Interview with Flick Filmmaker Ben Langford

In an interview with the Midnight Critics Circle, I had the opportunity to discuss inspirations, Harry Potter fanfiction, and his spectacular new short film Flick (which you can watch here) with up-and-coming filmmaker Ben Langford.

Amy: What inspired you to become a filmmaker? Was there a person, an experience, or a person that got you interested in it?

Ben: It's actually a very cliche answer for people who want to do film, I'm sure, but I can't remember wanting to do anything else. It was one of the things where when I was, I don't know, conscious initially, I would watch TV and movies incessantly. I mean, it was stuff like Sesame Street and Blue's Clues, but I was still just in love with the idea of storytelling. If I watched a Blue's Clues episode, I would act it out again or I would write my own episode. It was a much more active and interactive experience than just watching stuff. So I was always interested in media in the form of being a storyteller. And then, film was just the medium I connected with more as I got older. But I've always been writing as far back as I remember. 

Did you have any stories that you remember writing when you were younger?

Yes! I remember certain characters. I know I drew a lot of comics when I was younger. I was really into comic strips like Peanuts and Garfield because I was growing up right when newspapers were dying out. My grandparents got newspapers so I would take the Peanuts comics out of it and read them. So, I would always make my own comics of that ilk. And I know I had two consistent characters; their names were Burt and Nut. It was a child and his pet squirrel named Nut. That's all I remember about them! But I drew them a lot from memory. I can't remember any specific stories, but I'd also often take something like Harry Potter, read it, then write my own Harry Potter story. I guess it was fanfiction, but I wrote it before knowing that's what it was.

I wrote Harry Potter fanfiction too! Oh my god!

It's just the first stage of every writer's journey.

It is! I remember I thought I was such a professional writer and beyond all of my peers because I wrote fanfiction.

J.K. Rowling would hire you.

Oh wow! I remember thinking about sending a letter to her with my fanfiction enclosed when I was in 3rd grade. 

That does remind me, when I was probably 10, my initial entry level from stuff like Blue's Clues into more of the "art of film" was definitely the early age of Pixar films. I guess from Ratatouille, which was the first film I ever saw in a theater, up to Toy Story 3, that four-year stretch? That was definitely influential for me because I remember just being obsessed with the parts of those movies that made people cry. Like, I would constantly rewatch videos that were like, "5 Saddest Pixar Scenes" just because I found it so interesting that something that wasn't real made people cry. I think that was an important development in my storytelling capabilities. 

I remember I wrote a letter to Pixar because I wanted to work at Pixar and direct Pixar movies. Obviously, I've changed course from that after knowing more about the process, but I remember I sent a letter where I drew, like, pictures of each character that probably looked terrible. They never got back to me, but I did send Pixar letters! 

Maybe they have it framed, and they're just waiting to finally hire you. Once you get that degree? You're set. You have a job. 

They have it ready for me. They have my desk ready. 

Wait, on that note: Is there a studio that you want to work in? And if so, why? 

Hmm. I feel like it would be way too obvious to say A24, but that is the go-to for anyone looking to get into the film industry. They just have such a perfect balance of giving creatives control while also having their own brand that's really high quality. I'd say NEON has the same kind of vibe as that. One of those two, just because I love their output as anyone who's into film does.

Yeah, that was one of those questions where I was like "I already know the answer, but let's just see". 

Let's just confirm. But yeah, even though they have so many different filmmakers and so many different types of films being made, they all still have a... I mean, I don't love everything they've put out, but there is definitely a respect there for each one. Like, alright, this was someone's vision, and it wasn't tampered with. I didn't love Dicks: The Musical, but that was certainly someone's vision that was respected, so I do have appreciation for that. There's always going to be an audience for anything they make. 

Speaking of visions, is there a signature Ben Langford style that you hope people respond to? 

I've asked myself that too. Do I want to make something that's very distinctly a "Ben Langford film"? Or do I want to have more of a fluid nature to what I make? I don't know, because I've only made one short so far. But I've written more, and friends I have who read everything I write are able to find common themes. My friend said that there's often broken dynamics shown through small glimpses. Which is a very vague way to put it, but that's something I resonate with in other filmmakers and that I definitely enjoy. I like not spelling things out and just having the bare minimum information given. I know that's not really a "style". But yeah, it's a hard question because I'm still figuring that out myself. But there are definitely filmmakers whose styles I resonate with a lot that I guess I would try to emulate in some way. 

Could you name some of them?

Yeah! I guess my biggest one would turn some people off, and it's understandable, but Woody Allen is someone whose work always resonates with me. Just his writing sensibilities are something where, whenever I have writer's block, just watching his films or even reading some of his work always kind of takes some stress off the gears. Something about him just resonates a lot with me. Just his characters, just the kind of confidence in the writing. And even his directing style is something that inspires me! It just sucks that you know... 

Yeah. Curse these artists for being really good at their jobs but also terrible people. 

Right? But like, anytime I've written anything I usually rewatch Annie Hall because it's just the perfect script in my mind. A couple others that definitely inspire me are Charlie Kaufman, in the sense that I can't ever write anything without thinking of him. Just because of the creativity of his work mixed with the empathetic realism of it? I mean, even Flick to some degree is influenced by him. It may not have the same level of quality as Kaufman, but it has that sort of vibe to it. 

I agree! What I loved about Flick was the way that you were able to take an odd situation and find both the comedy on the surface and the emotional core underneath. When you get to see the main character's aching in the end? I thought that was really well done. 

Thank you! I appreciate it. But yeah, it very much has the sensibilities of Kaufman. Every Kaufman idea is very silly on the surface but then there's these really rich characters underneath. That's definitely a juxtaposition that I strive for in everything I write. 

How did you come up with the concept for Flick, then? 

In general, I'm not a very big fan of short films because of the runtime constraint in the writing. Even now, the new short film I'm working on is about 35 minutes, which is double the length of Flick! But whenever it comes to writing a plot in such a short amount of time, it's very stressful for me. I need that space to breathe, and short films don't really have that. So I guess I was just throwing out ideas that would work in such a short runtime? I didn't want to just make a comedy short. Those can be fun, but I wanted to do something that felt more in line with my goals for features. This was around the end of 2022, when I had just seen Damien Chazelle's new film Babylon and The Fabelmans a month before. I was really caught up in all of these "movies about movies" and the feelings they were giving me as someone who's always loved cinema. They both reminded me about why I love the art form so much. I was starting film school in the spring, so I wondered if I could do something that emulates that feeling. And you write as well, right?

Yeah!

So you know that feeling of sometimes having this random idea that just popped up out of nowhere? I was just writing one day, and there was this idea in my head of a robber who loved movies. It came out of nowhere. And then I was like "I have to unpack this and see what to do with it". Then, since I was dealing with writers' block, I decided to write about somebody with writers' block. I'd have someone come help him with his writers' block. The rest of the story just came very naturally after that point because the main character is partially a self-insert character of sorts. People always say to write what you know since it'll be easier, but when I try to write what I know and can't even do that, it's like, can I write anything? So writing about that feeling was very cathartic and had many layers for me. I loved the idea of those two concepts coming together. I also love chaotic films, and a lot of Allen's films are very chaotic in the sense that the comedy of it is more circumstantial? Like, alright there's a DoorDash driver involved, now there's this involved. Just circumstances building on each other. The work of Pedro Almodóvar is also very influential in that way. One of my favorite films is Woman on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, and the stakes just keep rising not because of a threat but because new circumstances arise. That was definitely something I applied into making the script. 

What would you say was your favorite part of making Flick, then?

I think the part I was most scared for going into it but also enjoyed the most was directing it? It was something I'd never done before outside of just making silly shorts for class, which doesn't feel the same. It feels more loose than that. But like, the weeks leading up to filming Flick with 15+ people relying on me to be the person in charge was very scary. It was a very stressful process mentally. So, when I got on set the first day, and everyone was cool and I just kind of got into the process of directing it, it was very fun. It was very instantly a weight of the shoulders, like "Alright, this isn't terrible". Like the thing I wanted to do my whole life was actually something I enjoyed. Directing it was definitely the best, most relieving part for me.

Directing it felt rewarding because you were able to realize "Oh, I can do this"?

Yeah. It had always seemed like a very far off thing. And now that I'm here, obviously it's not an actual film set, but it was the first time I got to experience the general mechanics of filming. And as I was directing, I was like "Okay, this isn't a fluke, I actually do enjoy this". This isn't just a pipe dream. There's something I can do here. 

Is there a memory during the shooting of Flick that'll stick with you?

Definitely. There's the whole set of first times, like my first time talking to a DP or my first time calling "Action!". Those are things that will always be associated with Flick. One thing that was pretty cool about the whole experience was. I'm not someone who shares writing with people easily because when you write something and you're the only one who's read it, you always think it's worse than it actually is. So when I first got people to read Flick and asked them to be a part of it, having people who resonated with themes like writers' block, writing what you know, and trying to write about yourself and failing to understand even that meant a lot to me. Having people who really wanted to be a part of this and were onset and really into it is just a really cool feeling for something you've wrote. Something you thought was stupid or wouldn't live up to what you wanted it to be, and then seeing it actually move people, even if it was just a silly short, is just really cool to see from both people onset and viewers. 

As a viewer, I could definitely tell that the people participating in this really cared about this story.

I have to give a lot of credit to them too, since they could've easily phoned it in. I mean, we're all looking for something to add to our portfolios, so we were in it together. It definitely did feel like a community coming together to help each other and do our best. 

We've talked about the people you were able to work with on your first short. Are there any specific actors, writers, or directors that you'd love to work with in the future?

For actors, I could list off a hundred, but if I were to narrow it down to a couple... I mean, this is recency bias but Emma Stone is someone who seems so delightful and willing to do anything, so working with her would be incredible. Plus, with The Curse and Poor Things recently, she's just one of the best actors working right now. 

This is music to my ears, I love Emma Stone.

She's the best. No one dislikes her. I think Adam Driver to a similar degree is so underrated for his comedic ability and range. I've written scripts where I've thought "Adam Driver would be perfect for this". Just because he can kind of fit into anything and make it his own. He would be someone I would love to work with at some point. 

I know this is Film Twitter-core so far, but the last people I wrote down were more up-and-coming. Woody Norman is someone who even in C'mon C'mon, which was my favorite film of that year, seemed destined to be incredible and I'd love to work with him. I guess there's so few great child actors working right now, and it's such a hard thing to break into, though understandably so. It's kind of an awful thing to be as a child. But he is definitely one of the standouts recently. And Hong Chau is someone who is always exciting to see in something. She has a good, I don't know, cadence that really works for me. Even in films that I don't like, she's always the best part. She's just always a delightful presence and I'd love to work with her for anything. And then I wrote down two other people who do everything and just mean a lot to me: Greta Gerwig and Bo Burnham. I would do anything to work with them; I would act in something for them, write something for them, anything because they're both just insanely talented and have made works that mean a lot to me. 

Do you have any favorite works from Gerwig and Burnham?

For Greta Gerwig it would be Lady Bird, but I've loved everything she's done so far. Including her work with Baumbach! She just has such a motherly personality that I think working with her would be such a life-changing experience, at least from what I've seen from sets and behind-the-scenes photos and whatnot. And then from Bo Burnham, when he did Inside a couple of years back, I needed it so much at that time of my life. So just in an emotional sense his work means so much to me. Eighth Grade is also great, as are his other specials, but Inside particularly is very meaningful to me. 

Inside got a lot of people through 2021.

Yeah, I think I would cry if I met him honestly? But like, happy tears obviously.

I mean hey, if Emma Stone, Adam Driver, Midnight Critics Circle Lifetime Achievement Nominee Woody Norman, Hong Chau, Greta Gerwig, or Bo Burnham are reading this and are interested in working with Ben Langford, give him a call!

If they ever get interviewed, let them know about me! But yeah, that's a star-studded group of people right there. 

Indeed! Anyways, for my final question, are there any future stories that you hope to tell?

For sure. I have a whole book of film ideas I'd love to get through one day. But for right now, I'm currently underway with the 35-minute short film I wrote, I think I mentioned it earlier? Just to give a brief summary of it, it's called Sock and Buskin, and it's about a journalism major who for a final project has to research a club at the school. So, she researches a group therapy club where everyone's wearing Halloween masks and has to figure out the club's about. 

Sounds fun! 

Yeah! It's very silly, but also has very similar sensibilities to Flick in that way. We're shooting that in January and hope to be done in the spring. I'm very excited about that. 

I assume we can expect a silly concept on the surface and then an emotional shotgun to the heart? 

That's the goal, for sure. I hope it follows through and achieves that.