Interview: Spenser Cohen — Part 3
In December 2011, writer-director Spenser Cohen sold the action-thriller spec script “The Driver” he wrote with Zach Luna. In November 2012, Cohen sold the action spec script “High Value Target”. Then in January 2013, Spenser sold another spec script: “Pantheon”. A writer who sells 3 spec scripts within 2 years is someone we need to hear from, so I’m pleased to present my interview with Spenser.
In Part 3, Spenser reveals how he developed “High Value Target” and we dive into some key elements of that story:
Scott: Let’s move on to another spec sale, “High Value Target.” Here’s how the trades described the story: “The film chronicles Mantis, a lethal weapons special operations unit that attacks a boat operated by Somali pirates. It’s been described as Black Hawk Down meets The Raid: Redemption. The vast majority of the film covers the raid, which transpires in one location, the boat.” What was the genesis of that story concept?
Spenser: After we set up “The Driver,” Brooklyn and I were kicking ideas back and forth trying to figure out what my next project would be. I wanted to do a contained thriller. I wanted to do something that felt like it was ripped right out of the headlines.
This idea just came up, of doing a contained action/thriller, using Tier 1 operators. These are the guys doing the off-the-books missions that the nightly news can’t report, will never report. There is a secret war being waged, a chess game happening behind the scenes that’s shaping the world for tomorrow. We all know it’s happening. But there’s not a lot of info out there. That was part of the genesis. There had been things in the news about the government using kill squads. We combined a lot of real world events, things that were in the headlines. Stripped that down into a contained thriller.
Scott: That contained thriller component, do you think that was driven more by cinematic considerations or from a producing standpoint, a way to keep the budget lower?
Spenser: Both. Right now, I think the movies that are getting made are either “The Avengers,” these giant tent pole movies or “Looper,” the smaller, $30 million and under movies. You’re either in one of those two categories. I’m a first time director. I want to come out of the gate with a project I can control. The lower the budget, the more control.
Scott: Could you describe the process of how you developed “High Value Target”?
Spenser: It was just a ton of research. Meeting with Navy SEALs. Talking to operators who’ve been on real missions. I wanted to saturate the project in authenticity. It developed organically from the inside out.
We initially took the project out as a pitch, and I put together a 45 page look‑book, which is my directors statement, concept art, character bios, the technology we were going to use to do it, the weapons, the real world events, and the news that tied into it. It was basically a visual pitch that you could lay out, and you could see the whole movie right in front of you. We probably pitched it 30 places.
Scott: I’m assuming it didn’t sell, then you went ahead with the spec?
Spenser: Exactly…we got close to selling it. But I went back, while we were still talking to various companies, and I wrote the script. After pitching it dozens of times I knew the characters and the story inside and out. We took it back out a few months later and set it up at Millennium.
Scott: Much of it is about that comfort level, isn’t it? They’re buyers, they’re all basically in positions where almost by default, their instinct is to say “no” to projects because it’s the safer position. So to get them to say “yes,” you’ve got to hit their comfort level.
Spenser: Right, no one gets fired for saying “no.” You get fired for saying “yes.” But every director’s a first time director at some point. I think writing my own material, and coming in with a very strong vision of what I wanted to do put everyone at ease.
Scott: The protagonist of “High Value Target” is a young man named Matthew Cross. How would you summarize this character?
Spenser: Tonally I looked at a lot of westerns and samurai movies, and I really saw him as a Ronin… a masterless samurai, with no war to fight. I looked at a lot of movies, like “The Searchers,” “The Seven Samurai,” “The Magnificent Seven,” “Unforgiven”…so that was what I was drawing from. Matt has a lot of pain and guilt inside. His brother was killed following in his footsteps. Matt blames himself for his brother’s death. When we first meet him he’s a broken man, he’s in pieces, and over the course of the story we get to watch as he puts himself back together. We get to watch him heal.
Scott: For an action movie, how important was it for you to create a protagonist who had those compelling human dynamics at play?
Spenser: I think that’s everything…stories are an emotional medium. People always say, write what you know, and I think it’s, write what you know emotionally. Sometimes I’ll start with a story, sometimes I’ll start with a character, but ultimately, it always comes down to character.
It was interested in creating a hero who isn’t perfect. But a human being who is flawed. A touchstone for me was Clint Eastwood’s character in “Unforgiven.” He was a very interesting character to create, because I felt like it drew a lot from real experiences and a lot of things that really aren’t talked about, that a lot of soldiers come back from war and it’s really hard to get back into a normal life, get back into a normal rhythm. I wanted to explore his psychological and emotional scars. We needed a sense of this guy’s history and his past, there’s a lot of weight behind it, and a lot of baggage when we first meet him.
Scott: Matt teams up with eight other members of the Mantis operation. Two questions about that. First, how’d you go about developing nine different and unique characters?
Spenser: That was very tough. It’s hard to write an ensemble piece like this. You really have to approach the material like each character is the main character of the story. Ultimately, when I got into later drafts, I did a complete pass from each character’s point of view. It really comes down to just putting in the hours and doing the work. It took a lot of time to really flesh those guys out and really make them believable. This film moves at a hundred miles an hour, and it doesn’t let the audience breathe, and I knew that was the point. For me, characterization had to happen on the go.
I love characters that define themselves through their actions, rather than having them sit down and have a ten‑minute dialogue sequence that slows down the move. I didn’t have the luxury to do that with a story like this even if I wanted to. It was tough. Up until the very end, that was the stuff I was always working on.
Scott: The second thing: How do you introduce these nine characters so that each becomes distinguishable and memorable to a reader? Was that a challenge?
Spenser: It’s tough. You can’t do it all at once. It needs to happen slowly so the audience has time to meet each character. The most important character is Matt. He pulls us through the story, so it was important that he be well defined up front. As for the rest of the characters, it’s a multinational team, so everyone’s different. Everyone has a different worldview. Everyone needs to have his or her own voice. I tried to establish that right off the bat. You have to approach each character as if they are the lead. Each character has a journey, a past, a future, goals, etc. And I did my best to establish that throughout the first act. The best way to understand someone is through conflict. And because the characters are all so different, there was built in tension and conflict right from the start.
Tomorrow in Part 4 of our interview, we go deeper into “High Value Target,” then discuss what it’s like for Spenser to work with his manager and agents.
For Part 1, go here.
For Part 2, go here.
Please stop by comments to thank Spenser and ask any questions you may have.
Spenser is repped by WME and Energy Entertainment.
Twitter: @IAmSpenserCohen / @AnnaHalberg
Six Foot Turkey Productions website here.