Mark Leidner Converses With Publishing Genius

Adam Robinson spends time with Mark Leidner, "the author of several books including, most recently, a chapbook called Salad on the Wind, which came out from The Song Cave late last year." "It’s great," writes Robinson. "The title poem rhymes steeple with peephole and baby bottle with supermodel. His first book, the 2012 collection Beauty Was the Case That They Gave Me, altered the world. For me, it’s the kind of poetry that creates a before and after, as in, after, I was never the same." From Robinson and Leidner's conversation: 

Do you write poems because you want to write stories? Do you write stories because you want to make movies? Do you make movies because you love poetry?

I love all to a degree, but I’m not sure one causes the other. They’re more like different spokes of the same wheel.

You’re the writer of the film, but I imagine that you did a lot of other things too. What was a typical day like for you during the entire production process?

On set I had the duties of a production assistant (food pickup, prop prep, grip help, location hunting, emailing, gophering—whatever no one else had time to do). But I was the writer and was a partner on the business end, so I was also a little like an Executive Producer, working closely with director Yedidya Gorsetman and producer Josh Itzkowitz, weighing in on all major decisions, arguing passionately for what I wanted and always being listened to. The most gratifying part of being a writer on set was when our actors would ask about something in the script. The actors would have an idea that made sense for the character or story and I’d learn something about the story I didn’t know. Then I’d explain the original thinking behind why the script was the way it was. Then they’d triangulate my perspective with their own and the director’s…  to arrive at something more vivid or original.

Could you give an example of when this happened—when you learned something new about the script?

In the original script, when the main character Joel (played by Zack Robidas) tries the virtual reality technology for the first time, he’s really anxious. He wants it to work so he can make money—and when it does work he’s really blown away.  Well, Zack had the idea that instead of being nervous / anxious, going in, Joel should be casual if not downright flippant. This was a revelation and helped his post-virtual reality awe seem like much more of a change, using performance to make the plot device more believable. To me, Zack’s decision to do it this way, even ad-libbing a line about having eaten a big meal to make fun of the warnings he receives about misusing the tech, was a revelation of who the character truly is. Even when Joel is anxious, he’s not going to show it; he’s going to remain outwardly cool as a power move in every possible relationship. This coolness early on makes his vertiginous anxiety and paranoid desperation at the end of the movie much more meaningful. 

Read on at Publishing Genius.