E.J. Foerster, Marny Eng And John Oates On New Indie Dramedy ‘Gringa’

As the motion picture industry continues to adapt to upheaval following the lockdown of early pandemic, the level of difficulty involved in adequately distributing an independent film remains high.

While the increase in video-on-demand platforms helps, with art theaters on the decline in an industry often dominated by reboots and centered upon summer blockbusters, ensuring that a film driven by storytelling, performance or drama finds an audience can still be tough.

The new comedy/drama Gringa, screening at film festivals and now available via VOD services like Vudu and Prime, was a labor of love for co-directors E.J. Foerster and Marny Eng, a film six years in the wait thanks largely in part to hurdles put in place by global pandemic.

“It was really interesting. I think in the film industry, we’re all kind of trained to adjust and improvise,” said Foerster during a recent video call. “And, for us, during that whole COVID portion of time when we were all locked down, we were able to adjust and improvise and actually do this entire post through Zoom. We were recording in Nashville but recording strings in Iceland. It was really crazy and wild. And you really found that there’s always a solution to solve a problem under the worst of conditions,” said the director. “So we’re hoping that a film like this, which is a little different – because it’s a feel-good film and dysfunction is not the key element in the film – I hope that that translation will help get people to see it. Because I think it makes people feel good.”

“It was just amazing how much people cared and were committed,” added Eng. “E.J. and I, even though we know it’s not a good thing to do, we have hopes that people will care the way we care. And it’s really not realistic in most cases. But, in this case, I don’t know, the stars aligned. I think on every level, people cared the same and shared that love for the film – the same tenacity and care and hard work. It’s just incredible.”

Following work as second unit directors, Foerster and Eng have lovingly crafted a highly entertaining indie film in their directorial debut. Gringa traces the story of Marge (Jess Gabor), a teenager who, amidst personal tragedy, travels to Mexico in the hopes of finding her estranged father Jackson (Steve Zahn). The palpable on screen bond which exists between Zahn and Gabor sits at the film’s dramatic core, one from which very human themes like the value of second chances when there’s a proactive desire for a new beginning soon emerge.

Careful in their presentation of Gringa’s setting, Mexico almost doubles as a character in the film, one driven musically by the scoring of Tim Williams and songwriting of John Oates.

“E.J. Foerster, the director, is a very good friend of mine. He reached out to me during the pandemic,” explained Oates during a recent phone conversation. “I started by writing one song, which he liked. And he asked me if I wanted to do more. And I said yes. So I ended up writing and producing and collaborating on four songs. There’s a fifth song that was written and done by Jesse Carmichael from Maroon 5,” he said. “I think the movie is going to have to be discovered. But it’s a really good one. I think it’s the type of movie that, especially on the streaming services, people are going to discover it. It’s really cool.”

I spoke with directors E.J. Foerster and Marny Eng and with musician John Oates about the way music and imagery can combine to drive narrative, the importance of storytelling and ensuring a film like Gringa finds an audience. Highlights of a video call with Foerster and Eng and a phone conversation with Oates, lightly edited for length and clarity, follow below.

Jim Ryan: I feel like in these days of the Marvel movies and the reboots that sometimes storytelling can take a backseat to effects and visuals and how a film looks. But this is a very story-driven film. Just how important is that idea of storytelling to you guys?

Marny Eng: I think it’s great. And I think that even when there is action, storytelling within the action, to me, has always been really important – staying true to what the story is and not trying to make it action for action’s sake. And I think communication and listening is super key to making all of that work. Storytelling trumps anything to ensure that we’re being honest and truthful to what the story is.

E.J. Foerster: Yeah, we wanted to attack a story that came from a very human point of view. The whole point was that it was cross borders – we’re all humans and we all have kind of the same issues. But, in this case, being able to connect and have some emotion, and really create an environment where people change and have to kind of participate in their own rescue, was something that was going to be a challenge. But we had such a good cast that they were able to really get a hold of it and really make it feel real. And that was rewarding for us to be able to work with the talent long enough – and get the right talent – that basically would respond and resonate with this material and make it what it is.

Ryan: To that end, Steve and Jess really seem to have such a connection. You believe that father/daughter element. What was it like watching that play out while directing them?

Foerster: It was really interesting. We did something that was very important for us because we’ve seen it through working with a lot of directors in our careers. We were able to get them in the environment together for a couple of weeks before we started shooting, where they basically could start to bond and really work on this script and work on their characters – to the point where they knew what the arc was going to be and had actually worked it out. We all worked it out together. And all of the questions were sussed out early. So, the beauty of that – of them being able to kind of spend that time in Mexico together in that dynamic – is that it really shows in the film, I think, and in the relationship. From my point of view, I think we’re very pleased in that primary relationship and how it plays out throughout the film.

Eng: And the beautiful thing is that, like E.J. said, our cast were ethical humans, all of them. Everyone rose to the challenge. And Steve being the pro that he is, Harvard-trained and not just an exceptional actor but also human being, he did have a bit of a mentor position. And I think that he embraced that and others embraced that. And Jess did too, being a newer, younger kind of rising star. With each other, they were very patient and very sharing. It was just a beautiful thing to watch.

Ryan: A couple of very human themes emerge from the film: the value of second chances and the value in new beginnings. How do those ideas sort of drive the film?

Foerster: I think it’s super, super important. One of our overarching themes has been that you have to participate in your own rescue. Someone else can’t care about something more than you do when it has to do with you. And the aspect of time. Time is our biggest asset. In the case of kids or loved ones, humans have a tendency to take things for granted. And we kind of wanted to show that you can’t take for granted this time that you have with your kids and loved ones. When you get a second chance at something like this to really have the opportunity for some unconditional love, that’s something that you really have to grasp hold of and be involved in. Because you might never get that chance again. That was pretty important in the story and in the script to begin with. We wanted to bring that home without completely hitting you over the head with it.

Eng: And all of the things E.J. just spoke of, they’re global issues – they’re what all cultures deal with. It’s the same thing regardless of the language barriers. We all have these same things in life that we have to deal with. We’re all the same at some level.

Ryan: Something I love about the film is the way that Mexico, in a way, kind of almost doubles as both setting and character. How important a part of the film is that?

Foerster: It was really important that we were very respectful and very honest about what Mexico is. We love Mexico. And it really was important. We had an entire Mexican crew. So we had a lot of people to talk to about it. “Is this real?” Because we didn’t want to be cliche. We really wanted to show it as what it really is in rural Mexico and kind of have that warm feeling about it that it’s not pretentious but it is grounded and real. And it is a character in the film. The score is also kind of a character in the film.

Eng: The authenticity was important to us. We wanted to stay as true to it as we could. Especially with that not being our culture, we wanted to make sure we weren’t people coming in telling people how it was. Listening to the locals, listening to the cast and crew – 99% of our crew was from Mexico City. So it was really important for us to listen to their opinions and ask questions and make sure we were as true and honest as possible.

And on another note, kind of to that end, it was important, if you’ll notice, that we didn’t have subtitles. The reason being is that because Marge, Gringa, did not speak or understand the language. The audience sitting in the seats, if they were in the same boat as her, they may not understand either. So that was important to us: to stay true to Marge’s character and then the audience could figure it out.

Ryan: E.J., you mentioned the music. In a perfect world, how do the elements of song and story sort of combine to drive the narrative?

Foerster: They need to intersect in a way that neither takes away from the other or overshadows the other. We had Tim Williams who was our composer. We spent some time on the script with him and really went through a lot of this and what this should be. So it gave you the feeling of where you were. And the emotion of it too.

We also tried to give it a current feeling – a language in the music that was current but that also lent itself to the culture when it needed to. John Oates was able to collaborate with some really interesting Mexican artists. We were also able to collaborate with Jesse Carmichael from Maroon 5. He did another collaboration with a Mexican artist. So it was really fun. I’m overjoyed about the result that we came up with. Because it’s uplifting when it needs to be. And it’s emotional and thoughtful at the right time without overshadowing the visual or the performances.

Ryan: In working on original music for Gringa, you seem to have worked outside your comfort zone a bit, collaborating with Mexican singer songwriter Ximena Sariñana on the Spanish language song “Nunca Te Olvidaré” as well as with South Carolina singer/rapper CerVon Campbell on “DND.” What was it like working on those songs?

John Oates: On the first song I wrote, I wanted to kind of incorporate a little bit of Spanish into it. Because the movie is heavily involved with a young gal who goes to Mexico to find her father. And so I wrote a song that had a bit of a Spanish lyric in the chorus. I had met Ximena Sariñana, a really great Mexican artist, on tour one time. I always thought she was great. So we reached out to her to see if she wanted to collaborate on that song. What ended up happening was she basically wrote Spanish verses. I had a Spanish hook, she wrote the Spanish verses and we sang it together. And it came out great.

In terms of CerVon Campbell, my wife found him on Instagram and heard this song “Idea” that he was working on that was really evocative and very cool. And we reached out to him. We started talking. And he was willing to collaborate with me and take that song to another level. It’s called “DND – Do Not Disturb.” The crazy part about that is that I never intended that to be part of the Gringa project. I just thought it was a standalone song. What happened was, when they kept asking for more material, I said, “I’ve got this other song I’ve been working on. I don’t think it’s right for the movie but if you want to hear it, I’m happy to send it.” I sent it and they freaked out. They sent me a clip – which I had never seen – from the movie. It’s hard to describe. But, at the very beginning of the movie, the young teenage girl, Marge, wakes up by herself in this condo in Southern California and on her t-shirt it says, “DND – do not disturb.” I had no idea! I sent him the song and they just said, “How did you know?!” I said, “I didn’t know! This is serendipity.” It was just this weird thing that happened. So we included that in the movie.

I think the project had a creative life of its own. And it was really cool to take the ride, you know?

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Ryan: Obviously we’ve seen, especially lately, kind of an industry shift in terms of its embrace of a film like Gringa. There’s less and less art theaters and everything is geared toward the summer blockbuster. But there are more and more video-on-demand services. How do you go about making sure this film finds an audience?

Eng: That’s a great question. And that has been a challenge for sure. Especially with COVID – with people not going to theaters except for tent poles for the most part it seems. And we don’t know if people are returning or will return the same way. So the platform-based, subscription-based, is basically what we really need and are relying on.

Foerster: It’s an interesting thing. I think it’s kind of the Wild West right now. Once we were able to get people in the theaters, we ended up going to a number of film festivals. And actually being able to see the film, finally, in an audience dynamic in a theater all together, fortunately we won five audience awards in a row. Obviously, the way you see a film and how much you’re immersed in it does make a difference.

Marny is right. It’s a real challenge not only for us as an independent but for all independents and for the industry in general. Certainly, we’d love to have a full theatrical release. But the economics of that, and just getting people in the theaters, is more of a challenge.

Ryan: I know it’s been a long time coming for Gringa – I believe I saw six years. After pandemic and everything else how gratifying is it to see this film finally finding an audience?

Eng: It’s awesome. It’s really great. People who we know know how much commitment we’ve had with this project and especially through the challenging years of COVID, which was challenging for so many people on so many levels. So we couldn’t be more thrilled. It was really important for us to get it out into the ether and out to the world so we could share it. And not only for our sake but for the cast and crew who worked so hard and were so committed and who were our family – and still are. So it was really important for us to share the work they did and their contributions.

Foerster: I think Marny just hit the nail on the head. The film is about family. Our whole crew, our cast, the post people, the music group, the post post people, everybody involved in this picture, because of the time that it has taken to get us over the hump to get here, really became super close as a family. And seeing how it finally resonated with the audience has made us all feel very good about the effort and the tenacity to stick with this. Because trying to sell a picture during COVID was very difficult for so many people. So we couldn’t be more happy now that we at least have the opportunity to get it out to the world and to the masses. And we think they’re really going to enjoy it.