Director David Moscow Defines What Truly Is Desolation
Fans of 80’s hit films will probably remember David Moscow best as the little kid who just wanted to be a grown-up in the hit Tom Hanks movie, Big, but he’s gone on to amass quite the resume since then, having worked damn near every angle in front of the cameras as well as behind them. His latest film Desolation was recently released and he was generous enough to give us a few moments of his time to discuss his film as well as what he’s got coming up in the future.
DC: David, can you give the readers a bit of a peek into the premise of Desolation?
DM: A troubled young woman falls for an actor who is shooting a movie in her town. He brings her back to LA with him but gets a part in a film and disappears for a few days. And then things start to fall apart. She runs out of medication, starts seeing things and is assaulted. She questions her own sanity and then a major spoiler plot twist happens (laughs). I could say more but Caitlin (the film’s publicist) would kill me.
DC: With this being your first directorial endeavor, what was the biggest hurdle for you when filming the movie?
DM: In indie film it all boils down to money. You are constantly short of cash. Everyday is managing the budget shortfall. You can’t get the location you want, or the extra day of shooting, or the pricey masks from the Halloween store. So when you walk in on the first day you have this plan and then it gets tossed out the window as you start to roll with the punches. That’s why it is incredibly important to surround yourself with experts. In that sense I lucked out across the board – from the actors to my department heads and crew.
DC: What is it about Desolation that you think will creep people out the most?
DM: Well audiences have really connected with Katie. So it means that all the forces gas-lighting and grinding on her have been freaking the heck out of people. Going in we wanted to create a very uncomfortable situation that isn’t that far from reality. There aren’t any monsters or explosions. In the end, like Sarte said, hell is other people.
DC: You’ve acted, written, produced and now directed – which one of these is your biggest passion?
DM: Its like when people talk about their kids – I love them all equally but different. Acting feels the most like playing a sport. I always thought the magic of performing well on stage or in a movie must be like being a basketball player in a zone. It is an emotional high. Producing is about supporting the creative vision. And helping manage the logistics, pointing people in the right direction or helping make the right connection. Its a very giving job, which also feels good, and then finally directing is the ultimate for the obsessive part of me. It’s a problem solving test. A two to three year long test.
DC: Lastly, what’s coming up next for you on the work slate?
DM: At the moment I’m shooting a doc co-directed by David Ambrose (The Best Democracy Money Can Buy) about the science of cardiac medicine. I also wrote and am directing a feature film called NSFW that is funded and will be casting over the summer. Brown a film my father and I wrote just attached the director Mora Stephens (The Conventioneers, Zipper) so fingers crossed that goes by the end of the year…As a ep/producer – Wild Nights of Emily, Under the Silver Lake, The Killing Joke, and Too Dust will all arrive at some point in 2018.
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