The Orgy

In Depth with the Director - Sam Baron

Hello Sam, tell us a little about yourself and your background in film.

I've been making micro-budget films since I was a teenager, and working in the film industry since my early twenties, mostly as a screenwriter for the last few years, hustling towards my lifelong dream of one day making a proper feature film, and then a dozen more!

How did The Orgy first come together as a project?

I was friends with Tilly Coulson (the producer) as we'd both been assistants at production companies around the same time, and we were both keen to make a high-end 'calling card' short film to show the world what we were about. We wanted it to be a love story, and once I had the idea to set it at an orgy, we knew we were on to something!

You provide a unique spin on relationships, from the hinted at dissolution of an engagement to the marital troubles of a couple hosting an orgy. Was this a particular focus in developing the film?

The subject matter seemed to naturally invite the question 'who goes to orgies?', and the film offers a few answers to that question: our heartbroken leading man, the couple whose marriage is on the rocks, a single mother with no time to date and an experienced lothario, to name a few — all people seeking connection in different ways. In the potential TV series adaptation we're working on, we hope to expand our lens to further explore the nuances of this community, and to show how positive and transformative these events can be for some people. Ultimately, like most things, there are people who get involved for the right reasons and the wrong reasons, and we'd love to tell more stories in this world exploring every side of it. I'm a big believer that everyone is interesting if you look close enough!

As with any film delving in a taboo world, there are certain boundaries of what you will show your audience. How did you decide how far to push it and where to rein it in?

We were very clear from the start that we didn't want this film to have a 'male gaze' — there was nothing interesting to us about showing the nudity, and it felt much more powerful and relevant to our hero's subjective experience if we treated it like the monster in a horror film, keeping it off-screen and left to the audience's imagination!

There are some tremendous performances from Amit Shah, Alexandra Roach and Dustin Demri-Burns. How much direction did you give them in bringing the script to life?

They're each very different actors, with completely different processes. With Amit, I did a lot of obsessive preparation, poring over every line and moment. With Alex, we had broader conversations about her character, her off-screen life and her perspective on orgy-going. With Dustin, we spoke a lot about how to play the grounded tone of the comedy. During the shoot, they each brought their incredible instincts and my job was mostly giving little ideas or adjustments, encouraging them to really listen to each other and to feel each take as if it was the first time we'd ever done the scene. I'm eternally grateful to all of our amazing cast for the exceptional work they did!

The inclusion of the coda ends the film on a seemingly positive note, out of a dark orgy and into a bright gym. Was that a concerted effort to shift to a more optimistic tone?

We did toy with ending the film in a purely tragic place, but Tilly and I both felt we'd put Amit's character through so much suffering that we liked the idea of offering a little ray of hope at the end — he's earned it!

What was the biggest challenge in making this film?

There were so many challenges — we had a tiny budget and nowhere near enough time in the schedule, and we somehow had to find a bunch of people willing to take their clothes off and help us put on an orgy. But every film project feels like an impossible task at first, so we threw ourselves into it, called in every favour we could from friends, colleagues and anyone else we could find, and somehow that passion and persistence paid off!

What projects are coming for you in the future?

We've been working hard on adapting the short into a potential TV series, and we'd love to find a broadcaster who's willing to back us to get back to orgy-world!

Do you have any message for our Melbourne audience?

We wish we could be there with you, and we hope you enjoy the film!