You know what they say, a family that makes movies together, stays together. Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) and her husband Kevin Bacon (MaXXXine) have teamed up to direct Family Movie, from a script by Dan Beers. The horror comedy will also have them star alongside their children, Travis (Keep Coming Back) and Sosie Bacon (Smile).
In a recent interview, the family opened up about what it is like making a movie together.
In Family Movie, Jack Smith (Kevin) is a washed-up indie horror filmmaker, married to Ellen (Kyra), his longtime leading lady. They have two kids, Ula (Sosie) and Trent (Travis) who are actively involved in their parents’ films. Well, that is, until Ula plans to leave for a role on a TV show. Trent, their boom operator, also has big dreams of becoming an MMA fighter.
Despite all this, the family comes together to make what might be Jack’s last movie. However, things go haywire when Ellen reveals she identifies a little too much with the killers from their movies. This results in a dead body on set, and the only way they can finish the film is to cover it up.
“I don’t think that we were necessarily looking for something to do together,” Sedgwick tells Entertainment Weekly. “We pitched it to the kids, thinking that they probably wouldn’t be into it. I was so nervous. And they actually said yes. I was like, ‘Wait, what? You wanna work with your parents?’ It was pretty monumental.”
Even in the happiest of familial dynamics, little things are bound to bubble up and bleed onto set. Luckily, Family Movie keeps the domestic drama mostly on screen.
Making Family Movie
“It ended up being the opposite,” explains Sedgwick. “Like, we had no tension. We were so collaborative. And I don’t think any of us expected that going into it, how easy it was, and how nice everybody was to each other.”
“Not that we’re not normally nice to each other!” she quickly adds. “But how down to try different things, down to collaborate, interested in hearing each other’s thoughts, even down to our performances. It was just the best, most pleasant, exciting, and kind of connected experience that we could have had.”
Travis, while experienced, is still the least seasoned performer of the clan. Thankfully, that apprehension gave way to the supportive on-set environment.
“It felt extremely collaborative and like everybody’s voices were heard. It was magical,” Travis explains.
“The amount of collaboration that he was willing to accept, I would say, I probably wouldn’t have been able to accept it,” Sosie adds with a laugh. “Even if I was just starting out, I’d be like, ‘All right, everybody has notes?’ But Travis was like, ‘Okay, thanks for saying that.’”
Liza Koshy (Boo! A Madea Halloween), John Carroll Lynch (American Horror Story), Jackie Earle Haley (2010’s A Nightmare on Elm Street), Andrea Savage (Tulsa King), Austin Amelio (The Walking Dead), and Scoot McNairy (Monsters) star alongside the brood.
Family Movie will premiere at the SXSW Film & TV Festival on March 13th.
