By Lucy Spicer
One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent filmmaking. While we can learn a lot about the filmmakers from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival through the art that these storytellers share with us, there’s always more we can learn about them as people. This year, we decided to get to the bottom of those artistic wells with our ongoing series: Give Me the Backstory!
While filming his feature directorial debut, writer-director Greg Jardin wanted to make the most of his time with the project’s cast. “Up until now, all of my directorial work had been short-form promo-type stuff, which didn’t allow much of a rapport to be built,” says Jardin. “I really love working with the actors and watching them inject so much life into their roles.” In the case of It’s What’s Inside, that rapport between director and actor proved crucial because the ensemble cast didn’t just portray their own characters — they also had to portray each other’s.
It’s What’s Inside brings together seven former college friends for a party to celebrate an upcoming wedding. When Forbes (David W. Thompson) — their friend who had been expelled from college — joins them somewhat unexpectedly with a mysterious suitcase in hand, he proposes an unusual party game. Inside the suitcase is a device that will allow its users to switch bodies. What begins as a surreal guessing game soon devolves into chaos as the group finds out just how difficult it is to keep secrets when someone else is in your body.
“I was so blown away by how all the actors had done their homework, came in with ideas, and really just improved the movie overall,” says Jardin. The mind-bending film premiered in the Midnight section at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Read on to learn more about Jardin and his feature debut, including the inspiration for the project and a peek at the filmmaker’s fridge and reading list.
What was the biggest inspiration behind this film?
The general story really all started several years back with the visual idea of an estranged friend showing up to a party with a suitcase and then something in the suitcase taking the party in a totally unexpected and surreal direction. I wanted to have a, say, heightened element in the story, that was set in an otherwise emotionally grounded situation, which more or less speaks to my sensibilities. From there, I slowly built out the characters, and came up with the general plot revolving around the male gaze and how the general “pornification” of our modern-day society affects relationships.
Films are lasting artistic legacies, what do you want yours to say?
Be careful how you use the fire emoji.
Describe who you want this film to reach.
Everybody, really, but also couples who are just one fight away from a breakup and need that last little push.
Why does this story need to be told now?
The central theme in the movie is meant to speak to the idea of our culture becoming addicted to the novelty-based rewards that we receive from the media we all consume. Or, in other words, how training your brain to ingest a daily overload of screen-based dopamine can affect how we navigate our relationships.
How do you want people to feel after they see your film?
Wondering when the last time they cleared their browser history was.
Tell us an anecdote about casting or working with your actors.
One of my big takeaways from the shoot is how a good actor can really inject the “less is more” factor into your movie. We’d be rehearsing a scene, and an actor would deliver a single line so well that I’d end up cutting out a bunch of the subsequent dialogue after seeing how much of the subtext was conveyed in that one line. It has changed the way I’ve thought about writing and how much information truly needs or doesn’t need to be on the page.
What was a big challenge you faced while making this film?
In the multiple years that it took to get my script produced, I spent a lot of time finding the correct balance between what to reveal (and when) and what to hold back. There’s a pretty heavy byzantine quality to the script, and making sure that the audience was going to be following everything in the desired way definitely kept me up many nights and manifested itself in many, many conversations. Basically breaking down the delineation between “good” confusion and “bad” confusion.
Tell us why and how you got into filmmaking.
I grew up loving movies but having no idea how they were made or what a director did. I remember seeing movies like Edward Scissorhands or Natural Born Killers and not knowing how to articulate what made those movies feel so singular, but knowing that those were the types of experiences I loved the most.
I went to undergrad thinking that I would probably study computer science, and once I found out that filmmaking was something that you could actually study, I went all in. For all of the terror that the internet/social media has brought, there is also such a wonderful side of it that gives today’s younger generations access to understanding filmmaking in a way that just wasn’t there when I was growing up.
If you weren’t a filmmaker, what would you be doing?
Making unboxing videos for Twin Peaks merch.
What three things do you always have in your refrigerator?
Empty calories, sorrow, and regret.
What was the last book you read?
I got a D in middle school English because I stayed up late watching and rewatching the IT miniseries with Tim Curry instead of reading and doing a report on Animal Farm. That ended up kicking off a whole downward spiral where my GPA dropped and I ultimately basically flunked out of a magnet program. My dad was really mad at me and I ended up transferring schools and never saw some of my classmates again, and I ended up getting my ears pierced as a form of rebellion. Anyway, I finally just read Animal Farm; it was pretty good!
Early bird or night owl?
I like to think of myself as a switch-hitter.
What’s your favorite film that has come from the Sundance Institute or Festival?
I was (and still am) blown away by Whiplash. Also, big shoutout to Mandy.
