Plus One
When you take a Blue Dragon Studios movie and strip it of guns, robots, and lasers, what are you left with? Plus One! In this comedic character study, a young man's relationship is tested by an obstacle more terrifying than any other: the heinous, horrible wine and cheese party. (2013, 12 minutes.)
BONUS MATERIAL
Game on!
Wine and cheese.
Distractions, distractions.
Jess has some choice words.
Kevin and Ben talk about doing something more personal.
BEN: We've always made it a point to work in as many different genres as possible. Themes and character types get repeated, but I've always liked the idea of going from a western to a comedy to a horror film and back again.
KEVIN: You know your company means business when the owner deliberately pursues a strategy that ensures we never get good enough at any one thing to be successful.
BEN: After a while, I realized that my desire to work across the genre spectrum had created an inadvertent blindspot: movies with no genre.
KEVIN: What’s that mean? Domestic dramas? Lifetime movies?
BEN: Sort of. Basically, instead of making another movie depicting spies or gangsters, we made one about people like us living in a world like ours. I've always felt it was special or bold to tackle a big-boy genre with no money, but after ten years of doing precisely that, the more daring, outside-the-box choice had become simply pointing the camera at ourselves. Not a lot of guns in this movie.
KEVIN: Yeah, if you ignore the opening sequence.
BEN: How do you think Plus One turned out?
KEVIN: Meh.
BEN: In most movies like these, the likable protagonist is paired with an ass hole friend. Here you have an ass hole protagonist paired with an ass hole friend.
KEVIN: It’s unclear who is bigger.
BEN: I often wonder if this is the kind of movie I should be making more often.
KEVIN: I often wonder if I should pursue more lucrative work. Do you know if McDonald’s is hiring?