostly this film is shot from Steadicam (Chris Roe). Jim Bowden (the protagonist) is in nearly every scene and he’s in motion, almost always, so the ideas was to have the camera moving almost all the time as well… keep it fluid and in motion as is the character.
What’s next for you? What are you working on right now?
David Liban (DL): I have a screenplay that I am very excited about called, Love Less Likely. It’s another dark comedy. Also, Jonathan and I have another screenplay we both like and are considering as another project to work on together.
How do you tackle projects with very tight timelines or challenging locations?
David Liban (DL): It’s all about pre-production. How many shots? how long do we have locations? Planning is what make great films. Having a great AD (Kylee Mitchell) to keep everyone on the same page and on time. We shot in the winter and the sun started going down around 4:30 so the light was a huge challenge. We would certainly kick it into high gear after lunch knowing we would be losing the light in a few hours.
Be realistic about what can be accomplished… but that also comes back to planning. If we had a car mount… we needed to know how long it would take to ready that. If we had special effects make up… how long would it take and what can we shoot while that’s being applied. It’s that sort of thinking that we had to do.
How has technology changed filmmaking? How have you adopted new methods in your productions?
David Liban (DL): Technology is always changing, at every dept. The way we communicate with dept’s (Slack). The camera gear and the files (DIT). Editing… We use the best and most current technology where possible. Files transfers… All of it…
What tips would you give aspiring filmmakers who are just starting their careers?
David Liban (DL): Make films that you want to see. Find your voice and own that voice. If you’re interested in the production side… make yourself the sort of person who solves problems for the director/producer. And most importantly, don’t be an asshole.
Tell us what you think of the interview with David Liban. What do you think of it? What ideas did you get? Do you have any suggestions? Or did it help you? Let’s have your comments below and/or on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.
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