Tanc Sade is best known for his acting.  The charming, young Australian starred as the lovable rouge, 'Finn' on "Gilmore Girls" and appeared in indie features like "Sex and Death 101" but his current project has him splitting his time as both actor and writer/director of the short film "Flowers and Weeds".

"Flowers and Weeds" is an urban fairy tale about a young man seeking love.  And for a debut film it's a wonderful achievement in storytelling.  Original, the visuals are fresh and the colors are vibrant but what's striking is the film has an emotional core and that's not easy to achieve in a short film.

The film has two Academy Award winners and a Nominee to its belt and the Palm Springs International Short Film Festival, the largest in North America gave them an advanced invitation.  All and all, a very promising beginning.

LA2DAY had the opportunity to sit-down with Actor/Writer/Director Tanc Sade:

LA2DAY:  You wrote and directed this project.  What inspired you?

Tanc Sade:  Primarily I wanted to learn, but I also wanted to try and make art for arts sake and not for money or other reasons.

LA2DAY:  Did you find the transition to helmer difficult?

TS:  It was my first time as a writer so my skills were limited but I was surprised to find directing very natural.  I was lucky enough to have a strong team around me so that helped a lot.

LA2DAY:  How was it working with your department heads?

TS:  Humbling.  I was fortunate enough to have veterans, some with twenty years or more of experience.  I had a strong idea of what I wanted but when I wasn't sure I would bounce things off everyone.

LA2DAY:  The visuals are very striking.

TS:  The Director of Photography (Filip Vandewal) and I worked very hard on the look.  I wanted a fairy tale quality and we would send each other paintings and photographs until we knew exactly what we wanted.  The Production designer, Rick Nichol and Art Director Pat McKenzie were a dream because I wasn't willing to compromise on my vision but they had no budget to achieve it.  The other thing is the music and I can assure you without Mimi's (Van De Put) score you would have had a very different film.

LA2DAY:  You have some big-name talent involved.  Actor Terrence Stamp and musician Glen Hansard (from ‘Once').  How did you get them?

TS:  I managed to get the script and proposal package to Terrence's hotel room while he was staying in Los Angeles.  That got the ball rolling.  He ended up doing his part while he was on vacation.  That's how generous he is, he took time from his vacation to help me.  Glen Hansard believed in the project and gave us a song to use.

LA2DAY:  What's next for you?

TS:  I'm writing a feature.  Investors anyone?

You can visit www.flowersandweedsfilm.com for more information.

By Joe Wehinger

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