Austinist Interviews Mark & Jay Duplass, creators of The Puffy Chair
We recently tracked down the creators of The Puffy Chair, Mark and Jay Duplass (writer and director, respectively). They took time out of their busy promotional schedule to combine forces and answer a few of our questions regarding their process and their new film.
What first got you excited and interested in being a filmmaker?
Turning a camera on and pointing it at people was always fun when we were kids. We made a lot of movies then, and our dad always told us we could do anything we wanted in life. We happened to be stupid enough to believe him, so here we are. Lucky for him, he’s basically had to pay for it all so far.
What is the collaborative process of writing with your brother like?
Mark and I conceive and story the movies together very intensely, so in that sense we have a fully shared vision of the movie. Then we parcel out the tasks to get the f’r done. When it comes to writing, Mark goes off and writes the first draft alone. Then I read it, critique it, and re-write a few things. Then Mark does a whole other rewrite, and submits to me again, and the process continues.
We work in coffee shops or our houses or our cars on the way to meetings or in parks or at lunch or wherever. We just hang out and try to dazzle each other with stories. Most of them stop because of lack of depth or lack of structure or something like that. We probably come up with 100 stories a year, but only about 2 or 3 last.
How does being from New Orleans inform your artistic vision/sensibilities?
I have no idea… never thought about it. I know this… I don’t think either of us realized how unique New Orleans is until we left. We thought the whole country was sort of third world with corrupt politics and an emphasis on liquor, food, and philandering compounded by Catholic guilt. We did grow up playing music and Mark was touring the country for 3-4 months at 20 years of age, but it wasn’t “jazzy blues.” He was playing a solo acoustic tour. So I guess when you look at it like that it seems like we’ve always been immersed in the arts, but at the same time we don’t feel very “New Orleansy.”
How long was the Puffy Chair shoot?
Three weeks for the main shoot, then an extra 1 for the road trip, then another week for reshoots. We had to reshoot the entire first 15 minutes of the movie because what we had was, let’s call it, “under par.”
What was your budget?
We don’t really know… about 10 grand to get it into the can. But that was easily doubled or tripled with festivals and making Hdcams and stuff like that.
How was the experience of Sundance?
It was amazing. That premier screening was just amazing. We cried through the whole damn thing. We weren’t sure they were gonna laugh, but it seriously sounded like an audience from a Christmas day screening of Dumb and Dumber. Just a lot more tension in between. Not that we’d ever compare our movie to Dumb and Dumber because honestly, it’s untouchable.
How did it feel to be received so well at SXSW, where Jay attended school?
We both went to school there actually. It was also pretty awesome. And when we won the audience award, we really started feeling like, holy shit, we’ve really got something here.
How often do you make it back to Austin?
My wife is from San Antonio, and whenever I go there with her I drive to Austin for the day and kind of cry and miss Austin so much. There’s no place like it in the world.
How long did it take to get distribution for the film?
It took a year to lock the deal, and another 6 months to release it. It was a long road, but worth it. Right?
What led you to choose the puffy chair as the main metaphor or symbol in the movie?
Relationship movies tend to be really over-serious and pretentious, and every idea we came up with just felt that way. Eventually we realized we needed something really simple and sort of stupid to propel the story, like a road trip movie with a set piece that was so absurd that we were certain the movie would never feel heavy handed. When Mark said “what about a giant purple LazyBoy” we knew we had a movie on our hands.
Have you been burned or burdened by a girl before who set up right answer/wrong answer scenarios?
Not really. I mean, we both sort of feel like all is fair in love and war. The amount of egregious shit that we as dudes pull is the same. I guess Mark and I feel like whenever a girl sets up a right answer/wrong answer scenario it’s probably because she really needs a question answered - immediately. There are probably infinitely more healthy ways to get answers as informed by self-help books, but those are much less interesting for movies. So, burdened - yes, burned – no.
Was a large part of the movie about exploring the ways in which we communicate and where women and men might not see eye-to-eye regarding said?
I suppose so, though we don’t really think that way when it comes to making films. We find it better to stick people who happen to be at odds with each other in trying circumstances and, then, watch the whole shithouse come down on them… it sounds simplistic and obvious, but the more we work with basic, raw scene materials, the better our films get. So, yes, we both know what it’s like to have communication issues, we’ve been through it, and we love making fun of ourselves on screen.
I know you worked with Kathryn in one of your previous films, how did you begin your relationship with her?
Katie is My (mark’s) fiancée… nuf said…
Were you surprised to find a former pageant girl to be such a powerful and engaging actress? (That is in no way mean as a slight to her, I thought she was amazing, just surprised at her pedigree.)
she’s the best actress we know in her mid-20’s… hands down… but, yes, a checkered past indeed…
Was there a nod at all to Cat Stevens in your physical depiction of Rhett?
Nope… but now that you mention it, there’s something there… we just wanted a big beard…
Josh gets some rather sage advice from his father (played by his real father) near the end of the movie, does this reflect your own real experiences or did the voice of responsibility and wisdom just fit into the screenplay best that way?
WE are very close with our Dad and we’ve had many conversations like this… funny, though, we’re not sure the advice is so “sage”… we weren’t sure how this scene would play out, but we certainly didn’t plan for his advice to be any sort of statement… we love all of the characters in this film and they are all incredibly flawed… it’s our hope that after you watch it you’ll see that no one is right and no one is wrong, and that you’ll have laughed your ass off at their shortcomings but also see a bit of your self in them… we feel that way about the Dad, too…
The movie seems to also be about people having the courage to make choices and to own them, as well as how life does not always turn out the way we think it should. Can you speak to what you envisioned as the overriding theme of your film?
Again, we don’t think this way. No themes. We wanted to make a film about relationships in their mid-20’s…about that “get married or break up” stage…and we wanted to be funny…this is what we know about and, frankly, are obsessed with…
How do you feel about people using 'baby-talk' in their adult relationships?
We both do it with our significant others… it can be a sweet, pure thing for a couple…it can also be a passive-aggressive monster…sometimes it’s both… couples are weird…at least, we are…
What is the next project?
Baghead…shooting outside of Austin in October… also, we’re doing a film with Universal about what it really means to us to be brothers…
*The Puffy Chair opens this weekend in Austin.*
