Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Cold Brook’s William Fichtner

William Fichtner’s directorial debut, Cold Brook, is an inspiring story about friendship and stepping up to the plate. It follows two ordinary guys living in a small town who risk it all for a stranger. It’s a lesson that William took to heart for this project, wearing multiple hats, including actor, director, writer, and producer. Pop Culturalist caught up with William to chat about Cold Brook and the inspiration behind the film.

PC: Tell us about Cold Brook and what inspired the film.
William: Long story short, in 2001 I was shooting the film Black Hawk Down in Morocco. I met Kim Coates for the first time. I met one of my closest friends ever in my early forties. When we finished the project and I got back home, I found out that he lived about ten minutes from me, and we just became best buddies. A few years after that, I was such a fan of his work that I went to another great friend of mine, Cain DeVore, and I said, “Cainers, I have an idea for a story. Let’s write it together—a story about friendship. I’m writing this to do it with Kim Coates. That’s it. I don’t want to make the film unless I’m doing it with him. Twelve years later, we shot the film with Kim Coates.

That’s how it all began. It’s a story about friendship about a couple of guys in a small town that have an extraordinary experience. That was our template from the beginning, and eventually, we made the film. I’m so happy it’s out now.

PC: How much of the script/story has changed in those twelve years?
William: A lot! Harold Perrineau’s character, Gil, was born out of this desire to write something that would challenge these two friends. Out of that came that character, and that developed over time.

Honestly, I remember two weeks before our first day of photography, Cain got to Buffalo and I’d been there for a couple of months, and I had some last-minute thoughts. We went through the entire script from start to finish and made some tweaks. By the time day one of photography happened, I felt like we had the story that we wanted to tell. But it was right up until the eleventh hour.

PC: You starred, directed, produced, and wrote the film. Was it a challenge wearing so many different hats? Was one more difficult than the other?
William: The directing part was all joy. Finding the language for each individual actor was a joy. The way that I would talk to Robin Weigert about things, who plays the character Mary Ann, Ted’s wife in the film, is different than the way that I would talk to Brad Henke. Everybody hears something in their own way. The challenge for directors is to find the language and speak to them. The acting part, I didn’t really have any time to go through whatever process I have.

So thank goodness that I wrote it and I’ve been working on it for twelve years. I went through that process before we even started shooting. The writing part, Cain and I, we were constantly tweaking and looking for the rhythms to be good. The producing part, 80% of my energy was to make sure every little detail is there. Even for a small indie film, it takes work and commitment. Of all the hats, the producing part was the toughest.

PC: How early on in the process did you know you wanted to wear all those hats?
William: That’s a great question. The truth is that I didn’t know. All I knew at the beginning was, “I’m going to write a story for Kim and Bill.” As time went on, even before we started shooting, I found myself scouting locations. I wanted to experience the potential of shooting the film in my hometown.

That’s how it morphed into me producing the film. The writing was a given. It was always meant for me and Kim to act in it. I think from the very beginning, there was no question, “If I’m going to cowrite this story with my buddy Cain, I’m going to tell this story. I don’t want to pass it off. I want to be the one that tells this story about these guys.”

PC: What’s one thing that you know now that you wish you knew when you started this project?
William: One thing? Can it be a hundred? I would say prepare for postproduction. I thought preproduction and shooting the film was climbing a mountain. But it’s just the first mountain. There’s a whole other mountain that comes after that, and that’s putting the film together. I didn’t anticipate how big that mountain was going to be. In every way, it was even more difficult than the preproduction and shooting the film. But listen, you look for angels along the way, and I certainly had my share of those. These things don’t come together unless an awful lot of stars align, and I am really grateful that we did.

PC: What do you hope audiences takeaway?
William: It’s a story of a couple of guys that find out about something and find out about someone. Knowledge is power and it’s also a responsibility. When someone’s in need, what do you do? These guys make a choice. They make a choice to help somebody, even at the risk of that decision affecting them. But you do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do. I hope people walk away and learn to step up to the plate.

Catch Cold Brook in select theaters and on VOD.