Sucks to Suck

By Flavio
Photography By Harper Rose

You have to be fearless. Chase your dream no matter the cost.

What was the inspiration behind developing this character?

Jared: Society likes to put people in various boxes (i.e. gender, race, nationaility) or we put ourselves in those boxes to fit in, whether to fit into our own communities or others. The entertainment industry takes that to an extreme. With Flavio, we wanted to channel the absurdity of our experiences as young filmmakers into an equally absurd character, and in doing so, capture the absurdity of the world as a whole.

Flavio: I don’t know who you think is the absurd one... It’s all how you choose to see the world. You have to be fearless. Chase your dream no matter the cost. Even if you look “absurd”, as some hack directors would call it.

*awkward silence*

Christian: I think the beauty of Flavio is every opportunity is a great opportunity for him. He's a character that acts and then thinks, which can lead him to a lot of extraordinary situations. He's everyone's alter ego, he's that voice that you hear in your head when you want to do something "Just do it, there's nothing to lose." Flavio has literally nothing to lose.

Flavio: Please don’t put words in my mouth.

You either are or aren’t. It can’t be taught

Flavio gives the advice to be authentic? What does authentic mean?

Flavio: You can’t really put it into words. You know? You either are or aren’t. It can’t be taught.

Harper: For Flavio, I think it means finding a personal connection to your art. We watch him struggle to meet these ideas.

Jared: The term gets used to connote something is “real” or “truthful”, but it’s become pretty perverted. Different groups will use their definition of “authentic” to gatekeep their culture, or it’ll be used by external groups to stereotype and put people in a box.

Flavio, like most of us, doesn’t fit into a single box. He finds himself caught between worlds.

Flavio, like most of us, doesn’t fit into a single box. He finds himself caught between worlds. But unlike most of us, he has the acting abilities, or at least the misplaced confidence, to try to shape shift. To try and become “authentic”. Only in his absurdity can we start to see the absurdity of “authentic”.

Flavio: Sure...

Can you talk a little bit about the casting process?

Harper: Every decision we made was based on our personal experiences with the media industry. Identities are often flattened, oversimplified, or lumped together! We wanted to find actors who possessed similar traits to Flavio, but come from entirely different ethnicities, nationalities, artistic backgrounds, and levels of education. We watch Flavio fight to stand out among these people, but he turns himself into a caricature.

We wanted to find actors who possessed similar traits to Flavio, but come from entirely different ethnicities, nationalities, artistic backgrounds

Jared: Our goal was to represent that false idea of “authenticity” in a very visceral way.

Flavio: Is there a question about hack directors trying to sound smarter than they are?

The camera is simply a tool to tell his story - his ups and his downs.

Moving on... There is a strong balance between composed, static shots and handheld shots. What informed your choices?

Neeraj: For each moment, we tried to capture the essence of where Flavio is in his journey. The camera is simply a tool to tell his story - his ups and his downs. A general approach that Jared and I discussed was to never let the camera get in the way of the performances. To allow Christian and the other actors to have space to perform. Similarly, lighting was minimal. We tried to keep lighting off the set as much as possible so that the actors have room to go wherever the characters take them.

Flavio talks about butterflies. When he’s been beaten down, he sees butterflies. What is the meaning behind the butterflies?

Flavio: A butterfly is the highest expression of a caterpillar. It is the animal developing to its maximum potential, and being at your maximum potential is being authentic and following your gut and committing to your actions. That doesn't mean you will succeed, but at least you have that. You were true to yourself and committed to yourself. That's what you need if you want to survive in a city where becoming a star is just as hard as winning the lottery.

There’s a powerful moment at the end where Flavio starts to laugh at himself. Do you feel that he becomes aware of his absurdity in that moment?

Christian: He's aware of how every decision he made that day led him to that moment. I think humor is a great way to cope with something very sad which is why I think he laughs at the end. He's trying to cope with the fact that he's in Hollywood and as of now he's all beaten down on an alley in Los Angeles. The opposite of being a star.

Flavio: Says the one acting in a short film…

Interviewer: What was that?

Flavio: Nothing.

He’s still driven by a misplaced desire for love.

Do you feel like Flavio learned a lesson?

Jared: Not really. He’s still driven by a misplaced desire for love.

Flavio: Is this interview done yet?

*awkward silence*

Christian: I think he learns that his decisions and his actions lead him to the future, which becomes the present. In this instance being beaten down in an alley, he doesn't see it as a failure, if anything it gives him the power to know that everything that he does will lead him somewhere, and that's where he wants to go, somewhere. Today is just a day where things didn't go as planned. Tomorrow will be another day though, another day to be a star and to fearlessly pursue that.

Last question... Does it ‘suck to suck’?

Flavio: IIt does. It sucks to suck. Just ask Jared, Christian, Neeraj and Harper.

Flavio is now available to watch on YouTube..