Bill Briles [Interview]

Hello Folks! And for those who still my care what day of the week it is, Happy Monday! Today we have a very special guest that is sure to help you all take the edge off just a bit. Today we have the brilliant filmmaker and performer Bill Briles! Bill, alongside his wife & partner Aleta Doroudian are a truly unique team that have created some of the most unusual and downright hilarious films currently available. Bill & Aleta have done as much for comedy as the likes of our dear friends & fellowed spouse team Sophia Cacciola & Michael J. Epstein have done for genre horror. I came across their brilliant work by chance of actually looking at some of the RIYL stuff on Amazon Prime, and their film A Private Dancer in Mom’s Kitchen, was something that I instantly fell in love with thus duo! And now that we all have a bit more time on our hands, I am definitely going to check out more of their stuff. And I recommend that you all do the same, as it can only be great.

So without further babbling, please enjoy these amazing words from the incredible filmmaker/acotr/all sorts of things, Bill Briles!

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What inspired you to get into the world of filmmaking? What is something you had wanted to do since your youth, or was it something that you happened to find yourself doing one day? 

I’ve always been interested in creating “stuff” and directing. I started directing performances at an early age beginning with my own Mickey Mouse Club, and at the age seven I got into big trouble with the parents for directing neighborhood girls (also ages seven and eight) to perform dances in the buff. Needless to say, this part of my directing career ended unexpectedly and abruptly. 

I continued my interests in dramatic arts into college where I took some acting courses and screenplay writing courses. I wrote a lot of screenplays in my 20’s none of which were produced. Once cameras became inexpensive enough, we started writing our own scripts and making our own movies, the first being a full feature. 

Aleta’s interest in performing started in elementary school where she produced, directed, and starred in her own plays (lots of Gilligan’s- Island types) in the basement of her house for the neighborhood kids. She sold tickets and popcorn for her performances (an entrepreneur even in her early years). 

What was your first paid gig in the world of entertainment? And were there any sort of lessons learned from this experience that still affects your work today? 

Our first movie, Romance at Frisky’s Bar, was actually on Netflix and we did get “some” money despite it being very amateurish. It was a two-year, low budget project which required turning our house into a “bar- night-club”. It also required living in a “bar” for 6 months while the movie was being shot. Due to complaining neighbors, all actors had to be bused in to the ‘bar” in a van from a local bank parking lot. We were very motivated to make this movie and jumped a lot of “hurdles” in the process. 

My wife Aleta managed to corner a distributor at the Tribeca Film Festival Filmmaker’s Lounge (we were just spectators). The distributor took a copy with him (we had always carried copies of our movies) and three weeks later he agreed to distribute our movie, thus Netflix. 

The big lessons for us in our movie-making experiences are: it can be a cruel world out there and you are going to hear things about your work you’d rather not hear. Also, there are some people quite willing and ready to take advantage of your hard work. 

I recently truly enjoyed your latest film A Private Dancer in Mom’s Kitchen! It was so great, and insanely original. I am curious to know where the idea for this film came from? What made you want to tell this tale? 

The idea evolved over time. We started the movie with an end-goal of making a short since we had never made a short. As we kept shooting, the story evolved and turned into a feature. Also, my wife and I wanted to see if we could make a movie that involved only the two of us, which included everything; main characters, extras, pre-production, production, and post production. 

The story came from different “pieces” of our lives. My wife is a very good singer-songwriter and dancer and this is where the “private dancer” was born. My characters are personal alter-egos and represent to a degree parts of my life and life experiences. I grew up and went to school in the south and the southern heritage has been a part of all our movies. We are also both doctors and I’m a painter-sculptor, all included in Private Dancer. 

You have a very original style of filmmaking in Private Dancer, the likes of which I don’t believe I have ever really seen before. And I’m actually not quite sure how to describe it. So, would be willing to do so? Can you tell our readers what it is about your style that makes it unique from other filmmakers out there? 

We have been told that our movies are definitely not mainstream and “different”. We have also been told more than once that our characters are unusual and at times “quirky”. It is probably because we are “quirky” characters ourselves and our perceptions of the world may also be “quirky”. We love comedy, but a few years ago wanted to see if we could pull off a drama for variety. Our movie, First Shoot the Lawyers was our first attempt at drama and we thought it was drama-like. The first showing at a film festival resulted in, to our surprise, a lot of laughing so we gave up on drama. The distributor called it a “Black Comedy”. So now we call all of our movies comedies whether intentional or not. 

I’m not sure if I answered the question but, we go with what pops into our heads and what pops into our heads “ain’t in the normal range”. I personally am tired of movies with big explosions, lots of killing but say nothing about the “essentials of human existence”. 

If you were handed the opportunity, on an unlimited budget, to create the biopic of any legendary figure in American history, who would it be?

Since Van Gogh has been done (several times) I would go with another famous artist, Edward Hopper (from early-mid 1900’s) and his relationship with his wife (also an artist). Based on my understanding, their personalities were polar-opposite and despite monumental personality differences and on-going friction, they were joined at the hip. It would be an expose’ on the human condition and how ‘suffering and misery’ trumps being alone’ (for some). I think there would be many opportunities for comedic scenes and maybe a little insight into our nature. He is also my favorite artist. 

What does the future hold for you? Anything you would like to plug to our readers? 

We can’t seem to stop making movies so we’ll probably do it ’til we’re ‘pushing daisies’. We’re presently shooting another comedy, Thomas A Peeper (Get it?). The story is about a gardener who is forced to work the “graveyard shift” and a woman going through a tumultuous divorce brawling with her soon-to-be-ex over “custody” of their house. Thomas A Peeper gets entangled and disaster ensues. 

What was the last thing that made you smile? 

My wife Aleta, a very funny girl.

Check out this trailer from the Dr. Gabs, and check out A Private Dancer in Mom’s Kitchen on Amazon Prime.