Transcribed for archival purposes.
an interview with Brian Taylor - by Steve Ogden - Nov 2011
OGDEN:
Did Rustboy fall victim to Hollywood’s notorious “Development Hell”, or to “One-Man Show Fatigue Syndrome”? (Or a combination?)
TAYLOR:
I think “Development Hell” would be a fair way to describe Rustboy activity in recent years.
Going back to the early days when I was working on the film alone, I did receive a little funding but it didn’t go very far. The problem back then was that I simply couldn’t afford to devote the time required to work on the film while attempting to earn a living and pay the bills at the same time.
OGDEN:
Is there any chance you would ever go back to Rustboy and try to resurrect it as a one-man show? Kick Starter should net you enough money to start it up again, maybe even finish. Would it work if a private investor provided a small budget for you to complete it?
TAYLOR:
In a word, no. The thing that folks out there probably don’t realise is that a company has grown around Rustboy over the years. It is not ‘my baby’ any more, and hasn’t been for a long time – there are other people involved. Kick Starter would not be an option for all sorts of reasons, including legal issues. This whole thing has gone way deeper than that, but I can’t go into it in any great detail here. One thing I should point out though – Rustboy isn’t necessarily dead. Once a project like this weaves its way into the “Hollywood” system, there are always other possibilities to explore.
OGDEN:
Without making you delve too deeply into the dirt, what lessons from this experience can you impart? What went wrong? What is to be learned here?
TAYLOR:
In my opinion, the problem was trying to turn the movie into something it wasn’t meant to be. I believe that Rustboy’s appeal was largely down to the sense of loneliness and isolation, and a slightly dark overall tone. These were the very elements that were being stripped out in order to appeal to mainstream family movie sensibilities. If you take that away, there is very little left that has anything to do with my original concept. I’m not blaming anyone for this – it’s just the reality of big budget movies. They have to appeal to a wide audience to justify the cost involved. However, the positive side of this experience was learning from my mistakes. I would go about things differently in future, and enter into deals on different terms.
OGDEN:
And to be fair, what went right?
TAYLOR:
What went right was meeting some interesting people along the way and making a lot of useful contacts. I am now working with one person in particular on other projects.
OGDEN:
If you had it to do all over again, what would you do differently with Rustboy, if anything?
TAYLOR:
Well, I wouldn’t even attempt to do a short film, (not on my own anyway) and if we’re talking feature films, I wouldn’t have come up with Rustboy in the first place. I would work on a concept and story that was intended to be a feature film from the outset.
OGDEN:
Are you still passionate about animation, the process of getting down and doing it? If not, what are you passionate about?
TAYLOR:
I’ve never considered myself an animator. It was just a means to an end in the early days of Rustboy (an unfortunate term considering the end has yet to come). I feel that my strength is in the concept, pre-production, look and feel side of things. That is the direction I intend to pursue.
OGDEN:
What are you working on now that Rustboy is done?
TAYLOR:
I can’t say at the moment, but if you read between the lines in my answers above, you should be able to figure out that I have something else in the works.
OGDEN: Thanks for taking the time out to answer my questions, and I know everyone’s eager to see what you get up to next.