RADIO FREE INTERVIEW –  Part 1
On adapting the Phillip K. Dick novel “Radio Free Albemuth” for the big screen with John Alan Simon & Elizabeth Karr.

For fans of Phillip K. Dick and Science Fiction in general, there should be electricity in the air. The mere news that a rare effort to adapt a Phillip K. Dick novel with the intent of remaining as faithful as possible to the author’s original story would be reason enough for fans of one of speculative fiction’s biggest “cult heroes” to get excited.

But in fact, the movie version of “Radio Free Albemuth” has already been completed! It is currently winning awards while making its rounds on the International film festival circuit, and promises to deliver a power packed PKD experience!

Radio Free Albemuth Trailer from Elizabeth Karr on Vimeo.

 I recently had the privilege of talking with Producer/Director John Alan Simon and  Co-Producer/Actress Elizabeth Karr about the creation of their cinematic version of the classic Phillip K. Dick novel, “Radio Free Albemuth”, starring Shea Whigham, Jonathan Scarfe, Alanis Morissette, Katheryn Winnick, and Scott Wilson.

They have both been very open and generous with their time, and have provided a fairly in depth perspective on the process of getting Phillip K Dick from the page to the screen. So much so that I thought it best to divide this article into two parts. In Part 1, we will be focusing on “Radio Free Albemuth” primarily from the perspective of Producer /Director John Alan Simon, with some additional notes from Co-producer Elizabeth Karr.

John Alan Simon & Elizabeth Karr  ~ interviewed by T. Reed

TR: How did you become  involved in the “Radio Free Albemuth” project?

JAS: Back in my college days at Harvard, when I thought that I wanted to be a lawyer and politician, I found myself reading pulp fiction for pleasure.  Philip K. Dick was one of those guilty pleasures.  I had loved science fiction as a kid - Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov, Robert Sheckley - were my favorites. I put genre stuff down in favor of "real literature" when I hit high school. My favorite writers were now Henry Miller, William Faulkner, and Malcolm Lowry.

But PKD made me reassess this notion.  I read “Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldrich” in terror, wonder and awe at re-discovering the power of science fiction.  I plowed through the entire PKD canon – and then a few years later after his death, “Radio Free Albemuth” came out. The story of its posthumous publication and the inter-lacing of sci-fi and biography fascinated me. The real PKD had these encounters with what he believed was an extra-terrestrial intelligence that he called “VALIS” and spent the remaining ten years of his life exploring that notion both philosophically in a private 1000 page work he called the “Exegesis” (finally to be published later this year) and also in his fiction. “Radio Free Albemuth” was his first attempt to deal with this transformative experience.  He made himself a major character and placed the story in the science fiction context of an alternate reality of a modern totalitarian state. But I found it really fun that PKD is the skeptic and his “best friend” Nick Brady is the one having all these strange experiences.  “Radio Free Albemuth” was a unique mix of politics, metaphysics and dark humor that appealed to me as no other book ever had.  I knew right away that I wanted to make it a film.

EK:  John and I have collaborated on several theatre projects, including his directing and my producing/acting in two critically acclaimed Oscar Wilde plays – “An Ideal Husband as Victorian noir” and “A Woman of No Importance.” I have enormous respect for his talents and work ethic. During pre-production, I worked with Casting Director Ferne Cassel and John to help cast the film. Due to my acting and theatre background, I had a good knowledge of the talent pool in Los Angeles, particularly for the supporting roles. One thing led to another. I made myself generally useful in some other areas, and John and the other producers voted to make me a co-producer on “Radio Free Albemuth.” I was thrilled, and they got a good deal – a hard worker on a deferred salary.

TR:  What were your thoughts approaching the daunting task of taking on a Phillip K. Dick Novel?

JAS: The most daunting task of screenwriting is the commercial aspect of it all.   I’ve now written probably over fifty drafts of “Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said”, which – if it ever actually gets made – will be an expensive major studio film.   Right now it’s under option to Halycon Company that financed and produced “Terminator Salvation”. The point is that every time a new studio, or new director or new actor expresses interest in Flow My Tears, a re-write is undertaken.  This is the daunting aspect to me – juggling my own concept of the material with so many different opinions.   And some of the opinions and notes are very helpful and very good, but not always. At a certain point it’s easy as a screenwriter to lose sight of the aspects of the material that made you want to make the film in the first place.

By contrast, I always envisaged “Radio Free Albemuth” as an indie film at a modest budget. The novel (and the movie) takes place in an alternate past. In the film, it’s circa 1985 (in the book about eight years earlier). I really saw the potential “Radio Free Albemuth” adaptation being done in the tradition of a number of the films from that era that I really loved – like “Drugstore Cowboy”, “Sex, Lies & Videotape” and the lesser known “Cutter’s Way”.  

I wanted the film to be really faithful to the complex world and vision of PKD that I had found so intriguing for so many years. I think my wide knowledge of PKD’s works helped me accomplish that goal. All of the PKD scholars who’ve seen the film have praised it as the most faithful adaptation.  And while I made a number of small but important changes to the story, I think it’s very true to the spirit of PKD.  For this reason, it’s hard to classify “Radio Free Albemuth” –It is science fiction, but also spiritual - Political but also satirical.  It’s kind of unclassifiable in the same way that “Dr. Strangelove” was. Not to compare our modest film to Kubrick’s masterpiece in any other way – just in terms of its uneasy mix of fear and comedy and wild conspiratorial speculation.

John Alan Simon (Right) Directing on set of "Radio Free Albemuth"

EK:  Daunting is the word. It was a huge project for us to take on. First, you want to do right by Philip K. Dick, and John’s screenplay adaptation did that. It’s respectful and captures the essence of PKD. Then, to do 150 special effects shots on a low-budget indie, John and the crackerjack CGI artists pulled that off: Turning a limited budget into a positive, giving the effects a ‘retro’ feel circa 1980’s that the movie takes place in. (John figured out that our entire SFX budget for 150 shots was less than one second of Avatar’s budget.) This film was the writer/director’s vision and our job as producers was to create the environment for that to thrive. Our mantra became “good/fast/cheap – pick two”. In our case, we picked ‘good and cheap’, thus, post-production of three years. This film wouldn’t have been possible without the sheer dogged determination, passion and commitment of the writer/director. John is also the lead producer on the project, so this film has been his life for the last three years. It’s been a big portion of my life, too.

TR: How long did it take to get from concept to finished film?

JAS:   More than ten years but that’s kind of misleading.   It took close to two years to negotiate the deal for the rights.   And, of course, I worked on other projects during that time period.   The rule of indie producing is to focus always on the project that’s moving forward. That wasn’t always RFA.   

I was very fortunate that my producing partner Chip Rosenbloom with whom I optioned the material was always supportive of my desire to direct this project.

I was introduced several years ago to producer Stephen Nemeth by co-producer Elizabeth Karr.  Stephen had loved the script and always remembered it.   He brought the financier and executive producer Phil Kim on to the project just around the time that Chip and I were once again seriously considering how to best make the movie. Elizabeth also helped cast the movie and has worked along side me tirelessly, particularly during post-production.  

EK: While John’s been living with the script for 10 years, the shooting script wasn’t that different from earlier drafts. During pre-production, we did a staged reading of the script at Pacific Resident Theatre Company. During pre-production, when everything of necessity is broken down –into shots, into scenes, into manageable bits, I know that was very helpful to John and for all of us - to hear the story aloud in one sitting.

TR: How did you come upon the casting of Alanis Morissette for RFA?

JAS: I really like the casting process. I find that every actor who reads a part for me helps me understand the script and that part in a new and interesting way.  So I’m not usually in a great hurry to cast a role; except In the case of the part of Sylvia. We found out through our casting director Ferne Cassel that Alanis Morissette had been given the script by her agent at CAA (Creative Artists Agency) and wanted to meet me to discuss making her dramatic debut in our film.

Alanis Morissette playing Sylvia Sadassa in "Radio Free Albemuth

Of course, I’d heard of Alanis, but I didn’t really know her music except for those few top hits from her first album.  Early in my career, I was a music critic (for Downbeat magazine and the New Orleans Times Picayune), and I liked to champion the obscure and undiscovered.  Alanis burst upon the scene as an overnight success. Her immense popularity probably caused me to pay less attention to her, so I didn’t really have any preconceptions when we met for drinks.

The intensity and sincerity and obvious intelligence of Alanis seemed to make her a perfect choice for the singer-songwriter Sylvia Sadassa, who I envisioned as a kind of slacker Joan of Arc. I offered her the part on the spot and she accepted. I think that was one of the smartest choices I made on this movie.

EK: That was kismet. Alanis read the script. CAA set up a meeting. John left for a drinks with Alanis, and came back a few hours later with his Sylvia. Needless to say, all the producers were thrilled. In fact, all the leads, as well as the supporting cast are terrific, and John spent a lot of time getting the casting right. The job was made easier because I had agents calling me to pitch their well-known clients for smaller roles, many of which you see in the film. Including Ashley Greene, who after being cast in “Radio Free Albemuth”, had a meteoric rise to fame in “Twilight.”

TR: Just prior to becoming familiar with the “Radio Free Albemuth” production, I saw Shea Whigam in “Splinter” and was incredibly impressed with his acting skills and natural ability to inhabit the character. How did you come upon the casting of Shea Whigham as Philip K. Dick?

JAS:   The novel “Radio Free Albemuth” has unique elements of its author’s autobiography in a science fiction setting.  I knew early on that one of the challenges would be the treatment of the “Philip K. Dick” character.  Most of PKD’s novels tend toward a kind of sardonic noir tone.  So did RFA in its adaptation to screenplay form. The characters of Nick and Phil and Rachel reminded me of the doomed triangle of characters in the great ‘80s film “Cutter’s Way”, another story about sixties survivors who uncover a vast conspiracy beyond their ability to cope with.  

So we should start with the understanding that the “Phil” of RFA although a science fiction writer is not the PKD of flesh and blood.  Anymore than Philip Marlow, however similar he might have been to his creator, was actually his author Raymond Chandler.  “Phil” is an idealized version of the author himself.   And that’s how I chose to deal with the PKD character of the film. Too strict adherence to the facts of biography didn’t seem to fit the framework of an alternate dystopian past universe.

Shea Whigham plays a young Phillip K. Dick in "Radio Free Albemuth"

I had a long casting process for the parts of both Phil and Nick.  I think of this film as being, at its core, a story of friendship.  And I wanted the chemistry to work - inspired by great buddy films like “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid”, or “The Man Who Would Be King.”  John Huston originally planned that movie in the early fifties for Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart. By the time, he got it made in 1975; it was Sean Connery and Michael Caine!  It's one of my favorite adventure films, and I can't even imagine a Tracy-Bogart version.  Steve McQueen was originally slated to be the Sundance Kid opposite Paul Newman.  And in some alternate universe I’m sure you can watch that Sundance Kid & Butch Cassidy version, though I think I will always be glad that Robert Redford got the role in our universe. 

I like to say there are many more great actors than great parts - and I believe that's true. But sometimes there are also actors who just seem to be fated to inhabit certain roles.  And though it wasn’t always obvious at the time of casting, I feel that way now about the major actors in RFA.

As most of your readers know, when you make an indie film there’s a lot of pressure to cast “names” that will help with sales and distribution.  And RFA was no exception.  A number of “name” actors who might have been interesting, hovered around the lead parts but ultimately proved unavailable.  Because our budget was low enough - I had the really unusual privilege to cast purely on the basis of my own instincts.    

 I’d seen Shea in David Gordon Green’s “All the Real Girls” and much earlier in “Tigerland.”   I liked his work and he was great in the audition so I found myself coming back to him over and over. I cast Shea first as Phil and then Jonathan Scarfe as Nick. I knew that I wanted them to be physically different types, especially if they weren't very well-known actors.   

Jonathan Scarfe as Nick Brady in "Radio Free Albemuth"

I couldn't have asked for a more dedicated cast. We all worked under tough, less than ideal conditions and the actors rarely, if ever, complained.  So it’s great to see Shea getting better and better parts like in the HBO series “Boardwalk Empire”. That's one of the coolest parts about directing - to see your lesser-known casting choices have their careers start to take wing!

We were able to give Shea Whigham a convincing goatee.  And even though Shea doesn't look much like the typical images of PKD at the height of his fame - balding and a bit overweight- he does actually resemble some of the less well-known  photos  of the young PKD.  We discussed that this was an alternate reality and that the Phil of “Radio Free Albemuth” is not the precise Philip K. Dick of our reality. I wanted Shea to feel free to find the truth of the story and the character for himself.   I gave him a copy of the documentary “A Day in the Afterlife of Philip K. Dick” but told him not to try to imitate the real Philip K. Dick’s voice.  I wanted more of a “hipster” feel to Phil slightly reminiscent of Kerouac and Cassady – and I think Shea really delivered that note in his performance. 

I've shown some scenes of the movie to Philip K. Dick's daughter, Isa Dick-Hackett, who told me that she really liked what she saw of Shea's performance — so I’d like to think the script and Shea’s performance come full circle to being quite true to the essential Philip K. Dick.  

TR:  What has been your plan of attack on getting distribution/screenings for Radio Free Albemuth and where else will the film be screening on its festival run?

JAS:  Just after production, the economy collapsed.  The indie film market pretty much disappeared and all the well-financed boutique distribution companies – like Paramount Vantage and Warner Independent and Fine Line, and many more -  disbanded.  So it may be a hard slog to earn back our modest budget.  We have a foreign sales company onboard to handle the overseas markets and we are screening for various U.S. distributors. There’s interest from several companies but no offers yet that are as attractive as we once hoped.  I started out in distribution and the other producers involved are also very experienced in this arena.  Additionally, our associate producer Seth Willenson is a veteran film industry executive with enormous depth of contacts and wisdom in this arena. We all have our fingers crossed that the spirit of PKD will get this film out to the right audience in the right way. 

EK: We’re working on US theatrical distribution now, weighing several options. It’s a really tough market out there now, and companies are loathe to put up a substantial amount of money for P & A, when DVD and VOD are more lucrative. But we made this film to be released theatrically, and that is the goal.

TR:  Phillip K. Dick has been known as a somewhat prescient if cynical writer of speculative fiction. With all of the recent protests from Egypt to Wisconsin, it would be hard to miss how the story of “Radio Free Albemuth” is being reflected in the World around us today and throughout recent history. What are your thoughts on this case of life imitating art and the serendipity of bringing this particular film to completion at this particular point in history?

JAS: We thought we had missed the boat on the topicality of the film when George Bush left office. The hunt for the mysterious terrorist organization, the demise of civil liberties, internment camps – these were all prescient themes of PKD’s fictional concepts in “Radio Free Albemuth” written over 30 years ago.  But great literature has a way of remaining relevant – whether it’s Orwell’s “1984” or PKD’s “Radio Free Albemuth.” Even when we first optioned the novel, I felt it was relevant to the politics of that day. So I’m not at all surprised by the parallels and resonance to current events. All that credit goes to Philip K. Dick. For my own part, I was somewhat more interested in the metaphysical and religious aspects of the book and I think that’s also the emphasis of the film. The political themes do however remain strong - there’s a great line from the book that’s also in the film - “It’s an ancient struggle – the battle of the individual against the supremacy of the state.”

And it really is an ancient and eternal struggle and PKD understood that – whether in the streets of Galilee under the yoke of Imperial Rome or last month in the streets of Cairo or Madison.   How can that theme ever NOT be relevant?

FAP Guards in "Radio Free Albemuth"

EK: The themes of “Radio Free Albemuth” are as relevant now as ever. The rights of the individual versus the rights of the state. The courage for individual(s) to rise up against a corrupt government, and what price is paid. At the same time, it’s a very spiritual film in that it explores what it means to be human. And humanity’s relationship with a higher power – whatever that higher power VALIS (Vast Artificial Living Intelligence System) – is. God? Extraterrestrial? Our subconscious? “Radio Free Albemuth”  is more story-driven than a lot of science fiction films that rely heavily on special effects. In that way, I believe even the non-Philip K. Dick fans will appreciate this film.

TR:  So John, with “Radio Free Albemuth” in the can and on the road, what projects are up next for you in directing and production?

JAS: As a writer and producer I hope to have good news to announce soon on PKD’s “Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said.”  The project I’ll direct next is my adaptation of the equally great pulp crime novelist Jim Thompson, who wrote “The Grifters”  and also “The Getaway.”    That project – “Nothing More than Murder” – is a kind of Coen brothers twisted take on “Double Indemnity” that we plan to film in New Orleans. It’s modestly budgeted and Elizabeth Karr will once again be there to shoulder the producing chores with even more responsibility this time. 

~

John Alan Simon bio:

Filmmaker John Alan Simon works in both independent and studio films. He produced “The Getaway” with Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger. RFA is his directorial debut. He also wrote the screenplay. Simon adapted another Philip K. Dick novel, “Flow My Tears” optioned by Halcyon (“Terminator Salvation”). Prior to his entry in the film industry, Simon was a journalist and film critic for the New Orleans Times Picayune  and New Orleans magazine. He serves on the British Academy of Film & Television Board of Directors in Los Angeles.

WWW.RADIOFREEALBEMUTH.COM

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1129396/

Elizabeth Karr bio:

Elizabeth’s work as an actress include “House”, “ER”, “Womens Murder Club”, “Veronica Mars”, “Sleeper Cell”, “The West Wing”, “Passions”, “Young & Restless”, “Pawn”, “Shiloh Season”, “Radio Free Albemuth”, “January Man.” She’s an active member of LA Theatre Community: Lead roles in many Critics’ Choice productions. Company Member - Pacific Resident Theatre & Classical Theatre Lab, Artistic Director - Cedarburg Productions. Besides co-producing “Radio Free Albemuth”, she’s produced/cast several short films and a Disney Channel TV pilot, “Webgirl.”

http://www.ElizabethKarr.com

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0440066/

In Part 2 of this article/interview I feature more from Actress/Producer Elizabeth Karr. Keep your eyes peeled for that! I will also be adding Festival announcements and updates from time to time, so this is an article that will keep on giving for fans of Phillip K. Dick, this film and its creators.

Have you seen the film at one of the festivals? Are you a Phillip K Dick fan? Add your voice to the conversation about “Radio Free Albemuth” in the comments section here!

T. Reed – Composer / Sound Designer / Music Producer / Writer  @TAOXproductions

http://www.taoxproductions.com

http://nightmaresoundlab.blogspot.com

http://filmcourage.com/blog/5