Peter and Vandy, starring Jess Weixler (Teeth) and Jason Ritter and adapted by director Jay DiPietro from his own play, hops around in time to show a romance’s beginning and end simultaneously. Answering our 4 Questions We Ask Everyone, DiPietro talks about gift bags, threats from Mike Ditka, and why Scenes From a Marriage could make facing instant death seem bearable.

Tell us about your movie: who did you work with, what did you shoot on, why did you make it? Give us the reductive, 25-word or less, “It’s like [pop culture reference a] meets [pop culture reference b]!” pitch, then explain what the quick and dirty sell leaves out.

Peter and Vandy is a love story told out of order.   The title characters are Jason Ritter and Jess Weixler.  Love them.  We shot it on super 16 with my DP’s camera (Frank Demarco who used the same camera for Hedwig, Shortbus, and some other cool stuff).  My editor, Geoff Richman, is a big doc editor (he did Sicko, Murderball, etc.) – he was perfect for this as well.  We had a great crew – top to bottom.

The quick and dirty is, “It’s like Manhattan meets Memento but with no voice-over.”  What does that leave out?  I guess it leaves out the tone of the film.  The scenes are written without any real exposition.  You are figuring out where they are and who they are by the way they order food or pick a movie…  The aim is to show scenes that are really familiar to anyone who’s ever been in love – for better or worse.  Their biggest fight is over how one is making a sandwich the wrong way – displaced anger – that kind of thing.  I think that’s how most people are.  The real truth comes out when you’re talking about something else.

Anyway, it’s kind of this true-to-life / romantic puzzle to put together.  Also, we have a very cool soundtrack with songs from The National, Animal Collective, Patrick Wolf, Menomena, Frightened Rabbit, Les Savy Fav, and more.  And we’re whores for laughs.

If you funded your film through a “day job” or through working on projects that were not your own, tell us about that. If not, tell us a story from your past work life, before you became a professional filmmaker.

After getting out of acting school, I learned how to write and I wrote Peter and Vandy as a play.  We did it downtown in NYC.  I acted in it, directed it, built the sets, etc.  The play was a hit - got some awards - was optioned as a film - didn’t get made for two years – I got the option back – found new producers – made the movie.

While I was in acting school I had a bunch of jobs.  A good job I had was working in sports television.  One time I was working in the studio for a halftime show and heard Mike Ditka threaten to “punch a guy in the asshole.”  He was kidding, but that didn’t make it any less raw.  Is that the kind of story you’re looking for?

Have you been to Sundance before? If so, tell us your best moment (or worst, which ever is funnier). If you haven’t, what are you most (or least) looking forward to based on your impressions of the festival?

I’ve never been to Sundance.  Aside from the screenings, I’m most looking forward to being with the cast and crew again.  Making a movie is such an intense process and you really do develop such affection for all of these people.  It’s rare when you can get everyone back together like that.

Also the gift bags intrigue me.

Let’s get hypothetical: You’re on death row. The night of your execution, you’re allowed to watch any two films of your choice. What would you pick for your last-night-on-Earth double feature?

It’s tough to pick just two, so I’ll have to approach this analytically.  I want one movie that is funny, that I know really well and still love.  I’m thinking Midnight Run would be a good crowd-of-one-pleaser on my last night.

Then I’d want to watch something a little weightier.  I’m going with Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage, … THE 5 HOUR VERSION!  That way, I’m getting the most bang for my buck as far as runtime goes.  Also it’s existential, truthful, brilliant, etc. which I think would fit the moment.  As an added bonus, it’s just bleak enough to make the forthcoming execution seem not so horrible.

Or maybe I’d take a chance on 2 movies I’ve never seen.