I'm Short, Not Stupid: 'Person to Person'

Right after I published my list) of the best online shorts of 2014, Dustin Guy Defa released his excellent short Person to Person on the internet. Upon initial viewing, it might be hard to see why it's one of the best short films of the year. It's a slow burn, but you have to let it play out. It premiered at Sundance this year and went on to play Berlin, SXSW, New Directors/New Films, and more.

The film tells a simple story, relayed in earnest by Bene Coopersmith, who plays a version of himself—classic Brooklyn guy, accent and all. At his grungy record store, he tells a tale, depicted in flashbacks, to an eclectic group of friends and customers about a girl who passed out in his apartment after a party and refused to leave the next morning. It sounds like every guy's dream to have a beautiful girl splayed across your floor and it was—at least, while she was dreaming. Bene chats up his neighbors about his luck and preemptively buys her an egg sandwich and a coffee, because, you know, he's a nice guy. When the unnamed woman (Deragh Campbell) eats the food but declines to leave, Bene inadvertently finds himself serving as a babysitter—a grown man taken advantage of. The back and forth by the characters reflects their different perspectives and exacerbates their misunderstandings. They stay in place, while the audience's reading of them shifts around. Line after line, the film earns more credibility, revealing a dude and his feelings honestly, with nuance and humor.

Check out the film below and then read the short interview I did with director Dustin Guy Defa.

VICE: Has a girl ever passed out in your apartment after a party? Did you get her a coffee and an egg sandwich?
Dustin Guy Defa: No. This never happened.

You structured the film as a series of flashbacks. Why add that extra layer, instead of just telling it in the present?
The storytelling device is based on my friend Bene, who plays the lead. I love to hear Bene tell stories. The way he tells them is so cinematic.

Bene is actually played by your real-life friend Bene Coopersmith. Was he always the guy who was going to play this role?
I wrote the film for Bene. We've known each other for about six years, and during the last four or so I've been trying to understand how to write for him. This was the breakthrough.

Bene's character is so real. He comes off so natural, with his little quirks and Brooklynisms. How much did he bring to the role through improvisation and how much was written?
I wrote the film so Bene could essentially play himself, which he does for the most part, though he wouldn't necessarily act the same way in this situation. We adjusted some stuff during rehearsal. But for the most part, it was completely written before that. The first few minutes in the record shop, before the story really kicks in, is improvised with Bene's friends. Bene is a natural character in real life—he is so vibrant and unique. What became exciting was realizing that he could memorize his lines and then not only deliver them as himself, but in accordance with what was happening in the film. This makes him not a non-actor, but a true actor. He can believe in the scenes, and that's what matters. And to me, Bene is New York.

What are you working on now?
I'm working on my feature, an ensemble film also set in New York with similar vibes as this one. Bene is one of the main characters.

Jeffrey Bowers is a tall mustached guy from Ohio who's seen too many weird movies. He currently lives in Brooklyn, working as a film curator. He's the Senior Curator for Vimeo's On Demand platform. He has also programmed at Tribeca Film Festival, Rooftop Films, and the Hamptons International Film Festival.