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Take the Night Dir Seth McTigue on Creative Challenges of First Film

Saban Films' Take the Night was a project nine years in the making of sorts since writer and director Seth McTigue started making shorts in 2013. It's a project that just kept going and something he felt could be creatively flexible. The edgy crime thriller is a twisted tale of sibling rivalry and family secrets where an elaborate surprise birthday stunt heads into increasingly dark places when career criminals hired to stage a fake kidnapping go rogue. Older brother William (William Huang) secures a crew to stage a fake kidnapping of his brother Robert (Sam Song Li), but the crew has plans of their own. The brothers must put aside their sibling rivalry if they want to save the family fortune. McTigue, who also plays Chad, spoke to Bleeding Cool about how the film became a reality and what he's learned from creating shorts.

Take the Night Dir Seth McTigue on Creative Challenges of First Film
Brennan Keel Cook, Seth McTigue, and Shomari Love in Take the Night (2022). Image courtesy of Saban Films

Bleeding Cool: What's the inspiration behind 'Take the Night'?
Seth McTigue: In 2013, I called two friends over to hang out and have a little brainstorming session. I said, 'All right, let's start with a premise. I want to do something that feels R-rated, but it can be PG.' I blurted out, 'What would kidnap someone for a surprise birthday party' and that became the first short film I made and also became my first feature. It's crazy, and my first idea has evolved so much, and it's nice to now have the feature that is much more in-depth than just a simple concept.

BC: As your debut feature, what were some of your biggest obstacles? How did doing shorts help make this a reality?
McTigue: Everything you do is just better preparing for the next step in life than anything. Making a feature is a whole other animal. There are 10 million things I could tell you that were difficult, but I will say that the thing I found very difficult, especially at the beginning of the shoot, was imparting my vision to everyone on set. You have this vision, and they're trying to bring it to life, but they don't know exactly what's in your head, and you're trying to tell them, and they're doing their best. So I'm trying to find a way to impart my knowledge in the best way possible.

Take the Night Dir Seth McTigue on Creative Challenges of First Film
Brennan Keel Cook, Shomari Love, Seth McTigue, and Antonio Aaron in Take the Night (2022). Image courtesy of Saban Films

BC: How do you break down the creative process as a director with your actors?
McTigue: You're always going to give your characters backstories and how you envision them, then actors will question that. You could say, "No, I see it this way." They could say, "I see it that way," then you can figure out, "Do I want to keep it my way, or am I cool with their interpretation? Or is there a happy middle ground?" That's filmmaking, right? You're going to write, shoot, and edit a movie. There's always going to be room for change. As long as you feel like it's a positive change and you're not changing your original vision, then it's okay.

BC: So what made the cast work so well together?
McTigue: I'll say thank you if that's a compliment [laughs]. I gave the actors each other's numbers so they could vibe and hang out if they had the time. I like the characters of Todd [Brennan Keel Cook] and Shannon [Shomari Love]. I really want them to hang out and be buds. I just really casted the people that I thought were perfect fits. It felt natural when you have actors like Brennan because Todd and Shannon were the main two who had to get along well. Everyone else is almost in opposition with each other. I wasn't so worried about that, but I'm happy that those two hung out, got to know each other, and became friends. It's just a matter of casting the right people. When you make a movie and directing, a lot of it is casting. If you do good casting, then it makes your directing life a lot easier. If you knew bad casting, boy, you are in for a nightmare.

Take the Night Star Roy Huang on Crime Thriller, Asians in Filmmaking
Saban Films

BC: What is the most valuable lesson from completing the film? Do you feel like there's always something that could be done better? Or was it just something like, "You know what, this is just works for me, and ready to move on?"
McTigue: Man, I would go back and change a thousand things, but on a level of like being able to make more movies. One to be more efficient, there are definitely things that I thought could be done in a different way that could be more cost-effective or some things that were not necessary. I would definitely be more cost-effective and efficient on my next film. I'm not saying that we weren't on this, but if I'm going to try the next one, I'm going to just try to take that to another level.

Take the Night, which also stars Antonio Aaron and Grace Serrano, is in theaters and comes to on-demand and digital on July 12th.


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Tom ChangAbout Tom Chang

I'm a follower of pop culture from gaming, comics, sci-fi, fantasy, film, and TV for over 30 years. I grew up reading magazines like Starlog, Mad, and Fangoria. As a writer for over 10 years, Star Wars was the first sci-fi franchise I fell in love with. I'm a nerd-of-all-trades.
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