Movies & TV / Columns
Daniel Hill On Making His Directorial Debut With Beth + Jeremy and Steve
Image Credit: Freestyle Digital Media
The 411 Interview: Daniel Hill
Daniel Hill is an actor, writer, producer, and director who, according to his IMDB page, has been working in the movie world since at least 2009. Hill has acted in such movies as the short film The Child and the Dead (2015) and the post-apocalyptic feature film The Further Adventures of Anse and Bhule in No-man’s Land (2017). Hill’s first effort as a director is the new dark comedy Beth + Jeremy and Steve, which is set to hit all major HD digital internet, satellite, and cable platforms and DVD starting May 30th, 2025 from Freestyle Digital Media. In this interview, Hill talks with this writer about making Beth + Jeremy and Steve, why he wanted it to be his first movie as a director, working with his assembled cast, and more.
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Bryan Kristopowitz: Why did you want Beth + Jeremy and Steve to be your first movie as a director?
Daniel Hill: I think it seemed a good starting off point to do something that felt very personal and maybe timely in some strange way.
BK: Was Beth + Jeremy and Steve always the title of the movie? According to IMDB, the movie is also known as We’re All Screwed Up.
DH: Haha!. I’ve been trying to get that removed! IMDB is its own matrix wrapped in an enigma. Yes, the movie went through a series of titles before we landed on B+J&S. That became a bit with some folks. We’re All Screwed Up was an interesting one. But, in the end, I liked B+J&S more.
BK: Where was Beth + Jeremy and Steve filmed? Did you use all real locations?
DH: Yup. All real locations. Portland, Oregon, with a couple just outside of Portland in Gresham and Beaverton. My producer Evan Gandy was a true champion at securing them and keeping me calm as we started shooting before we had them all.
BK: How did you cast Beth + Jeremy and Steve?
DH: We started out with Matt as Steve. He was recommended to me when I started casting so I went to see him in a play and thought he was fantastic. Lucas and Briana came after the two original actors we had for those parts quit… and thank goodness! Because Lucas and Brianna were meant to play those parts. For Lucas, I knew his mother Cheryl, who is a great actor as well who I had been doing shows with around town, and I asked her to ask him if he would audition. And Briana was in workshops I was doing with Sowelu, Barry Hunts’ theater that I’m a member of, (Barry is also a producer) and I liked her work and asked her to audition.
BK: How long did it take to make Beth + Jeremy and Steve, from finishing the screenplay to completing post-production?
DH: It took a second. Seven years. Three-four of them because of covid; the rest because this was my first rodeo directing a feature film. Also, low budgets- they can make you quite creative but they can add time. But the meat of it– production only took about a month and change. We shot principal in three weeks, with some pickups within 2 weeks after.
BK: What was the hardest part of making Beth + Jeremy and Steve for you as a director? What was the easiest?
DH: Hardest: Securing the right kind of pool and getting the swimmers.
Easiest: Working with the actors and crew. Once I showed them what I was trying to do, they were very open to trying different stuff. This being my first outing, I was quite grateful for that.
BK: How did you decide on swimming as the sport Jeremy participates in in high school?
DH: I was a swimmer and so I knew the world. I hadn’t seen high school swimming portrayed yet in a vulnerable way on film or at least in a way I was interested in, so I wanted to give it a shot.
BK: How did you put together the movie’s soundtrack?
DH: That was fun times. Some of the music was in my head as I wrote it, and some in post-production; allowing me to see how certain pieces would fit. It was a great combination of my friends’ music, sounds I made, and songs chosen. Plus I had a great music supervisor, Jackie Westfall, who helped me get most of my first choices- the ones already in my head.
BK: Beth + Jeremy and Steve has quite a few montages in it. Was that something you always planned to do or was that something you decided to do later on?
DH: I think both. Michael Pritchard (DP) and I talked extensively about the feeling and rhythms in how we were going to shoot, which allowed me to think about how I would cut. And then in post as it was getting pared down and worked through, more ideas percolated. I like montages in film very much, though they can run the risk of being trite. For me, drilling them down to almost an abstract texture of sight, sound, and story became attractive.
BK: What was it like making The Further Adventures of Anse and Bhule in No-man’s Land?
DH: Amazing! Absolutely one of the best experiences of my life and an essential experience for me as a filmmaker. It was like getting a full apprenticeship. I had been doing long form improv and plays as a lead actor and then making short films, so this was a great amalgam for me. Director Barry Hunt was extremely generous and inspiring for me as an actor and filmmaker. On Anse, along with being a lead, I ended up being a co-producer, doing 2nd unit camera, cutting the trailer, securing equipment, and even did some effects as well. It was some serious film school time and fun. FYI we used the same DP-Michael Pritchard, who won an award for Anse.
BK: Any moviemaking heroes?
DH: Man I’d need 3 pages… I’ll say 9 on my mind right now:
Sidney Lumet
William Friedkin
Wong Kar-Wai
Dede Allen (editor)
Terrence Malick
George Romero
John Carpenter
Kurosawa
Godard
BK: Any upcoming projects you can tell us about?
DH: I have a thriller/vigilante kind of script I’m starting to show around as well as some others I’m finishing up.
BK: What do you hope audiences get out of Beth + Jeremy and Steve?
DH: Maybe they get something funny and entertaining. Maybe something they’re unsure of that leaves a resonance of sorts. Maybe something patient, strange, and ultimately human regarding imperfections we all might have in one way or another.
BK: The bird poop on the park bench at the end of the movie- did you put it there or was it already there?
DH: Sometimes we get things from above that are just what we need 🙂
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A very special thanks to Daniel Hill for agreeing to participate in this interview and to david j. moore for setting it up.
Beth + Jeremy and Steve is set to hit all major HD digital internet, satellite, and cable platforms and DVD starting May 30th, 2025
Check out my review of Beth + Jeremy and Steve here!
Check out the official Beth + Jeremy and Steve Facebook page here!
Check out Daniel Hill’s IMDB page here!
Daniel Hill headshot courtesy of Daniel Hill. All other images courtesy of Freestyle Digital Media.
