Elliot Tuttle, Kieron Moore and Reed Birney on vulnerability and vision in 'Blue Film'

We are joined by writer-director Elliot Tuttle and actors Reed Birney and Kieron Moore to discuss 'Blue Film,' a chamber drama that faced rejection from multiple festivals before finding distribution with Obscured Releasing. Elliot reflects on what kept him determined to make the film without compromising the story despite knowing most festivals wouldn't program it, while Reed and Kieron share whether they had reservations about the project seeing the light of day when they first read the script.

We explore how a project this risky reads differently depending on where you are in your career, with one actor in the first half and another in the second half of their profession. Elliot and cinematographer Ryan Jackson-Healy made a bold visual choice implied by the title itself: relying heavily on one color to define the film's language. He discusses the potential pitfalls they identified in that decision and how they navigated them. Reed and Kieron each highlight what the other brought to help them reach the vulnerable place their roles demanded.

The conversation turns to what it means to ask actors to bare themselves physically and emotionally on camera. Elliot examines how he moved from daring to make such requests to actually being able to ask for what the film required, and the trust that had to exist between director and performers for 'Blue Film' to work.

(Photos: Courtesy of Obscured Releasing)