Speaking of fish, recently your film Groupers was the target of an online attack campaign. A large group of reviewers purposefully pushed down it’s IMDB score with a wildly uneven amount of one-star reviews, which I believe is due to a misunderstanding of the film’s take on touchy subjects like homophobia, bullying and violence. Do you see a way for both casual viewers and film lovers to move past these very simplistic distillations of complex works, or will sites like Rotten Tomatoes continue to dominate people’s outlook on film?

Ahhhh, I didn’t mention how I became aware of this dark side of the rating system, but here it is. To be clear, it’s my understanding that it wasn’t a misunderstanding that made Groupers a target, but rather a clear understanding that the movie is anti-homophobia and pro-gay, understand? It began getting noticed and talked about in some dark corners of the Internet soon after it was pirated and was targeted soon thereafter. Part of me is very pleased that the movie threatens that type of person, but on the other hand it kind of wrecks me that it will undoubtedly lead to fewer people seeing it. Like I mentioned earlier, I do think many of us look at those scores for guidance, but what I’ve learned is that the verified scores on platforms like Prime can be more reliable since they come from actual verified viewers. Most of the hate Groupers got on IMDB in that 72-hour barrage came from people who never even saw it.

Do you consider your audience and their reaction to your material when you’re in the creative processes of filmmaking – the writing, casting, shooting, editing etc. – or do you try to work in a vacuum and not worry about how your work will be interpreted?

This something you never want to say to a distributor or studio executive, but I create strictly for myself and with only myself in mind. This is the douchey artist answer, but it’s true. I know what kind of movies I love, what I look for and respond to and that’s what I set out to make from the moment I first put the pen to the paper, to casting, shooting and right through to the final edit. I ask for opinions constantly from as many people as I can, especially when I’ve been at something so long I can’t even tell what I’m looking at anymore, but ultimately I’m trying to create something that I would love in vacuum. You don’t want to ever admit this to somebody on the business side of the show and I never will. You need to say that you wrote it for this generation, niche or demographic which makes perfect sense since I’m only one ticket sold, but I’ve been watching and talking about movies long enough to trust that there are others out there who share my tastes. Worrying about how will be interpreted is something entirely different and yes, I’ll always worry about that.

What would you recommend film-lovers do to help support smaller, independent, unique cinematic voices like yourself?

I do it all the time, especially lately since the theaters have all closed down (Covid-19 pandemic). Rent a movie from one of the platforms or watch one on an AVOD site (Advertising Video on Demand). The only way independent filmmakers get to make their next movie is if the previous one performed and that’s more difficult than ever with all that noise out there. That’s not to say to just blindly land on a movie you’ve never heard of and give it a couple of your hard earned dollars, but rather seek out movies that you might be able to kind of discover on your own and then be able to tell your friends about, to be that person who digs deep and finds the good ones that they would’ve never heard of if not for you. It’s what I strive to do each week on my film related programs.

More than many art forms, filmmaking is an inherently collaborative process, full of brainstorming and compromises. Can you tell me about a time on Groupers where an unexpected collaboration or compromise fuelled the movie-making process and contributed positively to the end product?

There are so many, and it’s fantastic when it happens. It happens just about everyday on set if you’re open to it and looking for it. The one I’ll spotlight involves one of my actors, Travis Stanberry. I first cast him over twenty years ago in a student film and called him up for this less than flattering role, a homophobic gutterpunk named Hank. Travis knows of my love and admiration for Stanley Kubrick so when he came to me with an idea for his character that was a nod to A Clockwork Orange I jumped at it. I chose that example so that I could illustrate what a great and giving person I am for remembering an actor from over 20 years ago and then giving him a role in my first feature. ;)

You’ve talked a bit about your next film on The Film Vault podcast. Can you tell me anything about your plans for your next movie and where you are in the creative process?

The comeuppance trilogy is the dream. Groupers goes after homophobes and hypocrisy, next up is something called Battle at Skunk Skull and it’s the pedophiles that get decimated, and finally I’ve got a bigger budgeted story with big game hunters in my crosshairs. Do you know any financiers who might want in on this?

Thanks for having me, this was a lot of fun!

Groupers is available to stream now on Amazon Prime and for rental. Make sure to check out Anderson’s podcasts The Film Vault, Cinemaddicts and The After Disaster.