Pop-Culturalist.com

Filmmaker Tyler Chipman has rapidly emerged as one of the most compelling voices of his generation. His debut feature, The Shade, is a haunting exploration of grief, loss, and mental health, masterfully conveyed through the lens of genre.

Led by breakout star Chris Galust, the award-winning film follows twenty-year-old Ryan (Galust) as he struggles with a debilitating anxiety disorder after his father’s death. Alongside his two brothers, he must fight to break the destructive cycle threatening their family as an ancient darkness closes in on them.

Pop Culturalist had the distinct pleasure of speaking with Tyler and Chris about The Shade, their approach to telling impactful stories through genre, and much more.

PC: Tyler, you’ve dreamed of making films since you were in high school. You actually shot a proof of concept for The Shade in 2019. How has the script evolved over time and manifested into your debut feature as a writer-director? Congratulations, by the way.
Tyler: Thank you very much. That’s a great question to start with. The term “proof of concept” might apply a bit more loosely here compared to other films. Dave [Purdy], the co-founder of Red King Cinema and the producer of the film, and I always had it in mind to move toward feature films. We did make a short film with the same name, and while some of the thematic content is similar, it’s a very different movie, especially in terms of intent.

After we made it, we realized there was a much bigger and perhaps more meaningful story to tell with these types of characters, which was very exciting. Because of that, the feature script came fairly easily to me. We already had a general idea, and we spent a lot of time reviewing the short film—not to expand it verbatim into a larger film, but to scale it up in every way. Not just in terms of budget and runtime, but also from an ideas perspective, which was great.

PC: Chris, I imagine as an actor you dream of roles like this because there’s so much to delve into with a character like Ryan. What was it about Tyler’s script and this character that initially caught your eye?
Chris: When I read the script, I was immediately drawn to it. It brings awareness to a topic that we don’t often see in filmmaking. The story is so original, and that’s what attracted me to it. Being able to portray a character and shed light on a perspective that audiences aren’t used to seeing was pretty cool. As I dove deeper into it with Tyler, it became more and more exciting.

PC: Tyler, something you’ve done so brilliantly with this film is how you handle sensitive topics like grief, trauma, and mental health. So often in film, these themes are portrayed in a singular way, but you were able to show the nuances of these topics through different characters. With this being such a personal story for you, can you talk a bit about infusing your own lived experiences and the extensive research you did? Why was that so important to you?
Tyler: You have a million reasons for wanting to tell a particular story with a specific cast of characters, but one of the main reasons, as you mentioned with the film’s themes, is that often they’re treated as a prop or an inciting incident to launch a story. I felt like a lot of genre films don’t necessarily explore these themes fairly; they’re just used to set things in motion. It’s become this genre exercise that follows a familiar formula. I wanted to create something that was more honest about what a person or a group of people might experience under these circumstances, as truthfully as I could.

This is a genre movie. It’s a horror film—there’s no question about it. The horror and genre elements are there to underline the experiences these characters are having and to make the internal nature of their struggles more tangible. It was important to me that we explore the truth of what these characters were experiencing before we thought about how we were going to scare the audience. That was always secondary to staying true to these characters.

PC: Chris, I feel like this is going to be a breakout moment for you. You were able to capture all the nuances of self-isolation and the growth your character experiences throughout the film. Without giving any spoilers, as an actor, how did you create the space to tap into that vulnerability and growth?
Chris: You draw from your own personal life experiences and the tools the director and writer give you. It becomes its own living, breathing thing. Tyler wrote the character, and I’m there in service of him and the story. We’ve all been through things, and it’s about channeling that energy into the performance.

PC: Tyler, there’s so much intention and purpose behind every scene. It feels like one of those films you can rewatch and discover new things with each viewing. Was that something you were mindful of during the creative process? How did you approach incorporating those deeper elements in such a subtle way?
Tyler: First of all, thank you for noticing that. It was absolutely something Dave and I discussed when we were conceiving this story together. We outlined the story before I started writing the script, and I always intended for it to be highly rewatchable because so much is happening internally. Chris, Dylan [McTee], and the other actors did such a beautiful job conveying that in a very artful and understated way.

There are things you won’t catch the first time around—snatches of dialogue, side glances, all kinds of subtle details. That was important because so much of the story deals with what’s left unspoken. This is a story about masculinity in a working, blue-collar family from Central Massachusetts and how they try to deal with their pain and process grief, which, frankly, they do quite poorly. But that’s the point of the story. Being too explicit with dialogue or plot would have been a complete betrayal of the film’s intent. The subtlety and nuances are essential—without them, there’s no story.

PC: Chris, it feels like the entire cast was elevating each other’s performances. How did you build those familiar bonds with Laura [Benanti], Dylan, and Sam [Duncan], especially given how different each of those dynamics are? How did their creative choices influence your own?
Chris: We were able to meet up and get to know each other a bit before we started shooting, which really helped. Also, we didn’t shoot the heavier scenes at the start of production, which was a smart decision by Tyler. As we got deeper into filming, you could really feel everyone’s energy. You see what your scene partner is giving you, and it allows you to bounce off of that while staying within the guidelines of what’s written on the page. We definitely hung out between shots, running scenes together to get a better understanding of what we were filming that day and to prepare.

Tyler: If I can add to that, the cast was amazing. I’m so proud of all of them. They really hit it off and made me look good out there. There was a lot of camaraderie between them, which was important since we didn’t have much rehearsal time—no table read. But we were able to move into our hotels in Devens, Massachusetts, which became our home base.

They’d have pool parties, and I’d catch them reading scenes together. You hear this a lot, but we really were like a big family. There’s always a bit of luck involved unless you’re doing extensive chemistry reads. When working with the casting director, it’s not just about picking the best people for the roles, but also finding people who will naturally gel together in a cohesive way.

Make sure to follow Tyler (Instagram) and Chris (Instagram). The Shade is in select theaters now.