Interview with : Pearry Teo

* People go to church to get rid of their Demons, I make Films.  Pearry Teo
* One of the best Interviews I've done  Pearry Teo

 He is known by the youngest Asian Director and the first Singaporean Movie-maker in Hollywood. Now he is in the last steps finishing the movie " The Gene Generation " ,And he is preparing for his next movie " Taxidermist "

There was two reason motivated me to make this Interview with Pearry Teo :

First : Just after making three short films, Pearry put his hands ,Thoughts ,Words  inside Hollywood ,and Everyone waiting for him to  make bigger and better movies .

Second : He was my first Director who I had a chance to work with face to face .Therefore I had enough information about the way he work and think in Movie making , I want to introduce him to you too ...
and this Interview will be my first step ..talking about Movies and specially the movie "The Gene Generation"  that I worked in the Visual Effects department like a 3D Lead Artist ..

Pearry Teo was born in 1979 in Singapore ,now he is living in U.S.A ,and like he said: I came to the United States about 6 years ago. I was trying to pursue some career in the arts but was unsure in which field. I was leaning towards fashion design but obviously that didn't work out. I started to take a small interest in the media arts that all of a sudden, took off and I became obsessed with it. However, being a media arts student in the college I was in didn't come with it's heavy share of politics. I felt I couldn't grow as an artist unless I got up and did something about it. I originally intended to take a break from semester to focus on a short film but my career took off after it.

Pearry have 3 short movies :

1- Liberata Me (2002)
2- Children of the Arcana (2003)
3- Take Me Somewhere Nice (2004)

Now he is in the last steps finishing the movie : The Gene Generation

Question "1" : How is the sentence the youngest Asian director and the first Singaporean Director in Hollywood effect you ?or what is it mean for you ?

  Pearry  : Nothing really. I was never born and bred in Singapore and age is just a number to me. It's funny how people immediately want to put you into a category. I hate to belong in a category. I'd rather belong to a family (perhaps because I never had one) so I think what means more to me is the family of my crew that the media trying to give me the spotlight. My art is only as good as my weakest link, which is one of my crew. Without them, I am nothing.

Question "2" : How do you find yourself more ( when you feel more power ) like a Director ?Writer ? Producer ? or Editor? .........Why ?

  Pearry  : I prefer to take on the role as a director. Just because of the way my mind operates. It's less of a power thing but more of a therapeutic thing. If I have something in my head, I need to get it out or I go crazy and do stupid things. Being a director and being able to express myself allows me to exorcise my demons into my work.

Question "3" : In most of your movies ...you write and Direct in the same time ...Why ? would you accept just Directing or just writing a movie ..and let some one else to Direct it ? Or you want to write and Direct in the same time ?

  Pearry  :  Not really, I like to focus on directing only. In fact, my latest project, I'm only focusing as a director. Most of the time I get my hands on writing is only because I have an idea for a film and I need to write it down and work with the writers on a completely new and different concept. That's why I'm given writing credit. But if I could, I'd rather just be reading scripts and creating my worlds around them.

  Question "4" : Your beginning was with Horror and Pain or we can called it "The Dark visual style"? why is that ? Is there any reflection from your real life ? Or it is just a style you want to make your way through it ?

  Pearry  :  As said before, it's more of an exorcism thing. I take my demons and nightmares and give them somewhere to go. People who don't do that ultimately do bad things to others or to themselves. Some people go to church to get rid of their demons, I make films.

Question "5": Your first short film " Liberata Me (2002) " ..in the movie you gave a good view in the life of a man on drug ,And how in the end he knew that all what he is going through is a Dream ...Death ...War inside him self ...from where it came you the Idea ? what inspired you writing this ?

  Pearry  :  I wish I knew, hahaha. Things just come to me. I don't have any methods to creativity. I know I came up the rape scene while watching a Nicklodean cartoon so its really hard to say. Things just come to me. I have to be patient and let it become one with me rather than trying to force myself to be creative. In the meantime, I have enough on my plate to keep myself busy.

  Question "6": In " Children of the Arcana (2003) " ... There is a lot of magic believes and Horror stuff..based on a child pain ,scream ,and Death ....Do you think it is a good material to use child like a basic for a horror films ? and Why ?

  Pearry  :  I think it's ultimately the abuse of innocence that is the real horror in that film. You could definitely take it very literally. But my films are meant to be less literally and more felt. I have a 4 year old son, and thinking about these things make me upset, so Children of the Arcana gave me a way to excorcise my demons.

Question "7": In " Take Me Somewhere Nice (2004) "... you had something different ...not Horror ,not Magic...Something about love and family .... !!! Why is that this change ?

  Pearry  :  Actually, Lisa Fowle (my sound supervisor on all my films and god sister) called me after seeing Take Me Somewhere Nice for the first time and wondered if there was anything wrong with me. She got VERY worried about me. She saw the subtext behind Take Me Somewhere Nice, which you'll have to catch on your own. Basically, I had something terrible in my mind that I needed to get out. But people had already been analysing my horror films so I made Take Me Somewhere Nice to throw them off. I didn't want them to see the real message. What is the message behind it? Lisa came close regarding my career and my son about it.

Question "8" : What about your first big movie The Gene Generation (2007) .... is there any contact between this movie and the other short movies you did before ?

  Pearry  :  Well, all my films really surround themselves about what life after a terrible incident. I'm not very interested in terrible events, I like to know what happens after that. Maybe it's a way for me to peak into the future. Liberata Me was after Death, Children of the Arcana was after a murder, Take Me Somewhere Nice was after a divorce, The Gene Generation was after a city was destroyed.

  Question "9" : The movie Gene Generation will be realise in theater ?..or just in DVD ?and Is there a near Data for the realise of the movie ? or it is secret for now :-)

  Pearry  :  That is a producer question.

Question "10" :Like we know you won many awards for your three short films... like the best Horror film and Audience Award for the Best Short Film.......What you expect from the movie Gene Generation to win ?

  Pearry  :  The hearts of people.

  Question "11" : In Gene Generation there is a lot of action and Martial Art fights ....Do you have any experience in that... or any inspiration from Chines movies or any other Asian action movies ? if Yes ...who are the Martial Artist or the movies you inspired with ?

  Pearry  :  No, I have no experience with it at all. I'm not a big martial arts fan at all. Actually, my favorite film is a sappy love story called 'The Notebook' and 'Great Expectations'. So it's funny I don't make films that I idolize. Maybe it's because I've never had much experience with love so I like to see it and feel it through movies. I make movies about things I'm familiar with. Death, Decay, Destruction .etc. The Martial Arts was thrown in as a different form of violence.

  Question "12" : Speaking about Gene Generation ... What you think about our generation ?

  Pearry  :  Well, looking at The Gene Generation, my message is that our generation is obviously doomed. But even though everything will crumble and fall, there is one thing we need to remember that will survive, and that is love.

Question "13" : They asked you a lot about the movie " The Crow " Because like you said: The Crow was the first movie I had ever seen and we know it had a big reflection on your life and your thought when you was a child ...But I didn't saw anyone asking you about your feeling and your thoughts ..when Brandon Lee died in the set of shooting the movie ?How did you feel about that ?

  Pearry  :  I think when it happened, it immediately christened the film. When Brandon died, I saw it as a sacrificial thing where he gave his soul to the film. That's why it has something special. When somebody dies for something, that's something different. I'm saddened by the loss, but knew something bigger was planned for the death. I'm glad to see it succeeded.

Question "14" : Do you really like the atmosphere of the movies The Crow ,Blade Runner ,Matrix ,Ghost in the Shell , Akira ? I mean do you really like to live in that time or place ? or it is just a Movie Making for you ?

  Pearry  :  What time? What Place? I see us as living it now, we just don't know it yet.

  Question "15" :You Write ,Direct ,Produced three of your own short films ..And now you are Making your first big movie in Hollywood.... What is the difference between Pearry when he made his own short films and the Pearry who now making his first big Hollywood movie ?

  Pearry  :  I definitely had less friends working in Hollywood than when I was doing my short films. Over here, everybody wants to be friends with you because of what you do and not who you are. I distance myself away from people more but crave for the closeness of my friends. New friends I make want something from me, not for me as a person. Other than that, nothing has changed at all. Maybe more paranoid about everything, but I still love the same things, same people and obviously the same art.

Question "16" : What you don't like in Hollywood ?

  Pearry  :  How politics kill love.

  Question "17" : How you make a combination between your culture , Hollywood demands , Your own thoughts ?

  Pearry  :  That's hard to answer since I only worked on one film thus far. But I definitely kept my vision through the faith and respect of my crew. I had to keep to Hollywood's demands but it's my crew that help keep me together. Without them, I wouldn't be able to balance out between Hollywood and myself and I'd be swallowed up by them.

  Question "18" : Far from Movie Making ...what is your thoughts about the war in Iraq...How do you see the things from your angel of view ?

  Pearry  :  Power corrupts. That's what made the war in Iraq, that's what made everybody suffer. We suffer when people use others for their own ego. They suffer when people stop realizing that the world is round, a circular pattern of love and immortalization. They put themselves first before others. I love 'romantic movies' because they are the most fake of movies. How I wish the world evolves around love instead of the ego.

  Question "19" : Who are the Actors you want to Direct them ... ?

  Pearry  :  They are all dead already, except Gary Oldman. Hahaha

  Question "20" : Can you tell us about your next movie "Taxidermist" ?

  Pearry  :  Even though it's a horror movie, I want to shoot it like a romantic movie. Because at the very core, it's about the immortalization of love through the death of people. Interesting concept when I read the script so I decided to do it.

  Question "21" :What is your future plans ? What is your Dream now ? What you want to get in your life ?

  Pearry  :  I just want to show people what the world is like if we live it the way we do now. With all the pain, destruction, WAR, how it will all end up. I'd like to show them an alternative like love and passion. That's the only thing I want to do with my films. To make people wake up, take a look into the mirror and realize we all play a role in this crazy world. What happens if we keep doing what we are doing, and how there is still hope...I think...hahahah

Question "22" : Pearry ...I am not sure if I can ask you this last question ...  I saw the movie maybe 6 times...Because I was working in your movie  .... The end of the movie ...  is a beginning for another story....and I want to ask you...
Is there another part for Gene Generation ?

  Pearry  :  Well, that shot to me was probably a lead up to something. I originally came up with the shot because I wanted the audience to feel like they now have a chance to begin a new life. Even though they suffer losses, that there is hope, that it's not too late to change. Is there a sequel? Well, if the public wants it, it's in my head already  :)   .






For more information:
http://www.genegeneration.com/
http://www.myspace.com/giantspermgod
http://www.myspace.com/shero_rauf


The second part will be about the making of the CGI  for the movie "Gene Generation" after it release.


Interview made by : Shero Rauf

sherorauf@yahoo.com