Interview: Christian Saslo and Josh Saideman – Directors of My Annoying Dead Brother
David Gelmini
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My Annoying Dead Brother tells the story of a promising surgeon who finds his life falling apart when his deceased brother returns from the dead. It sounds like quite a creepy premise but rest assured that this is a light-hearted comedy, as directors Christian Saslo and Josh Saideman explain in the following interview. You can also contribute to the film here.
Dread Central: So My Annoying Dead Brother is about a dead brother who comes back to life?
Christian Saslo and Josh Saideman: He comes back as a ghost. Not really back to life, but more of a Bruce Willis in The Sixth Sense type deal except no Shyamalian twists. We thought about having a twist like that, but we couldn’t get Bruce Willis. He’s probably making a Die Hard meets Look Whose Talking mash-up.
DC: How did you get the inspiration for the film?
CS, JS: Christian had a brother that passed away, and it all started as a stand-up joke that Christian had for one of his sets. Now it has budded into a movie that we all are excited about. Conrad has two older brothers, and he often talks about what it would be like if one of them passes. Bliss.
DC: So I understand that you are tired of the current trend of Hollywood comedies and want to make something fresh?
CS, JS: It’s like any business. If it works, don’t change it. However, film making is an art form that we think needs to be tested with every go. People, especially Hollywood, try to make everything into a money-making situation. Whatever happened to just doing something to bring something new to the world? That’s what we want to do with MY Annoying Dead Brother and all other aspects of our art. Another thing is that We are tired of paying $25 to see a remake of an old comedy. It gets repetitive, and being repetitive will kill you in Hollywood. Unless its sex tapes. They will always further your career. Looking at you Taylor Swift.
DC: Do you think that there was ever a Golden Age of Screen Comedy or was it always stale?
CS, JS: We think the ’80s were the Golden Age of Screen Comedy. Ghostbusters, Caddyshack, Airplane, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Beetlejuice, Big, National Lampoon’s Vacation, Spaceballs, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, The Blues Brothers, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Police Academy; and countless others. The 80’s really were the perfect time for screen comedy. It was still new enough that Hollywood would take chances on it, and not make it too serious. They really understood that not everything funny in a comedy needs to be 100% related to driving the plot forward and telling a story. That mindset is still around somewhat, but mostly it’s big named people spending their big money to make big comedy movies when you don’t need all that. I think Simon Pegg and Nick Frost really understood that. Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and The World’s End are in our top 10 comedies in the past 15 years.
DC: Will this be dark in tone or more light?
CS, JS: We have sought out to make a comedy first and foremost. Keep in mind, all the writers are professional stand-up comedians. That being said, comedians usually have a darker sense of humor. There will probably be some controversial lines or situations in the film, however, we’ll probably edit it to make it more light as long as it doesn’t compromise the funny. We already plan on there being bonus footage and possibly an un-rated version.
DC: How does it feel to be making your first feature?
CS, JS: A relief. Conrad is finally using a little bit of his college education. Sallie Mae, if you’re reading. Stop calling, please. We couldn’t have asked for a better group of people to work with for our first feature. Everyone is funny, professional, and a joy to be around. Except for Eric Hunter.
DC: And on the Indiegogo campaign, you say that you want to help people with grief on addition to making them laugh?
CS, JS: Yes. That is a huge thing we want to make known. We aren’t making this movie to become rich and famous. If that happens, it’s definitely a bonus. Actually, it will probably be better than a bonus, but truthfully, we want this movie to help people going through the loss of a loved one. Most everyone has or will go through that tough time, and attitude is everything during that time. When it happens you will hear clichés out the wazoo and awkward phrases because although death has always been a part of human life, we still don’t know how to deal with it. That’s something we hope to accomplish. Take a step forward in the healing process for the ones that are living, and if dead people watch this movie, hopefully it helps them, too.
DC: And you got comedians to help with the script?
CS, JS: You can call them that. We are all on different levels of being a comedian. Christian Saslo use to be a world-class magician before he choose to ruin his life and become a stand-up comedian. Usually, you have to be nice and likable to have a successful career in stand-up comedy, but I guess for every rule there is an exception; Eric Hunter is that exception. Kendra Corrie has been on the road the whole time we’ve been working through this process. She is the hardest working comedian in the bunch, and yet she still has amazing ideas and has single-handedly brought this movie up another level. Nick Cassano is only two years deep into being a comedian, but he has this uncanny ability to make ideas clear that we all were beating around. In the writer’s room, he has drawn twice on the white-board and stunned us with his ideas both times. Then there is me. Conrad is just there to remind people what time it is and to take catering for granted.
DC: When do you expect to film?
CS, JS: We plan to film the first three weeks of August. We think three weeks is ample time to get the shots we need. We are very much looking forward to this movie.
Thank you for taking interest in our film, and giving us an interview. It means a lot!
For people to contribute or to order official movie merchandise to help us make this funny movie, they can go to: www.igg.me/at/madb
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