The filmmaking collective known as RKSS (François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell) first gained notoriety with their short films that paid homage to different genres that were staples of video store shelves in the 1980s. Their gonzo sensibilities and cheeky humor found an even bigger audience when they released their first full length feature, TURBO KID, in 2015. The post-apocalyptic BMX fantasy film gained a cult following that left their audience hungry for whatever the trio would do next.
That next project became SUMMER OF '84. SUMMER OF '84's plot revolves around teenagers in a sleepy New England town who are convinced that their neighbor is a serial killer. It's a fun film with unexpected turns and a loving appreciation for the aesthetics of the 1980s. Our review of it can be read here.
To coincide with the VOD release of SUMMER OF ’84, I sat down to talk with the filmmaking trio about the film, their creative process, and some of their favorite horror movies. We had a fun lively talk that I hope you'll enjoy.
___________________
Wheels: Hi guys, thanks for taking time to talk to me today, I greatly appreciate it. I love what you do.
François: You make us blush. [laughs]
W: So, what made you choose SUMMER OF ‘84 as your follow up to TURBO KID?
Yoann-Karl: We didn't plan on SUMMER to be our next one. All we knew is that we wanted to do something different than TURBO KID for our second film. Summer was the first project of ours that got the green light, and it was different, so we went ahead. It's more randomness maybe.
W: Sure.
François: Yeah, I guess it's mainly ... Every independent movie that gets financed is a miracle in itself. A lot of our film maker friends have told us to not put your eggs into the same basket, to have multiple projects in development, and hopefully one will get financed. That one was SUMMER OF ‘84.
Anoukl: If I could add, we were really happy that it was our second, because it was, yeah, so different, and we were kind of hoping that this one would be the one.
W: I've got a two-part question for you guys. Where do your ideas come from and what are your inspirations for this one in particular?
Yoann-Karl: I think a lot of our ideas come from our childhood. We grew up in the 80s we grew up on movies made in the 80s. A lot of those films are influences, but also everything we do is so connected to our childhood that, maybe it's because we're forever teenagers, I don't know. [laughs] We're kids at heart, and I think that's where it comes from.
François: Yeah, SUMMER OF ‘84 is the first movie we direct that we didn't write ourselves, but when we read the script, we were so passionate about the story, that it's like the story was written for us. I remember when we met with one of the writers, and he pitched us the story, and we were like, "Yeah, we loved STAND BY ME, we love THE GOONIES, we love THE ‘BURBS, FRIGHT NIGHT." Then, he told us the ending, and we're like, "All right, we're in, let's do this!"
Anouk: Also, for SUMMER OF 84, I know that the writers really went into their childhood to inspire themselves. Like their childhood growing up in Massachusetts. It was very personal story for them, and at the same time it's so odd, because it felt personal for us as well.
Yoann-Karl: I think you learn that kids are the same wherever you're from. We're the same kids as they were. We can see ourselves in those four boys, and I think wherever you grew up in North America, whether it's US or Canada, you had the same childhood.
François: You all had those friends.
Yoann-Karl: You all had those friends.
W: Yeah, and I think that's one of the most endearing things about the film is how universal it is, because I imagine we're all around the same age, and I definitely had the same experience watching it. Where I could relate to the friendships and the conversations they had. Things like that, that sense of nostalgia that kind of washes over you. Speaking of nostalgia, what were the challenges of doing a period film on an indy film budget?
Yoann-Karl: [laughs] Time and money. Yeah, definitely time, because a lot of our actors are underage. So, there's many rules surrounding that. It doesn't get dark in Vancouver until 10:30 at night, so some of those kids needed to be out of costume, in the car going home by midnight. It didn't give us a lot of time to shoot. That was a nice challenge.
François: [We had these ] cool, old school cars that would work half of the time. Thank God we have a history of doing short movies with no money. We can put our three brains to solve problems creatively.
Yoann-Karl: The cars looked so right for the period piece, but none of them would work right. [laughs]
Anouk: I think it's the same, there's an issue also with all the props, and all the costumes, and we have to adjust them with our production designer and our costume designer. They really had to search a long time to get like all the special things to make the period seem real as well. All the props and the set design and the costumes.
François: That's the thing ... We didn't want to have ... I don't want to say fake 80s, but you know people have a weird memory that the 80s was so colorful, full of neons, and early 80s was more like the end of 70s, like was a lot of brown, a lot of stripes, so we really wanted to be as close as possible to reality.
Yoann-Karl: Yeah, because people didn't change their whole wardrobe, because suddenly it was the 80s.
W: I think that's a wonderful detail that I appreciated as I was watching the film.
Yoann-Karl: Thank you.
W: How are the directing duties divided up amongst the three of you? How does that work having three directors basically as a collective?
Anouk: For us, we've been doing this for like over 10 years, or close to 20 years now, so it's really natural for us. We kind of just have this dynamic and structure of work throughout the years, and through all the projects we've made. We've made like over 25 short films. We have a lot of practice. When we arrive on the real set, it's really like that's where we split, and we become like super efficient. We do everything else, really as like the three of us together as one person, as one brain, so to make sure that we establish our vision, and that it's really clear, and that we know where we're going. That way, when we're on set, and we split, we still have this common direction, and common vision. It's way more efficient that way.
François: Yeah, Anouk will be with every head of department and be sure that we all go forward with the same vision. Yoann has the loudest mouth of the three of us, so he'll be with the actors, and I'll be behind the camera with the DP and the story board, so I did the editing on all the short movies we did, so I have this editing mind, and I'll know if we're missing a shot for the scene. It's mainly to avoid confusion. If someone has a question, he will know who to ask.
W: That's really interesting, Thank you for the great answer. Now, just a fun one. What are your favorite horror movies, or your favorite Slasher movies specifically?
Yoann-Karl: That's a hard one, favorite Slasher is even harder.
Anouk: Yeah, I think favorite horror, we kind of are almost all in sink here with THE THING, John Carpenter's THE THING.
Yoann-Karl: John Carpenter, THE THING, yeah.
W: That's my favorite horror film as well.
Yoann-Karl: The favorite Slasher's hard.
Anouk: Yeah.
Yoann-Karl: I think, it always moves, but of course there's always, that's the easiest answer, but if we don't go we the obvious answer that it's always the best one. It's Friday the 13th, part two, I think or ... Oh man, what's the title, Dario Argento’s DEEP RED, I think. I'm drawing a blank, I hate myself right now.
Anouk: Yeah, well I know that I was a big fan of Jason Vorhees, but because I was so young when I loved them, it all became some kind of a whole movie, like of all of it together, so I can't like pinpoint the best ones.
François: For me, I'll go, it's not a Slasher, but I'll go with the Peter Jackson's BRAINDEAD (aka DEAD ALIVE).
W: Great movie.
François: Because when I watched that movie, I got that little spark in my brain, and I knew right away that, that's what I wanted to do in life. After that, I saw, what's his first movie?
W: BAD TASTE?
François: BAD TASTE! I saw BAD TASTE, and the making of, and yeah, I was hooked.
W: I love Peter Jackson.
Yoann-Karl: [laughs] I have to add another one.
W: No problem!
Yoann-Karl: Not Slasher, but I would add also AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON that I absolutely love.
W: That's a great choice.
Yoann-Karl Whis: That one I absolutely love is DEEP RED. I was right, I thought I didn't remember but I did. [laughs]
W: Yeah, and that's-
François: We could talk about this kind of stuff all day
W: Hey we're all film geeks man, that's why we're all here. I've got to ask you guys, one of my very dearest friends, is a huge fan of TURBO KID, and he would not forgive me, if I didn't ask you guys if you had any updates on the potential sequel.
Yoann-Karl: We're writing. We have one version of the script, we're starting the second version of the script right now. We're putting a lot of pressure on ourselves, we want it to be perfect, because we received so much love for the first film. Yeah, we-
François: Yeah, we don't want to rush anything. It needs to be the best sequel we can make.
Yoann-Karl: Yeah, we're talking like MAD MAX type of sequel. That level.
W: I like the sound of that.
François: We'll need a bigger budget as well.
[Everyone laughs]
W: Okay, guys just a couple more questions we'll try to squeeze in. In all of your films, even your short films, you have a real sense of nostalgia for the past, what draws you guys to the concept of nostalgia and filtering it through genre film?
Anouk: I think it's pretty much because it's just, I think we grew up on this. It kind of made us who we are right now. When we create, it's still like, it always infused our creation process. I think it's just something kind of natural that happens. I feel that the fact that there's so much nostalgia right now in the movies. I think it's because probably all the creators, we're all of that age, when we're kids in 80s. We just like to be-
François: We're talking about our childhood.
Anouk: Yeah,we're referencing to the thing that made us, yeah made us.
François: Made us want to make films.
Yoann-Karl: It really comes from a place of love. You see it in our movies, we don't like to make fun of the 80s, or we don't want to make just references. It's really about passion.
W: I love that answer. I've got one last question, are there any genres you guys would like to tackle next. I mean, you've done post-apocalyptic, you've done slasher, are there any other genres you'd like to really dig in to?
François: Absolutely.
Yoann-Karl: All of them.
François: All of them!
Yoann-Karl: For real.
Anouk: Sci-Fi horror, like horror in space.
Yoann-Karl: I want to do a kung-fu flick!
François: I want to do a western.
Yoann-Karl: We want to do all genres! We want to try them all.
W: Yeah, and-
Yoann-Karl: It's like Pokemon, try to collect them all!
DEMONITRON: The Sixth Dimension from RKSS
W: Well, I definitely want to see that. I want to see your western, I want to see your Sci-Fi Horror. I want to see your kung-fu flick.
Yoann-Karl: Thank you. We'll keep fighting [to get movies made].
W: I know it's hard to get these small films off the ground, but please, for guys like me and my readers, keep plugging away at it, because we love what you do.
François: Oh well, the response from the public is what motivates us, so thank you, and we'll keep fighting.
Yoann-Kar: Keep sending us love, and we'll keep fighting.
W: Guys, I really enjoyed this, thank you so much. I hope the film is a big hit for you guys, you really deserve it.
Yoann-Karl: No, thank you so much.
Anouk: Thank you.
Yoann-Karl: Yeah, you're awesome!
François: Thank you so much.
_____________
SUMMER OF ’84 is now available on VOD and Digital HD.
-Wheels
