Interview of Director Joe Nussbaum – Disney’s PROM
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures’ new feature PROM hits theaters tomorrow, April 29th. After attending a screening last night I was given the chance to interview PROM’s Director, Joe Nussbaum whom you may recognize from directing Sydney White and Sleepover.
How many hours of directing did it take to produce PROM?
Once we began filming we spent 30 days at 12 hours a day shooting scenes. However all the weeks prior to filming is where the hard work comes in. Picking the locations, setting the scenes, holding auditions and apparel selection is all very time consuming. Months of work goes into preparing for filming, we even had to take photos of each scene layout before shooting. To be honest, once we reach the last 30 days, the filming is the easiest part in my opinion.
So much hard work goes into directing a movie. What makes it all worth while?
My answer is going to sound like a total cliche but it’s the truth… After it’s all said and done being able to sit down and show someone the finished movie, whether it be my wife or a theater full of people, and hear them laugh at the funny parts, weep during the emotional scenes and see them smile makes it complete for me. Knowing I played a part in creating the movie makes it all worth while.
Did you ever have the desire to be more in the spotlight?
I did some acting in plays when I was in school. That was enough. I have no desire to see my face on a big screen. I truly enjoy directing.
I know you have written some movies as well as directed. Which do you prefer?
I prefer directing. When writing you sit in a quiet room at a computer typing away. I can only do that for so long. I like to be in the middle of it all, taking part in the action. Ultimately I would love to direct my own work but I love directing any good script no matter who it is written by.
In the movie PROM, can you relate to the roles of any of the actors/actresses?
I believe it’s inevitable when creating a movie to not have some of your own personal traits be a part of it. I can see parts of my own personality in every character except one in PROM. I relate to Nova with all the planning. I can relate to Lloyd during my times of feeling clueless about girls. I had a highschool girlfriend that made it seem like we were the ‘married couple’ among our friends so I can completely relate to Mei and Justin’s role. The one character I can not relate to is Jesse. I do not have one ounce of bad boy in me.
If you could work with any actor/actress in the future who would you pick?
An actor that I have worked with in the past that I’d love to work with again would be Steve Carell. An actress that I’ve never worked with before but would love to because I think she is such an amazing actress would be Reese Witherspoon.
PROM opens in theaters tomorrow, April 29th
Do you plan to go see Disney’s PROM in theaters? Do you have a teen that is planning a PROM this year?
Great interview!