The Dreams That Help Us Carry On: J. Arcane & Paul Erskine On Their Film "NYC Dreams"
Working together as Arcane & Erskine, J. Arcane and Paul Erskine are co-founders of Pacific Future Films, a production company focused on telling stories that push boundaries and encourage audiences to challenge their preconceived ideas. Beginning as screenwriters, they are a Nicholl semifinalist and next 100 in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Science Nicholl Fellowship. After completing numerous shorts, they began making feature films on their own as a crew of two. NYC Dreams, an LGBTQ drama/romance, marks the duo’s sophomore film. You can find the film on Amazon Prime Video right now
A talented but struggling dancer in New York City uses his daydreams to escape and find love.
We had the pleasure of chatting with J. and Paul about the film, its origins, finding the right talent, incorporating color, and much much more!
Both of you have been working together across shorts and features for nearly a decade. Can you talk about how you first got connected and how you’ve both formed such as longstanding and fruitful partnership?
We met about 15 years ago and quickly bonded over our shared passion for film and filmmaking. We both wrote screenplays and were very disheartened by the difficulty in getting them made. As the years went on we felt there was a lack of engaging movies with emotive content and deeper meaning. For sure there were some, but they were becoming increasingly rare. Those were the types of movies we wanted to watch so we decided to take the plunge into directing. We did multiple short films together before graduating to feature films.
We won't sugar coat things, making feature films with a very small crew on a tight budget is incredibly difficult and at times very very stressful but seeing your script turned into a movie, and watching your characters be brought to life is incredibly rewarding.
How did the concept for NYC Dreams originate?
NYC Dreams was written specifically for Yves Mathieu East. He once said in an interview that when he dies, he doesn't want anyone to be sad, he wants people to smile and remember him as someone that loves to dance. We knew then we had to make it a dance film just for him.
J loves to daydream and wanted to blur the line between reality and fantasy for the character and Paul suggested taking inspiration from the reality dating show Flirty Dancing and how they incorporate and blend in beautiful dance sequences. That was how the premise was born.
The film has a lovely meditative quality to it, in the same vein as the works of Terrence Malick. Was making a reflective film your goal? If so, can you talk a bit about how that angle was important to you and this story?
Making reflective films is always important for us, we love films that make you think, question or ruminate both during and after the viewing. For this film, it was very important for us that the audience feels what the main character (Theo) feels. We wanted to put the audience in his shoes and so we shot the film from his frame of mind. What he sees, we see, even if it's just his dreams. Because at the end of the day, his dreams are equally if not more important than his reality. We wanted to give the film a dreamlike feel because that's how Theo copes with the pain in his life. His dreams help him to carry on.
What excited you most about making a film that explored the pursuit of dreams, with an emphasis on the LGBTQIA experience?
We love being able to break the rules and nothing excites us more than incorporating the unconventional into our films which is why we usually gravitate toward genre projects.
Since NYC Dreams is foremost a drama film, designing the dream sequences was our way of play within the drama constraints. It was a lot of fun filming and editing the dance scenes, we got to work with some very talented singers that provided the vocals to our songs. Yves even wrote and performed a song specifically for one of the scenes. It felt like working on a music video and narrative film at the same time.
J is also a romantic at heart and usually finds a way to incorporate love as a key or underlying theme in her scripts, whether that love is LGBTQIA or otherwise. The main goal was to explore Theo's experience. His dreams and insecurities, his desire for love are universal for all of us, regardless of our sexual and gender identities.
I’m guessing this was shot during the pandemic, and New York City, in particular, was majorly impacted by the event. Can you talk about some of the obstacles you faced making this film and how you were able to overcome them?
It was a very difficult time, NYC had been hit very hard by COVID. Yves was based in NYC and the script had been written for him and the city he loved so we couldn't shoot it anywhere else. It was so early into the pandemic that COVID coordinators didn't exist yet. But we knew we had one chance to film NYC Dreams and if we didn't do it then, we'd lose Yves due to his hectic modeling schedule.
But it was incredibly important to keep everyone as safe as possible. We digested as much information as we could on COVID and took precautions both on and off set. We hired personal drivers for the talent so they didn't have to take public transport. We never had more than 10 people on set at a time.
One of the most challenging obstacles was having to change shoot locations last minute due to the ever changing COVID restrictions at the time, for example the final scene in the film was written to be shot at Lincoln Center, but when we arrived in New York we saw that it was closed off, so our driver suggested Broadway instead.
Yves Mathieu East gives a physical and emotional performance. How did you find him (not sure if this is the preferred gender term — please correct me if it’s not), and what was the process like creating the character together?
During casting for our first film, we came across a photo of Canadian artist Rick Genest (known as "Zombie Boy" for his very distinct full body and face tattoos). But when it came time to cast this film, Rick had unfortunately passed so we reached out to hundreds of tattoo parlors in North America to search for our new lead. As soon as we were recommended Yves we watched all of the interviews we could find of him to piece together a new story and character especially for him because we were so impressed by Yves's heart. Yves is incredibly selfless, he continues to love and care despite all the hardships he's been through. His capability for empathy knows no bounds, he is a true inspiration. We're so grateful for the heart and energy he injected into Theo just by being himself.
The film is visually stunning and employs a lot of wonderful color, both in-camera and in post-production. Can you talk about how you achieved the film’s visual style throughout all stages of the production?
J: Most of the color was added during post-production but in pre-production we made sure to pull wardrobe items for Theo based on the matching color from the corresponding location/set so he would always blend well with the scene, because his environment (NYC) is as part of him as he is a part of the city.
We also shot the majority of our outdoor scenes during sunrise, sunset, magic hour or night to get the most romantic lighting.
In post, I always try to color grade based on the mood we want to achieve. For instance for scenes of warmth and romance, the colors would also be warm or with a touch of rose or pink. For scenes of conflict I would tint the scene blue or green toward the cooler spectrum.
Do you have a favorite scene or moment from the film?
J: The moment where Theo walks into the speakeasy and steps aside for the camera to see the scene before him. The way the light streamed in from above, the cabaret singer, waitress and patrons were all in the perfect position, it reminded me of a painting, it looked that beautiful.
Paul: My favorite scene is the night dance scene with Yves and O.G. (who plays Dream Guy, Theo's love interest) at Jane's Carousel in Brooklyn. It's a wonderfully emotive scene at a beautiful location, particularly at night.
What drew you to the visual arts? How did you get into directing?
J: Ever since I was a child I've always loved art. It's the only thing that's ever come natural to me and movies in particular were what I understood the most. Around the age of 10, when I learned what a film director was, I knew that was what I wanted to do too.
But it was Paul that really gave me the confidence and the go ahead by initiating the idea we make films on our own, independently instead of waiting for grants. Without him, I would never have believed we could do this by ourselves.
Paul: I think most people that love film, ultimately would love to be able to direct. I had a passion for film, screenwriting and the technical aspects of filmmaking. We both wanted to make films, to write and direct. We consumed so much material on filmmaking, the technical aspects and directing. There's no better education than actually doing something though, and the short film medium is a great way to learn the ropes.
What films or filmmakers have inspired you, your style, or your approach to telling a story?
Paul: Those are tough questions. Probably the best way to start is with some of my favorite films: John Wick by Chad Stahelski and David Leitch, Revenge by Coralie Fargeat, Nocturnal Animals by Tom Ford, Total Recall (2012) by Len Wiseman, Edge of Tomorrow by Doug Liman, Salt by Phillip Noyce, Don't Breathe by Fede Alvarez, The Cabin in the Woods by Drew Goddard, and Confessions by Tetsuya Nakashima.
My approach to telling a story is to pull the viewer into the world, get them very engaged, hit them with unexpected twists and surprises.
J: Different films inspire me at different points in my life depending on what I’m going through, more recently I've been rewatching What Maisie Knew with Alexander Skarsgård and Pig with Nicholas Cage. I also came across a great 2013 film called Hotel with Alicia Vikander. In the past I've loved anything by David Fincher, Alejandro G. Iñárritu and the late Jean-Marc Vallée. I especially love the way Iñárritu captures the most raw, hard-hitting and honest emotions. I think I feel the most when I watch his films, to the point I feel like a different person by the time the credits roll. I'm also equally inspired by actors and am currently working my way through Tilda Swinton's filmography.
What do you hope the audience meditates on while watching the film?
To see the beauty in being different and at the same time understand how we are all a lot more similar than we think. If we look a little deeper past the surface of our differences, we may find a true connection.
The Supreme Court recently overturned Roe v. Wade, which will not only affect women but the LGBTQIA+ community as well. I wanted to bring this up to give you the opportunity to speak on it, if you wish.
Paul: It's a shocking and inexcusable decision. The conservative majority on the current bench overruled the legal precedent set by their peers in 1973, and set women's rights back over 50 years. Their disregard for prior Supreme Court rulings means that no established (and hard-fought for) LGBTQIA right is now safe, they're all now in their crosshairs.
The Supreme Court needs to be reformed. It should work for the benefit of the people, not against them. No nation needs or deserves a prejudiced Supreme Court.
J: I grew up in New Zealand with female prime ministers leading the country, so I've always believed everyone, regardless of gender, are equally important in every way. Being female myself, I feel incredibly sad for all the young girls and women that will be affected by this, and even more sad that their own country may make them question their worth because of this ongoing inequality.
Lastly, do you have any future projects in the works that you can share with us?
Our latest film The Razing is being distributed by Gravitas Ventures and will be available on VOD and DVD on September 27, 2022. The Razing is a mystery drama and allegory inspired by J's familial estrangement.
We were also just talking the other day about an idea for our next film. We are thinking about a black and white genre piece in the vein of Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here. But nothing's set in stone yet, we're just enjoying spending time in the ideas process, one of our favorite stages of filmmaking when anything is possible and we certainly dare to dream.
What do you think? We want to know. Share your thoughts and feelings in the comments section below, and as always, remember to viddy well!