Interview: Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay

I’m a big fan of producer Mynette Louie and what she and her cohorts are doing at Gamechanger Films, a film fund for women directors, so when I saw their newest movie The Invitation was coming out in April this year, I made it a point to watch it on VOD the week it went into distribution. I loved it! So I got in touch with Mynette who connected me with the movie’s screenwriters Matt Manfredi and Phil Hay, and we ended up having a great conversation about their careers, the craft of writing and their thriller movie The Invitation.

Here are links to the six installments of the entire interview:

Part 1: “The first script we went out with went to maybe 40 buyers. 40 production companies. It didn’t sell, but we met with all those guys, and they passed it to number 41. That was the Henson company, and they had a rewrite job that we were up for, and we got it.” — Matt Manfredi

Part 2: “We never take something because we feel we should for external reasons, and we never turn down something good because maybe the circumstance is less than ideal or it looks like it’s going to be a battle if we truly believe in that movie, and the people working on it, and that story.” — Phil Hay

Part 3: “That ‘haunted’ was the right word for us, because I think that no matter what happens in the movie, no matter what happens once it gets to the house, or doesn’t happen, the house is haunted for him. It’s so loaded with memories, and people, and images, both past and present. Everything is loaded for him.” — Matt Manfredi

Part 4: “We wanted to make sure that every character had dignity, had a life, and had what was not just part of the story and was not a function of the story, but had a distinct perspective of history with Will, had their own desires for what his night was going to be, had their own pain to deal with, had their own awkwardness to deal with.” — Phil Hay

Part 5: “I don’t think that we have a specific process. I mean, a lot of times it’s the very basic, ‘What is this character’s journey in this script? What is he or she learning along the way? Where are we trying to get them to?’” — Matt Manfredi

Part 6: “To me, the main thing that I believe qualifies you to be a writer is that you’re really interested in other people.” — Phil Hay

Entire Interview

Matt and Phil are repped by UTA.

Twitter: @phillycarly, @MattRManfredi.

The Invitation website.