Award-winning short-film writer-director Michael Tyburski makes his feature debut with The Sound of Silence. The intimate drama stars Peter Sarsgaard as a New York City “house tuner,” a technician of sorts who diagnoses and calibrates the ambient noises in his client’s homes in order to cure their mood disorders. He gets stumped when he can’t solve why a new client (Rashida Jones) is chronically exhausted, despite the adjustments he keeps making.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, where it was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize. Tyburski spoke to Casting Networks about nabbing his two leads, working with casting director Rori Bergman and coming full circle with a project that actually began as a Sundance short five years earlier.
This is your first feature film. How did you manage to land the cast that you did?
Peter Sarsgaard was actually my first pick for the house tuner. I was able to get him the script through mutual acquaintances at Anonymous Content. I wrote Peter a letter, waxed poetic on why I loved him, his unique voice and his ability to be like a chameleon and slip into parts. Fortunately, he liked the script.
Then you built out your cast from there?
From there, we brought in a casting director, Rori Bergman in New York. She recommended Rashida Jones for the part of Ellen. I have to admit I only knew Rashida through her comedy roles, which she is very good at. Even though there is humor in this film, I didn’t want it to be perceived as a romantic comedy. So, I did a deep dive into Rashida’s work, and I found some non-comedic roles. I found this campaign she did for Sofia Coppola where she wasn’t wearing any makeup and saw a completely different side of Rashida Jones I’d never seen before. I was really taken. Then we spoke, and I knew she really got the role. She’s a wonderful filmmaker and writer in her own right, with very strong opinions, so she was able to flesh that character out, which I was very excited about.
Who else did Rori recommend that may not have been at the forefront of your mind?
Toni Revolori came recommended. I loved him in Grand Budapest Hotel. He’s such a sweet gentleman to work with. With this film, no one actually read for roles. It was about looking at who they were, what they did and having conversations with them. Tony was someone who was jazzed about the role.
Any dream castings you were able to fulfill?
I always wanted to work with the great Austin Pendelton. I first saw him perform in Shakespeare in the Park back in 2007 when he was in a production of Romeo and Juliet. I’ve loved him for years, and I consider him a great New York character actor. I wanted my film to be populated by very New York actors and be full of New York characters. He was immediately the person I wanted for the role of Peter’s mentor, Robert. Turned out, Austin worked with Peter before. He directed Peter [in a stage production of Uncle Vanya in 2009], so there was kind of this inherent mentor figure already in place that transitioned into their roles. I got to have a lot of fun with that.
What was your relationship like with Rori during casting?
I try and find collaborators that I trust and want to work with for that reason. I am very hands on. I like to be involved in every detail of the moviemaking process—to an unhealthy degree, I suppose, at times. But I loved Rori because she had specifically cast projects that had the types of New York characters that I was looking for. I knew she would be able to put forward an eclectic group for the film, and she did.
The Sound of Silence began as a short film in 2013 called Palimpsest and won a Special Jury Prize at Sundance. When you and the short’s co-writer Ben Nabors adapted it as a full-length film, did you already have set ideas for the characters born out of the short?
Because it started as a short, I had a very specific look in mind for the lead: a bearded gentleman who looked good in a blazer, kind of professorial. But I wanted a clean slate when I made the feature. When I was writing it, I was really just picturing the character rather than who’d be filling those shoes. Once Peter became attached, and we continued developing the film, then I was picturing him in the role. At a certain point, Peter did get into my head because we recorded the script together in audio form, and I was able to take that audio and tailor the script more towards Peter in ways that I thought would work really great.
Any reason why you didn’t just stick with the same cast as the short?
When I made the short, I didn’t intend to make it into a feature. That was kind of an organic process that happened. We shot it in earnest in 2012, and it premiered at Sundance 2013, so by the time we got to the feature, a lot of time had passed. I had great actors in the short, but I wanted a clean slate. I even shot the film with an entirely new crew.
Why?
I suppose I didn’t want to repeat myself, even though it’s the same story. When you get a chance to do a feature based on a short, you get a chance to try something new. Plus, the role of the tuner also had evolved so much. We really fleshed out that world and that character for the feature. I also have to admit it was very challenging to finance this project. Having names like Peter’s and Rashida’s helped us get the movie made.
Are there any more iterations of this project for you, like a series, or are you ready to move on?
Because the project has been with me for so long, I had a little separation anxiety once this film premiered at Sundance this year, I was like, “Okay, I have to properly move on. I’ve told their stories, and that world is complete to me.” I’m looking forward to moving on and doing something completely fresh on the next one.
The Sound of Silence is currently in theaters and on VOD.
Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for breaking industry news and exclusive offers!