CO-WRITER, CO-DIRECTOR, ONE OF THE LEADING ACTORS: BILLY BRYK DOES IT ALL IN HIS LATEST SLASHER COMEDY, HELL OF A SUMMER. CREATED IN TANDEM WITH ACTOR (AND NOW FELLOW FILMMAKER!) FINN WOLFHARD, THEIR DEBUT FEATURE PLAYS AROUND WITH FAMILIAR TROPES OF THE CLASSIC SLASHER GENRE, MAKING IT A FRESH EXPLORATION OF THE MODERN COMING-OF-AGE EXPERIENCE. TAKING PLACE AT A SUMMER CAMP IN THE WOODS, THE STORY FOLLOWS A GROUP OF TEENAGE COUNCILLORS FACING A MASKED KILLER (OR TWO) CAUSING TOTAL HAVOC AND A FAIR SHARE OF LAUGHS FOR THE AUDIENCE. FOR BTB DIGITAL, THE YOUNG CANADIAN TALENT TALKS TO US ABOUT MEETING WOLFHARD ON THE STREETS OF TORONTO, THEIR SHARED COMEDIC SENSIBILITIES, AND THE ENDEARING NATURE OF HIS CHARACTER, BOBBY.
Left Coat MM6 Maison Margiela, top Dries Van Noten
Right Top worn underneath, denim & jackets Études Studio, shoes Diesel
Hi Billy! Congratulations on Hell of a Summer – I got to watch it over the weekend. How did this project come about? Were you and Finn [Wolfhard] friends before getting to work on it?
We became friends first. I actually had met Finn very briefly on the streets of Toronto years and years ago, just as a fan. I had seen him posting online about a lot of the films and comedians that he loved that I also really liked, and I just had a sense that we would get along because our sensibilities were so similar. So when I bumped into him on the street, we just started chatting about movies and comedy. We spoke for like five minutes, I didn’t want to bother him. And then a little bit over a year later, I’d started acting, and I got a small part in the Ghostbusters movie, which he was the star of. I sat beside him at lunch, and he was like, “Do I know you from somewhere?” And I said, “Not really, we met for two minutes once.” But he remembered our interaction! So the friendship has really just started because we have the same sense of humour. Also, we both knew that we wanted to be directors from a very young age, so it was great talking to somebody who had the same goals in mind.
Top Ouer, denim MM6 Maison Margiela, shoes Dior Men
With this being your first feature, what did you find most daunting about the process of conceptualizing and executing a film?
I had written so many half-script and several short films before this one. Like a lot of young writers and filmmakers, I had started writing a number of features, but at some point, you hit a wall because it’s a very isolating and exhausting experience. The thing that I found so helpful about working with Finn on this one is that while we were writing the first draft together, we were doing it so quickly because we weren’t second guessing ourselves in any way – we were trying to make each other laugh and pushing each other to finish that first draft. So, getting over that initial hurdle was a huge relief for me. And then after that, we spent the next three years refining the script and getting it to a place of feeling confident about it.
From the production standpoint, it was really just obstacle after obstacle after obstacle, which I think is often the case with indie films. We filmed it in 19 days. It was a very hectic, short shoot. I had to do a lot of stuff that I think normally director wouldn’t have to do, but it was just the nature of the situation we were in and the resources that we had. The whole thing was a tremendous learning experience for me, and I’m so glad that I was so hands-on in so many different departments.
Top & pants Aubero
Left Tops Fendi
Right Top Dries Van Noten, pants & jacket Sacai
What attracted you guys to the slasher genre?
We felt that the genre would really elevate the comedy. We had set out to write a teen ensemble coming-of-age comedy that was set in the realm of a slasher movie – we wanted for both of those parts to be happening simultaneously. The idea was to take this cast of petty and insecure characters, then throw a killer into the mix, and instead of having all of their petty problems disappear once the killer spree began, we wanted to have them amplified. Every character can’t help but be themselves, and to me, the funniest moments in the script are born out of how they are reacting in this really awful situation.
Shirt Hermès, pants Bluemarble, tie Fendi, jacket Isabel Marant
Did you write with specific people in mind? Did you know that you wanted to play Bobby from the get-go?
Yeah, I knew that I was going to play Bobby and Finn was going to play Chris. Other than that, no, we didn’t really write with specific actors in mind – we based the characters off of people in our own lives or certain dynamics that we had.
There are elements of me in Bobby, for sure. And I don’t say that in a proud way. I’d like to think that I’m more self-aware than him, but also, he was a lot of fun to write and tap into. It’s the type of character that I would always do to annoy my friends.
Left Tops Fendi
Right Top & pants Aubero
Is there anything that you find charming about him?
I think he’s a very loyal friend, and that’s something that’s admirable about him. It sounds funny to be discussing it in such a serious way, but I always saw him as a character who didn’t have any positive role models growing up. He looked to all these action heroes and celebrities in search of this idea of what a man should be or should act like. He’s trying so hard to be like that, and he’s failing so spectacularly that I think there’s something endearing about him being such a coward in so many ways but wanting to be perceived as brave and cool. But he does mean well, and you can’t help but root for him in some ways, or at least that’s how I feel.
Top Dries Van Noten, pants & jacket Sacai, sneakers Dior Men
Left Shirt Hermès, pants Bluemarble, tie Fendi, jacket Isabel Marant, boots MM6 Maison Margiela
Right Shirt & tie Hermès, pants Aubero, coat Ouer
You talked earlier about sharing similar sensibilities with Finn when it comes to your favourite movies. What films did you guys look at while working on this one?
That’s a great question! We talked a lot about films like Superbad, The Graduate, or the early Wes Anderson stuff. We looked at a lot of films that were written by younger people about younger people. And then, from more of a horror perspective, we bonded over our mutual love for John Carpenter’s movies, specifically his earlier work. The original Halloween is a perfect slasher – there’s something so pure about it that is just brilliant.
I was actually very afraid of horror films as a kid. I didn’t watch that many of them until the end of high school, and I fell in love with the slasher genre through slasher comedies like Scream or Idle Hands. The last one I’ll mention was Shaun of the Dead – for us, it was the perfect example of a character-driven comedy set within the backdrop of a horror movie. It tells the story of a guy who’s trying to save his relationship, and it’s set within a zombie movie. And we wanted to do that with Hell of a Summer. It’s a movie about a guy who's coming of age and having to leave his childhood behind and step out into adulthood, but we’re using the backdrop of a slasher comedy and having this slasher spree be the thing that informs this massive change in his life.
Left Top Dries Van Noten, jacket Sacai
Right Jacket & boots MM6 Maison Margiela, pants Études Studio
Interview by Martin Onufrowicz
Photography by Gabe Araujo
Fashion by Sam Knoll
Casting by Imagemachine CS
EIC Michael Marson
Grooming by Mark Alan
Stylist’s assistants Daviel Castañeda & Alice Almeida
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