PopHorror Let's Get Scared
I recently watched the stylized indie drama, Tyger Tyger (check out our review – HERE). It was unique and fantastic and very similar to our current conditions with the pandemic, but it’s much more than that. I had the opportunity to interview the director, Kerry Mondragon about her career, the inspiration behind this film, and much more.
Synopis for TYGER TYGER
This film follows a woman named Blake (Sam Quartin), who while waiting for her test results during a pandemic, robs a pharmacy for life-saving medication, ditches her insolent boyfriend (Max Madsen), and makes a deal with a drug addict named Luke (Dylan Sprouse), to help distribute the stolen medication in the fringe lands. During the life-or-death adventure, they are chased through the labyrinth of the lawless city by its self-appointed gatekeepers Tammie (Eden Brolin) and Uncle Joe (Craig Stark).
PopHorror – It’s great to talk with you, Kerry. What inspired you to get into the film industry?
Kerry Mondragon – I grew up in Arizona and my childhood activities consisted of rollerblading and sneaking into the $1.50 movie theater with my brothers. There was a girl in my elementary school that was cast in a movie called Tank Girl, and that’s when the dream to work behind the camera formed – it felt more attainable. We moved to California and after high school, I started working at an advertising agency in San Francisco, where I really could learn the craft (and learn to fail a lot).
PopHorror – That’s awesome. Also, I love Tank Girl. Do you have any favorite genres?
Kerry Mondragon – I like a lot of poetic realism/fatalism films and magical realism but there aren’t a lot of films out there in that genre. Coming of age and road movies. I tend to be drawn to films that have a visual pattern or don’t fit into a specific genre.
PopHorror – Your new film Tyger Tyger, is centered around a pandemic and life-saving medicine. Was this film inspired by the current pandemic?
Kerry Mondragon – I don’t entirely know, but it’s really the idea of love at first sight, and how powerful that can be – even in the midst of a pandemic, it can cloud or manipulate all rational judgment. The feeling can be so powerful that all logic goes out the window and you can completely throw yourself into a dangerous situation without even knowing the other person—the same with any drug. The pandemic merely raises the stakes.
PopHorror – Yes I loved that! The film has a great cast. Sam Quartin and Dylan Sprouse are phenomenal. How did the casting process come about?
Kerry Mondragon – I originally set out to shoot with all non-professionals down in Bombay Beach and Slab City. I met a kid called Cody first, and he and his friends were shooting each other with BB guns, using abandoned trailers and houses as their battlefield. I had very little money and a few interns (who became producers) and they suggested we send some hail Mary’s out to see if we could get any actors. I focused on approaching managers that I admired or had similar sensibilities – one specifically had produced My Own Private Idaho. He read the script and really took a chance by letting me meet with some actors – I cast Sam through him. I knew from her photos and talking with her on the phone that she was the Blake I had written and imagined. The character of Luke’s ideal casting for me was a River Phoenix-type, and Dylan’s name came up. I sent an email to his manager and she passed the project details to him. Once they were interested, we were able to get a casting director in to help fill the rest of the cast. Briana and Brandon were aligned with my vision, so that made it very easy to sort out the rest of casting. I didn’t want to have anyone audition and I didn’t look at any previous work – I only cast based on face-to-face coffee meetings and my personal intuition. I wanted to see how they interacted with the real world and real people. How they sat and drank coffee in the real world. It was a bit of a scramble getting everyone in the desert, but it worked out for the better.
PopHorror – Oh man I love this film even more now! I absolutely love River Phoenix and My Own Private Idaho. The film is beautifully shot with a lot of memorable scenes. Do you have a favorite one?
Kerry Mondragon – The end scene with Thea and her monologue is particularly personal and quite memorable for me. Thea did such an incredible job with a very challenging character.
PopHorror – Yes! What do you hope viewers take away from this film?
Kerry Mondragon – I hope that they can open themselves in a way to allow the experience of the film to wash over them and not feel like they need to be left with a certain statement from the film. I also hope that viewers who are feeling at a rock bottom place in their life can see the film and that it gives them hope. That instead of recklessly obsessing over drugs or love they can use that obsession and determination to tell their strange story because each person’s voice is legitimate and frankly more exciting than Hollywood tales of love and drug addiction.
PopHorror – That’s beautiful. Any other upcoming projects?
Kerry Mondragon – Yes, I have a bigger project that takes place in North Hollywood in the 90s following some cops and robbers – fitting given that our current society is a heightened time of toxic masculinity and celebrification. I wrote another project as well during quarantine, about a young magician and his mother – it’s called Magic Boy Blood Feather.
PopHorror – That’s awesome. I look forward to checking it out. Thanks again for chatting with me and I wish you the best of luck in life!
Tyger Tyger is now available on Digital/VOD from Gravitas Ventures.
