Interview Conducted: Tuesday June 13, 2001
You may have met Mathieu on several message boards where he
goes by the name JoeKerr. Recently Mathieu is busy at work on making his
very own Batman film. He answered some questions I had regarding the film.
AJ: First off can you tell everyone a little about yourself?
JK: Well I'm a 20 year-old collegian student, I'm now studying in a college on the island of Montreal.
AJ: What is your role in the film.?
JK: Well, I am doing the job of three persons as I am writer, director and co-producer
AJ: Is there a story yet? If so can you give us a basic outline of the plot.
Also which characters from Bat-lore will be appearing in your film.
JK: Yes, there is a basic story. No script is finished yet, but the story is
fairly simple. Some one has kidnapped one of Catwoman's close friend and (He/She) is blackmailing
her. Batman stops her during one of her burglaries. And after some struggle,
he decides to help Catwoman track down the person who kidnapped her friend.
AJ: When you emailed me, you mentioned having a lot of problems with some of
the cast members ? for the sake of the readers, can you tell us of these problems and how you dealt with them.
JK: I had problems, when I first tried to do this project. Most of the actors I had chosen were my friends, and they weren't as serious as I was.
The actor who was playing Batman, didn't want too much involvement. He never wanted to do anything. I had to work very hard to
convince him to shoot. And when he did feel like doing so he was a pain in the neck. For him Batman was just a tough guy in a rubber-suit.
I think he thought I wanted to try to emulate the look of the WB films. A thing I vowed not to
do and this guy was the only one who had theatre experience and who wanted and still wants to become an actor.
The other actor
who was hard to work with was the actor playing the Joker. I think that when
he accepted to play the Joker, he didn't realize that he would have to wear make-up every day we shot. He wasn't very cooperative with the
make-up always asking to a less, less and less white stuff on his face. At one point
we had shot a couple of scenes, we took a short break and when we had to shoot again, he showed up with a goatee, and he
didn't want to shave it off.
But I think the thing I hated most was his complete ignorance of the art of
film making. He didn't understand things like editing, lighting and choreography
but that was almost two years ago. I had no clue what I was doing, But I think during the time I stopped working on "The Final Laugh" and now, I've
learned a lot. I made connections and I have honed my skills a lot.
AJ: What do you look for when you cast people for their respected roles? do you have a set of criteria that the person must fit?
JK: I don't ask my friends that's for sure. I try to look for people with a lot,
and I mean a lot, of patience. That's why I'm doing auditions for my projects from now on. they have to be
willing to re-do everything over and over. I also try to find people who have a great concentration. But I think the
most important aspect of finding the right actor or actress is to have their trust. if they know that you know what you
want. they'll work perfectly.
AJ: Do any of the people you are working with know anything about Batman or
Batlore?
JK: Right now, I'm the only Bat-expert. But the actor who was supposed to play
Batman (Final Laugh) was a former comic-book fan.
AJ: How far are you in the making of your film? When do you hope to complete
it by?
JK: Right now, I'm writing it, I wrote three synopsis' and I started writing
the script recently. I'm not going to give any date, but I hope to be finished either by Christmas 2001 or Early 2002.
AJ: When you learned that Fabio2 was making his own Batman movie, what similarities and differences did you see in your production and his?
JK: Well we both want to do a good Batman movie that is closer to comics. But
Fabio, as I have understood wants his movie to be a sort of sequel to the WB series. While I don't plan on making my project very similar.
AJ: When the film is complete, do you plan on distributing the film? if so, how will you do this?
JK: When It'll be finished I'll try to have it distributed either by
Fanfilmxchange, Localorigination, Ifilm or any website
that promotes this type of project.
AJ: When you look at the four live action films, do you see any positive aspects to carry over in your film and do you see any flaws that you hope to
improve on with your film.
JK: Well I see many flaws, one which has bothered me very much is how cold and
emotion-less they portray Batman, I know he shouldn't be a funny sunny guy, but he never seems
to show any emotion. I think Batman should look like an angry S.O.B. when he
drops on some one. Bruce Wayne is often as psychotic as Batman. In my opinion Bruce Wayne doesn't look or act like a psycho, he should
almost be like Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent. That's why Batman needs a scary mask, a thing the WB films got right on the four movies.
Batman's cowl is simply evil-looking, something that is perfect. but the rest of the suit, with exception of the suit isn't very logical in my opinion.
First, that suit doesn't seem to have a high-degree
of mobility, and it looks like only a millionaire could buy one, which is
all wrong for me. It should look like a normal-guy could build one without spending millions on it.
AJ: .In your email, you told me that one of the motivations for making this film was the passing of someone important to you. Will you dedicated the
finish product to them as a show of respect.
JK: Depending on the quality of the finished film, yes.
AJ: Do you plan on pursuing a filmmaking career if this movie is deemed a success?
JK: Even if some people find it the worst film ever I'll keep on making films,
I'm doing this project out of love. Love for film making and love for the world of Batman.
AJ:. Ok I'm going to end here, but I'll give you some names and you respond with a word or sentence that springs to your mind when you hear them.
-Tim Burton:
JK: Great film maker, he gave us his vision of Batman.
-Joel Schumacher:
JK: Great film maker, who could guess the man who made Batman
& Robin is responsible for 8mm.
-Fabio2:
JK: Great guy, and a good friend, I which his film would've been made.
-Michael Keaton:
JK: A very talented actor, he gave a fantastic performance as
Batman, but the physique just wasn't there.
For anyone who'd like to see the work in progress on this film they can go
to Mathieu's website by clicking Here