Meet the Makers: “Chasing Valentine” director, Navin Ramaswaran

“Meet the Makers” is a series of interviews to introduce the filmmakers of the 2016 Willson Oakville Film Festival. Answers are edited for clarity and space.

ABOUT THE FILMMAKER: NAVIN RAMASWARAN, writer/director
Navin is a Canadian director and editor who is known for ‘Chasing Valentine’ (2015), ‘Late Night Double Feature’ (2015), and ‘One More for the Road’ (2013).

ABOUT THE FILM: Unable to get over the tragic loss of the love of his life and stuck with a day job editing adult videos, Chase meets an unlikely ally, Valentine – who works under the various personas she has created for herself. Is Chase ready to uncover Valentine’s dark secrets?

Q: Why did you want to tell this story?

Navin: I started with the idea to compile stories of different relationships; not the conventional relationships you often see in movies but ones that are different – unusual. As I developed the script I saw that it was becoming complicated and unfocussed and that maybe it wasn’t the most cinematic way to tell a story. When doing table reads (actors read the script out loud) people liked the Valentine and Chase story. What was originally going to be like, “Love Actually” with lots of characters, became more focussed on Valentine and Chase. Theirs was an unconventional relationship but it was also the most interesting. I’d been working on this for awhile and I needed another writer to look at it. I brought in Neil Avram Schneider to help shape and focus the story.

Q: Who did you make “Chasing Valentine” for?

Navin: I made the film for audiences who want something different. There’s so much content out there that falls into the same clichés. I want this movie to be the little hidden gem you’ll find at a festival; something that jump starts your passion for indie film.

Q: The male lead, Chase (Adam Langton) is unable to get over his loss. Help us understand his character.

Navin: Chase is guilt-ridden because he didn’t go after Scarlet (his fiancé) that night they fought and she walked out. He was confident – because she’d broken up and come back to him before – that this time would be the same. But it isn’t. This time Scarlet doesn’t get the chance to come back and now Chase carries that regret. He can’t get out of this unhealthy feedback loop – ‘What if he’d gone after her?’ ‘What if he’d stopped her from leaving?’ It’s the quick decision that changes everything. To some degree everyone can relate to that.

Q: Valentine is a character we often see in films but with a twist. She’s different. Tell us about her.

Navin: Valentine is a broken soul. She’s very capable and smart and her instinct is to survive. Her goal is to travel the world but she can’t seem to get away. She was in foster care and got into trouble. Then she met her ‘manager’, Alex, who got her into the industry. I wanted Valentine to be more than just another “Pretty Woman” character. She’s discovered this niche market of performing to fetishes – mostly involving food and while wearing different costumes – even a gas mask – without having to give herself to her customers. She’s actually loosely based on someone I know who did this fantasy chef thing.

Q: What are the themes in “Chasing Valentine”?

Navin: Definitely loss and regret – picking up and moving on. Chase has to move on from the loss of his fiancé and Valentine has to move on from what she does for a living. She wants to stop but it’s hard to get out. There’s always ‘one last job’. Chase and Valentine help each other. You’ll notice the chalkboard in Chase’s apartment and how the drawings are metaphorical. It starts out that the drawings have been on there for a long time – things that Chase can’t let go of. When Valentine comes into Chase’s life, the drawings start to change – like a clean slate. The fact is that Chase and Valentine love each other when they need each other. The tagline, “Happy endings are overrated,” came as a response to the traditional happily ever after ending. This movie has a happy ending but in a different way – with 2 broken people who help each other.

Q: There’s another relationship in this film. Chase and Brad have a ‘buddy movie’ friendship. Tell us about that.

Navin: Yeah, we all have that friend who we lean on and who we can end up taking for granted. The backstory with Brad (Brad Cowan) and Chase is that they’ve lived together as roommates and have seen each other through lots of things. Brad is a funny guy – in the movie and in real life. His character lightens things up and balances the serious tones of the film. Brad is a comedian – he had a show, ‘Truth Horse’ on Comedy Central. While filming “Chasing Valentine” Brad would take the scripted dialogue and Improv his lines. It was a lot of fun but I had to be a step ahead to think of how the Improv was moving the story forward and how it would edit together. A funny thing – the Oakville Film Festival will be Brad’s first time seeing “Chasing Valentine”. He missed the other screening. He’s looking forward to seeing it with an audience.

Q: What do you want the audience to take away from “Chasing Valentine”?

Navin: Be entertained and talk about it. It’s not about whether you like or don’t like the movie. A movie lives when people talk about it and say, “Here’s what I liked and here’s what I didn’t like.”

Q: Do you have any final comments you want to share?

Navin: This is going to sound cliché but it’s true. This movie was made by people who were passionate about it. We had very little money and a small bunch of people but we pulled it all together. I couldn’t have done this without these people. I’m very proud of what we’ve done.

Interview by Cathleen MacDonald
Cathleen MacDonald is a writer and filmmaker.