LA: When did you begin working on the script of My Last Best Friend? How long did it take to finish?
FP: I had the idea back in 2019 when I read about how Whithey Bulger befriended a homeless man in L.A. after he lent him his identity. When 2020 came I was supposed to make another movie. Alas, COVID-19 made that production impossible. So I wrote My Last Best Friend instead. I wrote the pandemic began. I was filming at the end of the summer.
LA: The whole cast delivers amazing performances, and Eric Roberts in a dual role is exceptional. What was the biggest challenge in having one actor play both of the main characters, and how did you overcome it?
FM: It was technically challenging. I don’t know of many indie filmmakers who’d try to make a movie like this on a budget. Another challenge was the technical part of directing. It’s tough to keep up with the eye-line and try not to break the 180- degree rule when you don’t actually have the actors in the same room at the same time.
“…be persistent in chasing your dream. Not much will happen, if you don’t have the stamina.”
LA: Award-winning actress and good friend Winsome Brown–Theresa Sackler in Dopesick, Hulu– talked to me about the intricacies of shooting Dopesick during COVID-19. COVID-19 is part of the My Last Best Friend storyline. What was your experience in shooting during COVID-19? How did it affect your project?
FP: It was highly challenging but definitely doable. The cast & crew was minimal (10 people all in at any given time) and we tested everyone (the pin prick, binary test) before they came to the set in the morning. One crew member once tested positive. We sent him home and he came back 3 days later after it was established (through more accurate tests) that he’d had Covid already and, at that point in time, he had the antibodies and he was non-contagious. To state the obvious; we also wore masks and face shields.
LA: My Last Best Friend is your fifth film. What informs your artistic creations? What is the most valuable lesson you have learned from your filmmaking career so far?
FP: It’s my first real feature film. It’s my second project that I feel confident enough to show the world. When I was in college I made a feature film titled Incompleto. As Kubrick once said, looking back at his first feature “Feat and Desire”; it was a drawing that a kid would make for his parents to pin of the fridge. That’s how I feel about Incompleto. I’ve been working as script-polisher and video editor for years. My most valuable lesson would be…be persistent in chasing your dream. Not much will happen, if you don’t have the stamina.
LA: What other art forms (music, literature, etc.) have inspired your films? You are a celebrated photographer as well as a writer/director – how do you find these two paths affecting each other?
FP: I am a photographer who deals exclusively in a very peculiar technique called “light painting” which is part of that wonderful field called “long exposure photography” (the shutter stays open for as long as the photographer wants, while he/she brings light to the subject using a flashlight). If you look at my portfolio you’ll notice many photos where the subject is captured in multiple positions (sometimes 2). Those photos are meant to analyze the duality of men which is something that appears (sort of) in My Last Best Friend as well. Then again my photos have been considered very cinematic so I guess the two fields influenced each other.
LA: Eric Roberts mentioned in an interview that he slightly changed the pitch of his voice for one of the Stoyanov characters. Were there attributes that Eric Roberts added in playing both Stoyanovs, which you hadn’t anticipated?
FP: Eric is a wonderful actor. We spent 2 days discussing the 2 characters. By the end of the rehearsal process, I thought he knew more about those 2 characters than I did (and I wrote the screenplay). It was Eric’s idea to make one of the 2 Walters behave like a child; a child who’s been raised by the other Walter.
LA: Which was the last movie you watched and enjoyed? Which book will always be on your nightstand?
FP: The Trial of the Chicago 7 by Aaron Sorkin. Perfume; Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind.
LA: Do you have any new projects that you’re working on or aiming to start in the near future?
FP: I’m working on a thriller that I’ll be filming this year. It’s still untitled. It revolves around a woman who gets kidnapped by a crazy ex-boyfriend. After that I’ll be making an LGBTQ drama/thriller titled The Crimes We Don’t See. I also have been working on a project that I’ll be filming (mostly) in Europe. A spy-thriller titled Annex 1. It’s a movie that revolves around the origins of the Iraq war.
