my interview with ben coccio on zero day. please credit me if u reupload it somewhere; or dont, i cant stop you. if i asked you if you had any questions you wanted me 2 ask him and you responded 2 late, im sorry!!!
credits 2 @novaneet for question 30.
1. Do you have any regrets about Zero Day?
BC: Zero Day is the longest relationship I've had with a 'major' work (i.e. it's normal movie length, played in theaters, got reviewed in the new york times, and more people have seen it than any of my other work with the exception of The Place Beyond The Pines). Like any relationship, it changes over time. Right now, 24 years on, I can't think of any regrets.
2. In previous articles, I read that you recorded outside of the high school without permission. Did you ever face repercussions for this?
BC: No, because it is a public school. We all have a right to be on the campus of our public schools and to photograph or film our public schools. You don't need permission.
3. Why did you originally name the characters Thomas and Audrey?
(NOTE: I messed up and wrote Audrey! The original name was actually Avery.)
BC: I did? I don't remember that - but I believe you. It sounds like I was going for a similar vibe to 'Dylan and Eric' in that, for me, all four of those names are not exotic per se, but also not super common.
4. Why did you choose to give Cal a previous marijuana charge, additionally, was Cal high in the third scene?
BC: It seemed like the kind of trouble a kid could get into in the late 90s/early aughts that, if they ended up not killing a bunch of people in a shooting spree, no one would think was a big deal at all, and if they did end up killing a bunch of people in a shooting spree, people would be like, 'ah, look - the signs were there!' Cal was not high in the third scene.
5. What was the original poem you wrote for Cal?
BC: It was similar - only it had no 'back and forth.' Cal added that and the end part.
6. Why did Andre keep that letter from the girl in the 8th grade?
7. With Cal’s prayer beads, Andre’s mention of Jewish holidays, and their comparison of themselves and god, did you mean to have either Cal or Andre be religious?
BC: What I wanted was for them to seem like real kids from that milieu - and even with how intimate the movie is between them and their audience, there is stuff you don't know for sure about them. If I had wanted one or both of them to come off as noticeably 'religious' in their own right (as opposed to just kind of going along with their parents or what have you), I would have had them be more explicit.
8. Do you think there was anything that could’ve stopped the shooting?
BC: If they had no access to guns, there would not have been a shooting. They might still have been violent somehow, but it would have been less deadly. If they didn't have easy access to semi-automatic guns, they would have killed less people.
9. If you had to assign a disorder to Cal and Andre, other than Cal’s ADD, what would you give them?
BC: As a filmmaker, if I wanted a character to have a 'disorder,' I would do research on that disorder, and learn about stages and symptoms etc. and then work it into how that character interacts with others. In this movie, I didn't do that. I did research on school shootings and worked the behaviors I learned about into my characters. I wanted to avoid any simple answer of why this happened - so I would never have given either of the characters a 'red-flag' style disorder. The vast majority of people with severe mental health disorders are not violent toward others.
10. What are some of the scenes you were going to have initially, but ended up cutting?
BC: I initially wanted to find two actors who had parents who video taped them over their whole lives - from baby-hood to adolescence. I was hoping to have the first half hour of the movie be them growing from babies to teens in home videos their parents shot. But I kind of abandoned that before writing the script. THe movie is more or less 1 to 1 what's in the script, scene-wise.
11. Would you ever release the original script for Zero Day or tidbits of it?
12. Do you still have the extra footage from the shooting of Zero Day and would you ever release any, perhaps for an anniversary or something?
BC: The secrets of the extra footage go with me to my grave.
13. What advice would you give for someone trying to make a movie about a similar topic?
BC: I think it would be the same advice I would give anyone trying to make any movie - the general advice of filmmaking plus specific feedback of a work in progress.
14. If Andre made personal tapes like Cal, what do you think he would’ve talked about?
15. If one of them were to back out of the plan, who do you think would’ve and why?
16. If you had had the budget to film Zero Day in a way different than the ‘found footage’ style, would you have?
BC: I initially wanted to make a huge epic that was an account of the actual Columbine - like a P.T. Anderson film. But there was no way I could make that happen. 'Found Footage' was initially the most producable way I could tell the story I wanted to tell, but I quickly realized it was the best way to tell the story I wanted to tell. So, no. Art is always a process, and sometimes necessity leads you to the best mode of work.
17. What scene do you feel had the biggest impact on the movie (other than the actual shooting)?
BC: In a movie, you should need every scene you keep in. The impact of any 'big' scene only happens in context.
18. How do you think Cal and Andre would respond to the other making a new friend?
BC: I suppose jealousy, initially. And then they would feel reassured that their relationship was singular or special for each of them.
19. Why did you have so many military references in the movie? Was it just because they’re teenage boys?
BC: Yes, but also - if you grow up American, you can't avoid military references.
20. Do you ever look at any of the things the people in the Zero Day fandom make?
21. How do you feel about the fanbase?
BC: Grateful that my work speaks to people.
22. Are the meanings behind Cal and Andre’s names intentional, like ‘Krieg’ being German for war, and ‘Gabriel’ referencing Archangel Gabriel, or was this a coincidence?
BC: Intentional, but like mildly so. Again - kind of like if I put in non-conclusive breadcrumbs, it would have the same effect that real details from real events like this have; it's like when a song a dead loved one loved comes on at the grocery store. Is that a sign from beyond? Just a coincidence? Somehow both?
23. Was it hard to write characters that do a horrible crime like this without giving a negative bias to them/making them unlikable?
BC: I wasn't worried about likability in the writing. I worried about likability in the casting. That was the tension I was going for - kids you can't help but like doing something awful.
24. Was it hard to work with Andre or Cal?
25. If Zero Day were to come out today, how do you think it would be perceived?
BC: Great question! If it was exactly as it is and was released this year? People would think of it as a period piece, I bet. A lot of the choices we made back then to make it seem of the moment would now come across as an attempt to make it seem of a past moment.
26. Does everyone in the movie know that they’re in the movie? (ex. the strangers walking by when Cal and Andre broke into the house)
27. Did the Columbine shooting happen in the Zero Day universe?
28. Do you still talk to Andre and Cal or their families?
29. Are you still making films?
30. And then finally, this is a question from a friend:
I’m curious if you had a timeline or emotional arc in mind for how their bond developed into something so destructive without ever explicitly saying "lets go shoot our school". Did you envision moments like Andre reacting to Cal going off Ritalin, or milestones like Rachel meeting Andre? Is there anything you imagined prior to the events of the film like how they met, or even filmed scenes you had to leave out — like the moment Cal wears clothes under his tux?
Even if those details stayed off-screen, I’d love to hear anything you envisioned about their internal or shared journey from disillusioned 12 year olds to disturbed school shooters as it formed in your mind.
BC: What I wanted to do was to make one of those movies that feels like a window opening up on an integral reality. Part of that is making the present moments you can see feel real enough that you wonder about and imagine the moments you can't see. It sounds like I pulled that off! And I am proud and grateful that it has fired your friend's imagination to want to know what I imagine is happening off screen and before and after the events of the movie.
Nothing I could tell you about what I think would be better than what you imagine. You might think that's a copout, but I assure you it's not.
