“It’s Not All Unicorns And Puppies Where I Am But I Try” Interview With Mike Doyle, Writer And Director of SELL BY

Rom-coms are ones that either flop or become a lasting mark on our hearts. They are films that are wholly cherished, failing to succumb to the plague of time. Sell By from director and writer Mike Doyle is the latest to fall into these ranks, his film sure to secure a spot along side the greats. You will be enamored with the story, drawn into each storyline throughout the ensemble. Sell By is a film that checks off every box, delivering a truly modern rom-com of the time. Much like Love Actually, this is a film I would love to see revisited in 10 years to find out where our characters have ended up and how they have grown.

I had the chance to speak with Mike Doyle about his latest film, the process behind its creation, and share a few laughs. Even his dog Pepper made an appearance!

Stephanie Archer for Film Inquiry: Hello Mike. How are you?

Mike Doyle: Hi. I’m Good, I’m good. Just enjoying this beautiful day here in LA.

First, I want to say congrats on your first full length feature. That’s a huge feat.

Mike Doyle: I’m still standing. I’m alive. [laughs]

I know you’ve done a short before, Shiner. I was wondering what was it like filming and directing this full length feature versus when you did your short film?

Mike Doyle: Well, Shiner was a sort of parable without words about an old man and this abused kid from the projects that meet underneath the Brooklyn Bridge and change each other’s lives without speaking a word. And Sell By is not that. [laughs] People talk a lot. [laughs]

Oh, a lot. Yeah. [laughs]

Mike Doyle: So, you know, ever since I made the short, I was really looking to a direct a feature. And I have some other screenplays I had written that were much more ambitious and sort of had a bigger footprint, higher budget. And finally I just came back to this idea of a story about a group of friends who are sort of trying to do their best to make things in their life, things in their relationship and things in their career work the best they can and also, you know, have a healthy sense of humor whilst doing it.

Right. I have to say, The humor was amazing.

Mike Doyle: And you watched it alone. It’s so fun to watch it with an audience, when you can hear other people laughing. [laughs]

I am not going to lie. There’s a lot of people I can’t wait to have watch this once it comes out because I think they’re going to find it just as funny as I did.

Mike Doyle: Oh I can’t wait.

Speaking of the humor, like the rom-com genre, what inspired the film and what made you go in that genre direction?

Mike Doyle: You know, it’s funny. I didn’t set out to make a romantic comedy. I set out to make a film about relationships, show the universality and the challenges of being in relationship with another human being. I think from the dramatic situations, the comedy sort of springs organically. I sort of joke that if the worst things that have happened to me had a small part of myself, you know –  horrible things: death, terrible tragedy. But I think ‘oh, in two months this is going to be a really funny dinner story’, there’s an aspect of it, that there’s some humor  – we use humor as a coping mechanism to survive.

But I think that [the humor] came somewhat organically. I think there’s a hopefulness in all of the relationships in the movie that I think lends itself to the romantic comedy genre as well without being too saccharine or too pat. I think I’m ultimately a pretty hopeful person. So, I think the work is infused with a lot of that. As hard in life, it’s not just the flog through the mud. There’s a lot of beauty, there’s a lot of heart and there’s a lot of humor. It sounds like I live a rom-com life. [laughs] I don’t. It’s not all Unicorns and puppies where I am but… [laughs] but I try.

[laugh] You can get that from the film, this organic humor and everything that went into it. Where did the idea for that title come from?

Mike Doyle: And you know, titles are so hard. I have a friend whose a playwright and he’s like, ‘wouldn’t it be great if we were just like painters and it was untitled number 11’ [laughs]. In fact, Ravella Brewer’s art gallery show, if you notice, is called untitled. [laughs]

Oh! I did not!

Mike Doyle: The title comes from, most extensively from the question – does every relationship have an expiration date? And I think within relationships, I mean sometimes there is the final expiration date where it’s a divorce or a real breakup. But I think within the course of a relationship, you have many, if you will, expiration dates where you know who you were when you were 25 is different than who you were at 30. You know how you experience the world’s changes.

Some things in a dynamic of a relationship that worked early on no longer work. I think within the context of Adam and Marklin’s relationship, and with all the relationships really, the dynamics often shift. Someone is emotionally stronger and then emotionally weaker, financially stronger, financially weaker – more famous last name. And so I think Sell By speaks to that. And then on some other levels it’s even fun to play with the notion of, without giving you much away, Adam has something that he is contemplating whether to keep it or sell it or not.

Throughout Sell By, I found myself at various moments thinking back to the film Love, Actually.

Mike Doyle: Oh, great!

It really had this really strong feeling, especially with the various characters playing off one another. What were your influences while you were writing and directing?

Mike Doyle: I love the movies, I love great ensemble pieces. While Love, Actually was not a conscious reference, I did enjoy that movie, but I would say the films of Noah Baumbach, Whit Stillman, early Woody Allen films – Hannah and Her Sisters is this great patchwork of relationships and characters. I would say those three are probably my biggest influencers. I love a Nancy Meyers. I think she does a great job in creating these really interesting, deep, soulful yet funny, ensembles and patchworks as well.

That’s awesome. Your transitions in the film are seamless, not only between scenes but also the through time. I was wondering how much time lapses throughout the film from start to finish for the characters.

Mike Doyle: You know, that’s a really good question. I have an answer for it, but I’m curious, what did you think in terms of the amount of time.

To me, it felt like a year. The seasons were not matching that. So I wasn’t 100%. 

Mike Doyle: We did shoot it in New York in summer, but I think from at least maybe from warmest spring day to warmest fall day, so essentially a year. There is definitely passage of time, so glad that read.

There is an ice cream truck that appears at various times throughout the film.

Mike Doyle : [laughs] yes.

Was there a meaning behind the ice cream truck?

Mike Doyle: Yeah. You know, as a New Yorker that ice cream jingle is just the thing that haunts you and haunts you. And it’s just there all the time. And I was just playing with the notion that there was something eating away at Adam. And the something that is eating away at Adam is not just an ice cream truck with its jingle. It’s more an existential dread of what the hell am I doing in my life, in my relationship. And so I threw the ice cream truck in because it seems like really Adam is the only one who hears it, which may or may not be true, but it was this thing that was constantly gnawing at him. And also, for New Yorkers, when you hear that truck, you’re just like, “oh my God”. [laughs]

[laughs] What I really loved about Sell By was how effectively it appeals to all audiences and all types of relationships. I especially loved the subtlety of the fractures that lie behind each couple and individual. What was the writing process like creating these characters and these dynamics?

Mike Doyle: Well, thank you for saying that. I think part of the film hinges on the fact that there are these things that happen within a relationship that aren’t necessarily seismic. They’re sort of death by a thousand cuts. These sort of small slights and misses that, you know, ultimately tear the fabric of even the foundation of a relationship.

So, as an actor, as I was creating it, I can see it being infused with the performances that I was ultimately very fortunate to get that. There’s a lot that happens off the line. There’s a lot that happens textually between two human beings, two actors. And so writing that, it was challenging in that you’re juggling a lot of balls and trying to keep them all a loft and to keep them balanced and even was very much a challenge. And I was rewriting and writing up until the very last shot day. Not major stuff, but you know, different actors bring different things and it was nice to be able to tailor certain dialogue and certain words to specific actors.

And speaking of your actors, your cast had an amazing chemistry. Was there anything you did to help facilitate the connections behind camera to enhance the performances on screen?

Mike Doyle: I did a film with Karyn Kusama called The Invitation, which is an ensemble film. And actually, I guess in answer to your question, wouldn’t be a romantic comedy influence, but Karyn is definitely a huge influence on the way I worked. And she was able to carve out two days of rehearsal with us when we did it. So we weren’t meeting for the first time on set and having to have a relationship with Scott and Augie, the Scott Evans and Augie who play Adam and Marklin, I got them together a day before, which isn’t a lot, just so they weren’t meeting for the first time, that we could have a little semblance of connection before we were in front of cameras because unfortunately the nature of the film – we shot a hundred and 104 pages in 18 days.

Oh wow!

Mike Doyle: Everything moves with one camera. So everything moves very quickly. And as I was putting together, I was thinking, part of the director’s job is not just casting well in terms of the actor to the character, but also the actor to the ensemble that. I was very transparent about what this was going to be, how quickly we were going to move, that it was going to be challenging. But first and foremost was going to have amazing food on set. [laughs]

And that everyone was going to feel taken care of and respected and really treasured because you know, having acted in a lot of low budget features, it really goes such a long way when, despite all the challenges, at the end of the day your director, your producer expresses that gratitude for working and sacrificing the way that you do.

There was an extremely strong sense of diversity throughout Sell By. Was this a factor when you went into casting and when you were originally writing the film?

Mike Doyle: You know, it’s funny, I’ve been asked that question a lot and it wasn’t really. I feel like the ensemble of Sell By, like if you came to my apartment in Brooklyn on a Tuesday for dinner or hung out on the stoop with me at my stoop party, it would look like my friends circle. It’s very representative of who I am and the New York and LA that I’ve been in, which I’m very lucky to be a part of a group of friends. It’s not self conscious. So, I don’t know how to answer that. I guess yes and no. Yes, I thought about it, but it’s not something that I lingered on.

It’s interesting that you say self conscious because there’s a feeling with the film. It’s not a movie about two gay individuals. It’s not a biracial couple. It’s not an age difference. It’s very much as if you just walked into a room and each of these characters inhabit in a room.

Mike Doyle: It’s tough sometimes. Like sometimes you watch things and you’re like, “oh, someone’s checking a box”. And someone’s done some demo research and they’re inserting some sort of thing onto it. I wanted it to feel like people watching the film could feel like, “Oh, I feel part of that friend circle as well”. Like, I may not be gay, I may not be older, I may not be married, I may not be African-American, but I feel part of this, I feel I can be the ninth friend.

That definitely resonates. It was very enjoyable, you are not watching to check a box, it’s all encompassing and it was really awesome. There is a moment in the film where the potential of violence lurks below the surface threatening to break through. Why did you decide to bring that element into your story?

Mike Doyle: So the moment you’re talking about, I was told a story by a friend of mine who was out with her best friend and her best friend’s boyfriend and they were having this horrible night and someone decided it would be a fun parlor game and they played slap shots. And of course the whole night devolved into just – it was terrible. So I wanted it to bubble to the surface and hopefully not percolate through in a way that felt too scary. I still wanted there to be some sort of a notion, because I don’t think that he, I wasn’t trying to suggest that there was domestic violence or anything like that, but it was like, here he is presented with this game where I can let out this thing with permission and then it all goes wrong. It was a means to an end, ultimately Adam is shocked by it. I think he’s his own worst enemy in many ways. And even playing this game, he’s his own worst enemy because he can’t do it and he ends up instead of hurting anyone else he hurts himself.

But I also know that the way we shot it, this is part of doing an independent film, we have so many takes, we’ve got a stunt coordinator. And if I could reshoot the way he winds up and had an open smack hand rather than what looks like a fist, it would suddenly change what I think what you’re talking about in that moment.

Having successfully conquered the rom-com genre, are there any other avenues of film you’d like to explore?

Mike Doyle: You know, it’s so funny. When you go to film festivals, you see all these amazing films, and you are like, “Oh man, I want to make that”. There’s a really beautiful film that I saw in New York and it’s going to be at Outfest called End of the Century and it’s just this gorgeous, quiet film about a relationship that spans a couple of decades and it’s a very, very different film, but it’s beautiful, beautiful. And you say that and I’m like, “Oh wow, I want to make something like that”. I would love to make a thriller at some point. It’s interesting because once you do something that has comedy in it, I think there’s a lane that people expect you to continue down much like as an actor, you’re expected to continue down,  – you’re an actor  – and now you know, directing and writing, I’m often asked the question, “well are you still acting?” Yeah, I’m doing it. Let’s do it all.

Do you have any other projects that you’re currently working on that we can, uh, keep our eye out for in the future?

Mike Doyle: Yeah, I am. I directed a short film that’s premiering here in LA Friday at the LA International Shorts Festival It’s called The Chase. It’s a very different story about a cell phone that was stolen on the sidewalk of Melrose one night and a road movie on foot between two guys in LA. That’s a non LGBT film that I directed – so that’s coming out. And then as an actor, I’m going back for season two of the show that’s on NBC called New Amsterdam.

Very nice! very nice!

Mike Doyle: Yeah, keeping busy. [laughs]

Well Mike, thank you very much for taking the time to speak with me. That’s all the questions I have for today.

Mike Doyle: Oh, thank you. You really asked very insightful, very thoughtful questions and it’s always nice. Actually you’ve asked us a couple of questions that haven’t been asked before about things that I was like, “I hope that’s reading”. So I’m really grateful that you watched the film the way they way that you did and that you ask the questions you did. And I really appreciate it.

Thank you. Honestly, I can’t wait to tell everybody about it.

Mike Doyle: Awesome, Awesome. Fantastic!

Film Inquiry would like to thank Mike Doyle for taking the time to speak with us.