Interview: Ryan Gregory Phillips Talks Blending Genres for His Horror/Sci-Fi Thriller SHORTWAVE

Arriving on VOD this Tuesday, October 24th is Ryan Gregory Phillips’ sci-fi/horror mash-up Shortwave, which explores the phenomena of shortwave radio signals, and the dark and deadly secrets that they can carry along various frequencies. The film stars Cristobal Tapia Montt, Juanita Ringeling, Kyle Davis, and Sara Malakul Lane, and follows a couple (Montt and Ringeling) as they try to rebuild their lives after their daughter was abducted, but their new home is somehow tied into her abduction, and we see how the introduction of shortwave communication brings some harsh realities into the light.

Daily Dead recently chatted with Phillips about Shortwave, and he discussed blending genres for his ambitious feature, the integral part sound design plays in the film, as well as collaborating with his DP Lucas Gath, and more.

We've seen films that featured some of the concepts you’ve used in this before—shortwave radio spectrums, alien stories, and also those psychological horror elements as well—but how you blend them together is so very different. What was the process for you in terms of bringing these ideas together for this story in Shortwave?

Ryan Gregory Phillips: Yeah, that's a great question. One of my friends is a sound engineer and he told me about all this stuff. I didn't even know what shortwave radios were, to be completely honest. But he came over, he had a shortwave radio, and he showed me this really creepy signal that he would pick up every night at the same time, which scared the hell out of me. It kind of sounded like this little girl saying these numbers and all this crazy shit. I thought he was messing with me, but after a week of it, I realized it was legit.

So I started thinking about it and I was talking to my lawyer, Robert Klieger—he's the financier on this film. We started discussing how crazy and creepy it would be to do something with that. And for me, because I'm not really hardcore into the horror genre, but I like to explore hardcore human emotions that are dark, like human depression, or love and loss. I always thought to myself, "How crazy would it be if you had lost somebody or lost something and you mixed it with this outside influence that could give you hope to be able to maybe bring that person back?"

I also did some research on the signals, too, because they are this real thing. There are signals left over from World War I, II, all these different things that are out there. So the more and more research we did on it, the creepier and creepier it got. There were too many cool, moving parts to not make something about it. But I wanted to take a different route than the traditional jump scare, or just being afraid of something that's chasing you. I really wanted to go into the psychological aspect of it.

You mentioned how a sound engineer inspired all this, and what’s interesting is that I thought the sound in Shortwave was really effective and immersive, where it’s a very disconcerting feeling as you're hearing all these different sounds. How much effort did you guys put into the sound?

Ryan Gregory Phillips: Well, it all boils down to the fact that you have to have really, really good sound recorded. That was our actual on-set sound person, Eric Ballew. But then, when it comes to actually the sound mechanics of it, that was Studio Unknown. They're the ones who put it together and what they do on this movie is insane. Sound design to me is so important. When I talked to Studio Unknown, it was really about, "How can you make a well-versed universe with sound that feels like it's everywhere?" It's not just jump scares.

Also, to me, I love Cameron Crowe, for the pure fact that he never lets off the gas pedal. He always has music non-stop, whether it's happy, sad, whatever. I find that very interesting and also very hard. That's kind of what I wanted to do with this. I was like, even if there's a moment of silence, there should be some sort of drone noise, or just something to make you feel uncomfortable, because that's what these characters are. They're uncomfortable and they're sad and they're depressed.

I've got to be the worst person to work with, because I'm so OCD about every minute detail. Even when we did the 6.1 surround sound mix, I had to have this ding or the sound coming up from the left back speaker or front forward speaker. It had to be very, very unique and everything had to play out. When we played theatrical this past week, we had a couple of people actually get sick from the intensity of it, because it just builds, and it builds, and it builds.

There are a lot of great visuals in Shortwave, too. Can you talk about working with your cinematographer, Lucas [Gath], on this and building that really distinct visual style you guys used throughout the film?

Ryan Gregory Phillips: Lucas and I have known each other for around 10 years now, but this was the first time we have ever actually worked together. We had always been like, "Hey, we should work together," but it never happened. I came to him because he's just on a whole other level. His style mimics Roger Deakins, and I think he for sure is going to be the next Roger Deakins, just because of the skill he treats every single image with as he’s working through a shot.

I trusted him 110%, which I think is important. Lucas has this very unique style to him that kind of fits the madness that's in my mind. So we mesh very, very well and I think it's hard finding somebody that gets you and that you trust. Even if we're running 10 shots behind, he's like, "Let me get this one, trust me. We'll figure out a way to do the other ones." And we always did, we always made it work. He's a mad genius.

Before we go, I wanted to talk about your experiences making this film, and what you took away from it. Because I'm a big believer in when you put yourself out there creatively—whether it's writing or directing or acting or anything—not only do you put a little piece of yourself into something, but you also take a little piece of it with you, too. Was there anything about your experiences on Shortwave that changed you as a filmmaker?

Ryan Gregory Phillips: You know, you set out to make something, and you have a certain expectation of how it's going to look and how it's going to feel and how it's going sound. But Shortwave ended up being so much more than that by the end of it. Not to sound cocky or anything like that, but it just became something that was better than I had ever dreamt of.

As an artist, people always say, "Oh, you're never happy with your final product, and this and that." And I'm so happy with this film, and was just so happy with all of the crew, the producers, the actors, and everybody that was involved in it. Because it was a huge challenge. I think the takeaway was that you can do it. You don't need a fifty million dollar budget, you don't need Leonardo DiCaprio. You need a great story, you need financiers that trust you, you need a crew that trusts you, and you have to give that trust back as well. If you have that, really, then the sky is the limit. And now here we are, partnered with Sony Pictures and Vega Baby, and it's all just been a very, very cool experience.