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Adam Grabarnick Interview

Director Adam Grabarnick discusses his science fiction film North Bay.

By Natasha SydorPublished 8 years ago 5 min read
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Up­-and-­coming science fiction director Adam Grabarnick sat down with OMNI to discuss his successful film, NORTH BAY. NORTH BAY, written and directed by Grabarnick, stars Jamie Harris, Reid Scott, and Corsica Wilson. Over the course of one day, NORTH BAY follows discredited scientist Sachin Fayez, who has been conducting a radical – and previously thought to be unsuccessful – experiment deep in the remote woods for the last seventeen years; until, one day, he unexpectedly collides with the proof he’s sought after.

Can you tell us about the first film you ever created?

My NYU thesis film. It's on beta that I keep in a storage unit off Sepulveda Boulevard. Cote de Pablo is in it, so is Reid Scott (Kirk in NORTH BAY).

What advice do you have for science fiction writers interested in crossing over into the film space?

Write what you're into and get as many people as possible to look at it.

What inspired you to create NORTH BAY?

How science changes day to day. How even at its pinnacle, no one has it figured out. Junk DNA and the limits of our sensory perception interests me to no end. Ideas like Bohm and Pribram's Hologram theories and Rupert Sheldrake's morphogenetic fields made me think of those unknown ways in which we're connected.

How much research was involved in the creation of NORTH BAY?

A lot, and I only have a grasp of the real science NORTH BAY deals with. Writing sci­-fi is all about taking that leap in connecting two seemingly disconnected ideas.

Your scientist has an unrelenting drive, given that he has persisted in his research for 17 years without physical proof. Does this speak to the nature of discredited scientists?

The people at Cern have been chasing the Higgs Boson for how long? I think unrelenting drive speaks to scientists in general. The good ones, credited or not, know that we've got so much more wrong than we do right. I love the thought of science being a faith itself. Most don't call it faith, they call it truth – seems like different words to describe the same purpose. Something keeps scientists going and it's not just about solving math.

Why did you choose to have a song be the key in exposing the main character to the reality of his research? Why was music the button to realization?

Songs just hit you. Music triggers every sense we have in deep meaningful ways; from Top40 to Classical to Shamanic Ritual to Tibetian Chant. The sort of substance that comes from music has a way of interacting with space.

Do you believe the science fiction technology featured in NORTH BAY will one day become science fact?

They've been able to entangle particles and teleport them so... who knows.

What are the overall reactions to your film? Have any interesting realizations come from audience comments and reactions?

People like hard science and strangers have come up to me. It's been nice. We got to travel with the film and screen it in beautiful theaters at amazing festivals. The run has been super.

Many science fiction films discuss the contemporary issues of today. What is your film a commentary on, if anything?

Time proves no one owns science. I just read a new theory about the big bang really being the event horizon of a fourth-dimensional black hole. I think infinity is an illusion. We have as deep a distance to explore outer space as we have in ourselves.

What’s up next?

I would love to develop NORTH BAY as a feature film or TV show.

I just finished p ost production on m y debut feature, FIRST JERK ON MARS, a sci­fi comedy, about a guy getting drafted to go live on Mars. It’s crafted like an “I have terminal cancer” movie, where the main character has to get through his goodbyes and do all the things he wants to get in. But he isn't dying. He's just going to live on another planet.

We are entering a new phase in exploration – the beginning stages of an evolution into an interplanetary species – and a new frontier in the human experience. NASA stated that we’re projected to create the first human colony on Mars by 2030. The discovery of exoplanets outside of the Milky Way seem to suggest habitable zones for supporting complex life. Soon we will include "Planet Earth" on our mailing address. So, we set out to make a movie about this.

How do we fit between the world we know, and the universe we are constantly trying to understand? The macro and the micro; which opens up big questions about our place in the universe and what it means to be human. Does being human simply mean "Earthling?" How meaningless would it be for human beings to expand beyond the physical limits of the galaxy, if they are just going to bring all their Earthbound baggage with them? This is a sci­fi film about Mars that takes place on Earth. To tell a story about a new frontier in the human experience, you don’t need massive resources. There’s no need for CGI and space crafts; it can be grounded, it can be organic, and most of all, it can be human.

We love FIRST JERK ON MARS and are out to film festivals for premiere. We would love to show any programmers reading this. If anyone is interested in seeing, please feel free to contact me.

artificial intelligencescifi movie
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About the Creator

Natasha Sydor

brand strategy @ prime video

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