As High Maintenance continues its new life on HBO, we see more types of stories unfold onscreen.
Go90 has paired up with Studio 71 to createΒ RUSH: Inspired by Battlefield. As the name states, it’s a project that draws from the popularΒ Battlefield video game series.Β The film has been split into a digital series, and wasΒ released September 20th. The Knockturnal caught up with co-directors Sam Gorski and Niko Pueringer, along with stars Jeff Schine, Vlada Verevko, and Stephen Chang.
This is aΒ Battlefield-influenced movie. Did you do any pre-game research?
Jeff Schine:Β I’ve always been a big gamer, and I’m a fan of the franchise, so it was real easy to drop into that world. I think they did a really good job, dropping in some nuggets from the game itself, so fans will find some things to be familiar with.
WhatΒ else did you do, besides playing the game, to get ready for a film like this?
Schine: I have some family in the military, so I did some asking, some general research. I’ve always been a fan of films of that type, so you sort of feel like you understand that universe more than you should. I mean, it’s so far outside anything I do in my real life, but it’s a blast to get a chance to do a little bit of training. They took us out for a while, we did some movement & stuff, so it was a lot of fun.
What was one of your favorite parts of the film?
Schine:Β There’s a couple parts where I have a lot of stuff blown up in my face. I haven’t had that happen before, and it was actually a lot of fun. I had more debris from Detroit thrown at me than ever before.
Are you guys fans of Battlefield?
Niko Pueringer:Β Oh yeah. That’s the whole reason we’re here. Jeff Shine, our lead, so to speak, is a huge gamer. Professional Rainbow Six player.
Did you guys have any casting issues, finding the right people to play the parts?
Pueringer:Β Finding the actor to play Braddock took awhile. It’s funny, we serendipitously came across Steven Ogg, when his manager reached out to us to see if we’d be interested in doing a YouTube collaboration with him. And we were like, “we actually have another project that might be cool.”
As far as your creative process, how did you guys come together andΒ make this film?
Sam Gorski:Β We’ve been making videos together since middle school. So yeah, it’s been a long time. We’ve just been continuing that through here. The end goal’s always just been making movies- I guess it’s not reallyΒ movies. Just anything that’s big and has a story.
Pueringer:Β Yeah, narratives. Sam and I are big action guys, and big gamers, so we got to put that all together for this.
What was your favorite part ofΒ making this film?
Pueringer: My favorite part during this film was getting to work with blank-firing machine guns for the first time. When those things start barking on set, it’s pretty cool. Commands attention.
Gorski:Β Tanks and helicopters are also pretty fun. It’s just a great opportunity to play with big toys.
Did you do any in-game prepping before doing the film?
Vlada Verevko:Β I know nothing about video games. The last game I played was probablyΒ Super MarioΒ orΒ Pac-Man, so that’s as much as I know. So for me, it was quite anΒ amazing experience, even though I wasn’t part of the whole action sequence. Maybe I was a little. But it was still very exciting to see how it’s all done in reality.
Is this the first action film of this caliber that you’ve done?
Verevko:Β Yes, for sure. That’s why it was a great experience, seeing everything behind the scenes, and being a part of some badass scenes.
What were some of your favorite badass things?
Verevko:Β Probably the momentΒ with the explosion happening all around me. Everyone else was getting a lot of that, and I wasn’t since my character is quite civil compared to everyone else. That was fun.
Did you do any in-game prepping before going on set?
Stephen Chang:Β You know what they did? A lot of training before, because I didn’t know anything about guns. You can probably tell in the movie that I have no idea what I’m doing. But Sam and Niko, they prepared me really well, and gave us really good training on how to hold the weapons, what’s professional and what’s not. That was our “training,” I guess. But no video game playing for me.
What was your creative process like, going into the film?
Chang:Β You know, I wish I had, like, a really great Daniel Day-Lewis story or something like that. For me, it’s interesting, because you don’t know until you get on set. Being in Detroit, and being in this weather, and meeting all the other actors, knowing what it’s gonna be like. You have toΒ go in with an open mind, go with the flow, and find your rhythm.
What was your favorite part of the movie?
Chang:Β I just love the other actors. I mean, that sounds so corny, but I loved working with them, and I think they’re all great. I loved working with Niko and Sam – that was one of the relationships that was the most memorable, to me. As for a specific moment?Β (pauses)Β He’s gonna get mad at me, but Mark [Leslie Ford] has a scene where he was supposed to be freaking out. He was doing this freakout where he was rolling over tables and everything. It probably didn’t make the movie, but it was the greatest thing you’ll never see.
Darius Stone contributed reporting.
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With the 68th Primetime Emmy Awards over and done, here’s everything you need to know about the big winners.
Get ready to laugh your pants off
The Knockturnal shared breakfast with William Jackson Harper from NBCβs new comedy series βThe Good Placeβ. He plays Chidi, a professor of morality and ethics and Eleanorβs (Kristen Bell) βsoul mate.β Directed by Drew Goddard, other actors include Ted Danson and Tiya Sircar.
Woody Allen, Rachel Brosnahan, and John Magaro talk story, character, and auditioning for Allen’s new Amazon series, “Crisis in Six Scenes.”
The stoner-anthologyΒ web series returns to HBO with a fantastic set of new, superbly human stories.
High Maintenance,Β the popular web series released between 2012 and 2015 on Vimeo has been transferred to television by HBO. The show was created by the husband and wife of executive producers Ben Sinclair and Katja Blichfield. The show provides idiosyncratic portraits into the lives of seemingly disparate New Yorkers who are all connected by the fact that they buy marijuana from a pot delivery man simply called ‘The Guy’ (played by co-creator Sinclair).
The pair recently attended the New York premiere of their TV show at Metrograph along with the following members of their stellar ensemble cast:Β Justin Vivian Bond,Β Peter Friedman,Β KeiLyn Durrel Jones,Β Rebecca Naomi Jones,Β Shazi Raja,Β Yael Stone,Β Dan Stevens,Β Jennifer Lim,Β Miriam Shor,Β Helene Yorke,Β Kylie Harris,Β Michael Cyril Creighton,Β Max Jenkins,Β Colby Keller,Β Ismenia Mendes,Β Chris Roberti,Β Cathy Trien,Β Greta Lee,Β Marisol Miranda,Β Ryan Woodle,Β Kevin Mambo,Β Ben Thys,Β Lee Tergesen,Β Hannah Bos, andΒ Candace Thompson.
We caught up with actors Max Jenkins, Helene York, Justin Vivian Bond, and Greta Lee as well as co-creators Blichfield and Sinclair on the red carpet. Catch the interviews below:
So whatβs it like being on this different kind of show, this stoner comedy mixed with an anthology series?
Max Jenkins: I trust Ben at Katja with my life. Their writing is all I ever want to do. Itβs something I constantly look forward to in my life, the opportunity to meet up with them again, to say their words, and to tell the stories that theyβre writing, because theyβre stellar stories.
How well do you think their writing captures the New York City spirit, with all the different types of people there are?
Jenkins: I mean, itβs a story of people who are lonely and stressed and need to chill. The story of my character in particular is one that I think is very particular & very specific to New York, in that itβs about this guy who is obsessed with this girl – his best lady-friend – but heβs afraid of new experiences. Because New York is so jilting, and itβs so strange to live here. I think itβs really super New York, particularly my episode.
Did you find you related to your character in a lot of ways?
Jenkins: Well, I grew up in New York, and Iβve lived here my entire life. I spoke to Ben and Katja briefly as they were writing the episode, and we spoke of my experience being a New Yorker and being a gay guy whoβs lived here his whole life. This story turned out to be one Iβve wanted to tell my whole life. Itβs like, if I could just tell this story in different ways, Iβd be so happy as an actor.
Do they usually let the actors share their experiences to help build the stories?
Jenkins: Ben and Katja just know me so well, that they felt cool asking me a couple questions about what itβs like to be a gay man, because theyβre not. I donβt know if they necessarily do that very often. I wouldnβt say itβs writing collaboration, because itβs exclusively their brilliant work, but I love that they felt comfortable enough to shoot me a few questions when they had them. In that sense, I feel really involved, and proud to be.
How does your character link into this crazy world of the show?
Helene Yorke: Me and Max Jenkins play the assholes. We did these characters a couple of years ago [on the web series], and we get to revisit those characters and see where they are now, how their relationship has grown – or disintegrated – depending on how you look at it. How two people sort of meet each other and become to need each other in a way that benefits neither of themβ¦ We had this relationship with The Guy (Ben Sinclair) where we were banished by him, and he gets connected to Max by happenstance. Weβre the kind of people he would never connect with, doesnβt want to connect with, doesnβt want to be around.
So itβs sort of an accidental situation?
Yorke:Β No, we called him. He just hates us.
So how rooted are your characters, not just in the series, but to the spirit of New York City as a whole?
Yorke:Β Weβre sort of a prototype you see all over the place, which is people who are just completely obsessed with themselves and being a certain way. Making other people seem and sound and feel lesser than. Itβs the classic thing of βI do this, and what YOU do is not as great.β To be able to laugh at them with us is really the joy of it.
Max talked about your characters having a very co-dependent relationship. Do you relate to that in any way?
Yorke:Β Yeah, I think weβve all been through a relationship that felt co-dependent, whether youβre in it for a month and realize you need out, or several years. I think that co-dependence is something that dangerous, because then you canβt feel or see your own identities without that person. And being able to think of your life at the other side of it is too great to imagine, so itβs what keeps you in for as long as you do.
Were you nervous about the show making the move to HBO?
Greta Lee: I was nervous that the food wasnβt going to get better and, you know, I really wanted to get paid, things like that. Just your typical union concerns. Other than that, good vibes. In all seriousness, itβs all about the vibes. Thatβs important and they did a good job maintaining that.
Iβve heard a lot of people say βHeidiβ is the funniest episode. Whatβre your thoughts on that?
Lee: Well itβs a contest and Iβm really happy that Iβve won. Thatβs weird, I feel like I should have some sort of medal. That wonβt be obnoxious at all. Because thatβs what acting is, acting is a contest. Thatβs very nice. I find it scary how much people say that they can relate to this character, considering her qualities and her psychoses. But it really is amazing the number of people who come up to me and say, βI find her so relatableβ and βI feel like I know herβ. So, to all those people, Iβm sorry!
Do you think that thereβs a reason why that is?
Lee: I guess a lot of people know a lot of real crazy homeless people! No, I donβt know! I genuinely have no idea why thatβs the case. It seems unlikely, right?
Maybe itβs just something about New York.
Lee: Yeah, we do have that sense here that anything can happen in New York and weβre constantly rubbing shoulders and in close proximity to people youβd otherwise never come across.
How does it feel to be here watching the show?
Justin Vivian Bond: Itβs very exciting because Iβm such a big fan of theirs and the fact that they asked me to be in the show is a little overwhelming. You know, itβs one of those things, but Iβm very excited. I feel like a Chihuahua, a little shaky, a little over-excited.
Everybody loves a Chihuahua!
Bond: I hope so! Iβm a cat person!
So they knew you beforehand and approached you about coming on the show?
Bond: Well Iβm just in one show, Iβm a guest.
And whatβs your role in that episode?
Bond: Well I donβt know if Iβm supposed to tell! I think Iβm a surprise. But I play a mother, of course. Typecasting.
How do you relate to your character and the premise of the show?
Bond: Well I love the show, and actually I know some drug runners personally! So itβs nice to see them represented in the media.
Itβs all about representation!
Bond: Everybody needs their moment in the sun.
So about your beard: I feel like itβs so attached to your character, do you ever feel like you couldnβt shave it off, even if you wanted to?
Ben Sinclair: I think if I wanted to stop being recognized for my beard then I have this wonderful way of fading into obscurity again by shaving it off. So I love the freedom it gives me for down the road when the FBI is chasing me.
What will they be chasing you for?
Sinclair: Hopefully, making too good of a show. Hopefully theyβre like, βYouβre arrested for exceeding our expectations!β
Going way back before the web series was even a thing, what was the sort of brainchild for this project?
Katja Blichfield: I mean really it was born out of a couple of things. I thought this guy was really entertaining and charming and everybody should know it so now they do, mission accomplished. But also, weβre married and weβre very in love and have been for a long time and I think thatβs the romantic ideal if youβre a creative that you can partner up with your romantic partner and be creative. And we didnβt know what that would be so once we landed on the idea it was like we just had to try. We had no idea it would end up like this, but that was sort of the impetus. We just wanted to have something together. Not a baby.
Sinclair: Yeah, all of this is gravy. Working together is the goal for us and all of this is just delightful icing.
Blichfield: Yeah, itβs really cool that it all happened. Itβs extra on top.
I feel like this is a very New York story. Do you think this story could be told elsewhere?
Sinclair: I think anybody could tell this story if they had an intimate understanding of how their city worked and people smoke pot everywhere so yeah this could take place anywhere in any language.
Blichfield: We hope it does actually.
And where does your intimate understanding of how New York works come from?
Sinclair: I experienced my twenties in a way where I didnβt feel like I had a net I could fall into. And I got real scrappy at times. So youβll notice in our show thereβs a lot of people scheming. And thatβs my input for the show.
Blichfield: I mean, same, yeah, I was a mess. I remember throwing away a twenty dollar bill once and having to go out in an alley and dig through a dumpster to find it. So, you know, twenties were rough.
Additional reporting by Jon Barr.
Photo credits: hbobinge.com
High Maintenance premieres Friday, September 16 at 11PM, only on HBO.