One of the best films I saw at this year’s Sundance Film Festival was “Assassination of a High School President.” The film is the debut feature from Director Brett Simon, and it’s an intricately crafted high school mystery that’s laugh out loud funny.

Sophomore Bobby Funke (Reece Thompson) is a self-described newspaper dork whose social skills are severely lacking in the high school hierarchy. Determined to win a spot in a coveted summer journalism program, he finds himself at the epicenter of a story when the SAT’s are stolen. He realizes this is the perfect opportunity to make a name for himself. Of course, no one wants to help him out and every character he meets along the way is crazier than the last. Featuring very strong performances from the entire cast, this is a film sure to be talked about when it gets released late in the summer.

Anyway, I was able to interview Brett right after I interviewed the two leads - Mischa Barton and Reece Thompson (click here if you missed that interview). During my almost 10 or so minutes we talked about making the film, the casting, the look, the music and a lot more. It’s all the stuff you’d want a director to talk about.

But before watching the interview, I posted some clips from the movie last night so you might want to first watch them so you’ll have a better feel for what the movie is about. You can watch them here.

As usual, I listed what we talked about above the video. Of course a big thanks to Brett for taking the time to hang out and answer my questions. Look for more exclusive Sundance video interviews tonight.

Brett Simon – Part 1

·         Sundance talk

·         What was it about this script that caused him to make the movie

·         How did working on music videos help him get ready for a feature

·         Casting talk

Brett Simon – Part 2

·         I ask about the tone of the film and how difficult was it to maintain the seriousness with the dark comedy. We also talk about the editing.

·         The film has a very stylized look. How intentional were the set ups.

·         Music (soundtrack) talk.