Twenty-five years ago, John August’s first script was made into a film. Directed and shot by Doug Liman, Go is a wild ride following a young cashier’s descent into the world of drug dealing. Filled with zany dialogue and told with an experimental structure, it remains an undoubtedly singular film. While August would go on to write novels and collaborate with the likes of Tim Burton on several notable films, this movie clearly represents a very special time in his career. Having just received a restoration in time for its big anniversary, which is showing at the Austin Film Festival, I was happy to sit with John and discuss the film’s legacy as well as how his writing process has changed over the years. I hope you enjoy the discussion, and thank you again to John for the time!
Congratulations on the restoration, just in time for the 25th anniversary! How do you feel about the script after all this time, and how’s that different from when you wrote it?
Go was my first produced screenplay. It actually started as a short film, which comprised the first section of Go, with Ronna and the grocery store. When I had the chance to go back and fill out the rest, I had to re-start and figure out what was happening with everybody else. I was really happy with the script. We took it out on the town, like ‘we love this, we will never make it.’ Fortunately, one small company called Banner [Entertainment] took a chance on it. They said they’d keep me involved as a producer and were true to their word. I was there for every single decision made, from hiring the director to all the casting, etc. It’s exciting to see it after twenty-five years and remember how it all started.
The story structure is really innovative. I’m wondering if you can talk about the creative choices that led to you taking that route.
It has a three-part structure because I wrote it as a short film first. I had to go back and think about what happened to all the other characters in that twenty-four-hour period. I knew that if I tried to intercut between them it would all fall apart. The structure wouldn’t hold. You need to focus on one section of the story at a time. Playing through Ronna’s section first made sense because it allowed us to see what happened to Simon and all his buddies who went off to Vegas before finally coming back to Adam and Zack and wrapping everything up. Luckily there had been many nonlinear films, but Pulp Fiction had come out and was a huge hit, so we could go to studios and say ‘listen, audiences will be able to follow this.’ Even though we were doing something very different than Pulp Fiction or Night Train I knew audiences could follow it.
The dialogue is so irreverent. Is that humor in the early drafts or is it something that presents itself in the edit?
Every line that’s spoken is in the script. There’s a little improv with the guys in the car, but those characters are written to be those characters. It’s pretty tight. They’re saying what they need to in the moment, but what they’re saying is also setting something up twenty minutes later. Part of my job as being the writer on set is to remind people to be completely in the moment, but also this has to tie into something that happens down the road. There were lots of times where it’s two in the morning, we’re shooting in this empty grocery store, and I had to wedge myself in and say ‘fantastic, but also I need this to stay in the present tense rather than the past tense because it’s not going to cut otherwise.’ The job of the writer on set is really to sort of keep the whole movie in their head because in some ways the writer’s the only person who’s already seen the movie.
The characters feel so singular, especially Ronna. How did you build her character? What inspired you and how did you go about fleshing her out?
A lot of the first two sections of Go hearken back to when I was in college. In real life, I’m sort of the Katy Holmes character who’s reluctantly dragged into things but ends up having a really good time. So, I knew I needed a Ronna character who was pushing things forward. I had a lot of templates from people in my own life for who that person could be and what the dynamic was. It’s the cockiness, the confidence. She’s in over her head and we can see that, she can feel it, but also, she’s not letting it show. There’s a non-gendered equality to her. In the moments that she has to be visibly female, that power dynamic is tough. When Gaines is asking her if she’s wearing a wire and she has to strip to her bra, she suddenly feels young and vulnerable again. Seeing those two sides was incredible. Then, of course, we had Sarah Polley, who was just remarkable. She was very young but you could already tell she had an incredible sense of not just herself as a performer but also how cinematic storytelling works. Seeing the director she’s become isn’t surprising because she’s always had that insight.
Do you speak to the actors on set about their characters? How does that creative collaboration work?
The casting was incredibly important. Joseph Middleton was our casting director and we saw everybody on the planet for these roles. We’d bring people in and they weren’t quite right or would be reading for the wrong character. For example, Timothy Olyphant came in to read for Adam or Zack, and it was fine, but we said ‘you’re really Gaines, aren’t you?’ and he said ‘I’m totally Gaines. I was actually prepared for that one.’ It was about getting people together in a way that made sense. It had to feel like they were part of the same generation, that they belonged in the same movie, so that people that might not have a lot of scenes would absolutely nail it. Jane Krakowski is a phenomenal example. Melissa McCarthy has exactly one scene and absolutely slays it. It was a really dedicated process with Joseph Middleton and the producers.
You have so much experience as a writer now. What is your favorite part of the process at this point? How has it changed?
When you first attempt to write a script, it’s blue sky. You can do anything. Then the characters start speaking, you can hear their voices, and it’s about fitting those puzzle pieces together in each scene. But Go was my first time going from writing a script to actually having to film it. Then you realize you can go into the editing room and keep making changes. It was my first chance getting to see the whole process.
They say the film is written three times, including when you edit it. How was seeing that part of the process? Did it give you a new perspective on the story or characters?
Absolutely. As a writer, I’m all the characters, but once the characters are assigned you have to see the choices that they’ve made and find how those choices embody the character. You’re doing that in production, watching the monitor, but really, it’s in post that you find how performances are fitting together. You’re finding those little moments. It’s gut, it’s how it feels, what’s feeling true to it. I’ve done plays, and it’s not the same thing. In a play, you’re creating a moment actors will perform for decades. Here, it just has to work one time, with people specifically cast for that part.
Filmmaking in general is so collaborative. How did you learn to go along with the changes that naturally occur in the production process?
On Go, I walked onto set the first day and felt a tremendous impostor syndrome. ‘I don’t belong here, they’re gonna find me out, this isn’t going to work, the things I wrote can’t be filmed.’ But then you quickly realize it’s just a lot of hard work. Going through the process with other filmmakers and other teams, you realize that Steven Spielberg has a gift, but he’s also working really hard. That’s the thing that’s so gratifying to see, because I know I can work really hard. It’s not just some special magical talent a person is born with. That was reassuring to see with Go and moving forward. It’s impossible that it’s been twenty-five years.
The Go restoration will be available soon, and was featured at the Austin Film Festival. I hope you keep an eye out for it!
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