Exclusive
Interview with Patrick O'Connor
Part
One
1) Patrick, could you give us some
inside information on your
new project, The Immaculate Misconception?
What is it about?
The Immaculate
Misconception is about a guy named Bailey who is basically
the
physical embodiment of Murphy's law. Imagine the worst day of your
life...multiply
it by 10 and that is a typical day for Bailey. He gets fed
up and
tries to kill himself. That's when his guardian angel Buck
intervenes.
Buck has been sent down to show Bailey how much he really meant
to everyone.
But it seems that most of the people in Bailey's life are not
only
not grieving, they would somehow benefit from Bailey's demise. That's
when
Buck must get resourceful to prove that Bailey's life actually is worth
something
and that he's not just an Immaculate Misconception.
2) How did you get interested and started
in this business?
Was it just an overwhelming passion or did
you fall into it?
A little
of both. I always enjoyed writing but in college my plans were to
get
into news. I wrote a script as part of a class project and really
enjoyed
it. When my script got optioned by a Producer I realized that I had
some
talent at it and I wanted to pursue it further. Dale read my script and
we decided
to develop a project together. He left for a month to shoot a
film
in Ireland which enabled me to finalize the script and start developing
our
project. Getting Larry involved was a necessity because his personality
and
talent would be perfect for Buck. When Larry agreed not only to play
Buck
but also to produce it and direct it, we knew we were ready to go.
Working
together we were able to find the most talented group of actors to
round
out our cast. We got permits to shoot at Paradise Cove Beach in Malibu
where
they shot Baywatch and Planet of The Apes and Rosedalw Cemetary in
L.A.
where they shoot a lot of stuff for the Buffy spinoff Angel. Everything
fell
together so that after a couple of months in development we were ready
to start
shooting. We enjoyed the process so much that Dale, Larry and I
have
decided to form our own Production Company...Hybrid Pictures.
3) What project was your favorite to work on?
This
project was the most rewarding because of all the time and work we put
into
it. To do everything ourselves and to finally see it come to fruition
was
an awesome experience. I also have a strong attachment to my first
script
"Just a Kiss." It was based on an autobiographical incident and we
are
now in development with a director so hopefully we will start shooting
it soon.
4) Have you ever had any embarrassing
or interesting moments working on a
project that you'd be willing to share?
A lot
of cool things happened while we were shooting The Immaculate
Misconception.
On our first day on the set at Paradise Cove in Malibu, Jon
Favreau
and Vince Vaughn from Swingers came by to check out the location for
an upcoming
movie so that was cool. As far as embarrassing...in our cemetary
scene
I thought it would be funny if Buck we're eating a donut as he leaves
for
heaven. So I went to find the donuts we had bought earlier.
Unfortunately
someone had thrown them out but they were still at the top of
the
trash can. So I reached in and pulled one out and gave it to Larry (I
made
sure all the ants and flies were off it.) I thought it would be best if
I waited
till we were done shooting before I told Larry about the donut and
needless
to say he wasn't too happy. Also one day one of our actresses ran
over
a bird on the way to the set. AS an animal rights activist she was very
upset
and emotionally disturbed. So to help cheer her up and lighten the
mood
Dale yells out " Oh great now we can't say that no animals were harmed
in the
making of this movie." It was very funny.
5) What was it like working with talents such as Larry Bagby and Dale Davis?
Very
exciting. I've admired Larry's work on Buffy and in Hocus Pocus for
years
but to actually see him work up close was awesome. I think Buck was
the
perfect vehicle for him to show off his talents as a comedic actor. He
is such
a gifted entertainer and after seeing this project everyone will
know
it. And to see Dale become Bailey was also very cool. It was such a
difficult
role to play but Dale immersed himself in the character and just
got
better and better. Larry and Dale have a magical chemistry on screen and
I look
forward to telling people that I knew them both before they became
stars.
Note: If you were wondering why there were no credits next to the questions it is because I came up with all the questions here and send them to Patrick, as I am waiting for people to send some questions in. If only a few questions are sent then there is a greater likely hood of your question being chosen, but also the interview won't be as fun. So send in as many questions as you like and I'll chose the most interesting, silly etc. questions for Patrick to answer.