I’m only guessing that the name of Vince’s film is “The Event.” If not, why name your movie “The Event”?
MOSLEY: We talked about the title at great length. To us, Vince’s film remains a mystery. We don’t know what it’s about, or even what it’s called. And I don’t think we need to know. Because “The Event” is not about Vince’s film. It’s about how Vince’s film has created this drama between friends—its very existence has created feelings of paranoia, rejection, sadness, and frustration. The reason the film is called “The Event” is that Jack mentions earlier, as a way to squirm his way out of the bedside chat, that Vince should have a screening night at their house and invite lots of people over … to make it “an event” with popcorn … so that it feels more special … a grand, celebratory occasion. I think it’s hilarious that Jack brings this up—since this party doesn’t end up happening, but this intense conversation instead snowballs into a long dark night of the soul for these two men (and one of their significant others), becoming in its own way … an unexpected “event” of the night, and one that will ultimately shake the very foundations of their friendship. To call this film something as simple and innocuous as “The Event” seems to wink at that aspect of the narrative to me.
I love the final shot but was wondering if you had other endings in mind for it.
DE SOUSA: The short always ended with Jack watching Vincent’s short. Vincent walking in on Jack was something I found a day before shooting, and Frank was 100% on board with it as soon as I said it. It felt like the perfect ending. And that is a good example of something that I really appreciate about working with Frank—he is always happy to hear a new idea.
You sent me this film while I was neck deep in film festival stuff and I didn’t get back to you for a couple weeks. Watching this film became a meta experience for me. Are you still waiting to hear back from friends and family on their thoughts on “The Event”?
MOSLEY: Ha, I’m actually glad you experienced the film that way! Funny enough, even during our editing process, some people didn’t give us notes for quite a while, and then it felt meta to them as well. In fact, some people have waited months and months to watch it, and then when they see it, it almost feels like a personal attack somehow, that we somehow made it only for them … I almost encourage people to take their time and to put off watching the film–I think it only adds to the experience, like some kind of interactive performance art! But to answer your question, I’m thankful that, if anything, the film has resonated enough with family and some friends that they want to share it with others. And that’s the best thing we could hope for. They become like Vince in a viral way: just wanting to share something that can be seen and experienced and felt. And it means a lot that they would want to do that!