Unfaithful, by Seri DeYoung, is a uniquely potent short film that mixes comedy with true life anxieties, something that resonates long after the credits. It had its premiere at this year’s Dances With Films in Los Angeles. Film Inquiry was able to speak with one of the stars and producer Jack D. Fleischer about the origin story with this short, its journey and its future!
This is Kristy Strouse with Film Inquiry. Congrats! What was it about Unfaithful that made you want to be involved?
Jack D. Fleischer: Seri and I were in an acting class together, and we got chatting, just sort of casually, about doing a project and pitching ideas around for a short. This was something she came up with literally the night before — her husband and she were watching some episodes of this old reality TV show called Cheaters, and it inspired kind of a platform for a morality tale. Like, when you’re confronted with a tricky decision, what direction do you go in? And we thought it was just a really fun world to play in.
Yeah, for sure. And what was it like playing that character in particular — I guess you’d say the pivotal role, definitely front and center of everything that happens in the short?
Jack D. Fleischer: It was a great challenge. I feel like Mark contains a lot of my shadow, sort of like the failed artist and the narcissist. What happens when you’re not able to actualize your dreams and they collapse, and you wind up living in a very delusional place? That obviously hasn’t happened to me, but it was fun to explore. I used to work in music, and I know a lot of musicians. It’s a specific kind of artist; it’s so personal. Acting is very personal too, but I think when your songs are your whole life and nobody hears them… I loved inhabiting that space.
Was that originally in the story, or was that something you brought to the character?
Jack D. Fleischer: It was originally written as a musician. I don’t believe Seri knew that I had that background working in music, which was interesting — it’s something she kind of intuited. The original song at the end of the film was added pretty much right before production. After the script was written, we came up with that song. The lyrics are by Otha, and the performance and arrangement are by my friend Elton Kelly, who is a massively talented guitar player.
Yeah, it’s a great way to close out the short! You mentioned morality and everything, but there are different layers to this. What did you appreciate about the way the short handles multiple points of view?
Jack D. Fleischer: Yeah, I definitely did. I think the layers to it are a big part of its success. You can look at it from Mark’s perspective, which is the agenda of a crazy person. You can look at the confrontation from Sean’s perspective, which is the agenda of, let’s say, a business person. And you can look at it from Charlie, his assistant’s perspective, who’s kind of a normal person trying to avoid chaos. Between the three, you end up with the final confrontation, which contains all of their energy. It beautifully shows how complicated situations in life can be because you have a lot of different agendas in the same event. Politically, we see this all the time; in families, it happens often. In this specific short, I thought it was just such a nicely composed piece, it had all those layers in a very elegant frame.
Yeah, and it manages to do it all in, like, what, eight minutes?
Jack D. Fleischer: Yep, in a short time! And I love that because you watch it and kind of want more. I always love that with a short — even though it’s my short, when I watch any short and feel like, “Okay, I could watch a little bit more of that,” that’s always great.
Well, I think that’s also the challenge and beauty of a short. It’s tough; you want to feel like it’s enough, but also want someone wanting more. You have to balance that, and I think it does that very well.
Do you see this as something that could go into a feature? Is there more story to be told? Maybe an “Unfaithful 2?”
Jack D. Fleischer: It’s a great question. We are actually currently developing a pitch for a TV show. We have a pilot written and are working on other materials — pitch deck, sizzle reel. I could also see it as a feature film. Especially with Sean — our arc for a season would be with Sean, about his navigation of leading a life that isn’t exactly what he envisioned as a journalist and TV personality. Also, as a Black man, that’s part of one of the threads we’re following — what those opportunities were like in TV at the time. And the tagline we keep coming back to is “The wild west of reality TV,” because the rules were different. It’s pre-Me Too, right before the iPhone, so we kind of want to be nostalgic but also talk about how that whole era set up where we are now. So, yeah, we’ll be ready to pitch very shortly. Whether that’s for a season of a TV show or something like a feature, there’s just a lot there.
Yeah, especially with the idea that it’s a show — you could have a different story in each episode but still have Sean’s overarching story continuing. That makes a lot of sense.
Jack D. Fleischer: Exactly, yeah. We talked about shows like Six Feet Under, where you have each episode focusing on something new.
Yeah. Well, Six Feet Under was more like, “What’s the death this time?” — hopefully there won’t be any deaths in this!
Jack D. Fleischer: (Laughs) Yeah, hopefully!
So your LA premiere – you must be very excited.
Jack D. Fleischer: Yes I am. And I hope people walk away feeling like they’ve seen a little window into a world that’s both familiar but also kind of like, “Oh, I remember that time,” yet it doesn’t feel that far away. It’s both far away and not at the same time. In looking at where we are now, it’s a good reminder of how we got here.
That’s a great way to say it. Anything else you’re hoping for?
Jack D. Fleischer: Performance-wise, I also hope they like our comedy. You hope to hear laughs. It is a dark comedy, so it’s not just about making people laugh, but that is always nice.
Right — make you laugh and then make you think.
Jack D. Fleischer: Yeah, that’s our hope.
Is there anything else you’re working on that you have coming out?
Jack D. Fleischer: Yeah, I have two other big projects. One is a pilot I produced and star in called Jack Snack, kind of an Adult Swim–style late-night variety show, which is just starting to roll out to film festivals. That was with filmmaker Zane Johnson and creative producer Noel Herbert. My other big project is developing my first feature film based on an essay by Andrew Maynard called Take Your Son to Work Day. It’s nonfiction and about the trial of a murderer in Arizona named Richard Bible and the lawyer who represented him, and the lawyer’s son. It’s a father-son story adjacent to this death penalty case that was very public back in the ’90s.
That sounds very interesting. I look forward to seeing more about that. And congrats again on the short — I enjoyed it. I did laugh and think!
Jack D. Fleischer: Oh good, thank you! I appreciate you taking the time today.
We want to thank Jack D. Fleischer for taking the time to speak with us.
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