Meet Spyder Dobrofsky | Director of Down Below” w/ Eric Roberts

We had the good fortune of connecting with Spyder Dobrofsky and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Spyder, how do you think about risk?
You can’t pursue a career in entertainment, a career in Hollywood, or specifically a career in screenwriting and directing without getting comfortable with risk taking. Risk taking is art. Period. With that being said, I’ve found that a lot of success I’ve had came from finding the most “sure thing” amongst the all the risk. An example of that can be writing a really original screenplay but somehow burying some of that originality in a format or tropes that audiences or production houses can better understand. Teardrop was an original haunted ghost town script that ended up getting made at Tubi. In many ways, the dialogue is quite original for the genre. But I also worked hard to find a way to make it all digestible. When taking your risks, can you also be a little calculated…. that’s always been my approach.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?

I’ve been ultra busy in the post production phase of my first feature as a director. It’s a psychological horror film called “Down Below”. We’re now doing color grading, post sound, VFX and score. It’s a lot of late nights. But oh so much fun.

They say a movie is written three times. On the script, in production and in post, and it’s true. You keep finding ways to hone that story, add a line, change an intention, create a tone with color. It’s a surreal process. And as a first timer, I’m just soaking it all in, learning, growing rapidly and trying to keep everyone mining the same sculpture. That is, keep the movie cohesive and part of the same vision. I like using the fruit salad metaphor. You have all these ingredients you’re using, but they have to be mixed and proportioned right. You don’t want to be putting too much fruit in a salad, or it’s suddenly a fruit salad. Sometimes a great line doesn’t fit the tone of the rest of the film and it has to go. People like chocolate, but maybe not in a salad. You get the point. The blend has to be appropriate. If you’re making a horror film and it’s not as scary as it should be because of all these great jokes… maybe you leave the jokes on the cutting room floor… or you turn it into a horror comedy. Decisions-decisions.

Beyond “Down Below”, I’ve finished my follow up script that I want to direct. I spent many years just being a writer, selling holidays movies, a Tube movie, and directing shorts. Directing is been on my mind a lot more lately.

Some lessons learned along the way? Here’s one. The greatest lesson I’ve ever learned is to never give up on your dreams, on your stories, on your films. And to add to that, the timeline of when these dreams will occur won’t be like you imagined, nor will the plan unfold in the way you thought it would (or maybe even hoped it would) but stick with it, and good things will happen. The scripts I wrote and thought were no good ended up selling. Shocker. The ones that didn’t sell I thought for sure would be the game changer for me. You never know. But write stories you are passionate about; make films you want to tell.

Momentum and motion are an artists’ BFF.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I’d say, no plans — just surf the whole week… and get fish tacos after. Okay, for real… I grew up in Los Angeles, so it’s all just home to me. But we do have great hikes, good people, bomb sushi, and if you like all the action — there’s lots to be found. It’s a creative Mecca. It’s nature too. It depends who you are and what you like to do, I guess.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to my partner in crime on this movie “Down Below” that we’re in the final stretches on. My little brother Dash. He shot the whole movie (director of photography) as well as produced the dang thing! He pulled miracles out of a hat and believed in my story enough to get an unbelievable cast of horror icons on board and Oscar-Nom Eric Roberts.

Really, my whole team on the film were troopers and supported the vision from day-one. Very lucky and grateful. My parents too. Always in our corner, watching cuts, giving notes. It’s nice to have supportive creative souls in your life.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/spyderdobro

Twitter: https://twitter.com/spyderdobro

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/spyderdobro

Other: New Movie on Deadline: https://deadline.com/2023/11/doug-jones-bai-ling-alexis-knapp-join-cast-spyder-dobrofsky-film-down-below-1235612386/

Image Credits
SIX12MEDIA