Interview with Director Sam Shainberg For SHOTPLAYER, Documentary Short Competition @ SXSW 2024

The short film SHOTPLAYER (2024), directed by Sam Shainberg, screened in the Documentary Short Competition at this year’s SXSW. SHOTPLAYER is an impressionistic journey into the mind of Wilfred Rose, one of New York City's most notorious pickpockets. As he returns to the subway for the first time in many years, he reflects on a life of crime in a society that has left many of its citizens behind. SHOTPLAYER asks the question: When is it ok to push back against that society? This is Sam’s second year presenting a film at SXSW after last year’s narrative title, ENDLESS SEA (2023).

In an interview with Sam about the inspiration behind the film, here is what he had to say:

Can you tell us your background and what led you to filmmaking?

SAM: I grew up in downtown New York and I have filmmakers on both sides of my family, so the influence was always there. That, combined with New York being both cinematic as hell and the best cinema viewing city in the world, I think it was fated that I make films myself. I studied history initially in college and then realized that historians tend to focus on only one time period, and one story for the bulk of their careers whereas I wanted to learn many, many stories. When I came to this realization, I looked at my courses and realized I was already on track to major in filmmaking... and the rest is history. 

What have been your greatest influences? 

SAM: My family and friends have been my greatest influences. Particularly all my amazing filmmaking friends- Luca Balser, Rachel Walden, the Safdie Brothers, J. Daniel Zuniga, and so many more. If you're asking about cinematic influences then I would have to say the Italian neo-realists- Scorsese, Bresson, lots of verité documentary stuff spanning from Hands on a HardBody to Don't Look Back, the Maysles Brothers, D.A. Pennebaker, and then to more stylized stuff like Wong Kar-Wai and Park Chan-wook. I just love movies, so this kind of answer inevitably becomes a ramble. My film SHOTPLAYER was also heavily influenced by still photographers like Bruce Davidson. 

How did you come across Wilfred's story? 

SAM: A colleague of mine, Willie Miesmer, brought me an article about the dying art of pickpocketing and the piece focused on Wilfred. Reading the article really moved me and stuck with both of us so we went in search of Wilfred. 

How did you go about shooting the film? And how long did it take you?

SAM: While the project was in the works for years, going back to 2018, the shoot itself took about four days. The way we went about it was, in a word, brazenly. We just did it. We were certainly worried about getting shut down at every turn, but we just went forward and did it and luckily New York opened its arms to us and just let it all happen. 

What do you hope people will take away from the film?

SAM: My hope is that people can put themselves in Wilfred's shoes for a moment or two. That the audience can feel what it's like to have to commit crimes to survive and support your family and then to feel what that does to a person. Perhaps the audience can carry Wilfred's burden with him for a moment. I also want very much for the audience to see Wilfred clearly as the complex man that he was. This was an incredibly tender and beautiful person doing his best in the face of being completely left behind by both family and society. 

Do you plan to turn it into a feature? 

SAM: Is SHOTPLAYER destined to be a feature? I am not sure. I would never say no outright... I think it would be a very different film that would have to take on a much larger scope. I would almost be more inclined to tackle "Shotplayer the feature" as a narrative film and lean even more toward a modern take on Bresson's "Pickpocket" ...perhaps influenced by Wong Kar-Wai, Spike Lee and Mathieu Kassovitz's La Haine. Oh wow, now I am getting excited, this sounds fun! This is how this always happens to me... I begin a bit resistant to an idea and then begin talking about it and it catches me... and boom... soon there is a film... 

How can people see the film? Why do you think it's so hard for short films to find distribution? 

SAM: For the moment, people will have to come to Film Festivals to see the film... or tune in to their online libraries. Once the festival run is over, I am sure SHOTPLAYER will find a worthy home online. In terms of short film distribution, I feel like shorts find great homes. It's just that the places that take them, that get them seen, don't compensate the filmmakers. This is sad because it's such an awesome cinematic form that I happen to love. I wish there was a path to profitability for shorts because I love making them. Unfortunately, that is not the case at the moment, you generally cannot make your money back on shorts. 

The film premiered at SXSW. How was that experience?

SAM: SXSW is the best. I love it down there in Austin. I always have a spectacular time and make great new friends. Last year, when my previous short, ENDLESS SEA, played there I met so many great people and this year was no different. It's really a testament to the programming staff, Francis Roman and Gabe Van Amburgh. They put together such strong programming.  

What will you be working on next? 

SAM: The next big project for me is a feature film called Heart based on my last short that played at SXSW 2023, ENDLESS SEA. I've expanded ENDLESS SEA into an ultra-near-future sci-fi thriller that imagines all the most insidious political and ecological outcomes for working class New Yorkers and follows Carol, the main character, over the course of a harrowing 24 hours in which she fights to survive. 

SYNOPSIS

Wilfred Rose, New York City's most notorious pickpocket, delves into the circumstances and consequences of his life in this fever dream of a film. Wilfred, after many years, has chosen to face the guilt and realities of his life of crime. Why did he do it? How did he do it? What did it make him feel? What is he left with? A documentary at its heart, shot like a narrative film, this dream-like exploration of the life of a criminal, a family man, and an African American, offers a never before seen, intimate look into not only the mind of a pickpocket but the lives of those who live on the ultimate fringes of American society. Tense as any heist film, and as emotional as the most gripping documentary, SHOTPLAYER will take hold of you, drag you into the subterranean world of Wilfred's mind and break you out with him when he comes up for air.

ABOUT SAM SHAINBERG

Sam Shainberg grew up in New York and continues to call the city home. He has worked extensively in the New York film industry, independently directing his own films and producing music videos. He previously worked on MyBlockNYC as head video-journalist and producer, supervising a team of video-journalists and editors with the aim of creating short form documentary pieces that were released on the MyBlock platform as well as in the Huffington Post. MyBlockNYC was a one-of-a-kind user-generated video map of New York City and was exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art and the Venice Architecture Biennale.

A stint in Mali, West Africa as a video journalist saw him producing short documentary work for Rolling Stone magazine, most notably a piece featuring the renowned Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Toure, whilst simultaneously trying to make a feature there. More recently, he wrote and directed the TV pilot Chillin Island for the Safdie Brothers’ Elara Films, the company’s first television offering, and wrote and directed the award-winning short film Endless Sea, which screened at SXSW in 2023 as well as IndieLisboa, Palm Springs Shorts Fest, FICBUEU and numerous others during its successful festival run.

Sam is currently producing a number of projects that span the short film and feature documentary and narrative film spaces.

Interview by Vanessa K. McMahon