Matthew Caldwell
Creative Director - HP Newsgram


Film poster, Nathan Zellner & David Zellner - © Wireimage Rachel Thurston

"Hey, you know what? An HP printer is prominently featured in our movie... and it's a close up... it's like... totally free, hardcore product placement! I mean, you see everything on this printer, it's practically a commerical.. and you know what? It's actually our printer... we use it every day."

This is how our interview with writer / director David Zellner and his brother Nathan (writer / actor) began.

An HP All-in-One printer is used to print out missing cat leaflets, which the main character posts around town.


Still from the film Goliath - ©Zellner

The Zellner brothers' wry comedy, "Goliath", centers around a man with a serious case of the blues. He has recently lost his wife and now his beloved cat.

The cat means everything to the man and he's determined to get it back.

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David & Nathan Zellner at Sundance 2008 - ©Wireimage Rachel Thurston

HP sat down with the Zellner brothers and asked them about their new film, "Goliath."

HP: Tell us about your film?
It's about a man going through a bitter divorce and the only relic left of his marriage is this cat. The cat gets lost, so it becomes extremely important for him to recover the cat. The cat is really a way for him to hold onto his marriage... and, things go crazy from there!

HP: What was the spark that helped bring the idea for this film to light?
We've done Sundance before with some shorts for a few years in a row now. We've been trying to get some bigger projects going, but this was a story that had been sitting with David for awhile. We decided this summer to flesh it out. It was kind of an experiment for us.

The cat is the thing. Peoples passions aren't consistent. With cats, there seem to be extremes. They love them or they despise them. There's no middle ground.
We're playing with that. There are tons of dog movies, feel good things. Our film focuses on universal empathy... it's a little more ambiguous than that.

HP: How would you classify your films?
All our style straddles the line between comedy and drama. We like humor, but we strive to have some real human moments in them too. We try not to be condescending or too schmaltzy. That's what we're trying to work towards.

HP: When was the film shot?
Over this past summer, July.
We edited as we went along.
We had lots of help from our friends.

HP: You wrote it, directed it, acted in it, edited it and more. Do you have any tips or tricks for how you get it all done?

Spreadsheets! (laughing) Nathan is really good at organizing the schedule.
This is how we've always done film, so it comes naturally to us.

HP: While shooting this film, what's an average day like?
The night before was all about cameras. Charged and ready to go.
Next, we'd set out props and costumes. We did a lot of the shooting in our own homes in Austin, Texas. Some days we'd drive out and do scenes.

HP: In your film, what do you have to say?
First and foremost, we want to entertain and let people have fun with it. After that, we let the audience decide. We don't have an agenda. The audience will take away what they want. We learn a lot by watching the audience react.

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HP Backstage at Sundance