You may know Charlie McDermott as ‘Axl’ from ABC’s hit show ‘The Middle’ but Charlie is now the star of his very own movie, ImagiGARY.



Earlier this week I spoke to Charlie about his recently released movie ImagiGARY which he has written, starred in and directed.



The film has been released online so I put a few questions to Charlie about the movie.







Tell us a little about ImagiGARY.

ImagiGARY is a coming of age tale centered around a college freshman Henry Peterson who resurrects his ex-imaginary friend, Gary, to help him survive the loneliness of his first week of school.





Where did the idea of the film come from?

The idea was based off of a short film Nate wrote when he was fourteen or fifteen years old. We took a core element of the short film, dropped it into a college environment and reworked it into a full length feature.

Was ImagiGARY your directional debut?

It was! I'd been making shorts my whole life but this was my first foray into feature length.





Were you inspired by any other films/filmmakers?

I can't think of who my direct inspirations were for ImagiGARY, all that brainstorming took place almost six years ago, but some of my influences now consist of films by both Paul Thomas and Wes Anderson, Jim Jarmusch, Stanley Kubrick, Tarantino, Inarritu, O'Russel, Fincher, Jonze + many, many others.





So you wrote, directed and starred in the movie, how did you find having such a full on role?

It was overwhelming. An incredible learning experience.





Do you prefer acting or directing?

I don't think I prefer one over the other. They're completely different experiences for me. I have trouble comparing them.

Do you think in the future you’ll do a lot of work behind the camera?

I would certainly like to.





Is it true you self funded the project? Did that put added stress on the process for you?

That is true. And yes, I spent all the money I had in my bank account and still had to take out a business loan to finish the final week of filming in Los Angeles. Eden Sher bailed us out on our final week in Pennsylvania. It got to be pretty stressful at times.

How did you get the cast together?

The cast was a collection of friends. Everyone in the film knew of each other or had worked together previously so that was actually the simplest part of the whole process. Everyone was on board immediately. It may be the only film in history that was cast through a string of text messages.





And the most important one...



Now that the film is released, how can we see it?

The film is online at ImagiGARY.com . No plans for a wider release. It's a fun little movie.



Have you seen ImagiGARY yet?

If not, download your copy now at

IMAGIGARY.COM



