CHRIS WHITE: Ronnie Gunter…"Dillon" in TAKEN IN…how did you and I first meet?
RONNIE GUNTER: We met over the phone several months, or maybe a year, ago. You'd seen a film I made and we talked about regional filmmaking for a while. I didn't meet you face to face until I arrived on the TAKEN IN set. I remember thinking that you sounded taller on the phone.
CW: What did you think after our first Skype meeting?
RG: I'd never Skyped before and haven't since and probably never will again because the marvels of technology are endless and I like things that are finite. The Skype meeting was a unique introduction to the cast and crew and added to the mystique of the project. I was glad we were able to do it.
CW: What’s the best part of making a movie at South of the Border?
RG: Not much travel time between locations. Everything's centralized.
CW: What was the funniest thing that happened during the shoot?
RG: My ten-minute Shake Weight work out with Robert [facility manager, ex-cop] at Reptile Lagoon. Those things are as absurd in real-life as they are on TV, but much harder to operate than they look. There's a skill involved...Robert had it, I didn't.
CW: What was the sweetest/sappiest thing that happened?
RG: Well, pretty much everything Jennifer Baxley did was sweet, especially the surprise Push-Up pops. That was sweet and they were sweet so...double sweet.
CW: Talk about the character of Dillon. Was he based on someone you know?
RG: I know a few people like Dillon. I think there have been times in my life when I was Dillon. There's something about feeling stuck in a situation, or a place, or a job, even if there are things about them that you like, that makes you desperate. Then, when something or someone different comes along, it's easy to cling to it, hoping it will pull you out. It's not that Dillon is unhappy with his job or even his geography, but he's smart enough to know that he's stuck.
CW: What do we do next?!
RG: Something...I don't know what...but something.
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