Pablo Knappe Rodriguez
He is the filmmaker of Mute Dollar Baby film.
SKSM: Could you start with telling me a little bit about yourself? Who are you and what do you do?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: I’m Pablo and I love movies. That’s the most important thing about me I guess. In my free time I watch films and other than that I work in a production company with very good friends of mine.
SKSM: When did you know you wanted to become a filmmaker?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: That’s not easy to pinpoint – I don’t have one of those typical childhood moments to describe that. There’s a few moments that hinted me in that direction. In fifth grade we had an extracurricular project at school that I signed up for. It was about making a short film or remaking an existing film – everyone could pitch a story or a film and I pitched „The Sting“ (1973) and ended up winning the pitch. I „directed“ it together with the teacher but it wasn’t really professional. Later in 11th grade we had another similar project and the class chose me and a few colleagues to do the film project and I had the time of my life. My mum got really mad at me because I spent my whole birthday shooting some school project and she didn’t get to see me. In the end I still wanted to study architecture and only last minute backed out. I did a course in camera and editing and had so much fun I decided to study directing. It really are out of a hunch in the end.
SKSM: How do you like to describe yourself as a director?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: Commited and determined. I hope my crewmates would describe me like that too, probably rather as strict and a pain in the ass, hahaha.
SKSM: When did you make Mute? Can you tell me a little about the production? How much did it cost? How long did it take to film it?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: We shot Mute in early December of 2022 in Tallinn, Estonia. I was spending my semester abroad there. Luckily many friends and the main actor flew out to Estonia on their own costs just to do this project with me. It cost a total of 2100€ and we filmed it in four days. The production went pretty good. The biggest difficulty was definitely the weather. I remember that when we arrived on set on the second day of shooting we had temperatures of roughly -20°C / -4°F. Our sound mixer was also a student in his semester abroad and since then lost the feeling in one of his toes. The toe is fine though other that that an Chrissie is too.
SKSM: How come you picked Mute to develop into a movie?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: I heard about the Dollar Baby Program and went to the website to see which stories Mr King offered up. I didn’t know all of them so I read the summaries of the ones I didn’t know and I liked Mute the best. The decision was not only about the story but also about how easy it would be to adapt in regards to locations and other things that might be hard to show in a film with no budget. Just a random example: if the whole story is about a terrible plan crash it might be rather hard for us to do with our limitations we had at the time.
SKSM: What do you think it is about the story that attracts people so much?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: Good question. I think at heart it plays with fears that most people can relate to. It’s about a man who got cheated on and didn’t know how to deal with it. That’s the core story. There’s many ways to tell this story and the story Mute is told by Stephen King, so the surrounding circumstances are more grim and dark. The whole combination is clever and intriguing as a story so it’s no surprise Mr King has such a giant fanbase.
SKSM: Can you tell us about your experience on this film? Was everything planned ahead or did some things change during filming?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: I always like to plan out everything beforehand. Of course there’s always stuff happening that no one could see coming. In this production it was regarding the role of Cowboy Bob (Barbs lover). We found an excellent Finnish actor who was just perfect for this role. He was up to play it and had awesome ideas for the character. E.g. he had the idea of smoking while having sex with Barb. The goal of that scene was not to be esthetic. On the contrary. It was supposed to be repulsive and off-putting as to not portray Barb’s money-spending lifestyle as glamorous. So the ideas that Kai (the original Cowboy-Bob actor) had were great to achieve this goal. Also Raneli (Barb) was happy to do the scene with Kai and liked his ideas too. In the end Kai called me one and a half days before the shoot because he got diagnosed with Covid and could’t make it. It was tough to find another actor, willing to do this kind of scene, in such a short time. I only found Diego (Cowboy-Bob) who was willing to do it, so we changed Cowboy-Bob into a way-too-young boy instead of the old guy. I think for Barb’s character it even works out somehow but I’m eager to find out what the audiences think about that.
SKSM: You are the director and the scriptwriter, how did you experience that?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: I think I was less free as a writer, knowing that I would direct the picture myself. That way I had to think about if it will be possible to film with our budget, whilst still writing. Thankfully I had an incredible script consultant with Dirk Hoyer who’s also experienced in shooting in Estonia, so he always had good feedback when it came to the possibilities we had there or creative questions.
SKSM: Were there unexpected moments or difficulties during the making of the film that have become a new point of view?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: Always. Wear. Appropriate. Shoes. (Especially in winter).
SKSM: Your short film has the most risqué scene of any Dollar Baby movie I’ve seen (and I’ve seen over 300). What can you tell us about that “porn scene”?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: First of all I‘d like to clarify that I definitely do not see it as a porn scene. I think there is a big difference between sex scenes in cinema and porn. A sex scene serves the purpose of a dramatic narrative – I believe the scene in MUTE did that.
Also it was very important for us to create a scene that shows the daily life that Barb is living. In the book it was described as an excess of alcohol, lottery tickets (gambling) and sex. We wanted to portray that not as something one aspires to achieve, like a rockstar-fantasy, but rather as disgusting and repelling.
That is why we first had to find a location that fittet our vision. Then our set designers worked to make it a room that Barb and Cowboy Bob are living in. Filling it up with empty bottles, bags from expensive stores, lottery tickets and lingerie. The final step was to make the sex itself be different from many very esthetic sex scenes we see in different films. That is why we chose not to cut, but to show a rather uncomfortable moment uncut. That is Barb getting more pleasure out of scratching the scratch-offs than from the sex with Bob. Him misinterpreting it for an orgasm and her correcting him and asking for more scratch-offs. We believed this helped make the whole scene more uncomfortable and repelling. We didn‘t want the viewer to enjoy the scene but to wish it was finally over
SKSM: Were any movie fragments cut out that you now miss?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: Actually no. Again thanks to Dirk Hoyer we planned the whole script very carefully and managed to shoot everything in the foreseen time. Every scene had it’s purpose and turned out fine after shooting so we kept everything.
SKSM: Was there any funny or special moment when you made the movie that you would like to tell me about?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: Of course we sometimes had to deal with a language barrier. We all tried to learn a little Estonian, to get along at least, but the language is known for having a very complicated grammar. So when we went out for location scouting I was surprised to see that one of my producers, Laurenz, learned enough Estonian to tell people that we are a group of film students and want to shoot an adaptation of a Stephen King short story. He was incredible and we were all astonished to see that it worked and that he really could communicate with them. I was really surprised and impressed by that.
SKSM: What has been the most difficult experience during filming?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: Definitely the cold. I have Spanish roots and I like warm and sunny weather. I was not okay with the temperatures. Jokes aside – it was also my first time filming a sex scene. I talked to an intimacy coordinator beforehand, but still I was nervous how it would go. Raneli (Barb) is an absolute pro though and we didn’t have any issues.
SKSM: I loved seeing your adaptation with a snowy landscape. Did technology help with the snow or did you choose to film the scenes with real snow?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: Actually the baltic winter helped us there. Everything on screen is real, we didn’t use any VFX in the whole production. Still we were extremely lucky with the conditions. It could have started to snow and stopped again and that would have destroyed our whole continuity. We had snowfall the days before the shoot started and a intense snowstorm a few days after the shoot. On the days we shot the outside scenes we also had a slight fog that made for great pictures. One of those pictures is now the poster for Mute.
SKSM: What has this experience left you from a professional and human point of view?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: I love working with people. Everyday on set is like a gift. I just enjoy it so much. When I’m not working as a director I work a lot as assistant director. And no matter what I do on set exactly, I always enjoy it and I’m incredibly glad to be working with such great people. It’s just very motivating to be working in a group of around 20 people, all working to achieve the same goal.
SKSM: How did you find out that King sold the movie rights to some of his stories for just $1? Was it just a wild guess or did you know it before you sent him the check?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: I read about the program on an instagram post, while strolling around in bed at 2:00 am. It sounded like it was too good to be true, so I got up again and spent the whole night at the computer, reading the website, the rules and later the summaries of the short stories I didn’t know. Basically it then all happened in one night and one or two weeks later I received a letter with the contract and I got started.
SKSM: Are you a Stephen King fan? If so, which are your favorite works and adaptations?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: I am indeed, which film enthusiast isn’t? My favorites are probably „Stand by Me“ (1986), „Needful Things“ (1993) and „The Green Mile“ (1999), but it’s hard to pick. I probably have to add „Misery“ (1990) and „The Shawshank Redemption“ (1994) on that list as well.
SKSM: Did you have any personal contact with King during the making of the movie? Has he seen it (and if so, what did he think about it)?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: As far as I know he has seen it, I ave never had contact with him though sadly. I sent him a dvd copy of the film and a letter thanking him and asking for his opinion. I read once that he watches every dollar baby he gets his hands on but that he dislikes most of them. He received the film, that I can say for sure.
SKSM: Tell us about your other films. What project are you most proud of with the final result?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: It’s hard to tell. Probably none. I always feel like they should’ve been better afterwards. My first project was a miniseries called „Far Away“ that is now available on Amazon (in some countries). It was my first project and it shows. The 3rd episode is alright though. Then I did a short called „The Trunk“ which I am very proud of. It’s about a frail, old mechanic who hears a knocking and muffled screams out of the inside of a client’s trunk. It’s about the question if he should open it or just leave it. I’m very happy with the script but it was my first film school project so there’s still a lot wrong there. Then cam Mute and probably that’s the project I like best so far. I’m generally pretty happy with the outcome, even though there are quite a few things off.
SKSM: What are you working on nowadays?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: At the moment we are working on my bachelor film „Hermanos“. It’s about two Spanish brothers who, looking to find work, moved to Germany. There the elder brother Dani is very eager to integrate himself into German society. He speaks the language and does everything he can to be a part of his new home – Germany. He also expects his younger brother Andrés to behave the same way. Andrés feels betrayed, as he feels like he has to give up his own culture in order to integrate the way his brother did.
We shot the film in late August, so we are still working on the post production. The shoot went incredibly well, and so far I’m also happy with what we are seeing now in the editing room.
SKSM: What one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: I play the piano since I’m a little kid. This year I also started getting paid to play at different events.
SKSM: What is in the top 5 on your bucket list? (Everything is possible and nothing is too strange)
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: I never really thought about those things, but I would really like an opportunity to meet Stephen King and discuss my and other dollar baby films, to hear what he wishes to see. Of course I would also love to get the opportunity to make a bigger film myself, to get the budget or the funding. Also I would love to speak to a few of my favorite directors (to name a few, even though they’re not all alive anymore: Alfred Hitchcock, David Fincher, Pedro Almodovar, etc.)
SKSM: Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. Is there anything you want to say to the fans that read this interview?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: Thank you! To finance the project we started a kickstarter campaign and achieved our goal of 2000€. Without you guys it would have not been possible and I appreciate every single donation so much. Other than that: if you’re interested in seeing the film for yourselves stay tuned to our YouTube channel. As soon as the film is done being shown on film festivals we will upload it there for everyone to see for free.
SKSM: Would you like to add anything else?
Pablo Knappe Rodriguez: Thank you Mr King for this opportunity, thanks for everyone who helped make this film and thanks to all the great films and filmmakers who inspired and moved me.
