Film Threat Interview: Alex Andre and Joshua Burge on PRATFALL

During PRATFALL’s March 2024 run at Manchester Film Festival, writer-director Alex Andre and actor Joshua Burge joined Film Threat’s Alan Ng to discuss the film’s origins, improvisational process, guerrilla-style New York production, and the collaboration behind Alex Andre’s debut feature.

The interview was later published by Film Threat ahead of the film’s Los Angeles theatrical release.

Interview Transcript

Film Threat: Alex, you wrote and directed PRATFALL. What is the film about, and how did it come together?

Alex Andre: PRATFALL is about Eli, played by Joshua Burge. He’s a New Yorker dealing with profound personal losses, and when we meet him, he is moving through New York City in a manic, sleepless state. He has a routine that helps him manage the internal chaos he is carrying.

His character is juxtaposed with Joelle, played by Chloé Groussard. She is a down-on-her-luck tourist from France who is stranded in Central Park, broke, and looking for a way out of the city. She latches onto Eli, and after a couple of complicated encounters, the two of them embark on a sleepless tour of New York City.

Film Threat: A lot of films are personal for filmmakers. How did this story begin?

Alex Andre: Coming out of the pandemic, I wanted to make a film in New York. I had always wanted to make one, and I have been heavily influenced by New York films.

I was also thinking about making a film for Chloé and Joshua, so the project was custom-built for them in many ways. Those two things were important: New York, and making something with Joshua and Chloé. But I was also looking for a story that could speak to personal connection after such a difficult period. That need for connection was probably the most personal aspect of the film.

Film Threat: PRATFALL is your feature directorial debut. How did it move from script to production?

Alex Andre: I had made a short film with Chloé in Paris the year before called SADA. It screened at festivals and did well, and I wanted to make another film with her.

I also had Joshua in mind for Eli. I had been a huge fan of his work. I reached out to him with SADA and the treatment for PRATFALL. He was available, so I was very fortunate. It all happened on short notice, and within a matter of weeks we were in New York making the film.

Film Threat: Joshua, what made you want to say yes to the project?

Joshua Burge: What got me excited was when Alex sent me SADA. I thought, this guy knows what he is doing with the camera. He knows how to tell a story. He knows how to capture images. He knows how to make the city a character in the film.

Then he mentioned filmmakers like the Dardenne brothers and Cassavetes, and I thought, how often do I hear this? I didn’t know how many opportunities I would get to walk around New York with a Parisian woman and have somebody capture that kind of story on film. So it was a thrill to jump on board.

Film Threat: The dialogue feels incredibly natural. Was it improvised?

Alex Andre: There was a process. We talked through many of the scenes beforehand. When we got to New York, we spent time walking through Central Park with Joshua in character as Eli, and developed a lot of the dialogue through that rehearsal process.

On the day of shooting, I would give Joshua and Chloé notes separately and offer some dialogue, but not all of it. I wanted them to create and fill in the blanks. There were key beats and key lines, but there wasn’t really a traditional script. It was the treatment, and then notes on the day.

Joshua Burge: There was a lot of improv. Alex would provide us with an outline of where we were in the story and where the characters were emotionally, and then he would let us go with it. We would do one or two takes and just be present in the moment. Chloé was brilliant that way too. A lot of the specific dialogue was improvised, but the scenes were guided and directed by the story.

Film Threat: What resources did you have available to make the film?

Alex Andre: It was self-financed. I had some budget in place, and we went off and did it. It was definitely a lower-budget film.

Film Threat: What challenges did you face shooting in New York?

Alex Andre: The idea was that I was going to do basically everything — cinematography, sound, everything. We had a very small, inconspicuous camera, so I had the freedom to roam around the city and be flexible.

Joshua Burge: It was renegade, guerrilla-style filmmaking. We were in a lot of locations, and my understanding was that if you had more than three people, you might get in trouble, so we kept it at three people the entire time. That intimacy was really important.

Alex Andre: It worked beautifully. Having just the three of us meant we could focus on the minutiae of the moment and the characters.

Film Threat: Was the editing process difficult because of the improvisation?

Alex Andre: I didn’t overshoot. The scenes were controlled, so the improvisation was controlled too. I was actually editing while I was in New York and trying to assemble a cut before I left. The editing process was not too bad.

Film Threat: What advice would you give to someone trying to make a film in a similar way?

Alex Andre: Don’t be afraid. If you have an idea, just go for it. The tools are available now, and it is a lot easier to make a film if you are willing to wear additional hats. If you can do your own cinematography and you are technically savvy, you can pull it off.

Film Threat: Joshua, what advice would you give filmmakers about working with actors on a low-budget level?

Joshua Burge: Find people who are on the same page as you, who have the same passion for the kinds of stories you want to tell. Once you find those common bonds, everything else starts to fall into place. You develop a shorthand, and that helps when challenges come up.

Film Threat: Where can people see PRATFALL?

Alex Andre: We are at Manchester Film Festival for the international premiere, then screening in Paris, and after that we have a theatrical run in Los Angeles starting on April 26 for one week. The VOD release had not been announced yet, but it is in the works.

Release Context

This interview was conducted in March 2024 while PRATFALL was screening at Manchester Film Festival, before its Los Angeles theatrical release and VOD announcement.

Since the interview, PRATFALL completed its theatrical run at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles and became available to stream on Apple TV and Amazon Prime Video.

Watch PRATFALL

PRATFALL, written and directed by Alex Andre, stars Joshua Burge and Chloé Groussard and is now available to stream.

Watch on Apple TV.

Watch on Amazon Prime Video.