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Q: Searchers 2.0 is shot very low budget.  What made you want to make films on a micro budget?

A: I thought it would be easier to raise less money, and good practice.

Q: How did Roger Corman and Jon Davison become involved?

A: Jon read the script and offered to produce it.  He took it to Roger.

Q: You’ve worked with Del Zamora over and over again. What makes you work with the same actors?

A: Why not?  If they’re good actors, like Del, or Ed Pansullo, or Sy Richardson, it’s a pleasure to work with people frequently!

Q: Newcomer Jaclyn Jonet holds her own against, rest of the cast.  She really stands out.  Where did you find her?

A: The casting directors put out a call, and she auditioned for it.  She is excellent.  Same with Zahn McClarnon, who plays Rusty.

Q: You’ve worked both in front of and behind the camera.  Which do you prefer?

A: Acting is easier and much more fun.  But directing brings home the bacon.

Q: Searchers 2.0 has a reading list.  How did you come up with the list?

A: Based on books which I had read. 

Q: Many of the stories that Fred and Mel tell seem very real.  Where did they come from?

A: Some of the stories are based on things which really happened: Peckinpah sending telegrams to Nixon, for instance.  Others, like the Bud B. story, are inventions, or tweaks on real events.

Q: What was it like working in the same locations as John Ford? Did that inspire you?

A: Monument Valley is a remarkable place, in its own right.  I imagine it’s impossible to go there without being seriously inspired.

Q: Instead of towing the cars, you have the actors drive them.  How did you get the interior footage?  Most of the movie takes place with the three of them driving to Monument Valley.

A: It was shot with a Sony Z-1 camera by Steve Fierberg: most of the time the camera is on a mount inside the car.  His challenge was to compose so the bright exterior light didn’t white out too many pixels.

Q: The original pitch for Searchers 2.0 came from your website.  What made you want to find producers through the Internet?  How difficult was it to separate people really interested in financing the film from the kooks?

A: I’d read newspaper articles about other producers setting out to do it, or attempt it.  In this case there weren’t enough sheep or goats to bother separating ‘em. 

Q: Do you feel the Hollywood system won’t take chances on indie films?

A: That’s my impression, but who knows?  I pay little attention to it. 

Q: I was watching the Stanley Kubrick documentary on the new box set that Warner Brothers recently released and you were interviewed on it.  How did Kubrick influence you?

A: I’d like to say compositions but that would be presumptious.  Certainly he didn’t over-edit his films.  Most of my films aren’t as quite as cynical.

Q: What would you say to someone wanting to make a micro-budget film?

A: Go ahead, find good partners, have a good time.

Q: You seem to have embraced digital filmmaking.  Any plans to do more micro-budgeted film?  Will you go back to making studio financed films?

A: I’m happy to make all kinds of film, as long as Del Zamora stars in them.  The last studio-financed film I made was in 1987.  But no one can predict the future.

Searchers 2.0
USA, 2007, 96 min, VIDEO
North American Premiere

DIR: Alex Cox
SCR: Alex Cox
PROD: Jon Davison, Daren Hicks, Simon Tams
ED: Alex Cox
DP: Steven Fierberg
PROD DES: Cecilia Montiel
MUS: Dan Wool
CAST: Del Zamora, Ed Pansullo, Jaclyn Jonet, Sy Richardson

SEARCHERS 2.0 is Alex Cox’s (REPO MAN, SID & NANCY) eclectic, laugh-out-loud, send-up of the original SEARCHERS steeped in all the elements of an Alex Cox film you’d expect and want.

Mel and Fred are two actors who spent their careers in American westerns. When they discover that legendary screenwriter Fritz Frobisher is appearing at a special screening in Utah’s Monument Valley, they decide to take a road trip from L.A. to the legendary site of John Ford’s westerns. Their purpose is to seek revenge on the screenwriter for mistreating them as children on the filmset of BUFFALO BILL VS. DOC HOLLIDAY. Ultimately, the fate of everyone depends on their knowledge of the maestro, Sergio Leone.

Shot on a zero budget with a minimalist, laid-back style as well aswithfluid editing and direction, the film’s tempo stays lively as the characters’ hi-jinks continue to collide.  Written by Cox, the film is filled with memorable one-liners and standout performances. Underlying it all is insightful political satire and an homage to the unforgettable Westerns of Leone and Ford.

Screening Times:

Saturday, November 3rd 9:30pm
ArcLight Theatre 10

Sunday, November 4th 4:15pm
ArcLight Theatre 13

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