Posted in: Interview, Lionsgate, Movies | Tagged: Dito Montiel, Riff Raff

Director Dito Montiel (The Clapper) spoke to Bleeding Cool about his latest crime dark comedy in Lionsgate’s Riff Raff, the ensemble cast & more.

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Few can ever imagine working with such an ensemble of comedic talent and screen veterans like director Dito Montiel had for Lionsgate’s dark comedy and crime thriller Riff Raff. He’s built enough of an eclectic filmography to work in indie and mainstream streams like Empire State (2013), A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006), and Boulevard (2014). Riff Raff asks how far you’ll go to protect the ones you love. Vincent (Ed Harris) and his family plan to share a quiet New Year’s Eve together until his sketchy past catches up with him and the night reveals secrets no one could ever imagine. Montiel spoke to Bleeding Cool about how he got involved and how it felt similar to the Edward Albee 1962 play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, assembling his ensemble cast that includes Jennifer Coolidge, Bill Murray, Pete Davidson, and Gabrielle Union, balancing the more cathartic elements of the film, and his filmmaking inspirations.

Riff Raff Director Dito Montiel on Making the Best of His Ensemble Talent, Taking Advantage of Their Creative Input

Bleeding Cool: How did you get involved with Riff Raff?

Well, an actor I love, P.J. Byrne, told me about a script that was a play they were going to do that John Pollano had written, all in a room. I read it, and it felt like ‘Virginia Woolf’, but everybody’s Virginia Woolf. I thought, “Oh, this is pretty good!” I was watching ‘The White Lotus’ at the time, like the rest of the planet, and I’m the last person on earth who didn’t know who Jennifer Coolidge was. I’m like, “This lady’s really good,” and because I was thinking, “Who’s Elizabeth Taylor from ‘Virginia Woolf?’ I said, “She kind of is,” and my wife yelled at me, and she’s like, “That’s Stifler’s mom!” (from 1999’s ‘American Pie’), whatever the hell it is. I was the last person to know who she was, but luckily, Jennifer was the first person to jump on, and then we got to make a movie. It’s crazy.

What was it like working creatively with John Pollano and his process?

Oh, I loved working with John. It’s tricky because I write a lot, but I’ve worked with writers. It was a great collaboration with him. Sometimes, it gets weird because I never understood how people could write together. I’d write something, then send it to him. He’d mess with it, send it back to me, and we’d go back and forth. A new actor would come into it and go, “Okay, maybe we can get changed.” It was a lot of back and forth, playing with the actors and listening to them. Bill Murray certainly has lots of ideas, not to mention being a great writer. It was a really collaborative, fun trip, which was not always what I imagined it would be, but I enjoyed it.

You have so much talent in this dark comedy. What was it like working with this ensemble of Bill Murray, Jennifer Coolidge, Ed Harris, Pete Davidson, Lewis Pullman, and Gabrielle Union, and what did they bring to the screen?

First, they’re great actors, right? It’s weird because, myself included, we know these people our whole lives, different versions of them in things like ‘Saturday Night Live’, maybe a movie that made you cry or another that made you laugh, whatever. With the known actors, it’s trippy because you have your preconceived notions of them, and they show up. The first thing I realized, and it’s the nice thing about small independent films, is that although it may not feel like that, because you recognize all the names, there was a tiny little movie we shot in 21 days.

People are showing up because they want to be there. It starts off on the right foot, so being collaborative is not the hardest thing with everybody. Working with them is a dream in the sense that each person brings something. “It’s a long, weird trip” is the best way I could put it, but when you get lucky enough to have these people, you can’t go wrong if they’re all in a room together. I guess you could go wrong, but we didn’t.

How do you balance the dark comedy and the humanity within the film?

I always read or write things as if I’m in it. I remember thinking that some of those dumb things were someone saying, “Oh, it’s really funny. It’s a comedy,” and I’m, like, “What?!” I’m like, “Well, the family doesn’t think it’s very funny,” which could work. It’s most important that everybody’s somewhat real or honest in their dishonesty. There are certainly a lot of problems in this family. I don’t worry so much about whether it’s going to make you laugh. I hope it will. It makes me laugh now, but when you’re working on it, I’m just trying to find the most honest stuff about each character, which I think is the best stuff I’ve always enjoyed. It’s all about finding the reality, and hopefully, whatever else you’re trying to do, jokes, drama, or scary stuff, that it’ll work if you have that part. The core is important, right?

What are the films and filmmakers that influence you?

Oh man, jeez! I have terrible tastes because I watch ’90 Day Fiancé’ all the time, but I’m from Queens, so of course, it’s the usual suspects with Martin Scorsese, how do you not love him?! Watching all the films over the years, from ‘The King of Comedy’ (1982), Woody Allen films like ‘Annie Hall’ (1977) are a perfect film to me. Spike Lee, I remember seeing ‘Do the Right Thing’ (1989) when I was a kid, and at the end, I was mad that they burned the pizza place down. There was an interview with Spike Lee, and he said, “Well, I’m sorry if I didn’t have the answer to racism at the end of the movie.” I remember it was the first time I ever thought that you didn’t have to have a definitive point of view. He was a big influence on me. I’ll watch a Spike Lee movie like a Van Morrison record, even if it’s something people don’t think is great. There’s one scene and one song that was worth it, so the usual suspects are those guys.

Riff Raff, which also stars Lewis Pullman, Miles J. Harvey, Emanuela Postacchini, and Michael Angelo Covino, is available on demand digital.

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