Johnny Martin talks Off The Grid and Strong Bonds!

What inspired the decision to have the main character rely on low tech improvised devices instead of traditional weapons?

I wanted to do a movie where someone, an action hero, could actually not have the skills to fight, not have the skills to use a gun, and didn’t even wanna hold a gun. Last thing, he ever thought he would kill anyone. And so to me, I wanted to figure out how we could do that.And to me, what came to mind was, you know, if the guy was a scientist or or a brilliant man that could come up with something at the spur of the moment, then it developed more into, okay. Well, what would he do? Well, he could build his own weapons if he had to. And if he was stuck in the middle of the woods, he didn’t have access other than a little tiny convenience store.

You know, what can you do at a store? So, you know, I myself went to Home Depot when we were writing the script and started throwing things in a cart and seeing what I can make just off of not not even thinking about it. And sure enough, everything you see in this movie is stuff that not only I build, but I also tested. And when I tested it, I’d send it to Josh, and Josh would even go test it. And we would find ways that we can really make stay true to, what we’re displaying to the audience is gonna work and can work. Please don’t do it at home, but it works.

Yeah. I think that’s really cool. So the film plays with a pulse and energy that feels very Tony Scott. Was that a conscious stylistic influence while you were shooting and editing Off The Grid?

Oh, my hero. My hero, Tony Scott. Tony Scott, I did five movies with, and he was the guy that was always looking over his shoulder to give me a little advice here and there because he knew that I was this young man who just wanted to learn how to become a filmmaker, which he taught me a lot about. He taught me that it’s not about trying to be a great director. It’s not trying to be a great producer or anything that you’re doing. It’s trying to be a filmmaker, trying to know that you are here for the audience, and trying to find out what people are looking for and what they wanna look for, and that is heart and soul and relationships to do action.

Don’t just do action for the sake of action. And when, when we did enemy of the state, I mean, those characters bounced off the page. I mean, all those actors that were in this movie, everyone meant something to the story. And, you know, and so Tony to me was someone who’s important that I pay tribute to in this movie. And I have in my other movies.But this one, I kinda did an homage to him on the finale scene of the movie where, he did one with Gene Hackman in Enemy of the State, and it really I did a little similarity to that scene and made it an homage to mister Tony Scott who, rest his soul, is one of the best filmmakers to ever live.

I think that’s really special and awesome. So why was it important to you that the protagonist doesn’t carry a gun, and how did that choice really affect the pacing and tension within the film?

The key was never to have a villain in this movie that people wanted to hate.I wanted to see if I could make a villain that people could actually love, you know, and maybe just know that jealousy is in all of us. And, you know, we all go to a certain point in jealousy where, you know, it’s not who you are. It’s just a reaction to what you’re dealing with. And that’s kinda what Greg’s character is in Rana. She’s, you know, he’s he him and Greg, Josh’s character were friends for many years, and they’re partners.And and and to know that, you know, he left with what was gonna make him a name, and he knows that Josh’s character is smarter than him, and he just got too jealous. And it wasn’t about violence. It was just about doing what he’s told and maybe becoming what he wants to be like Josh. And I thought if I could carry that through the whole movie and with Greg Kinnear, I mean, oh my god. I mean, who better than to have someone that you wanted the audience to like the villain?

Greg Kinnear is like the perfect example. I mean, I couldn’t mention anyone else but him because he gives you these slight little jokes to know that, hey. Don’t take me totally seriously at times, you know, but just know that I’m here to do what I have to do. And I think that the most important thing in my villain is to make sure that you got to follow him in a way to where a little piece of you was like that.

So were there any real life engineers, survivalists, or similar sources consulted when developing the traps and the gadgets, or was it all developed in house by you?

Yeah. It really was developed by me. I don’t want to take all the credit on that one because I didn’t know what to do. I just knew that I had to figure out how to be smart.And if I was stuck in the woods, or a small little convenience store that was my access, how was I gonna get out of things? And so I went to Home Depot and started throwing stuff in the cart and just not having an idea what I was looking for. And also, I started coming up with these great ideas and trust me, I bought probably $500 worth of things that I couldn’t use. But I came home to my garage and started building things and started looking at them. And, I started putting them together and testing them and seeing if they would work. And sure enough, boom. They would work. And I sent it to Josh, and I’d say, dude, you gotta check this out. I go, it works. I mean, this freaking thing will kill someone.And I’d send him the lassus with fish hooks and everything in the mail. He would test it. He would send me videos back, and we were so into this trying to figure out contraption.

Honestly, Josh and I were both disappointed when we saw the trailer. We’re like, no.The contraptions. That’s what the story is about, the cleverness of how cool he is, you know, and, hopefully, everyone will appreciate all the hard work we did to discover these ways of doing it. I think it’s very different and really cool that you guys did that. So did any parts of the script really shift significantly during filmmaking based on what was happening on set or because of something the actors really brought to the table? Well, I don’t know if there’s any script page that was shot, to be honest.I know that we shot at the idea of it. But every day, we ‘d come to the set, and thirty minutes before, I’d get together with Josh or Greg or Ricky, or Michael or Maria and just say, okay. Something’s missing. Even though I didn’t think there was something missing, I just felt like, you know, if I say that, maybe we could come up with something better. Maybe we could dig our brains even harder to figure out what we need to do, and Greg would come up with ideas.

Well, you know what? We need to make a point out of what I’m gonna say three act scenes from now. Why don’t I give a hint to it now? Also, that line would come out. Then also, Josh would say, well, wait a minute.I would definitely think this way, and I would definitely do this right now and not do what the script says. He goes, I go, you’re right. Let’s do that. So we do that. Then, Ricky had all these lines.

He’d say, I wouldn’t ever say that. I could just do it with looks. And so by giving everyone creative freedom to really build their characters and make it feel like it’s their character, not my character that they gotta perform for, but it’s your character. And we all had the same amount to lose. Let’s join all those forces together and figure out a way that we could make a movie, not a film by Johnny Martin, but a film by all of us.And that’s what we did.

So what were the key reasons behind choosing the film’s remote location, and what were some of the toughest challenges that came with shooting there?

Well, it was a glamorous movie when I first got it green lit. We were going to Italy.It was awesome. I couldn’t wait to do a spaghetti western from Italy. Oh my god. Also, when we get ready to go to Italy and no, they don’t let us go to Italy. They said, you gotta go to Spain.

Well, you know what? Spain’s a great country. I love Spain. I started looking at everything. We wrote the script, got it all ready, and then they say, you’re not going to Spain now.You’re going to Mississippi. Oh, okay. So rewrites rewrites rewrites, and then finally, we hit the Mississippi. And, it was the perfect forest. It was the perfect climate.The weather was hot. We had so many bugs and snakes everywhere. That was the biggest problem with shoot was that, you know, chiggers, ticks, and snakes. And I got attacked by chiggers, which I hope to god no one ever gets because it makes your whole body swell up and you could barely walk it. But, and then my DP got ticks all over, and then we had snakes crawling all over the place throughout the whole set. People screaming on the crew during the middle of a take because the snake’s going over their foot.

So we shot in and I had to find the perfect location for the force because the force is a star of this movie, but I can’t couldn’t make it to be something that stood out either. It had just to be something that kinda melted into the background, but yet it was pretty but not too pretty. And I think that Mississippi provided that.

The forestry was amazing and I need hills to show depth of the story too.And shot finding a hill in Mississippi is very difficult. So we had to find this one bit of forest that, unfortunately, was attracted to all the insects and bugs and snakes you could think of. But I think it was well worth it, and, and we fought through it. Awesome. So what made Josh the right fit for the lead role, and did he bring anything unexpected to the character during production?

Well, I watched a movie of his, and I said, damn. That guy is such a movie star. I mean, he’s I can’t keep my eyes off of him. I mean, he just had this thing about his magnetism that I just wanted to make a movie with him. And, honestly, I did my homework on him, and I found out that he had a little off the grid in Minnesota.And it was something that I told my writer, hey. We should write something related to this. I really think that Josh would be someone amazing to tell the story because what Josh delivers that most a lot of actors try to do and and work hard to do is deliver an emotional connection with the audience. And he did in every role he played in that you just wanna put your arm around him. You think he’s your pal.And if I can make my hero be everyone’s friend and everyone’s connected to, well, he’s my guy. And that’s kinda why I wrote this script for Josh, and he was perfect. And I’m so glad that he loved the script, and I’m so glad to be his friend today.

So the cast has very different acting styles. So how did you approach keeping the tone consistent while working with such a varied group?

Well, you gotta always think of every actor on every scene even if they’re not in the scene. How are they gonna melt into, and how are they gonna transition into another scene to get this character to not just pop in so harshly? You know, you have to melt in like the character of Marcus.

You know, he’s this villain that’s dark and evil and mean, but he’s gotta sway it into where he does it with his walk and his look and and come in with Greg and still be willing to listen to Greg, not just be a bully, to be listened to Greg.So Greg’s, where Greg is not such a strong villain because he’s so likable too that you can’t just attack. So to blend all these things together and to find the respect that everyone has for the character of Guy who’s Josh was very important. And Greg and Ricky, they still have a respect for him. And I think that if you could always think of that in every single scene you do in a movie and remember, wait a minute.

How’s that gonna play out in the next scene?And you adjusted that. I think that’s when your movie starts piecing together. And this movie, honestly, when I finished filming it and I cut it together, it wasn’t right for me. I I started moving scenes from the beginning into the middle and in the middle to the, beginning, then some in the beginning to the end where I shoveled the movie where it I didn’t even know it was gonna make sense, but it worked that way because I had to follow the emotion. And that was so important to make sure that story will be told, but the emotion has to stay true.

So would you consider doing a sequel if the audience connects with the story, or do you see this as a one and done?

Okay. Well, I already wrote the script already. We couldn’t wait.We were so happy with what happened, and with my experience working with these gentlemen, I had to write something in hopes that the audience will like it. And when they say they like it, I wanna go full speed ahead and go to Grindstone and go to my producers in Lionsgate and say, guys, this one’s gonna be bigger and better. Please. Please. And I think I wrote it.We wrote it. Jim and I, we wrote it in a way where I think the eyes will be even more entertained.

So last question. You’ve worked with Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, and Al Pacino.Do you have any plans to collaborate with these guys again? And what stands out most to you about directing with them?

All three are different, and they’re all three amazing men. And I could also say they’re my dearest friends, and I still reach out to them every day. I tell them everything I’m doing, and I follow-up on them.And John Travolta, I always wish him happy Father’s Day because he’s like a father. He’s so great.

And Al Pacino is one of my best friends, and he tells me stories and gives me hope and faith in everything and drives me so hard. And Nick Nick and I are crazy together. He brings out the stunt man in me.

And, I think when me and Nick get together, it could get scary, but, these three guys, are all true filmmakers, and they all are movie stars for a reason. And to be connected with them, you get the vibe from them, and it just drives you even more. So it’s amazing. So amazing.

Thank you for your time, Johnny

You’re welcome. Thank you.