Profiles in Courage: Brian Gatewood, screenwriter and co-writer of The Sitter

Photos via Park Slope Lens

In his pre-Bugaboo and Baby Bjorn days, Brian Gatewood was hard at work on a screenplay about bratty kids and the poor loser responsible for their care. Out in theaters nationwide today, The Sitter stars funny actor Jonah Hill as a suspended college student roped into a babysitting gig.

Life has changed for Brian since he wrote The Sitter with his co-writer Alessandro Tanaka in early 2009. Nowadays he lives on the border of Park Slope and lugs his 2-year old son up three flights of stairs. And when he seeks respite, he locks himself up in the bathroom or hires, well, a sitter.

Recently I spoke to Brian about having his first screenplay produced and what it was like to visit the set in Park Slope. Brian has more movies in the works including one with Clive Owen. As for The Sitter, here is Brian's one sentence pitch: Jonah Hill takes a couple of kids on a coke run, hilarity ensues. So even Jonah Hill gets fucked in Park Slope sometimes.

When and why did you move here?

In late 2009 my wife and I had a son. We were inundated with baby stuff and subsequently realized our one bedroom Manhattan apartment was starting to resemble an episode of “Hoarders”. Thus, in February 2010 we sought space and salvation in Park Slope.

 

What do you like most/least about Park Slope?

I like most: Prospect Park and all of the various green spaces. That I can see the leaves change color in the fall. What can I say, I’m a sucker for foliage.

Least: We live in a three story walk up on Flatbush Avenue, our bedrooms face the street and the noise drives me crazy. The construction around the Barclays Center is a fucking nightmare. Also, I could also do without all those diagonal cross walks. Not only are they ridiculously dangerous, but I constantly find myself backtracking and showing up late to where ever I’m supposed to be. I guess this is really an answer to what I like least about living on Flatbush Avenue. Park Slope proper is a dream by comparison.

What’s your experience with the Food Coop or any other coops?

To be honest, I’m a little scared of the whole Food Coop scene. I’ve actually had many near death experiences at the hands of frustrated cart walkers.  My wife used to be a member and can’t tell me with a straight face that it’s not a cult, so I remain suspicious.

Which Park Slope approved accessory do you have: a dog, a baby or a book deal?

 A baby (who travels in a reasonably sized stroller). And he loves the playgrounds in our neighborhood. You could probably file that under the above question of what I like most about Park Slope. That my son seems to love it.

What’s the strangest/funniest thing that’s happened to you since you moved to Park Slope?

I think the fact that I wrote THE SITTER before I had a kid or moved to Park Slope, then had to get a sitter to go to the set of the movie that wound up shooting here is pretty strange.

You wrote The Sitter before you had a kid or lived in Park Slope, Brooklyn's most kid overrun neighborhood. What inspired you to write this screenplay? What did you use for reference?

We absolutely love Jonah Hill and thought that Jonah babysitting a couple of kids and taking them on a coke run could be a lot of fun. We wanted to write a fucked up John Hughes movie with a deeply flawed protagonist coupled with a bunch of kids with real issues, instead of nice, precocious toddlers. Obviously we looked at 80’s babysitting movies, like UNCLE BUCK and ADVENTURES IN BABYSITTING and one night movies, like AFTER HOURS and BLIND DATE. Oddly enough, for this script we were really inspired by TRUE ROMANCE-- love that movie. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t credit Kierkegaard, especially his later work.

 

Your new movie is based in NYC. What is your favorite NYC-centric movie?

Tough question and I don’t want to take up your whole day, so I’ll give you the Cliff’s Notes answer. ANNIE HALL (pretty much any Woody Allen NYC movie), TAXI DRIVER (pretty much any Martin Scorsese NYC movie), EYES WIDE SHUT, INSIDE MAN... 

AFTER HOURS (Scorsese) was an inspiration for my writing partner (Alessandro Tanaka) and I while writing THE SITTER. For the sake of brevity, let’s say AFTER HOURS. 

There is a scene shot at Grand Prospect Hall. I have to ask....Did they make your dreams come true?

Considering that was the location the first day I went to the set of my first ever studio produced movie, fuckin’ A I’d say they made my dreams come true.

What's your favorite Park Slope place to write?

The bathroom of my apartment. Seriously. I’m one of those OCD writers who can’t write in coffee shops. During the day I have an office in downtown Brooklyn where I try to write at a desk across from my writing partner. But if I’m not there, then I’m working in the bathroom at home. My long suffering wife would like me to note that we only have one bathroom.

What are your favorite local:

Restaurants:

I’m not a foodie, but I do like to eat. A lot. There are so many great restaurants in Park Slope. Again, you can probably file this under the above question of what I like most about Park Slope. The food. La Villa and Press 195 are two of my go to’s. I’ve been meaning to check out Bonnie’s Grill. I’ve heard from other Buffalonians(I’m from Buffalo originally) that the chicken wings there are the real deal.

Coffee joint:

Gorilla Coffee, Blue Sky Bakery and honorable mention to Prospect Perk (even though it’s technically Prospect Heights) because they have bagels from The Bagel Hole and one of the baristas is a Bills fan.

Place to hang:

Since I have a two year old, unfortunately I don’t get to do much hanging these days.  But I love to go to BAMwhen I can get a babysitter.

Fleishers, the organic butcher shop just opened up on 5th Ave. What overpriced specialty store is missing from the Slope?

An Apple Store.  It’s not free range or organic, but it's certainly overpriced.  And I don’t want to be a dick, but, c’mon, in a neighborhood with this many Macs per capita... An Apple Store.

Aside from promoting The Sitter released in theaters today, what else do you have in the works?

Alex (my writing partner) and I wrote a script that we are directing and putting together which Clive Owen is attached to star in, we are very thrilled about that. It’s an indie dark comedy. We sold a script earlier this year called MEET THE NEW BOSS about a guy who’s boss is fired and replaced by a sociopathic computer. It’s sort of like HAL from 2001 meets FATAL ATTRACTION as a comedy. It’s about our relationship with modern technology. We’re writing a pilot for NBC that’s a lot of fun and we also are working on two movies we’re excited about at Universal.

Say you can make a movie about anything in Park Slope, what would it be about?

Well, just to reiterate about THE SITTER, not only was some of it shot in Park Slope, but Grand Prospect Hallmakes an actual appearance in the movie and also if you’ll look closely at a subway scene in the middle of the film, you’ll notice all of the signs read “Park Slope". (Extra note: The interior of Grand Prospect Hall doubles for several other scenes in the film.) To answer your question, hmmm, I would probably write a movie about the Food Coop...  Something about an undercover FBI agent who harbors a deep secret from his past about processed food and must confront his inner demons and take down the bad guys (Zombies? Vampires? Hippies?) by infiltrating the shady world of the Park Slope Food Coop...

I think I might be all Park Sloped out for a bit...

Are You Fucked in Park Slope?

Happily.