Talking on the phone with Saffron Cassady seems so natural, her laid back nature and confidence is just the sort of personality I would expect anyone to completely trust. It’s no wonder why her feature documentary Cyber-Seniors is a successful first film from the director. Being an experienced comedy actress and editor, Cassaday makes an engaging film about senior citizens exploring the internet for the first time, learning all about Facebook, Youtube and online dating. A humorous plot line greatly executed for an equally funny and heartwarming film. We begin:
WHAT WAS THE CASTING PROCESS LIKE TO FIND THESE SENIORS?
We got into two retirement residences that allowed us to film. We did little presentations to the seniors to try and get them interested. I think we had 30-40 seniors sign up. So we started by giving all of them lessons and filming all of their lessons, and then we quickly narrowed it down to the ones that were really comfortable in front of the camera and were really fun and funny.
ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS IN THE FILM IS WHEN ONE LADY TRIES TO ACCESS HER EMAIL BY TYPING WWW.EMAIL.COM. WERE THERE OTHER MOMENTS THAT WERE AS FUNNY OR HEARTWARMING DIDN’T MAKE IT INTO THE FINAL CUT?
There’s one storyline that didn’t make it into the final cut. The one senior Annette, who’s a major character, said in her first lesson that her reason to get online was to look up her old high school friend. She tried to find her on Facebook and couldn’t find her and then she posted a Craigslist ad, looking for this person, and she got a response from the woman’s son who said here’s her Skype address, add her on Skype. When [Annette] added this woman on Skype the woman wanted nothing to do with her.
OH NO…
Yeah it was kind of sad, but kind of interesting. It was like the dark side of the internet because Annette was pretty hurt by it. In the end we didn’t use the footage.
BEING THAT YOU’RE AN ACTRESS AS WELL AS A DIRECTOR, HOW DID YOU APPROACH THIS FILM?
Well I started working as an editor about 4 years ago as a side gig to my acting, and I really think having an editing background helped me with this film. I usually edit comedy shorts that I act in, so that was where my experience was… doing comedy short videos. I really went for the punch lines first [when editing] and that helped me weave the story together and focusing on things that really drew me to the project.
HOW DID THE YOUTUBE VIDEO COMPETITION COME ABOUT?
When Shura made her YouTube video, we didn’t know what she was going to make. She was really into watching YouTube cooking tutorials and she said she wanted to make one but she was upset because she didn’t have a full stove in her retirement residence so that’s why she makes the grilled cheese sandwich the way she makes it.
[Laughter]
And no, we didn’t know what to expect, we didn’t know it would be that funny.
DID YOU GET ANY FUNNY MATERIAL THAT YOU WOULD USE FOR ANY SKETCH COMEDY VIDEOS?
Haha, I hadn’t thought of that but yeah, definitely, there’s a lot of material there. It’s been my life for 2 years so it’s constantly on my mind.
WHAT’S YOUR REACTION BEEN TO ALL THE PUBLICITY THE FILM IS GETTING?
It’s fantastic, I mean we’re so surprised. The main feedback that we usually get is that people find the film way more entertaining than they expected to. I think a lot of people think a documentary with seniors is going to be very educational, but it’s not. It’s got a lot of heart to it and there’s a lot of funny moments so we’re really happy that people are kind of recognizing that and enjoying it for that reason.
HAVE YOU KEPT IN TOUCH WITH THE SENIORS IN THE SOCIAL MEDIA WORLD?
Yeah I’m Facebook friends with all of them! Haha. Shura unfortunately passed away last November but she was the most active online. By the end of shooting, it was easier to get in touch with her over Facebook then by calling her. Even like a week before she passed away, we were having a Facebook conversation. It happened very fast, sudden and sad. But yes, we keep in touch still.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR PEOPLE WANTING TO MAKE DOCUMENTARIES?
Just go for it. You can get so stuck not knowing what to do or when to start, and it is kind of terrifying. I thought that for a first film, a documentary would be easier than a narrative feature because I thought you don’t have to have any set lists, you just show up, point and shoot. But the reality of it is the editing process is a monster because you have to come up with the story. Once you’re into it, it becomes easier.
