In 2017, Tyler Savage made his feature directorial debut with the thriller Inheritance. Savage returns to the genre with his second feature film, Stalker, which focuses on the terror of obsessive relationships. After moving to Los Angeles post-breakup, Andy (Vincent Van Horn) struggles to adjust to the new city. While Andy navigates a budding romance with Sam (Christine Ko), he's caught up within an obsessive "friendship" with Roger (Michael Lee Joplin), a rideshare driver he met early on in L.A. Where Inheritance had a more serious tone, Savage's Stalker blends elements from classic thriller, noir and dark comedy to critique how one presents themself in reality versus on social media.
In an interview with CBR, Savage discussed how his latest feature film addresses themes of misrepresentation and manipulation, compared challenges between Stalker and Inheritance and examined the collaborative process between himself, Van Horn, Ko, Lee Joplin and the film's co-writer Dash Hawkins.
CBR: This is your second directorial feature. How has this experience differed from your experience with Inheritance?
Tyler Savage: This was a very different experience. I mean, I think that making a movie is always a little intimidating, but I think the first time around it was... Really what changes is the collaborators you're working with and also certain budget restrictions and the nature of the story. I think, the first film I made, Inheritance, was kind of more psychological, was a little heavier. And it was very personal to me, in terms of some of the family themes and some of the ideas around mental health and addiction, so I'd say it wasn't less enjoyable, but there was a heaviness in that experience.
Whereas with Stalker, I mean we wanted to have fun. I wanted to make something that kind of knew what it was, and was enjoying the fact that it was a genre movie. That plus the fact that I was working with Michael and Vincent, who both kind of come from an improv and sort of comedy leaning background, it was just a lot of fun. We had a lot of fun on set.
Speaking of working with these actors, what was the most challenging thing bringing these characters to life with them? And what was the most gratifying thing bringing these characters to life with them?
I always kind of say it was interesting because between the three leads there were three different types of actors or different types of approaches, which was great. Like Vince's very kind of toned down and very naturalistic. Michael, you know, can play things bigger because he has that comedy and improv background. Christine comes from, you know, has more experience on multi-camera TV and has been in bigger projects, so they all kind of have their different experiences. So it was really gratifying to find a way to get everybody to kind of bring their A-game and let them rub off on each other in a good way. So I think that was really gratifying.
I think in terms of what was challenging, I mean honestly, just the climax was probably the hardest part, especially for Vincent. It was [a] very, kind of an emotionally exhausting couple of days there. But you know, beyond that, I think it was a fun ride for most of us.
Along with collaborating with your actors, you also were collaborating with your writer. What was it like bringing that script to life together?
Yeah, Dash and I are like... Dash is my best friend. I mean, we've known each other... We've grown up together since we were little kids. Basically, our moms are like buddies and drinking buddies and hang out all the time. And so we've written like probably seven or eight things together. So we've got a really good rapport.
I came to him probably only like six or eight months before we shot the project. I mean, it all came together pretty quickly, around the germ of an idea about a rideshare driver. And then we started talking about what kind of new things could be done within that stalker space and it kind of unfolded pretty quick. I do remember the moment that we kind of figured out the ending, and it was like, "Okay, now we can really sink our teeth in."
I think writing partners work in a myriad of ways, but we're not the type of writers that like [to] sit in a room and write all the dialogue together. We really do a lot of outlining and brainstorming together and then we kind of go into our own corners, write pages, exchange work, so it was a pretty fluid process overall. A lot of fun.
Going on what you were saying about coming up with this idea of a rideshare stalker, why did you want to tell this story? What was kind of the inspiration behind this rideshare nightmare?
Totally. That's a very fair question. I think, for me, fundamentally, the movie is about misrepresentation and the ways that we're vulnerable. I always make a joke that I probably have some trust issues based on the two movies that I've made. You know, fundamentally, maybe I think people have ulterior motives or other things kind of going on behind the scenes, and obviously never in this nefarious of a way or seldomly in this nefarious of a way. That's the theme of misrepresentation, and also setting it in Los Angeles, because I grew up there, in a city where there can be a lot of superficial reality.
There can be a lot of misrepresentation and manipulation. So that theme was more interesting to me than the rideshare of it all. And then we wanted it to say... Look at different ways, whether it's a dating technology or Instagram plays a pretty big role, and ways in which we put out our digital persona and that might not necessarily reflect the actual person behind it.
We're starting to wrap up here, so my last question will be what are you most excited for audiences to see? And what do you hope they take away from this film?
I mean, I'm most excited to see if audiences have fun with it. You know, I think that it goes dark, this movie, but I think at the same time it's sort of a celebration of [the] genre. And, I mean, there's a lot of, like, my love of noir in it. And I think people get kind of the dark comedy of stories about doom and people that aren't going to necessarily meet a perfect happy ending. But I think I'm just excited generally to see how people respond to it. Hopefully, you know, for the most part, people kind of get what we're trying to do.
Directed by Tyler Savage, Stalker stars Christine Ko, Vincent Van Horn and Michael Joplin. The film premieres on VOD on June 18.