By: BabyRuth –
I recently had the pleasure of speaking with co-writer/co-director Martha Stephens about the making of Land Ho! :
I’d just like to start off and let you know that I really enjoyed the film. It comes across that everyone involved had a great time making it.
We really did. We had a lot of fun.
I’m now adding Iceland to my bucket list of places to visit.
You really should. It’s like no other place you’ve ever been to, landscape-wise. There are so many different kinds of terrain. You can look to your left and see giant mountains covered with moss and look to your right and see the ocean with the black beaches. It’s just very surreal.
Did the landscape present any issues or obstacles in the shooting process?
I can’t believe we didn’t have more days that we had to reschedule due to the weather because Icelandic weather is pretty all over the place. But for some reason, while we were shooting we almost had perfect weather. It was cold, but we only had one day where we were rained out. We had to shoot the movie backwards because the roads into the interior, where we shot the last scenes, were closed down at the end of September because they were so bad. So we had to do those first. We were driving on really rough roads. We all had to learn how to drive through small rivers.
There’s that scene in the film where they do that.
You wouldn’t believe how many cars get stuck in the water all the time. We took a course from this guy that takes people out and teaches them how to drive through water and not get stuck.
Was it difficult to set up all the equipment to get some of the shots?
Yeah, it’s cold there, especially in the fall and having equipment in the cold. The cameramen, their hands, just, didn’t want to move in that cold.
You chose Iceland because you’ve visited it before and thought that would be a great location for the film. You also mentioned that you wanted to bring Earl Lynn there. Is that where the idea come from?
Yeah, I was going on a vacation to Iceland and while I was planning it– you know everything I do in my life, whether it’s going to the grocery store or going on vacation, my mind doesn’t shut off. I’m always thinking in terms of story. I’m always on the prowl for places I’d like to shoot or stories I’d like to tell from real life.
I guess just looking at these landscapes and planning what I was going to do, I already had a fixation on going to Iceland from way back, but that sealed the deal from seeing the pictures. It was a hit of inspiration: What if we did sort of, a guerilla-style movie with a small crew in Iceland? And I had been thinking of wanting to do a comedy for a while. The elements came together and thinking about Earl Lynn… he’s my relative and he’s been in my other movies.
He is great by the way. I wasn’t ready for some of the stuff that came out of his mouth! I watched the Q&A [on the DVD/Blu-ray] and that’s really him, that’s how he is!
Yes, it’s kind of disarming. That’s him! He just isn’t self-conscious and is just up for whatever. I work with a lot of non-actors, I just like using non-actors. You know, especially small supporting parts and playing some part of themselves. If I film at a gas station, I’d prefer real gas station attendants just playing themselves. But most people get really shy and are not themselves, but Earl Lynn never fears being in front of the camera.
You wrote this particular part with him in mind?
And Paul Eenhoorn. We waited for them to confirm that they actually wanted to do it before we started writing the script.
So you got the idea in Iceland and came up with the idea and then put it all together and started writing?
We started drafting an outline ahead of time but a lot of what I saw in Iceland helped me come up with the ideas about what these guys would actually do. A lot of the places in the film I actually stayed in on my vacation.
I got kind of an Odd Couple/Grumpy Old Men vibe from the film. Was that what you were going for with the story?
We just thought Earl Lynn –he’s larger than life, and we needed an opposite, an every-man that the audience could identify with. Someone that when he reacts to Earl Lynn’s crude language, you can laugh with this guy. And Paul has a really nice presence, a nice contrast to Earl Lynn’s sort of, bulldozing.
They got along so well, they just had this chemistry, that it seemed like they had known each other for many years. How long did they get to know each other before they began shooting?
We shot the opening scene in Kentucky in May and they met at the point. That was sort of a way for us to see if they had chemistry. And we showed that around to get financing for the film. It was a great way to see how we were going to do this.
That opening scene- that was really the first time that they ever met each other?
Yes, that and the night before. That was the first time they met each other. But Earl Lynn just acts like he knows you, even if he doesn’t. He just, embraces everyone. He’s just a big teddy bear. When he smiles, you smile. But now Paul and Earl Lynn are now kind of, those guys with each other. I see Earl Lynn a lot because we both live in Kentucky and he says he talks to Paul on the phone at once a week.
That’s fantastic!
Yeah, I think they’re actually going at the end of this month to a screening together to accept an award on behalf of the movie and I have a feeling it’s an excuse for the two of them to hang out.
How much of the film was ad-libbed? Not that it felt unwritten, just that it seemed so natural.
Right. This was very scripted, most was actual dialogue, give or take a word, and we had to stick to the scenes because we were filming in a foreign country and didn’t have a lot of time or resources to stick around and see what worked. Each scene was written, none were just improvised- as far as what happened in the scene, but within each scene, sometimes we would ask Earl Lynn and Paul to kind of go off on their own with something if they wanted to or rephrase something in their own way. And sometimes we were just having fun on set, coming up on the set with funny things for Earl Lynn to do randomly, and some of that made it into the movie.
Did you have a favorite line or scene that in the end you watched back and just loved?
I think the geyser scene is my favorite scene just because I think [Nelson and Eenhoorn] are really funny [in it]. When they celebrate when the geyser goes off, it’s goofy and fun. That geyser brings so much joy to people… it’s a hard thing to explain, but people just can’t wipe the smile off their faces when they’re watching this geyser. It’s like an old friend. So just seeing the geyser makes me happy. Everyone’s crowded around anticipating this thing to go off and then it finally does.
That was definitely contagious. I caught myself smiling at that part while watching that scene.
I liked that scene best and then the way it transitions to a nice meditative montage of the landscapes.
At the end of the movie, both characters have changed. Where do you see them after the film ends? What would they be doing now? If there were to be another movie how would they be different people?
I think Colin gets a little bit of his confidence back because he kind of scores with a lady after being dumped by his second wife, so I hope he’s found a little more of a will to live and isn’t so down. I just don’t seeing Mitch changing much. He changes in that for once, he takes a step back to be the wing-man instead of being in their faces and lets Colin do his thing, so maybe Mitch is a little more aware. We talked about how it would be fun for them to go to Hawaii or if Ellen (Mitch’s cousin in the movie) is getting married in Hawaii and they go to the wedding. They’d also love to go to Australia, since Paul is Australian. The guys would love to do a sequel, but I don’t see that happening.
Do you have anything that you are working on now?
I’m just writing now and trying to figure out my next project. I think it’s a jinx to say what it’s about before I’ve finished writing it. We’ll see. I would love to start working on something sooner than later. I get kind of a postpartum thing after completing a project.
Well this film is getting a lot of great feedback, congratulations on that.
Thank you. Selling a movie was an amazing experience and I hope that streak continues. The last year of my life has been dedicated to Land Ho! and now that it’s on DVD and Blu-ray that’s kind of the official end and it’s time to work on something else.
This site is kind of fun take on movies. We create drinking games and I think this film definitely lends itself well to that. What would you suggest for a drinking game for Land Ho?
You can definitely drink a few beers while watching this film. I’d say every time Mitch refers to a penis in some way, or anything sexual really.
