Erin Dailey, Devon Menendez

Devon: 2 URDOOR is very loosely based on our co-writer’s experience as a bike courier in Seattle. The various off-beat, sometimes abrasive personalities you run into doing that line of work. 

 

Erin: We received a script that was so dour. After chatting, Devon and I realized it could be a hilarious (albeit bleak) look into the gig economy in America, specifically work within Seattle, Washington. 

Erin: There is this type of creative style that I absolutely adore, where the character takes us through these slice-of-life stresses with a soundtrack that mimics their mood. Iñárritu captures it beautifully in Birdman, and I’m really loving that vibe in Seth Rogen’s The Studio. When I read 2URDOOR I saw this type of storytelling and had to storyboard it immediately. It was so vivid at the time. The characters were also extremely important, in that they were the mirror for the city and its sometimes zealous community.

 

Devon: Cartoonishly surreal was a bit of my mindset. I’ve lived in Seattle for nearly a decade and before that Florida. Both areas have people with some very strong personalities. For better and worse I do enjoy a strong personality and wanted to put those on display. There was a good deal of planning early on, especially by Erin. Then it was just a matter of testing equipment, crewing up and carving out time. Both of us tend of have busy Summers for work and Seattle far busier. But it was important to us showcase it outside of the more commonly depicted dreary, rainy Pacific Northwest. 

Devon: It was a very tight knit group so there was already a short-hand. We also had most of the film storyboarded out. That gave us a lot of room to play around a bit, tune a few jokes and try scenes differently.

 

Erin: A lot of planning and pre-planning haha! We are very lucky in that we know some amazingly creative people (shout out to Joel Garcia and Caelan Stroud!) It felt like a lot of tuning in and re-assessing to ensure the vision was consistent and that we had the right people for the right jobs. I mentioned the actors earlier and I really have to stress, this movie wouldn’t be nearly as authentic if it weren’t for Kelsey Long (the courier), Kaylyn Nese (the commercial gig worker), Adam Bredlau and Adam Tuero (Gamer and Sun Bather), Jenna Moffat (the eclectic lady), Austin Bussen (the stoner), and Josh Padilla (Richmann). 

Erin: There was zero budget for this film. I’m not kidding (spoiler: the bird poop is sour cream and food dye.) Despite this, the film was made by a community. Everyone who worked on this showed up. They offered space for filming, extra hands for some of the production work, etc. Collaboration was the key to this film’s success! 

 

Devon: The bike itself was probably the biggest issue. I believe it broke fairly early on and it was just a ticking time bomb. But Kelsey made it work with a doubt.

Devon: I can think of two that represent the film quite well. The first is Kelsey walking up the stairs for the first delivery as dandelions blow past the lens. Anything to eek out more of the Spring/Summer feel of the city. The second was the first thing we shot, which was the insert shots inside the Stoner’s pants. It was an important tone-setter for the rest of the shoot. Work quickly, work cleanly and embrace the silliness.  

 

Erin: Couldn’t agree more with Devon. I also loved the long shots outside Bickerson’s and inside Richmann’s sky rise. We used a Tamron 35-150mm for a lot of the film, and I have to say, it has to be my new favorite lens!  

Devon: As always you wish you had more time here or there. Certainly the fall at the end could be spruced up.

 

Erin: I loved the fall, I feel like it encapsulates a lot of the weird, awkward, quirky nature of the film! I do agree on time, it was a lot of run-and-gun filmmaking.

Erin: I always love talking about the five documentary shorts that I produced and edited for LAIKA Studios’ Hidden Worlds: The Films of LAIKA. It was a feat, but we pulled some great interviews from LAIKA’s animators, artists, and Travis Knight and Chris Butler!

 

Devon: Back in 2018 I made a series of orientation videos for guests of the Special Olympics. We needed to highlight various procedures around the college campus everyone was staying at as well as putting a spotlight on a lot of the amenities around. There was a lot more back channel planning because really no one there knew how to handle it. So myself and Jordan House, our 2URDOOR co-writer, spearheaded the series. It was a lot to juggle along with our regular jobs, but end of the day totally worth it and helped set a template for the school’s residential marketing team for making more orientation videos. It was a little bit of filmmaking as sport to quote Steven Soderbergh. 

Erin: Devon is Black and I am a queer woman. We have faced a challenging reality that has been stacked against us since birth. You have to believe in yourself and you have to have the right people in your corner. Be kind and be diligent. Be in community with those who will lift you up and support you. I’ve loved Women in Media and GALSNGEAR for this exact reason. We all want to help each other, and a film’s success lies squarely on you and your community!

 

Devon: Surround yourself with great people. Really interrogate what you want to make and why. And always experiment rather than chase a trend. 

 

Devon: We rehearsed it all a few times and found where a few added gags could fit in. That first table read was great getting to see how they all leaned into the characters so well, but understood how to retain some kind of grounding. I tried to give them a lot of room to play with some of the moments. Kelsey had quite a lot of reacting to do, but we knew she could balance that out especially towards the end. Most of the cast had one scene so it was really about letting them feel as open as possible to hit some of these goofy highs. 

 

Erin: Yes, improv really worked in our favor for this. Again, couldn’t thank the cast enough! Devon and I really worked to find actors that we believed in and knew could pull this off, and they pulled it off in spades.

Devon: Jordan House was involved from the beginning on that front after their writing stage was complete. During the testing phase we talked a lot about sound and that helped set the pace. We sort of knew we wanted to have a drum motif for the overall score, so they connected us with Caelan who did a fantastic job. Easily took our notes and had some great ideas on how to punch it up.

 

Erin: Jordan House is a creative genius. They write, they sing, they pull a mean tight 5. They’re working on our horror short right now (writing and sound engineering) and I couldn’t be more excited. When we approached Jordan to curate SFX and music for this film, they gave amazing advice and recommended Caelan Stroud as the soundtrack’s composer. We recorded in a tiny room (compliments to Adam Bredlau and Caelan for the space) and truly only needed one or two takes. Caelan’s drumming was perfect, and Jordan’s recording and producing really pulled this film together.

Erin: We were fortunate in that the critiques were minimal, and mostly came from Devon and myself to each other. When we were approached by the cast or crew for suggestions, their notes were always fantastic.

Devon: I’m not particularly precious and I want the project to be it’s best so I’m all ears especially with the team. I also used to be film critic many, many years ago, so that devil is always sitting on my shoulder somewhere questioning this or that. But at the end of the day, most people approach delivering feedback as an honest actor; they want to have a good time and we want to make the best movie we can. Josh gave us so, so much for the last sequence and we toyed with which jokes to use and which to drop.