Join us for a special episode of The Pilot Podcast where we interview Andrew Gibson, director of the film Gutterbug!
We dive into Andrew Gibson's creative process, how his time in the Allston neighborhood within Boston influenced him, his favorite punk bands, how he incorporated relatable mental health messages into the story, and the response from audiences.
Transcript available on our website
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Editing done by Matt Quandt from I Edit Podcasts
BJ 0:09
Welcome to The Pilot Podcast! This week we have a very special episode. Today, we're joined by filmmaker Andrew Gibson, and we're going to be talking about his new film Gutterbug.
Mitu 0:20
Welcome, Andrew. We're so excited to have you join us today. Would you like to introduce yourself to our listeners?
Andrew Gibson 0:25
Yes, I am also very excited to be here. Yeah, I'm Andrew Gibson. I just finished putting a movie out and happy to be here on the on The Pilot Podcast.
BJ 0:34
Awesome. So let's dive right into your film. So in Gutterbug, you offer a look at overlooked communities, giving us a different look at humanity. Where we're looking at punks, people who are experiencing homelessness, people who are struggling with substance use. What drove you to make this empathy-filled story?
Andrew Gibson 0:55
It was inspired by the neighborhood I was living in. I was living in this funky neighborhood in Allston, which is in Boston. And there was a lot of crust punks and vagabonds, and these homeless kids kind of living in that area at the time. So I was just curious about that lifestyle and was just kind of surrounded by it. At the time we were, we were working on it, and I was writing it. So yeah, we just- I was- me and my co-writer were like, we should make a story about one of these kids. And then we kind of just from there just kind of snowballed and all the different things that made it into the script were things that we had either seen or been influenced by, you know, in those few years that we were living there.
BJ 1:35
That's so cool. It definitely felt very real
Andrew Gibson 1:38
Cool, I'm glad.
BJ 1:40
And we did some of our research on the actors and it doesn't seem like any of them were a part of the punk subculture or even from Boston so how did you help them get into those roles?
Andrew Gibson 1:53
Well, gosh, they were so great. There- the acting- their acting was awesome. So we kind of lucked out but they were all from out of state so we had done a number of Skypes and calls and stuff to like go over and stuff and I sent them some reference material to check out. The star Andrew Yackel luckily had some musical background. Like he played, he played music growing up, and he likes music and punk music and stuff. So he was, he was kind of in tune with with the music element, the music side of it. But yeah, they all did their work. They all did their research and when, when they showed up, and we turned the cameras on, I mean, we didn't have a ton of time to do rehearsals and stuff, but they really brought it.
BJ 2:34
Yeah, great performances. And speaking of music, we also noticed it's such a huge element of the film. Are you a big punk music fan yourself?
Andrew Gibson 2:43
Yeah, absolutely. At the time, we made it I was I was playing in a in a punk band. So and I was going to a lot of punk shows and making music videos for a lot of the band- like a lot of the bands that are in the film I had made music videos for. So I was, I was definitely pretty into that scene at the time and a lot of the shows, like some of the scenes that take place in the basements and stuff. The basement we shot that scene in was like less than a mile from my house. So I used to just walk there and go to shows on the weekends.
BJ 3:11
Do you have any music recommendations for our listeners?
Andrew Gibson 3:16
Yeah, well, I would I think the bands that are in the film, I would certainly recommend Beeef, Nice Guys, Guerilla Toss, Sarah Greenwell, Black Beach, Cult Fiction, Datenight, Pink Suds, all those bands are great, great punk bands from Boston. And then most of them are on Spotify, too, I believe so-
Mitu 3:35
And you said that you filmed a lot of their music videos before?
Andrew Gibson 3:39
Yeah.
Mitu 3:39
That's cool. What was the lens like for music videos versus when you're thinking of a full film?
Andrew Gibson 3:46
Yeah. Well, before we made Gutterbug, I had really only done music videos, like I hadn't done a ton of narrative stuff, even short films or anything. So the thing about music videos that I- that I always love is that continuity is not really as much of an issue. So you can kind of do jump cuts and you can be a lot more liberal with the continuity. As opposed to when you're actually blocking out shooting a scene that's going to unfold in real time, like continuity obviously becomes a big thing and the way you block the scene becomes really important. And also the audio for the dialogue and stuff. So like, when I do music videos, like there's no audio, there's- continuity is usually not an issue. So a lot of those things were difficult and new obstacles to have to work through for the feature.
Mitu 4:29
That's so interesting, the issue of continuity.
Andrew Gibson 4:32
Yeah, I know.
Mitu 4:34
I feel like there's so many fan pages dedicated to big budget movies and shows, let alone a more indie project and pointing out where continuity errors happen. I bet that's just such a difficult thing. That's such a difficult thing for me personally, to just wrap my head around.
Andrew Gibson 4:50
Well, it's kind of funny because it's super important, but at the same time, as I was cutting it and editing it and you realize how much you can get away with continuity-wise. Like people aren't really looking for that, you know what I mean? It's like, if it's something that's really obvious, then people will notice it. But there's a lot of stuff that like if the- if the movies working and it's flowing well, and the scene is flowing well, and the pacing of it is flowing well, and the actors are doing well, then you don't really- there's a lot of continuity stuff you can get away with, like, if it's small, it's like "Oh, the actor's hair was parted to this way this scene or he didn't have his shoe tied in this scene," like little stuff you can get away. If it's a big thing, like he didn't have a shirt on the scene, then it would be like more noticeable. We were- I was surprised like- because there's definitely a bunch of continuity errors in Gutterbug that like people don't notice.
Mitu 5:38
I didn't notice any. I was gonna ask if someone on set was helping you that.
Andrew Gibson 5:42
Well, you know- well we had our script supervisor Chris Tobin was on top of that, and like I think we did a really good job on most of the bigger continuity things. Like one of the things to me that that I noticed like right away when I was starting to edit it, but nobody notices it. Like continuity of his teeth, of Bug's teeth.
Mitu 5:58
Hmm
Andrew Gibson 5:59
Because we were making them dirty. We had like this dirt stuff that we're putting on his teeth before you know every scene and like sometimes he had a lot of stuff on his teeth, sometimes he didn't have much stuff on his teeth. Like so how dirty his teeth were, the continuity of that was like fluctuating, but no one seemed to notice that except for me so which is good.
BJ 6:16
Well, now I want to go back and look out for that.
Andrew Gibson 6:20
Yeah, there's a couple scenes where his teeth are like pearly white, like we didn't even- we had totally forgot to like put the dirt on his teeth, but...
Mitu 6:27
I actually noticed his smile at the very end, but it would make sense...
Andrew Gibson 6:30
That was intentional.
Mitu 6:31
Not to spoil too much. Yeah, that and I- and I genuinely stopped for a moment and thought "Like, wow, that's a beautiful smile." Like he has great smile.
Andrew Gibson 6:40
Totally. No, yeah, that one was intentional. And also, you know, we had them clean shaved and we get my haircut before that. That was the last scene we filmed, was the last scene so we did the haircut and the shave and didn't put stuff on his teeth. But yeah, it's funny because that when he auditioned for it, that's what he looked like. And we were like, "Oh, he's too good looking for this." But then we were like, "Oh, his performance is really good, though." So we kept coming back to his audition tape and we're like, "Well, yeah, he's definitely like, he's definitely too good looking for this role, but we can just make him dirty." Like that's obviously the part of the charm of, of movies and stuff is you can you can cheat all that. So we ended up selecting him. And then he had like a month or so, or maybe a little more to grow his hair out and grow his beard out. And then we use dirt on his face and his teeth and kind of made him look gnarly.
BJ 7:29
So kind of while we're talking about casting and production, can you dive in a little bit about that experience? And is the final product what you envisioned?
Andrew Gibson 7:40
Since it was a low budget thing it was- everyone worked really hard. And I'm so grateful for everyone that that helped out and worked on it. So a lot of the casting was- the main actors, we casted online on Backstage.com. But a lot of the supporting roles and the extras and stuff was like "Hey, who's around?" Like, "Hey, can anybody come help out in our movie tomorrow?" You know what I mean? So it was really just like scrambling to reach out to friends and to reach out to friends at the bands and like we were just kind of going hard on social media. You look- the area Allston it's a really creative, cool little neighborhood. So there's people around though were interested in getting involved in the project. But it was still kind of a scramble of like, everyone just reaching out to their friends to see if we could get you know, five extras to be in this record shop to make it look like it's- there's actually people there. But the main three actors and then the parents and Eddy and the drug dealer, Raleigh. Those ones we were able to like cast and have them submit audition tapes and stuff, but most of the other ones were just friends.
BJ 8:46
Nice, they really did embody the characters well. It came across that way.
Andrew Gibson 8:51
Yeah, I think so too. I think so too. I'm really happy with the way they all did. They're all really fun to work with too.
BJ 8:58
And another interesting thing about the film in those characters is, you know, you take the time to question the systems around us. So was it intentional in the movie to show someone like, Raleigh who can come from a wealthy neighborhood, but then end up in instability and dealing drugs?
Andrew Gibson 9:17
Yeah, yeah, definitely. I mean, we wanted to just touch on all all sorts of stuff. So I think that there, there's definitely, you know, some social issues that we were trying to bring up or to touch on. I mean I don't think we hit everything that we wanted to hit like in the way that we wanted to hit it. But I think that we were definitely trying to put some issues, you know, on screen and have people think about it and have- to have a discussion after the film. And, yeah, it was definitely part of the intent. And we had some other scenes with Raleigh that we ended up cutting where like, he was like at home- he was- there was a scene he was like at home like eating breakfast with like his, in like a really big mansion with like his wealthy family. But we're just very quickly we're like, "Oh, yeah, we can't afford to go shoot in a mansion for a day." So we cut that. It was like- it was like a flashback kind of a thing you know like when Bug is talking about Raleigh, in the script it cut to like him in a mansion like eating pancakes with his- with his wealth and family. And then like leaving and then going into the- into the gnarly area.
Mitu 10:15
He was so charming. The actor who played Raleigh, is it Geoffrey van Wyck?
Andrew Gibson 10:20
Yeah, Geoff van Wyck.
Mitu 10:21
So charming as that character.
Andrew Gibson 10:26
Yeah, he's funny.
Mitu 10:27
I'm really curious about your writing process in this movie. Towards the beginning of the movie, and we're trying not to give too much away so that our listeners can check this out and view it for themselves. But,
Andrew Gibson 10:38
Yeah.
Mitu 10:39
There's a scene where Bug considers, we'll call it a drastic move, and we're super sad. And then Raleigh says something about the cost of cadavers and taking care of them and then I found myself genuinely laughing out loud. And then you see more graphic images right after that scene and you're sad again, and it was such a human experience having these highs and these lows. So what was it like in that writing process to balance that, that dark and the light in telling this story?
Andrew Gibson 11:11
Well, that was a- that was a big thing honestly. That was like one of our main themes, was highs and lows. Early on in the script Bug was bipolar, like, we still treated him as bipolar and having mental illness, but it wasn't as spelled out in the actual film. But in the script, there was a- there was a version of the script where he was like, it was very obvious that he was suffering from bipolar and you know, it was like... So once we kind of took that element of the script, we were still like, let's just make it feel that way. So let's have really high highs and really high lows for the audience so that like there's people who- basically our goal was to make people laugh and to make people cry, and every, every emotion in between so it's definitely a goal from the start to have moments of comedy in Raleigh was usually that person that was bringing the comedy, and then also like dark, intense moments with with Yackel struggling with with mental illness. And I think I think that the tone jumps around quite a bit. And I think that like their movies like SLC Punk! or Trainspotting or A Clockwork Orange kind of have a similar zany tones, we're kind of thinking about those movies, when we're thinking about the tone. And like, there was definitely moments where, like "Ah, is this really going to work if we're jumping around to all these different tones and emotions?" but we kind of just decided to go for it because it's like, I think the movies that have a variety of, of emotion and tone can hit people on like, so many levels that like, by the time the movie is over, you're like, emotionally like, stimulated or exhausted, you know, as, as opposed to like, if it was just- just depressing the whole time, it might not have been as enjoyable maybe...
Mitu 12:42
Hmm
Andrew Gibson 12:43
If we had just gone, the tone was just- just dark, it might have made a smaller audience or a certain amount of people I think might have not, not continued to watch the whole film, whereas like, I think having a little blend of both made it a little bit, makes it a little bit more accessible and like a lot of different people can enjoy it.
Mitu 13:01
That's so true. BJ always makes fun of me because I tend to be like an open crier in movies. And so when you say that people were crying and laughing and crying and laughing, like genuinely, that is me. And I really liked that in the movie. And there wasn't just such a variety of tone, but also a range and depth in these characters. We typically review television shows, and we often talk about the difficulty of balancing introducing a cast of characters, and giving them just enough depth than focusing on some of them and giving them more depth so enough that you have buy in, but not too much that you're lost trying to keep up with everyone. And I think that you do that really well here where there's a larger cast, but we focus on a few people and we really focus in on Bug and so how did you find yourself balancing that time both in the writing process but also you see it in the direction and how the movie is edited?
Andrew Gibson 14:03
Yeah, I think- I think that we were just focusing on on staying close to Bug, following Bug the whole time. Until then we cut away to his parents and then kind of follow his parents a little bit. We had more stuff of his parents. At one point in the script, we had more stuff with Raeligh at one point. I think we might have had another scene with Eddy at one point. And then as as the script got tighter, we kept cutting all the other characters and just focusing on Bug and being like, "Does this- how does this affect Bug?" Like, if this affects Bug, let's keep it in there but if it's like, like you said, if it's like something that's going to get people lost, and it's unrelated, then let's cut that. So we tried to just focus on Bug and then from there, we kind of went out to like, you know, obviously, his parents are a huge part of his life. So like they're in there and then like, you know, Jenny, the love interest coming in and like having a positive change on his life and then his best friend's Slim having a negative change on his life. So we kind of had him you know, between Jenny and Slim and Slim being evil, Jenny being good, and then both kind of pulling him in different directions. And then like, you know, obviously the parents and then the relationship with Eddy, I don't want to give too much away. But like the, one of the main points of that scene was to kind of show him at his lowest or show like a fall from grace, you know?
BJ 15:20
Yeah, so you've mentioned this wonderful cast of characters and finding the right balance between tone and content. And so I really have to ask, while writing it, did you have a character you connected with the most or even just a favorite character you enjoyed writing scenes about?
Andrew Gibson 15:37
Well, okay, well, I guess kind of, kind of two, I think that I definitely connected with with Bug for sure. I mean, I think that Bug like, myself and my co-writer, Chris, when we were writing the Bug character, there was definitely like, within the voiceover and just some of the stuff. There was definitely a lot of stuff that that we had seen or that we had felt or that were just like, the stuff that we wanted to say. Like, I feel like we had a lot of stuff we wanted to say that we kind of funneled through Bug in various ways. So definitely felt pretty connected to Bug on on various levels. But the funnest ones to write were probably Slim, probably Slim and Raleigh because with Slim we were, it was fun to write because we could just be somebody else, you know what I mean? Like, there were certain things about Slim that was like, you know, some of his language and his choice of words, we were like- it was hard to write, you know, because like, it's not something that we would say personally. But we're like, "Well, we need him to say these couple choice words so that the audience hates him," you know what I mean? And realizes that he's not a good human. So I think that writing some of his character, and some of his dialogue was kind of different and challenging and exciting. And then the Raleigh stuff was just wacky so that was fun like that. We were actually laughing out loud writing some of the Raleigh stuff.
BJ 16:57
I'd say Raleigh is one of the most amusing and fun characters to see on screen.
Andrew Gibson 17:02
Right? Yeah, he's kind of got like a funny- he looks kind of goofy too with his wardrobe and stuff so.
BJ 17:07
And then Slim really takes it to that- a higher level that...
Andrew Gibson 17:11
Right.
BJ 17:12
You're just a little uncomfortable with but you still want to watch and see what he's going to do.
Andrew Gibson 17:17
Right, yeah. Especially because we kind of- I feel like we kind of ease into his madness a little bit. Like I think at first you're like, think he's funny. I think people think he's funny at first. And then there's a couple scenes that, well more than a couple, but it's slowly- you slowly start to realize like "Uh, this dude sucks. You know, he's just not, not a good person." But you kind of early on, you kind of like him so it's kind of conflicting I think.
Mitu 17:40
That's true. In the beginning of the movie, I didn't even think about how you eased us into it. Because in the beginning of the movie, he's just sort of talking fast, obviously, under the influence and just like spouting out a bunch of ideas, and you're almost amused by it like, "Oh, this guy is just like out of it and being ridiculous." And you have no idea that like so much more is coming.
Andrew Gibson 17:59
Right, right, yeah.
Mitu 18:01
Speaking of Bug, whom you really center the story around, like you said, you know everything, if it doesn't affect him, it's not in it. It's true that it is such a good central tale. You confront mental health openly and without judgment. And there's scenes where he talks about finding care and there are scenes where medication is openly discussed. And that's so important to talk about these things to end stigma that still exists around talking about mental health and depicting mental health. But also, I think, depicting like human beings as having struggles with mental health because they're sometimes it feels like "Oh, that couldn't be me or that isn't me," and you see yourself or friends or other folks, you can identify with these characters. And so was that intentional to have this mental health through line to help open up conversations about it or to help sort of humanize this?
Andrew Gibson 19:02
Yeah, definitely 100%. I mean, like I said, there was more of that in the original script. Because, you know, that was something that, that me and Chris, you know, we're both, you know, at certain points in our life, Chris and I have both gone through those moments of depression and anxiety. And everybody has, you know, I mean. So I think that was definitely something that we wanted to talk about, and was definitely a focus. But then at some point, we had to dial it back, because we were like, well, let's make that a part of who Bug is, but let's not make the whole film about that. So I think we were able to get a good blend of, of having that in there, but also not having that be the focus. Same with like the drug abuse stuff, you know, we were- both of those things we were kind of trying to tiptoe this line of like, let's talk about these things and let's show these things but like, let's not make it a drug movie and let's not make it a movie about mental health. Let's make it a movie about like a human. You know what I mean? And like all the different flaws and all the different things and all the different emotions, so I'm definitely glad that people have been responding to the mental health thing. And that was definitely like, something that we wanted to put out there on the screen and have people think about and talk about and like. And, you know, there's also, without too many spoilers, like the medications scene, you know, like, there's like, we were kind of like put that in there to not to be like, "This is what should happen, but just this is what happens and this is like, is this what should be happening?" Or, you know, is he bent- like I don't want to give too much away. But
Mitu 20:32
Mhm, yeah.
Andrew Gibson 20:32
You know what I mean? Like, we were kind of like, let's kind of be in the middle about this with the- and show kind of maybe a little bit of both sides. Just not necessarily take one side or the other in terms of, of medication and prescriptions and stuff but kind of show both a little bit.
BJ 20:50
Definitely. I think you do a good job of balancing both sides with Bug's friends on one side and then his parents on the other and you see everyone wants something different for Bug and Bug's not even really sure what he wants for himself. I think that's relatable.
Andrew Gibson 21:06
Right, yeah. Especially at that age, too. We wanted him to be like the birthday thing, you know, him being 21 and stuff. We wanted him to be like, either late teens or early 20s. Because like, I think that's when a lot of- a lot of kids go through that kind of that gap between high school and college or after college or I know, that was certainly when I was thinking about those things and struggling with some of that stuff. And I think that for people at that age to see that and know that, like, you know, there's a lot of people that are- that are going through this stuff. I think that was like definitely something that we wanted to show.
Mitu 21:37
That's true. That's such a powerful storytelling device of focusing on those early years. In this case in the movie, specifically the birthdays. I was just talking to a friend after watching this movie, and he said something to the effect of "I haven't felt highs like I did in my early 20s of such joy," but he was like. "I would never trade for the lows I also felt in my early 20s" like they come at a cost and he was like, "Even though if you could quantify joy, I probably won't have those high high high highs again, but I- it's okay, so I don't want the other side either."
Andrew Gibson 22:15
No, dude, I feel the same way. 100%, that's such a good point. I mean, like, I'm so boring and normal now. And I'm like, like so cool with it, you know what I mean? Like, I would rather just like stay in on on a Friday or Saturday night and just like watch a movie on the couch and like, make pasta then like, go out and have a crazy night even though those nights are so fun. And you do have those high highs. It's like yeah, just the way you feel on Sunday is just not worth it.
Mitu 22:41
To come back to the story a little in the midst of all of this where Bug is finding his way and we're truly deciding like, what his way even means like his- the destination is unclear of what he wants, what his family wants, what his friends want and in the face of all of that he he sees challenges, he even experiences violence. You include a love story and a really beautiful one at that. Why was it important for you to portray a love story in the midst of all of this?
Andrew Gibson 23:15
Well, I think that's what makes Bug change. You know, we wanted to have him, him change. And you know, from experience, like love has totally changed me at times in my life, you know, and I can really, and I do believe in the power of love, and I obviously think a lot of people do. And I think that like, not only was that, was that a plot device to help him change, but I feel like it was realistic and it worked within the story that we were trying to tell because I think that people can change and I do believe in change. And I think that love is often times a big way that people can change when when you find someone and you fall in love. And I think that that can make you a better person and a lot of ways and may enforce you to change. So when he meets Jenny, you know, there's, there's a line where he says like, "You know, I felt like I changed," and then he, that's when things start going well for him, you know what I mean? He's got confidence, he's feeling good. And then you know, kind of in the middle of that, that's when he's kind of feeling like he's ready to go back home and address his past and reconnect with his family. And I think that being in love can get you to that headspace where you're ready to face some of the things that you've put behind you, you know, and you're in a better place to, to reconnect with your family or to make a change because you have somebody that's supporting you.
Mitu 24:29
So Jenny inspires him to want to change and we see in the beginning and throughout the movie that he has parents who deeply want to see change from him. How did you balance those two entities? How did you feel also writing those parents?
Andrew Gibson 24:49
Well, I think that like when- there's not a ton of scenes of him, like in high school or whatever that we were kind of basing that one scene around number of years of acting out, you know, I think like, when you're in high school and your relationship with your parents is so much different, you know, like you're rebelling and oftentimes your parents can seem like, really authoritative or like they're your enemies, even though they want what's best for you. I think once you get older, once you're in, you're in your 20s, you know, you realize that they were just looking out for you. And it was just, they were just they just had your best interests in mind. And I think that that's kind of what Bug kind of is kind of realizing when he's, when he's with Jenny and things have kind of calmed down. He's kind of like, "Oh, maybe it was, it was me. Maybe I was the reason that fucked all this up," you know?
BJ 25:37
So kind of going off of that thinking about what other people think about you. Guttenberg has been getting really great reviews. And you even won an award at the Dances with Films festival. How much do you pay attention to critics, if at all?
Andrew Gibson 25:53
Well, it's, you know, I'm really proud of the movie and I'm really proud of everyone that helped out with the movie, you know, so if people like it, it's awesome. And if people are moved by it, like I've had a number of people that have said, you know that they cried in it and they laughed in it and like that was the goal. So it's like, when I hear things like that, it's- it's awesome. For people that aren't as into it. Like, I totally get it. You know, I watch a lot of movies and there's a lot of movies that I that, I don't like, there's a lot of movies that I won't even finish up just like this isn't for me. So if people aren't into it, like I totally get that because it's it's really all, you know, subjective. If some people don't like punk music, they might turn the movie off after 10 minutes, you know, so. But we did have one cool experience at one festival there was, in Rhode Island. We had this screening and the- we're about to start the film and these two old ladies are sitting in the front row. They're like, probably in their 70s or 80s. They're like, they're together at the festival probably like just from that town that just like wanted to go to the festival for the weekend. Unrelated to the movie, like no one- we didn't know they were. And I'm like, "Oh gosh, these ladies are they're gonna like- they're gonna leave." So the movie starts like I go next door with a couple people from the crew and go get some food and we come back as the lights are coming on. And we like go do a Q&A and the ladies are still in the front row. And they- we do a Q&A and one of the old ladies raises her hand and she's like, "I just want to tell you that was one of the best movies I've ever seen."
Mitu 27:14
Wow!
Andrew Gibson 27:14
And I was like, it like gave me chills. And like no joke. This lady was like a grandma, like straight up grandma. And then after the movie, I'm in the like the hallway of the theater and then this like punk comes up to me like tattoos, mohawk, piercings, leather jacket. And he's like, "I just want to tell you, that's one of the best movies I've ever seen." And this, this kid was like, probably early 20s. So it was like to have those two people both like it, you know, like, like, really like it was pretty cool. And it was me and my co-writer, Chris, were like we're talking about that moment afterword "Well, that was kind of what we were hoping," was that we would be able to make the movie we wanted to make but also make it accessible enough that like, anybody could really see it and be emotionally moved by it. And like, I think we had the benefit of the theater, with the theater screenings that we did, I think you have the benefit there of people staying. Whereas like, I think if someone's watching it at their house on their TV, like, if they're not into it, they might turn it off. But I think having people's attention for an hour and 40 minutes, I think most people that sit through the whole movie are moved. And that was really our goal. I think that if people sit through the whole movie that by the end of it, they're going to be moved in some way. And like, you know, personally, when I, when I watch a movie, and I'm moved by it, it's usually I'm like, "I love that, I love all feeling all that stuff." So, so the reception has been good. It's been it's been really fun to see people into it. I mean, we're like- there's such a small crew of us working on the film and like continuing out to promote it that it's like, it's tough to not see all the reviews and this and that because like we're the ones that are like navigating all this and doing all the social media and all that stuff. But yeah, I mean, it's, I don't mind the positive or the negative, it's it's all good. It's just a movie, you know?
BJ 29:04
That's the perfect attitude. We can tell you work hard, you're proud of your work, you put the story out there for the world, and then it's up to the audience to try and get something out of it.
Mitu 29:15
But that is amazing validation to have that range of people,
Andrew Gibson 29:19
Oh, dude, it was crazy.
Mitu 29:20
fall in love with your movie.
Andrew Gibson 29:22
Yeah, it was. It was nuts. It was like such a cool, I think about that moment. Like, whenever I think about when, like, when you the question you asked, that's like usually what I go to and like, well, if this punk liked it, and this old lady liked it, we must- we must have done something right. Like, or that's good enough for me, you know?
BJ 29:38
And also with the production, we saw that you had an Indiegogo campaign. So what was it like having fans and supporters kind of watching your creative process?
Andrew Gibson 29:49
Oh, it was huge. Yeah, it was unbelievable. It was- it's funny because I really didn't want to do that, the Indiegogo thing, just because I didn't want to bug people for money really, you know what I mean? And like I didn't, I was like, "No one's gonna care that we're making this movie. Like I really don't want to have to go and ask everybody I know for money, I just I don't want to like beg for money." But we had to do it, you know what I mean? Like it came down to like, do we atually want to do this or not and if we do want to do this and I really did want to do it because the script that, that Chris wrote was amazing. So I was like, I really do want to do this so if we're going to do it, we have to take the step and do the fundraising so we just committed to it and we spent like a month getting ready for it and then we spent a month doing it like a month long campaign and making videos and social media and just annoying people and bugging people and we got to our goal. It was awesome and, and through that whole process, I ended up really enjoying it because I was able to connect with a lot of, a lot of people and a lot of friends and we were able to build like this fan base like I think we had like, I wish I knew the exact number but I feel like it was like almost like 150 people or so donate to it. So we had all these people donate to it and they felt invested in it. And we had an email thread now with all those people like through Indiegogo. So every time we did something, we were able to email this thread and say, "Hey, we just finished production," and some people would like respond like, "Oh, awesome!" So then when the film came out a couple weeks ago, we were able to email everybody, "Hey, here's the film, here's where you can watch it." Some people had donated enough to get a free copy of the film. So we had like a built in audience of like 150 people that were waiting to see the film. And they've been- a bunch of them saw it and responded well and talked about it and shared it. And like, that's really what's I think helped us get some of the viewers that we've got so far. And some of the buzz that we've got so far is because we had all those people behind us that, that have been sharing it and promoting it as such a small movie as we are like without having like, you know, a big marketing campaign or PR campaign or anything like that, like the way that people are seeing this movie is by word of mouth, which has been- it has been so cool that so many people have been helping us out.
BJ 31:58
Yeah, that is really cool that you were able to build that community that's been with you throughout the whole process.
Andrew Gibson 32:04
Yeah, yeah, it has been awesome. People have been into it. We have a really funny behind the scenes video coming out next week too. One of our friends filmed the whole shoot and like made a documentary about it. So I think a lot of, a lot of people are gonna think that's pretty funny too.
Mitu 32:19
Oh, that'll be so cool.
Andrew Gibson 32:21
Yeah, it comes out on the 28th, August 28th.
Mitu 32:24
And what advice do you have for our listeners who want to launch their own creative pursuits or enter the creative field?
Andrew Gibson 32:33
Well, first of all go for it. It's definitely- like film I think is or film or music or photography or you know painting, any kind of art is always like super rewarding and is like such a great way to spend your time, I think. You know, I like- I love all forms of art and it's really a great way to get into a good headspace and make something creative and, and I think the thing about film that's that's cool is like- and also hard is like you need, you need a crew of people to do it so if you're if you're getting ready to pursue film, like, find some friends that are down to act and hold the boom and run a camera because like, unlike photography or painting, like you really can't do it yourself if you're trying to like actually make a movie, you need, you know, at least a half a dozen to a dozen people usually. I mean big time movies have hundreds of people. But I think if you're going to make an indie people- an indie movie, you probably need like 20 to 30 people. So start finding some friends that are into it and are into making creative things and having fun and, and making films can be, can be really fun. It's a lot of work. But it's really fun. It's really rewarding. And I think when you're getting ready to make your first film, definitely make sure that you have a good group of people around you and you have, you have a good sound guy and hopefully you have something to say, you know, something that you're passionate about.
Mitu 33:52
I like that make sure you have something to say and make sure you have a sound guy.
Andrew Gibson 33:56
Yeah. I think that's it when you're when you're ready to make something serious, I think leading up to that point, it's important to just make a bunch of stuff just to figure out how to- how cameras work and how editing works and how different lenses work and all that stuff. But I think once you're like ready to actually make a serious short film or a serious feature film, definitely those things are important.
Mitu 34:20
And where can our listeners find and support the movie, Gutterbug?
Andrew Gibson 34:25
It's on Amazon and it's on Apple TV and Vudu, Google Play, YouTube Play, Xbox, Redbox. I think it's probably on like a few other platforms. But I think the main, the main place most people have been watching is on Amazon.
Mitu 34:41
We'll make sure to include that link in our notes for this interview.
Andrew Gibson 34:46
Awesome.
Mitu 34:47
And where can our listeners find and support you?
Andrew Gibson 34:50
Well, @gutterbugmovie is probably the best place to follow us. If you go on Instagram and you do a @gutterbugmovie on Instagram. We've been pretty active on that so it's definitely a good way to to follow what we're up to.
BJ 35:01
We definitely will and we'll give the links to our listeners so they can as well.
Andrew Gibson 35:06
Awesome, guys, thank you very much. That was a great interview.
BJ 35:08
Yeah. Thanks, Andrew! Thank you for joining us today taking the time to tell us about your process, the movie, some behind the scenes stories. It's been a great time.
Andrew Gibson 35:18
Yes, totally.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai