Exclusive: The Vast of Night Director Talks His Next Career Steps
Amazon Studios provided ComingSoon.net the chance to chat 1:1 with The Vast of Night director Andrew Patterson about his critically acclaimed sci-fi drama (91% on Rotten Tomatoes) now on Prime Video. Many who have reviewed the film have speculated that it will serve as the perfect Hollywood calling card for Patterson, and it may have served just that purpose already. Check out what he says about his next movie career steps below!
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ComingSoon.net: You’re in a little bit of a conundrum right now because you made a movie a little out of your weight class in terms of what you had to work with. I’ve talked to directors who have pulled off a lot with a little, and sometimes they get pigeonholed as, “Oh, that’s the guy that can do a lot with a little. Let’s just give him a little.” Do you hope to avoid that?
Andrew Patterson: Oh yeah. I won’t go into specifics, but at the very least, the offers I’ve had since this movie debuted at Slamdance have indicated that no one is too terribly worried about giving me a lot. And I’m not taking those offers, necessarily. I’m not necessarily turning them down, but I’m certainly into my own creative work right now. Developing new work is exciting to me. I look forward to making that next, and then if there’s a wonderful collaboration I can do at a studio or a production company, that is absolutely on the table for me.
CS: But that’s always the problem, isn’t it? The common wisdom is that in Hollywood they don’t want to do your sh*t, they want you to do their sh*t.
Patterson: I’ve met with a lot of wonderful people very, very excited about their projects and the work that they’re developing, as one intends to be because you’re close to it and it’s what you have spent time on and are wanting to develop. Some of them have been really clever and smart and would probably be a movie that could fit. But my personal goal was always to be making my own stuff, or at least stuff originating from me that looks different from what’s being put into the world right now. What I’m learning and what I’ve chosen to do is sort of stay at a budget level where I can do that and have the autonomy. Then if I can naturally scale up and continue to have that, that’s how it will look.
RELATED: The Vast of Night Review
In The Vast of Night film, in the twilight of the 1950s, on one fateful night in New Mexico, a young, winsome switchboard operator Fay and charismatic radio DJ Everett discover a strange audio frequency that could change their small town and the future forever. Dropped phone calls, AM radio signals, secret reels of tape forgotten in a library, switchboards, crossed patch lines and an anonymous phone call lead Fay and Everett on a scavenger hunt toward the unknown.
The film features former Disney Channel star Sierra McCormick (A.N.T Farm, Ramona and Beezus) as Fay, and newcomer Jake Horowitz as Everett. It will also star Gail Cronauer (Walker, Texas Ranger) as Mabel Blanche and Bruce Davis as Billy.
RELATED: CS Video: The Vast of Night Interviews With Jake Horowitz & Sierra McCormick!
The Vast of Night is directed by Andrew Patterson from a screenplay written by James Montague and Craig W. Sanger. It is produced by Montague, Adam Dietrich, and Melissa Kirkendall. It had its world premiere at the 2019 Slamdance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature.