I lived in Ballard. It was Seattle's first suburb, annexed to the city over a century ago when a horse fell into the drinking water and died. The village is famous for the Ballard Locks which route shipping from Puget Sound through Seattle to Lake Union. Ballard is where the fishing boats return with their hauls. It is quiet, sleepy, like a small town in the middle of a big city. I moved there to get away from the noise of Capitol Hill, the truly hip area of Seattle. (Ballard was hip, but in a weird Twin Peaks kind of way.)
Every day I went for walks along the docks, the locks, and the various other areas of Ballard. There was a cafe only a block away, where I had daily lattes and ate excellent sandwiches. A nearby bookstore closed after a few months, leaving me with only the library for literary culture. Another cafe, further away, had poetry readings, but it was not my crowd.
THE SCRIPT
The script began as a whimsical comedy about mistaken and forged identity. The basic premise was there: Alex quits job, meets a guy who wants to trade lives. In the early treatments, the Stranger works for an organization that specializes in this switch. He slowly insinuates himself into Alex's life. Alex plays a climactic game of basketball with a devil-like character in charge of the organization: If Alex's wins, he is free. There was a dinner party scene for Alex's boss, a smarmy dot-com guy with expensive tastes in wine, women, and cigars. Rebecca is much more of a bitch, and Bruno is little more than an affable jock.
I didn't like it. The 'trick' - the switch between the two characters - was going to present difficulties. How would the switch happen? Would Alex's friends accept it? Would the Alex and the Stranger look alike? Should I cast brothers or twins? Where would I shoot the dinner party? How much would it cost? (Some people will tell you not to worry about these things. "Just write the script." That works, if you're not making the movie. If you know you're going to be directing it, then while you're writing, you're already in pre-produciton.)
Fortunately I had other distractions. Years earlier I had met and become friends with two Seattle filmmakers, Jeong Lee and Cole Drumb. We agreed to collaborate on the productions of three short films, which each of us would helm. We were soon joined by Spencer Sundell, who had extensive experience in sound engineering and experimental film.
The first script to hit the table would be the first one produced. Jeong was ready to go with a hilarious 'mockumentary' about a criminal investigation in Seattle's International District. "Black Sheep of Chinatown" eventually premiered at the 2000 Asian-American Film Festival. Cole began a triptych of monologues based on the writing of Andrew Vachss (but had to shelve them when he could not secure the rights).
Meanwhile I toiled away on Alex, trying to tell a story that was at least interesting. I rejected anything I wasn't committed to 100%, which left me with just Alex and the Stranger. Immersing myself in the realism of filmmakers like Cassavetes and Jost, I began moving my story away from the fantastical elements. Instead of trying to tell a clever story, I focused on the characters. The mechanism of the trick would have to come later.
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