From Uinterview U Q&A
You know her as the beloved Pam on NBC’s The Office, but now Jenna Fischer is starring opposite Chris Messina in The Giant Mechanical Man, an imaginative romantic comedy playing at the Tribeca Film Festival. The two costars answer your questions here.
Q: What do you think the overall message of this film is? – Uinterview User
CHRIS: I think it’s about being seen and someone seeing you and accepting you for who you are. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to do the movie. That theme is super important to me and it rang really true in the script.
JENNA: And I think the simplicity of that and yet the profound effect it has on your life if you have someone who really sees you and just, in life we’re always pursuing, we have all these ambitions in life and life is hard and things can be difficult, but if you just have one person, it’s not that all your problems go away but it makes it easier to endure them.
Q: Did you model your characters after yourself or other people you know? – Uinterview User
JENNA: My character’s kind of based on me. I spent a lot of years struggling with figuring out who I was in the world and I had a lot of dreams but I was very shy and very unsure. So Janice is very much me during those struggling years. So I kind of based her on myself.
CHRIS: Same with me. A lot of the stuff with Tim was based on my acting career and just acting in general. Trying to be a part of something that often felt like it didn’t want me to be a part of, that kind of struggle of any young artist.
Q: Jenna, what was it like to work with your husband, the director of this film? – Uinterview User
JENNA: It definitely changed my performance. It was very exciting to work with my husband. This film is how we met and fell in love. He wrote the movie for me and in the writing process we ended up falling in love and got married. So six months after we got married we were shooting the film finally and it was amazing because, knowing me so intimately, he could come up and whisper something in my ear, some note or some direction that I could respond to in a way that it would be very difficult for another director to get that same performance because they don’t know me as well. So that was exciting to have. It was so neat to have a director who could just know exactly how to affect you emotionally on any level.
CHRIS: He could diffuse your anxieties and he could use your anxieties, and all the stuff going on inside you it was really cool.
Q: Was there a moment on set that sums up the experience of working on this film? – Uinterview User
JENNA: I love the diner scene. I absolutely love that scene.
CHRIS: That’s my favorite scene that I got to do.
JENNA: It was just two people talking to each other.
CHRIS: It was quiet.
JENNA: And connecting. It feels the most real, most honest work that I think I’ve ever done.
CHRIS: You’re great in that scene. You’re amazing in that scene. It’s hard acting with her because she makes everybody look like they’re acting around her because she’s so real and so I often would be looking at her thinking, ‘What am I doing? Because I’m overdoing it.’ She’s so honest. Jenna doesn’t push as an actress at all, she’s just as she is now – she’s just very simple and honest. But that scene in particular was really fun because there’s silences – I love the writing in that scene.
JENNA: I do, too.
Thanks to Kimberly from Uinterview.com for sharing this with us.
We recorded the Q&A at the 04/23 world premiere of The Giant Mechanical Man. Warning: This audio is rough, and the volume changes depending on the speaking/applause levels. Sorry about that! But, we wanted to get something up from tonight before heading to bed!
The Giant Mechanical Man world premiere Q&A
Enjoy!
Tribeca Film takes US rights to The Giant Mechanical Man
posted on Feb 10 · by Sally and Spencer · Comments Off · Movie News, Premieres, The Giant Mechanical Man
Awesome news, Jenna fans! Tribeca Film has gotten US rights to The Giant Mechanical Man!
The cast includes Jenna Fischer (who is also producing), Chris Messina, Topher Grace and Malin Akerman.
Tribeca Film has acquired U.S. rights to Lee Kirk’s romantic comedy The Giant Mechanical Man, written and directed by Lee Kirk.
Produced by and starring The Office actress Jenna Fischer, the cast includes Chris Messina, Topher Grace, Malin Akerman, Rich Sommer, Lucy Punch and Bob Odenkirk.
The story centres around a 30 something woman who has yet to learn how to navigate adulthood and a street performer whose talents don’t pay the bills.
Tribeca Film plans to release in the spring across multiple platforms, including theatrical and nationwide video on demand.
“From the minute Lee shared the script with me, I knew I wanted to be a part of this film – so much so that I decided to produce it.” said Fischer.
“It is rare for a romantic comedy to capture the love and lives of ordinary people with a humanity and genuineness the way Lee Kirk has in The Giant Mechanical Man,’ added Geoffrey Gilmore, chief creative officer of Tribeca Enterprises.
Stealth Media is handling international rights.
Tribeca Film has acquired the U.S. rights to writer/director Lee Kirk’s “The Giant Mechanical Man.”
The romantic comedy starring Jenna Fischer and Chris Messina is set for a spring release, both in theaters and on video on demand.
Full Press Release Below:
TRIBECA FILM ACQUIRES THE GIANT MECHANICAL MAN
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U.S. Release Across Multiple Platforms Planned for Romantic Comedy
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Cast Includes Jenna Fischer, Chris Messina, Topher Grace,
Malin Akerman, Rich Sommer, Lucy Punch and Bob Odenkirk
New York, NY – February 10,2012– Tribeca Film announced today that it has acquired U.S. rights to The Giant Mechanical Man, a character-driven, romantic comedy written and directed by Lee Kirk. Produced by and starring Jenna Fischer (The Office) the film features a stellar cast that includes Chris Messina (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Topher Grace (Too Big to Fail), Malin Akerman (Watchmen, Rock of Ages), Rich Sommer (Mad Men), Lucy Punch (Dinner for Schmucks) and Bob Odenkirk (Breaking Bad, Mr. Show).
A spring release is planned for the film across multiple platforms, including theatrical and nationwide video on demand, through Tribeca Film, a comprehensive distribution label founded in partnership with American Express.
The Giant Mechanical Manis a charming comedic romance between Janice (Jenna Fischer), a woman in her 30’s who has yet to learn how to navigate adulthood, and Tim (Chris Messina), a devoted street performer who finds that his unique talents as a “living statue” don’t exactly pay the bills. Out of work and crashing with her overbearing sister (Malin Ackerman), Janice is on the receiving end of well-intentioned but misguided pressure to date an egotistical self-help guru (Topher Grace). Everyone seems to know what’s best for Janice, but Tim helps her find her own voice and realize that it only takes one person to make you feel important.
“From the minute Lee shared the script with me, I knew I wanted to be a part of this film – so much so that I decided to produce it.” said Jenna Fischer. “I was so drawn to my character and there’s something about Janice that is very relatable. I think we’ve all been at a crossroads in life when you’re trying to take the next step, but struggling with which direction to go; just when you think things will never get better you find something amazing like love. It resonated with me and I couldn’t be more proud of how it turned out.”
“It is rare for a romantic comedy to capture the love and lives of ordinary people with a humanity and genuineness the way Lee Kirk has in The Giant Mechanical Man,’ said Geoffrey Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer of Tribeca Enterprises.“The film is affecting and skillfully made, and we are looking forward to collaborating with the filmmakers to bring it to a broader audience through Tribeca Film.”
“I’m very excited that Tribeca Film has acquired The Giant Mechanical Man,” said Lee Kirk. “It’s an honor to be associated with a name that has always championed independent filmmaking.”
Fischer produced alongside Molly Hassell (Vamps, Edmond), Michael Nardelli (Another Happy Day) under his Taggart Productions banner and Brent Stiefel (Grassroots). Michael Gallant, Michael Cowan and Tim Nardelli serve as executive producers.
The deal was negotiated for Tribeca Film by Nick Savva, Director of Acquisitions, and on behalf of the filmmakers by WME Global and ICM. Michael Cowan of Stealth Media out of the UK is selling the international rights.
About Tribeca Film:
Tribeca Film is a comprehensive distribution label dedicated to acquiring and marketing independent films across multiple platforms, including video-on-demand, theatrical, digital, home video and television. It is an initiative from Tribeca Enterprises designed to provide new platforms for how film can be experienced, while supporting filmmakers and introducing audiences to films they might not otherwise see. American Express continues its support of Tribeca and the independent film community by serving as the Founding Partner of Tribeca Film.