Indie auteur, and possible benevolent alien, Pete Ohs is back with a new film opening at Slamdance. Love and Work is an absurdist comedy and love story set in an alternate world where the government has decreed that to work or create anything of use is illegal. The warm-hearted satire stars Stephanie Hunt, Will Madden, Alexi Pappas, and Frank Mosely.
Ohs is an editor, director, cinematographer, and all-around legend of redefining Americana. His previous work includes Everything Beautiful is Far Away starring Julia Garner, Jethica starring Callie Hernandez, and Youngstown starring Stephanie Hunt.
Nadine Whitney spoke to Pete about his collaborative ethic, his workaholic tendencies, and why people seem to do ludicrous things.
Nadine Whitney: One of the first things I’ve noted in your work is that it’s often a process of collaboration. Stephanie Hunt who stars in Love and Work was also the backbone and star of Youngstown. Will Madden was in Jethica which also featured Andy Faulkner. Often you have your actors working as writers and improvising. How important are your buddies in shaping your films?
Pete Ohs: The entire reason for making these movies is because my favorite thing to do when I was fifteen was make videos with my best friends. I’m just trying to recapture that feeling.
The actors are always extremely involved in the making of these films. They help with writing. They help pick out the costumes. They help name the characters they are playing. This collaborative aspect of filmmaking is what makes it special.
NW: Speaking of buddies, a through line in your films seems to be that if you find the right people, friends or lovers, you can get through almost anything. Everything Beautiful is Far Away features a trio of misfits (one a robot head) searching for a seemingly mythical crystal lake in an unspecified dystopia. Youngstown is about finding connection not only through place but through acceptance. In Love and Work two people find each other admits a strange utopia/dystopia. What do you like about oddball “couples”?
PO: Connecting with another human is maybe the most meaningful thing we can do. It’s something I constantly seek out. It can also be quite rare to find so it’s fun to spend time in stories where it happens.
NW: You have worked in many genres. Science fiction, ghost stories, dislocated realism, and the comedy and pathos involved in all of them. Through seeming absurdity, you are asking quite profound philosophical questions. Do you think of yourself as a comedic philosopher? Someone like perhaps Jacques Tati?
PO: I often feel more like an alien who observes humans and wonders why they do the silly things they do. And I prefer to work in genres because I get enough of the real world in everyday life, so filmmaking is an opportunity to play in a land of make-believe.
NW: You have a very specific relationship to oddball Americana. Whether that be a place, like Youngstown, or a version of rust belt decline which can also be seen in Love and Work. Your music videos also show the same aesthetic. How does the American landscape and the people that are often not seen resonate with you?
PO: I grew up in a small town in Ohio. It’s who I am and where I come from so this is the perspective I’m bringing to the work. I’ve also been on many, many road trips across America. For me, all these people and places are filled with nostalgia and evoke many different memories and emotions.
NW: Despite years in the business in some capacity, you have had to hustle to get things funded and distributed. Needing to work but not being able to create anything is part of the thesis of Love and Work. Is there something personal being said in the film?
PO: Basically, my one and only vice is that I’m a workaholic. In our society, this is an acceptable, and even rewarded, dysfunction. At the same time, work provides more than income. It builds community and gives a sense of purpose. I want to work. I love to work! But it isn’t healthy when it becomes an extreme. The challenge is finding a balance.
NW: Other than a good cup of coffee and maybe a delicious donut, what gets you out of bed every day?
PO: Working gets me out of bed. It also gets me to bed early. I love a good full night of sleep knowing I’ll be waking up with a full day of work ahead of me.
NW: “Quirky sincerity” is one of the ways people describe your films. Do you believe comedy is a way to explore truth?
PO: I literally feel tickled by ideas. When I’m trying to figure something out and I start to laugh, it means a good idea is coming. I also think a sense of humor is a hugely useful quality to have while navigating existence. Laughing releases pressure which is essential for solving problems.
NW: What do you hope audiences will get out of their experience of watching Love and Work?
PO: Hopefully, Love and Work is fun to watch. And if it stimulates some meaningful reflections and conversations around what we want our world to be like, then that’s great too.
Love and Work opens at Slamdance Film Festival on January 20, 2024
