From the "People" Archives:

A Conversation with David Arquette and Finn Taylor of "Dream with the Fishes", Part I

by John Bernstein

David Arquette is trouble. Just ask him. At 24, the youngest member of "Clan Arquette" is stirring things up on-screen, and occasionally off. Arquette will soon star opposite Stanley Tucci in "Life During Wartime", and will reprise his role as Deputy Dewey Riley in "Scream Again". Now, the busy actor can be seen as Terry, a troubled young soul searching for a way out of a meaningless life in "Dream with the Fishes".

A dark and funny seventies-esque buddy pic (which Arquette also co-produces), the film marks the directorial debut of Finn Taylor. Best-known as a screenwriter (and for his work with the San Francisco theater company Intersection For The Arts), Taylor sees his partly-autobiographical tale as an affirmation of life and rebirth. As "Dream with the Fishes" makes its way across the country's crowded movie market place, the affable filmmaker and easygoing, colorfully retro-garbed actor kicked-back with indieWIRE to chat about voyeurism, insecurity, and all things indie.

indieWIRE: Sundance '97 must have been like every first-time director's dream scenario, right? Paramount, Goldwyn, October, First Look, and Live Entertainment were all after "Dream with the Fishes", and Paramount actually offered you more money than Sony did.

Finn Taylor: Actually, there were more companies than that.

David Arquette: It was a feeding frenzy!

(ALL LAUGH)

iW: Did they feed off each other? Did that interest drive the bids up?

Taylor: Yes, and the funny thing is I was the cautious one. We had a screening at the library, and I knew Roger Ebert and some other major critics were going to be there. I was worried that, for whatever reason, some of these critics might walk out during the screening and that would kill my chances of getting a deal. So, I decided to make a handshake deal for the domestic rights just before the screening. During the screening, people kept coming up to me, tapping me on the shoulder, and upping the bids because the laughs were so big. But, I had already made the deal by that point, and I stuck with it.

The whole experience was crazy. The first time I went to Sundance, I saw some films, went to some parties, and taught myself to ski. It was very relaxed. Not this time. It was an even more intense experience than making the film was. I slept less than two hours a night. We had midnight screenings just for executives. I lived on the telephone. I spent full days in restaurants doing business, but only would have a glass of orange juice the whole time. I probably lost 10 pounds at Sundance. One time, we were in a hotel lobby with 3 or 4 different companies at once, and I kept running back and forth from table to table, taking the different bids. I felt really rude.

iW: But even with that feeding frenzy atmosphere, there really didn't seem to be very much buzz over the film with Sundance audiences, did there?

Taylor: According to Geoff Gilmore [Sundance Festival Director], Sundance has changed a lot over the last couple of years. He thought he was giving us a primo spot so that buzz could build. He scheduled our first screening on the first Saturday night of the festival, but unfortunately a lot of people were at the Golden Globes that night. Our second screening was at ten in the morning at the Yarrow 2. It seemed like the only people who turned out for that screening were the film buyers. There was buzz going on with the buyers, but not with the rest of the Sundance crowd. I think that changed at the Sunday screening at the library. It was way-oversold, and afterwards a lot of people came up and said they thought the film was the best thing they saw at Sundance, but unfortunately, that was the very last day of the festival.

iW: David, you were at Sundance twice before--last year with JOHNS, and in 1995 with FALL TIME. What's your take on the festival?

Arquette: I love Sundance. I feel right at home there.

iW: What do you like about it? The films? The parties?

Arquette: Yeah, I guess went to some parties, but I really didn't indulge in the films. I have a weird opinion about films.

iW: What do you mean?

Arquette: I sort of have this "film thing." When I'm acting, I just don't like to see actors. Other actors rub off on me and influence my acting. Frankly, I'd rather just watch people. I get more from watching people in movie theaters than actually watching the movies. I'm also really into shows like "Cops". That show is actually great research for me. I don't know, I guess it's weird. But as for Sundance--well, it was a tremendous experience.

iW: Finn, screening "Dream with the Fishes" at the San Francisco Film Festival must have been great, since that's where you shot the film.

Taylor: Yeah, David was there, too. It was really nice to come home. We also had a great sold-out screening at my favorite theater in the country--the Castro Theater. San Francisco audiences can be tough. They have a certain snob factor, but they really embraced the film. The response we got was really wonderful. As you make a film, you think what you're doing is funny, but you never know. You just have to rely on your sense of humor. But when you see your film with a big audience and the laughter is really huge, it's an amazing feeling.

iW: What role do film festivals other than Sundance play in the life of a film like this one?

Taylor: Well, word-of-mouth can be a very strong pull for a film. When you play a festival, you usually get the core group of film-goers for that city. They in turn, can spread the message about your film. That's very valuable for an independent film. Beyond my film, festivals obviously give you a chance to see films you're not going to see otherwise--documentaries, foreign films, and other works that are never going to get distributed and aren't going to make it to market. Sundance has become so popular that it is really hard to get a film in there anymore. I think that because of that, the other festivals are going to become more important.

John Bernstein's conversation with Finn Taylor and David Arquette continues.