L to R: 2nd Assistant Director Michael Page and Producers Molly Esling & Davide Tomei look on as filming continues. Photo by TJ Price.
We had the wonderful opportunity to speak with Davide Tomei, the incredible film producer behind “Unconditional.” Check out the interview below.
Hi, Davide! Thank you for granting the interview. We’re excited to speak with you. You recently produced the movie “Unconditional.” Tell us how do I estimate the value of any given film??
Storytelling is a critical function of our society and how we communicate. I know for me, personally, films brought me so much joy in being immersed in another world. When I read Braden’s script for Unconditional, I knew very quickly that I wanted to immerse audiences in this world. From Braden’s pitch, even, I was sold, but upon reading the script I was absolutely floored.
As a producer, I read scripts as an audience member first and foremost. The logistic side of my brain is turned off, and I’m reading it solely for the story and the characters. Once I was finished reading Unconditional, it was a very intuitive feeling for me, knowing that there was no turning back and I had to tell this story. There was no world in which I was going to say “no.” That’s a long way of saying not only is it important as audience members to take in a story, but it’s equally important that people continue to tell them as well.
Did you come across any budget challenges during production?
We were very aware that money would be tight, but we were so fortunate to have the Indiegogo campaign that helped us get the film off the ground. The contributions we received, frankly, made the film possible. If we didn’t have them, I don’t think Unconditional would exist – certainly not in its present state, at least.
However, I will say that those limitations were oddly very helpful. We knew exactly what we had to work with, and that informed most of our decision-making from there – it forced us to get very creative. And, most paramount, we knew where our money had to go to immerse an audience. We knew immediately that our production design was crucial for this picture, and I felt strongly that Caiti Shannon needed as many resources as we could allocate to her to realize this vision. I’ll always remember us going shopping together for props, prepping a massive set piece within forty-eight hours – it was a blast to be by her side on this film. Her design and artistry blew me away, and I still discover little things that she had done two years after we filmed it. I’m still blown away by her work on this film because she had some very ambitious designs, and each one of them turned out to be beautiful and visceral.
How do you choose the material to use for a film?
That’s an interesting question – I’ll answer it in two parts, as a producer, and as a writer:
I think similar to my first answer, as a producer, I’m reading as a fan for the story and tend to know early on whether or not it’s a project I want to be involved in and bring to life. Is it a story I would see in a theater myself? Am I willing to put aside other projects and commit to this, wholeheartedly? What about this story makes it different from what I’ve seen before? Generally, I ask myself these questions in evaluating content and whether I want to produce it or not.
As a writer, I know that in my own writing it comes from a very personal place, and at times it can prove to be very painful. Pulling from personal experiences only go so far, though, and you eventually have to veer very far away from that entirely. But, having that foundation of emotionality and story ideas makes it easier to create something original. While I was not a writer on Unconditional, this story proved to be so relatable in some seemingly incongruous ways, and it continued to pleasantly surprise me in how people came to hook into this story.
What do you hope to accomplish with the movie?
What I hope for Unconditional is very simple: for people to see it. In distributing the film on Amazon, we were very cognizant of the current media industry and how methods of distribution are rapidly changing.
And, with that, I’m happy to say that audiences can hold Unconditional in their hand. That’s something we wouldn’t have dreamt of when I was born, or even really ten years ago for that matter. The democratization of content, for all its positive and negative causalities on the industry as a whole, has made this possible.
When choosing talent, what did you look for?
First and foremost, we were looking for people talented enough to pull off some very complex and evolving roles. We asked a lot of our actors in this film, and they all were gamers right from the get-go. From our leads in Jeff, Shannon, James, and Matlyn right on down to people that didn’t even have speaking roles in the film, they all were so invested in bringing this story to life.
So, as we began the casting process, Braden had a very specific vision that he shared with us in the look and feel of these actors, in how they bleed (sometimes literally) off the screen.
Quite specifically, we had sent Jeff the teaser trailer that we had made, and he knew the story before he even read the script. He and Braden spoke and connected immediately, and from there we brought Jeff on in the lead. Kismet for us to be brought to him.
In Matlyn, Braden was very specific about an actress with a commanding presence, and Matlyn has that in spades. She was so present on the set and while she emotionally would take us to some dark places, when she heard “cut,” she was skipping around the set and laughing – just so present on the day and an absolute joy to be around.
Shannon was brought to us through Jeff, and that proved to be crucial for us as they already had such a good chemistry together. It was immediately believable that they could be a happily married couple, as our film begins on the fifteenth anniversary of their passionate and positive marriage. And, as I had said about the cast being “gamers,” Shannon embodies that. We asked a lot of her and she attacked it with so much integrity – I always appreciated that about her.
And finally, with James, we had initially considered James for the lead, for Adam. The light bulb went off that James would be terrific for the role of Marcus, as he’s already such a gregarious, engaging personality. In the end, it became a perfect fit for him.
What was your favorite scene?
Our first montage is my favorite. It juxtaposes Evelyn’s dual-lifestyle from a sweet, wholesome home and an elaborate, grungy underground club. It was what immediately drew me to the film and telling this story, and it’s what I hope hooks audiences in from the start. If the whole film were a house up in flames, those six minutes are the wife and kids and dog I would save. No question.
How can fans-to-be gain access to the movie?
Unconditional is available now on Amazon, where it can be purchased for $9.99, rented for $2.99, and streamed for free with your Prime membership right here:
What has been your favorite experience in making the movie?
I loved the speed of it and the relationships that were forged. I read a quote recently from Martin Scorsese about making The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988, that due to the budget restrictions they were “working in a state of emergency.” That’s almost what this felt like.
While that can sound quite negative, the opposite is the truth. The ambitious shooting schedule forced Molly and me to make decisions very fast, and in our reminiscence, we both agreed that we just loved that aspect of it. We didn’t have time to be wrong. We had a very limited amount of time to get to the right answer, and we found those answers together. While that can be borderline miserable at the moment, I’ve never had a more exhilarating experience making a movie and have been looking for a fix since we wrapped.
And that speaks so much to the relationships that everyone made. Braden and I developed a terrific working relationship that continues to grow. I rarely go more than a couple months without checking in/hearing from any of our leads. Some of my best friendships have grown deeper because of this film, and while at the end of the day I feel a sense of accomplishment that the film has been released, nothing holds more weight than that of the relationships we made together along the way. Steve Jobs (a personal hero of mine) paraphrased Emerson in saying that “the journey is the reward,” and that couldn’t be truer in my experience making Unconditional.
When looking back on the movie, what resonated with you the most and why?
What resonated with me most about Unconditional was the number of people who identified with the story that we were trying to bring to life. From the staff/owners of the location we filmed on to the actors to our Indiegogo contributors – it was almost overwhelming to receive such support, and it kept us going when we were on our last legs of some very long, difficult days.
In your opinion, how could this movie make an impact on the world?
What this film does that I don’t think many do is discuss the grey areas of love. Love is often talked about as a very stark, black and white issue, but there is never only one side to a love story. I’ve heard Braden discuss this before, and I think it’s very true – that love has more grey in it than we choose to acknowledge, and that’s explored here in very brutal but beautiful methods.
On a more personal note, we see what people go through when they lose someone they love. Anyone who has gone through that knows it is unimaginable, and there are moments where you are utterly unable to escape the sadness of such loss. While this is an emotionally explosive approach, it does display how people grieve and eventually come to fill that loss with how they choose to live their life.
If you had to do it all over again, would you still choose to make this movie? Would you do anything differently?
Oh man, I wouldn’t trade this for anything. Unconditional proved to be a training ground for me, and I loved it. I still love it. Filmmakers know you’ll always remember your first, and to have Unconditional be my first feature… I just couldn’t be more proud to finally be able to share it with audiences.
Now, would I have loved another month or so of pre-production? Sure. But at the end of the day, I wouldn’t change a thing.
Do you have anything else you would like to share about the movie and your career?
Currently, I reside in Los Angeles where I am working in production-based roles within the industry. Braden and I are in the early development stages on our next project, on which we’ll share more with Occhi readers soon.
[su_youtube url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GW1KElZKWg”]
Connect with Davide:
Email: davidebtomei@gmail.com
IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm8529042
Twitter: @D_Tomei
Featured Image Credit: L to R: 2nd Assistant Director Michael Page and Producers Molly Esling & Davide Tomei look on as filming continues. Photo by TJ Price.
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