Welcome to the first in our second annual series of SXSW previews! As the festival approaches we’ll be asking filmmakers to spill the superficial details about their films, to tell us all the deep personal details of what makes them tick, and –– new this year! –– reveal who they had to sleep with, in the incestuous conspiracy-minded secret society that is the wider SXSW community, in order to get their film programmed at the festival.

Chosen as our first preview simply because I very much support the naming films after Flock of Seagulls songs, Modern Love is Automatic is the debut directorial effort from Zach Clark, who edited SXSW 2006 entry Dance Party, USA. Above, check out the stylish, winky trailer for the movie. Below the jump, Clark describes his Emerging Visions entry as a “a No-Wave Douglas Sirk movie”, professes his love for salsa and “Three’s Company style misunderstandings”, and drops the name of a Bollywood-related work-out video that I feel I must purchase immediately.

Tell us about your movie. Who did you work with, 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.

My stock answer is Modern Love is Automatic is about an apathetic nurse who moonlights as a dominatrix, her aspiring model roommate and the sad, strange world they live. It’s Jeanne Dielman 23 Quai Du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles meets Olga’s House of Shame! Kinda. Not really. Well, maybe. It’s a movie about feeling stuck in a rut, and trying to get out of it, and finding yourself in a new rut. It’s also a movie about diet soda, and the colors pink and turquoise, and unwrapping presents, and a mattress store, and hotel rooms, and karaoke. Some other things too. A friend of mine said it felt equally influenced by Russ Meyer and Eric Rohmer. That seems about right. I always thought of it as a No-Wave Douglas Sirk movie, but I’m not exactly sure what that even means.

The very first idea I had for it was to make a public access TV show about a nurse who’s also a dominatrix. It seemed like a good opportunity for some Three’s Company style misunderstandings. I started developing the lead role with an actress friend of mine, and after talking about it for a while, it just made more sense as a feature.

I went to college with both of the lead actresses. Melodie [Sisk] was actually in my end of the year project my very first year of film school at NCSA. I called her out of the blue after not having seen her for three years to ask her to be in the movie. She and her girlfriend ended up moving to DC (where we shot and where I was living at the time.) It totally changed both of our lives. I wrote Maggie’s role specifically for her.

We had a tiny crew. I met Daryl, our DP, through a mutual friend who directs music videos. I ran into my friend Danny from high school a month or so before we started shooting and he asked me if I needed any help. So I taught him how to sound mix, and he was our sound mixer/boom op. Daryl brought his friend Ned on to be a gaffer/AC/etc etc. And Melodie’s girlfriend Jen was an all-around do-everything kinda girl. I think she did every possible job at one point during the shooting, I should have let her direct a scene. My ex-girlfriend designed the costumes. That was about it.

Do you have a day job/a non-filmmaking occupation that raises money for your filmmaking efforts? Tell us about it.

I work as a video editor and DVD programmer. Lately I cut a lot of work-out videos. One of them was called Bollywood Booty. I think you can buy it in Whole Foods.

Have you been to SXSW before? If so, tell us about your funniest story from the experience. If not, what are you looking forward to re: the festival and/or the city of Austin?

I was there three years ago as the editor of Dance Party, USA. I don’t think I have anything that funny story-wise. I mainly remember there being no shortage of chips and salsa. When the festival was done, I didn’t want to see salsa for a while. Which is a shame, because I love salsa. Maybe I’ll go on a salsa fast between now and the festival so I don’t get overwhelmed.

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?

I have three favorite movies. So I suppose I’ll watch the top two. My favorite movie of all time is Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! My second is Female Trouble. I actually can’t think of a more appropriate choice to watch on my last night on death row than Female Trouble.

There’s been some criticism that the only way to get into SXSW is by being a part of an “incestuous scene where everybody knows everybody.” So who did *you* have to sleep with to get in? (Metaphorically or literally: are there any SXSW filmmaker(s) past or present that you’re close with personally and/or professionally, and how have those relationships helped or hurt the process of producing your film and getting it seen?)

I was the editor on Aaron Katz’s first movie, Dance Party, USA, which premiered at SXSW. We all went to film school together, the Quiet City crew, and Chad Hartigan who made Luke and Brie are on a First Date. I don’t think I mentioned any of that in anything I sent out when submitting. I did show the movie to Aaron, and he encouraged me to submit to larger fests like SXSW. After that it was a lot of finger crossing. I mainly credit the finger crossing.