Ronald Short, writer/director of "Billi & Theodore"

Though he walks the path of famous Texas residents, Richard Linklater and Robert Rodriguez, filmmaker Ronald Short hails from Indiana. Short's film "Billi & Theodore" premiered at the 2012 Indianapolis International Film Festival and is set to screen at the Alamo Drafthouse on February 9th. Although it takes places in typical indie territory, the film is not your typical road trip comedy. Following a rudderless young man (Travis Emery) and his puppet-making lesbian friend (Jordan McRae), "Billi & Theodore" breathes new life into the indie hipster genre. Short spent some time with the Yap discussing the film and what he hopes the future holds.

First, I was wondering if you could just briefly outline your background -- where you're from, how you got into film/filmmaking, when you started actively pursuing it, etc.

I am from Indiana, specifically the west side of Indianapolis, a town called Avon, which had a bigger role in shaping my passion than I probably would have originally gave it credit.

I used to be obsessed with writing stories and drawing pictures. When I was young, I was convinced I wanted to be a cartoonist. I would always doodle no matter where I was and I would write little books to try and make my friends laugh. When I got a little older, I realized how hard animation was and how I just wasn't THAT talented in the drawing department. So, I gave that up, but I still wanted to tell stories.

I started making home movies with my mom's hi-8 camera with my sister when I was in middle school. The first thing I ever made was a Godzilla short with some of my toys. From there, we just kept making silly stuff, I was learning very basic camera tricks, and my friends started to get involved. Zac Finch, who plays Steve in "Billi & Theodore," helped me come up with some shorts and that's when we came up with these characters, Steve and Peaty. We made a lot of stuff with them. Once I got to high school, Avon High started having a film festival, which pushed me to make more and more stuff. Basically, ever since those years, I aggressively started making stuff to get better and to make my passion a reality. I am never not thinking about a new film to make and the film festival definitely helped give me that mindset.

Then, I went to Indiana State for Radio/TV/Film, continued perfecting my craft, made a lot of close relationships with people who are still involved with my stuff, and moved to Austin, TX after I graduated to further make my name in the world of indie film and beyond. Shortly after I moved, I made this feature and now I'm trying to decide on the next project while pushing this one out into the world.

"Billi & Theodore" isn't a film I can imagine easily popping into someone's head. How did you come up with the story?

I was working on a film before this that had a budget that was just getting out of control and I knew I couldn't make it happen as my first official feature. So, I set out to make something simpler that could be made for less. I had this idea for a short where two dudes accidentally kill an ex-girlfriend and the whole short was them trying to hide the body. Then, the punch line was one of them realizing their names could be Bill and Ted and they'd say, "What an excellent adventure." Beyond that joke, I thought it was interesting to consider how far one would go for their best friend. Then, I talked to my wife Ami about it and she helped the idea evolve. I took some situations out of my life and added more story and more to the characters based off the best friends I've had over the years. I actually had a friend come to me when he was in a situation like this and I just imagined what would have happened if we actually went through with it when I offered to help him out. He ended up taking care of it on his own, but I imagine it would have went something like this.

The filmmakers you seem to be inspired by, namely Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino (I hope you take that as a compliment!), were praised in the beginning of their careers for their films' references to other movies and pop culture. Now, rather than simply connecting a film to the world outside it, these references seem to serve as a benchmark for a whole new genre -- the "people defined by pop culture" genre. "Billi & Theodore" reflects artists like Smith and Tarantino by showing people simultaneously defining themselves by pop culture and trying to carve their niche in it (as Billi does with her "Be Kind Rewind"-esque puppet shows.) This is turning into more of a theory than a question. I guess the question would be: was this your intention? Or what did you intend exactly?

Oh, I most definitely take that as a compliment! Early Kevin Smith is what made me want to make movies and Tarantino is a filmmaker I aspire to make films like (you know, masterpiece after masterpiece). They both sort of started this tradition of pop culture referencing pop culture, which is why so many people relate to those films. "Hey, these criminals are talking like me and my friends!" or "I'm in a dead-end job and shoot the shit about 'Star Wars' all the time!" It's so easy to relate to because it's how people, especially geeks, talk. We make conversation by discussing the things we share in common with people and everyone loves movies and TV shows. I feel I'm just continuing the tradition these guys and people like Richard Linklater started.

Early in his career, Tarantino seemed to add movie references to his dialogue in order to credibly inhabit other, more distinct genres (the War Film, the Western, etc.) later in his career. Do you see yourself moving on to genre films? Or will you be jumping into more Billi and Theodore-esque adventures? If so, what attracts you to this kind of fly-on-the-wall, mumblecore-esque style/territory?

I'm one of those guys who wants to try everything. In fact, the last few things I've been working on have been completely different. I did a sort of "Blue Valentine"-esque dramatic short that I'm finishing up now called "Rearview Mirror" and, at the same time, I shot a horror short called "Breaking and Entering" that's having some effects shots finished up that I would love to turn into a feature film. Horror is definitely something I've dabbled in since college and would love to do something more with. I also wrote a feature script that sort of mixes a story like Billi & Theodore with a classic man-in-suit monster movie, which actually has some legit interest from some people. We'll see what happens with that.

No matter what, I will continue to write stories like "Billi & Theodore." They're my favorite type -- real world comedies with some nice drama thrown in. It's just what speaks to me as a person. It feels like something that could really happen, even if it's a little exaggerated. Characters and story always come first for me and these types of films usually spend the most time on that.

Now, I wouldn't necessarily call this film mumblecore, though if you did, I wouldn't feel insulted. Mumblecore just has a pretty loose structure with a lot of improv. I would say our film was 90 percent script with 10 percent of it improvised. What I love about mumblecore is how they make the films. I definitely adopted the handheld documentary style from them. I just think a lot of them have too much of the "mumbling" going on with the improvised dialogue and I'm actually really proud of the dialogue I write or come up with with the actors. So, I work hard on perfecting that in pre-production before actually shooting to make it feel more natural, but to also represent the script in the end.

If I can get some backing, my next film is going to be similar to this, but a lot darker in its comedy and one that doesn't make you feel so good in the end. I want to try something different within this type of story. "Billi & Theodore" was very much a movie I wanted people to feel good watching. I wanted them to want to be friends with these characters. This next script, and hopefully film, will elicit very different emotions.

You said you've shopped the film around to some other places, including MTV New Media. What do you hope the future will hold for "Billi & Theodore?"

I made "Billi & Theodore" to show people what I could do. All I want is for someone to watch that and say, "Wow, I wonder what he could do with some real money?" I set out on my own with a dedicated team of people and made something I'm proud of so that I could make more stuff. I would love for this film to get picked up by someone to get it out there on DVD and streaming online and everything, but at the very least, I just want this to be a springboard to something more.

I've got people interested in helping me with this beyond MTV and some other places I've submitted. I'm feeling good about SOMETHING happening. If not, I'll just have to scrounge a little more money together to sell it independently and to get it to screen places. We've got a screening at the Alamo Drafthouse in Austin, TX on February 9th and from there we should have some more festival screenings and screenings around Indiana. There's been a huge support base for this film in Indiana that I couldn't be more thankful for. Feature films don't shoot there that often and I'm happy the community has embraced it. Hopefully, they'll be able to own it sooner rather than later!

If anyone is interested in checking out my other stuff, you can find me under Ronald Short on Vimeo, check out shortpicturesindependent.com, or see my weekly comedy sketches I make with my group BACON at the baconcomedy page on YouTube.