Interview with "The Trainer" Screenwriter, Jeff Solomon

This year one of the biggest releases at the Tribeca Film Festival was Tony Kaye's The Trainer, an absolutely bonkers black comedy that left audiences in stitches during its North American premiere last week. With some great laughs, an insane plot, and one of the most star-studded casts this year, you can expect to hear all about it when it finally gets a theatrical release. This week we were lucky enough to speak with the film's screenwriter, Jeff Solomon on what its been like to have such an outrageous, high profile film as his feature debut.

Rua: Good afternoon, Mr. Solomon. Thank you so much for joining us. Could we start with you introducing yourself?"

Solomon: "Sure! (clears throat) Hi! I’m Jeff. When I was five, a pelican in a zoo tried to bite my head off and very nearly succeeded. Other things happened after that which are less important, and now I’m a screenwriter."

Rua: "Jesus, I hope to hear that story one day. So how have you been enjoying Tribeca this year? Is it surreal to see something you wrote at the festival?"

Solomon: "Beyond surreal, yes. I’m a lifelong New Yorker; I remember when the Tribeca Festival was started. Having a film play here is a dream come true, and it was very special to have my family there with me."

Rua: "Congratulations you must be on cloud nine! I think I'm stating the obvious when I say that The Trainer, which you wrote with Vito Schnabel, is a very unique screenplay. So my question is: where on Earth did the inspiration come from?"

Solomon: "The script for The Trainer took so many shapes over the years but it began with Vito and his desire to explore the fitness world; he discovered enough interesting people there for a hundred movies. Together, Vito and I explored different genres and approaches and eventually landed on a story that Vito planned to direct; acting was never on his mind. The story transformed into this wild L.A.-based race-against-time narrative when Tony Kaye took the reins and had the inspiration to transform Vito into the lead."

Rua: "I mean, I've seen over 3200 films and still never seen anything quite like it. What's craziest of all is that it's so jarringly different from Tony's other films like American History X and Detachment. It's very vibrant and visually striking, where did the film's signature style come from in terms of editing and cinematography?

Solomon: "I knew Tony intended to create a unique visual language for himself with The Trainer, and given that he's his own cinematographer and operates the camera, he was able to build that language in a very instinctive way. As for the editing style — Tony worked closely with experts versed in a variety of styles - veterans of both music video and narrative film. I can only imagine that helped achieve the unique pacing he had in mind."

Rua: "Speaking of Tony, as someone who's been a fan for quite some time, I gotta know what it was like working with a filmmaker as iconic as him for your first feature?"

Solomon: "It would be lunacy to say I wasn’t nervous; my first viewing of a Tony Kaye film left an enormous, lasting impression on me as a young film nerd. Tony gave me a real challenge when he told me how he wanted this story to move and feel; it meant reexamining every element of the script Vito and I had worked on. It was an adventure figuring out storylines that could be useful for Tony to explore the themes he wanted to explore. In the end, my best memories of working with Tony are the times we spent hiking the streets of L.A. and New York with him, discussing different narrative angles and possibilities. We both like to walk."

Rua: "And what exactly do you hope audiences get out of The Trainer when they eventually see it this year?"

Solomon: "I mean, the themes of this story are far from subtle, digging into the psychological cost of the restless ambition that plagues Jack Flex and so many real-world characters like him. More than thinking about those themes, I’m hoping people will come out of The Trainer feeling like they’ve really been Jack for 90 minutes. With the incredibly immersive work Vito did as a writer, producer and actor, and with Tony’s singular vision, I think they made that possible. Also, I hope this is just further proof of what a brilliant intelligent performer Julia Fox is."

Rua: "She really is incredible in this film, I was pleasantly surprised. Just to wrap up here, I'm curious as to what your favorite movie is as a screenwriter?"

Solomon: "I’m terrible at lists and favorites! But if pressed I go back to the 2 movie posters I have hanging in my apartment: Sweet Smell of Success by Alexander MacKendrick and Man Without A Past by Aki Kaurismäki."

Rua: "Thank you so much for speaking with us today, Jeff. Best of luck with the film, I have a feeling people will love it!"

Once again, we would love to not only thank Jeff Solomon for his time, but also congratulate him on such an extraordinary project. All his work as both a writer and actor can be found on his IMDB page. Thank you for tuning into Cinemasters.net and don't forget to never stop watching!