Article by Aaron Haughton

On September 8th, I got offered Viddy Well's biggest opportunity to date; to interview writer/director Martin McDonagh and actor Sam Rockwell for their upcoming film, 3 Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. I'd also have the opportunity to see the film well over a month prior to it's actual theatrical release, since it was set to premiere at Alamo's Fantastic Fest. Both of these things would tremendously help out my little indie film blog. So, needless to say, I was ecstatic; equal parts squealing giddy and terrified to the point of shitting my pants. I hadn't conducted an in-person interview in a long time, and I didn't have the faintest idea of what I should ask. So, I spent a lot of time researching, watching interviews of the two of them (so as to not ask redundant questions), scouring the 22-page press release I was given, and voraciously reading up on them... Then, the wheels fell off.

The Alamo Drafthouse recently became the focus of heavy fire when it surfaced that they had been silently employing Devin Faraci, who stepped down from his position as editor in chief for the Drafthouse owned Birth.Movies.Death website 11 months ago due to sexual assault allegations. Drafthouse CEO Tim League had even commented at the time of the initial incident that the company and Faraci had severed all ties.

In light of the recent Drafthouse scandal, McDonagh has smartly chosen to pull his film from the Fantastic Fest lineup. A wise decision, given the central character in his latest film is struggling to deal with the rape and murder of her daughter, I commend McDonagh for his actions, even if it means that I lose the opportunity to speak with him.