Creating Paint the Town Red was quite an adventure. I went in with a plan, but the truth is I wasn’t sure what was going to happen or how things were going to work out. The inspiration came, as inspiration often does, out of the clear blue sky. It was 2011 and I hadn’t moved to New York yet. I was still living in Ohio and working at a local hospital there. I ended up meeting interesting people from all over the world, many of them with fascinating stories! Deeply curious about human nature – and inspired by the proverbs that teach us to learn from others – I spoke to as many different people as I could, as often as I could.
These conversations were the spark for what became Paint the Town Red. I genuinely wanted answers to the questions I had, even if I was often terrified at having to approach people. I sometimes had to sit down just to get up the courage to speak to people and convince them to appear in the film. After the first person said “yes,” however, it became easy.
It wasn’t until later that I found out that “paint the town red” is associated with partying and general revelry. When I made that expression the title of my film, it wasn’t my intention to reference the party life. On the contrary my interest was in the hard work of pushing boundaries and stepping out of my comfort zone. However, from the time I first encountered “paint the town red,” there was no question what the title of my film would be when I finished it. It was a title set in stone long before I moved to New York.
During filming, everyone was really nice, and I never had any issues with the police, despite the fact that the NYPD are notorious sticklers when it comes to filming permits. Sometimes my requests were denied, but that became the most valuable part of the experience. I had to learn to deal with disappointment and move past it. Most people were interested in participating – surprisingly so at times. In the end I interviewed more than 500 people in total, and most of those responded positively to the experience.
Some of the questions I put to participants were on general subjects, but most focused on much more narrow questions that I was personally very interested in and seeking answers to. I had all of these questions written down on cards and would adapt them to the person, hoping to elicit as authentic a response as I could. Some have asked if I was inspired by Humans of New York, by Brandon Stanton, but the truth is I didn’t find out about that project until long after I had finished Paint the Town Red. I think what Brandon created is incredibly meaningful and inspiring even if it didn’t directly inspire me. And yet it is fascinating how people can end up in the same place via very different routes. If anything, I wish I had interviewed more than 500 people! I would have – I just didn’t have the time.
Looking back now, more than a decade later, I’m so pleased at the way it all turned out. The project was a success in all the ways that really matter. I learned so much about life and found answers to most of the questions I had at that time. I still think about Paint the Town Red often –especially those who took the time to stop and talk to me and seemed excited by the opportunity to share. I had a truly rare opportunity to meet people from every walk of life and soak up wisdom on life, the universe, and…everything!