An Interview With Director Scott Altman
We last spoke to Scott Altman back in February. We knew it wouldn’t be long until we would be speaking to him again as he is such a busy guy. This time we caught up with he fresh off a flight from LA, the location of his feature film Red Carpet.
Hi Scott, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to come and chat to us again.
Tell us, did Red Carpet originate?
Prior to the pandemic, I was keen to get a feature film under my belt. I travelled to the US for inspiration and had the intention of shooting an independent film while I was there. I spent time in The Bronx, New York and then crossed over to Los Angeles. On one of my first days in LA, I walked the length of Sunset Boulevard. At the time I had no idea it was 36 km in length but I was so immersed by my surroundings that I just kept walking. By afternoon, I drifted onto Hollywood Boulevard and noticed the many tourists, street performers and in contrast to this, many homeless individuals. As evening fell, I continued up Sunset Boulevard and saw how another world began to take over the strip. Dealers, prostitutes, transvestites and pimps began to appear and littered the streets. Immediately, I knew there was something in what I was witnessing on the strip and it felt like being in a movie. That got me thinking of various ideas and I felt compelled to structure a story around my experience on Sunset that day/night.
We agree Sunset Boulevard is certainly two completely different places, depending on whether you visit during the day or at night.
How did the film evolve after that experience on Sunset Blvd?
Taking time out from LA, I drove to Las Vegas. In a bar just off Flamingo Road (literally across the street from where Tupac Shakur was murdered), I met a rapper from Oakland named Yella. Coincidentally, Yella’s brother-in-law is Rappin’ 4-Tay; a long-term friend and collaborator of 2-Pac’s. Yella and I discussed movies and screenwriting in depth. I told him an idea I had for a film and that I was planning to shoot it when I returned to LA. Yella connected with the story due to a similar family experience and suggested his youngest sister, an up-and-coming rapper/actress named Wittie, for the leading role. That night I spoke to Wittie’s partner and we arranged to meet in LA. A few days later I was back in LA and Red Carpet’s preparations were underway.
It’s amazing how a chance meeting can lead to a feature film!
How much of the main story is based on reality?
The story is based on what I witnessed on Sunset Boulevard that day/night, stories of a similar nature that I heard and my imagination to heighten the stakes. I intentionally structured the story around what was available to me at the time in terms of cast, locations and filming equipment. Many of the actors I cast had little or no acting experience but they had additional talents and attributes which felt right for the project, and added to the film’s realism.
How much time did you spend with the cast?
I didn’t spend any time with the actors prior to the shoot days. We literally rehearsed scenes on the spot prior to shooting them. Coming from a background in music videos I had experience of working with little or no rehearsal time. It’s not the right approach but sometimes you have to work with what’s available to you and just make it work. That was always my way of thinking. I wasn’t trying to create perfection but I was determined to create an entertaining and engaging movie which I feel has been delivered.
How long did you shoot for?
I shot the film in 7 days.
Seven days! That is very impressive.
Initially, I was not going to have a script and instead work by improvising a lot of the scenes and hitting beats in the story. The Duplass Brothers have had a lot of success making their independent films with this approach. Although, prior to shooting the film I crossed paths with film director Yann Demange (White Boy Rick, Top Boy) in LA. I explained the story to Yann which he really liked and based on his own experience of directing gritty, street-styled, projects he suggested I put some form of script together. I took his advice on board and condensed a script into half the amount of pages; leaving room for improvisation on shoot days while also providing a foundation with more structure. In hindsight, this was the perfect approach for an independent film of this nature.
What were the biggest challenges of making your first narrative feature?
The biggest challenges were the lack of time, support, resources, funding and overcoming the fear, anxiety, and pressure that comes with that. Due to this, I knew I had to structure the story and filmmaking style in a particular way. For example, rather than filming a working girl walking the streets – which would be tricky to shoot for many reasons – I set the majority of the lead actress’ scenes in one indoor location. Similarly, time was super tight so I knew upfront that the more crew that were involved the longer filming would take. For this reason, I stripped the filming approach down to the bare minimum – literally me, a camera and at times, an assistant – so I could move and shoot as fast as possible. In an ideal world I would not work this way but these are the sacrifices that had to be made to get the film completed with the time and resources available. I’m extremely proud of what’s been achieved.
Scott Altman independent work has a very gritty but stylised realism. Where does that stem from?
I’m not sure where exactly it comes from but from a young age I’ve always been interested in street culture, street stories and experiencing life. During my teens, I was big into skating (skateboarding) which as a sport is immersed in street culture. Otherwise, I will put myself into the most random situations or venture into threatening areas, simply to experience a situation first hand. The first time I passed through LA, when I was 20, I visited Skid Row and was blown away by the homelessness in the area. Similarly, when I travelled South East Asia I visited many
of the poorest slums in countries such as Cambodia, Thailand and so on. There is nothing more authentic, honest and raw than the streets. As well as that, the streets are accessible to everyone which lends well to independent filmmaking.
You can’t beat going to the streets to get a true understanding of what they are.
What is the meaning behind the film’s title?
The film’s title can be seen from three angles. Red Carpet can imply a red carpet awards ceremony. It can also represent murder and a blood stained carpet. Although, the real meaning is that ‘red carpet’ is a street term. A ‘red carpet’ is a working girl who’s too good to work the streets and for that reason, she only works from inside a brothel, ‘She’s a red carpet’.
That’s interesting. We didn’t know that. Well thanks for taking the time out to chat with us Scott, and good luck on the feature film.
For more information on what Scott Altman is getting up to visit ScottAltman.com.
You can also find Scott Altman on IMDB.
Red Carpet has been released on Apple TV in the US and Amazon Prime Video in all English speaking territories globally.
WATCH RED CARPET ON PRIME VIDEO (US)
WATCH RED CARPET ON PRIME VIDEO (UK)
WATCH RED CARPET ON GOOGLE PLAY
WATCH RED CARPET ON YOUTUBE PREMIUM
