Twin Brother Directors Are Making A New Movie Together, But They Kept Their Filming Separate


Michael Polish explains the unusual process he and his twin brother Mark Polish underwent to film the movie There There. Michael Polish has been directing movies for over 25 years, making his feature debut with Twin Falls Idaho, which he co-wrote with Mark. Since then, Michael Polish has gone on to direct several other movies, including Big Sur, The Astronaut Farmer, and Amnesiac. His most recent work is directing the Sylvester Stallone action movie Alarum. Mark Polish is an actor and writer, and has not yet directed a feature film.

In an exclusive interview with ScreenRant for his film Alarum, Michael Polish explains the unusual process he and his brother used to shoot There There. In order to film the project, Michael and Mark shot two completely separate stories of twin brothers, without knowledge of what the other person shot. Plot-wise, the twins are adopted and do not find out they are twins until later in life. These scenes are interwoven together throughout There There, but Michael and Mark Polish did not see the others’ scenes until they filmed it. Check out the full quote from Michael Polish below:

Liam Crowley: Speaking of the future, in your immediate future, I am fascinated by what you have next on your docket being they’re there with your brother. You guys are co-directing this, but you’re not working together. Can you explain to our audience what I mean by that?

Michael Polish: Okay, so to put it in a thimble, Mark directed a story about a twin and I directed a story about a twin. They both later in life find out that they’re twins, they know that they’re adopted, but obviously what you’re getting at is we don’t know what each other shot. We just know that we meet at a certain day at the Brooklyn Bridge and we meet as brothers, but I have no clue what he did and he has no clue what I did. So when we’re in the editing room, which we are, it’s just fascinating how many things are identical. That’s fascinating.

We haven’t done a movie in a decade together, so we’ve lived separate lives for a while, but it just was inherent. For instance, my best friend in the movie’s name’s Emmett, and his name is Emmett. His character’s name’s Emmett. So that’s his stuff. It’s just popping off. It starts to fascinate me. The twin experience is real.

Liam Crowley: Wow. So for clarity on this, it’s not like you shot Act 1 and he shot Act 2. Are you cutting together scenes and interweaving it throughout?

Michael Polish: Yeah, they’re interweaving with each other. So they’ll be Mark’s A-story or B-story. And the likeness is where you sort of cut, where you know that he finds out, I find out, and what our reactions are, the oddness of it. In my film, my mother passes away and she’s able to, in the will, tell me you have somebody else. And in Mark’s movie, his dad passes away. So it’s a real funny mirror because I had no idea what he was doing.

Liam Crowley: Do we have a release date yet?

Michael Polish: No, there’s going to be a premiere. Probably Cannes or Telluride. It’ll probably be a fall release. It feels like a fall release.

What This Means For There There

There There Has A Unique Process


As Michael Polish mentions, the real-life twin brothers have worked together, but it has been a while. As such, they probably had a sense of how each other worked, but the gap also allowed them time to develop their own creative styles. Still, it sounds like even the twins were fascinated by how much overlap they ended up having in their two stories. For example, both had a parent die in their twin’s storyline, creating a very “funny mirror” between the two stories.

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This filming format only really works because of the nature of There There‘s plot. The early synopsis states that there are twin characters who live separately for 40 years, spending most of that time unaware of each other’s existence. Once they find out about each other, they are forced to confront harsh realities. There There features a leading cast including Shannyn Sossamon, Gretchen Mol, Corbin Bernsen, D.W. Moffett, Zack Pearlman, Duncan Vezain, and Logan Polish.

Our Take On There There’s Filming Strategy

Will The Film Feel Disjointed?


The Parent Trap 1961

Michal Polish does not completely address how he and Mark Polish dealt with the scenes wherein the two brothers come together. As such, it will be interesting to see how coherent the narrative ends up being, despite it filming separately. The film festival circuit will likely be a good avenue to showcase There There, as the movie is handled in a very unique way and could benefit from in-depth Q & As about this process to give it intriguing press before releasing.

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