About
Origins of “Dirt”
As many such journeys begin, Down to the Dirt started with a decision at the dining room table. In 2004 Writer/Director Justin Simms, Producer Anna Petras, Novelist/Lead Actor Joel Hynes and Co-Screenwriter Sherry White sat over tea and agreed to make the feature film adaptation of Joel’s first novel, Down to the Dirt, in which his ne’r-do-well alter ego, Keith Kavanagh, finds a most improbable redemption. Four years and thousands of cups of tea later, the film exists. (And all four key players are still alive.)
Though the story is set largely in Newfoundland, the filmmakers were intent to make a film that, in the words of director Simms, “isn’t burdened by its regionalism, but rather made universal by it.” The film has three main geographic locations – the rural Cove, downtown St. John’s, and finally a gothic rendering of nighttime Halifax. These locations come to mirror the emotional points of Keith’s journey, so Simms was intent to not fall into the visual traps Newfoundland in particular, has to offer.
It’s called”Down to the Dirt,” not “Down to the Beautiful Sunset.” So we tried to show a different side of St. John’s, one that isn’t captured enough in films that are shot here. The urban side, the decay, the character inherent in the cracks.”
Also key to the early life of the film was the decision that Joel would play the lead role. A unique structure to be sure – playing the lead role in the film version of the book he wrote about himself. Says Simms, “Joel, having written the book, and having played the character on stage — it was really his energy, his presence, his comedy, that made one think “Down to the Dirt” could be a film.
To capture the energy of “Joel-as-Keith”, and making that combination work in the structure of a feature film, was as much an impetus to make this film as anything else.”