Interview: Peter Hedges Discusses His Film The Same Storm

Director Peter Hedges Discusses The Intimate Power Of The Same Storm

Creating a meaningful connection

October 26, 2022

By Matt Connor

Web exclusive

What to make of the last few years? Better yet, what is possible to make of all this? Writer/director Peter Hedges is busy promoting his answer to these questions, a new film titled The same storm, and even the business (or employment) of the promotion isn’t something he was sure would boomerang. Any of us?

In the maelstrom of a world that has taken shelter in place and a virus that has spread, of increasingly polarizing political positions and public distrust, of families and institutions torn apart based on scientific beliefs or medical judgments, Hedges wrote and directed The same stormprofile of 24 characters with intertwined narratives surviving the lockdown of 2020. Shot on iPhones and laptops and featuring a strong cast (Sandra Oh, Rosemary DeWitt, Mary Louise-Parker, Alison Peel, Judith Light, Moses Ingram and others), Hedges trying to build a relationship story—or at least an attempt at a relationship—in the midst of so much confusion and uncertainty.

We recently had the chance to sit down with Peter to hear more about his latest project and how he was inspired amidst so much weight.

UTR (Matt Connor): I want to start with this idea of The same storm, which is a film literally centered around the shared experiences we’ve all had around the world over the past few years. I was wondering how hard you fight to tell a story here and if you’re afraid that people might not want more of what they’ve already lived? Or was that more fascinating knowing how universal everything is?

Peter Hedges: Great question. I was starting to feel incredibly hopeless about what was happening and what it meant to be around the ones you love. Sometimes it was nice because you didn’t have to be around people you didn’t like very much, but most of it was this slowly growing sense of desperation.

When I saw a Zoom reading done to benefit MCC Theater with Marisa Tomei and Oscar Isaac reading Alan Bone’s play Beirut— a play she did 30 years ago and I saw her perform on stage — not only did I cry, the rawness and intuitive aspects of these two actors just being human and speaking live to this small audience was euphoric . I felt like we’re still here, we’re alive, it’s possible to do something intimate and impactful, and there are ways to reach people.

In the middle of that evening I went to bed and couldn’t sleep, so I got up and started writing. Pretty soon what I was writing was writing me. At first I thought it would just be a play we could read, very similar to the play I had just seen, but as I continued to write and the scenes led to another, I felt that there was a container that could hold so much .

There are so many actors I’ve worked with and so many actors I’ve dreamed of working with, and we’re all in this unique position of being denied the ability to do what we normally do. So I didn’t want to say anything about the moment, but more to show that there is a way to keep playing and making. In that spirit, I just moved on.

This led to an experiment. I contacted a company called Straight Up Technologies who had developed their own software for people to manage and work remotely. They had done a lot with Michael Mann, who does a lot of his editing remotely. They were doing some things on network TV as well.

So all these things collided. There was this energy in what we were doing, and suddenly the people at Straight Up said they had a two-week window where they could really support filming something. This was after I said I thought I had a script and shared it with them. With that window open and what was happening in the world and writing as fast as I was writing and workshops with actors, we embraced the moment and structured it the way we did Pieces of Aprilthat I directed, which was for people to donate their services for partial ownership in the film.

So that allowed us to make the film at a reasonable price. People up to this point were so hungry for work. The hope was that out of this frenzied energy pouring into it, we would make something that reflected the moment but was more than that. All of these scenes are about people trying to connect, and all of my stories in a way are about broken people trying to find their way to each other – to make some kind of connection, a holy connection, if you will.

How has the harshness of the media affected your approach?

I remember as children being told that if we lose our sight, all our senses are heightened. You have a better sense of sound and taste due to increased dependence. That’s a terrible analogy. [Laughs] In my experience, how you make a film often reflects what the film is about. with Pieces of April, we never had enough time and this movie is about running out of time. This movie was about finding ways to come together so we can answer each other, and there was a lot in the way of that. Fortunately, technology has allowed us to overcome this.

There were all kinds of challenges that came with this approach, but necessity is the mother of invention, and that has never been truer. It was the only way we could figure out how to shoot it safely and also allow the actors to interact in the moment. Many movies in the same space as The same storm it will look better because they sent a camera to an actor and that actor filmed himself. Then they sent another to another actor and took a picture. The two ship it and cut the film together. The actors weren’t actually playing each other; they imagined the performances of others.

You miss out on that amazing camaraderie that is often prevalent on set. After an emotional day where you had an exhausting scene, you can go to craft services and empathize. [Laughs] So we missed one of my favorite parts of being in the trenches together, but still, in our own way, we were able to be in the trenches together and that made it very special.

When you say you made this deal, did you get what you hoped to get?

Yes, I did it. We’re at a really interesting point with our technology and storytelling. I’m talking about this because on Pieces of April we didn’t even use a high definition camera. We shot it on a Sony PD-150. It made it feel more filmic, but it was still digital video. But what the iPhone can capture now, and I see in a lot of the shows that I do, the image is so pristine and so clear. Because we don’t screen movies anymore, there’s none of the hype that came with the movie, which was a reminder that it was all made by people, by real people.

So there’s a part of me that knows for some moviegoers that anything that isn’t completely crystal clear right now can be painful. To me, it does what old home movies or movies shot on 16mm do, where the director spreads the negatives on the floor and walks over them with his boots. I didn’t know it until I watched it again, but it all really helped capture that moment in time. I think those imperfect moments give it a sense of reality.

Much of this film is based on these issues that are so polarizing: politics, health information, or misinformation. How did you overcome the obstacles of writing these characters from both sides in a way that didn’t seem two-dimensional?

I think there are a few parts that are signed, and when I sign characters, I always try to shoot for one of those roles. You can’t tell everyone’s story. So what I’m trying to do is hide a signed role. I think there are instances where the actors didn’t have much to do, but they did so much with what they had that it gave weight and humanity to characters that might not have been on the page.

After all that, what other creative records do you have spinning?

Of course, for several years I have been working on a script that I am very excited about. I hope this will be my next film. I’ll find out soon if it’s my next film. You can want a movie to be a movie, but the world has to want it too. I don’t want to say too much about it, but it’s written a lot in response to what’s going on in the world right now. It’s a very personal film – not autobiographical – but it’s an important film for me. I’m so close to sending it out into the world it almost hurts to say it. But hopefully that will be the next movie we talk about.