Josh Clinton: Hey Marty.
Marty Martin: Hey. How is it going man?
JC: Pretty good. How about yourself?
MM: I’m doing okay.
JC: Great. So how did you get interested in filmmaking?
MM: Um..gosh. That’s a hard question really. I didn’t really get into until like 4 of 5 years ago. But probably when I saw Jurassic Park when I was 12, I at least kinda thought about making movies. It didn’t really kick in until about 5 years ago, though.
JC: Cool. How did you hear about the show then?
MM: About a year ago, I heard about the show from a producer friend of mine before the show was even announced. Then I just kept tabs on the show on the Internet until the website finally popped up, and then I was one of the first people to send in their videos.
JC: You stated on your show that your style of filmmaking was “distracting”. Can you explain that more?
MM: Well the first thing I can say is that the way I was shown on the show was a complete misrepresentation of who I am. I’m not a cocky guy at all, which they tried to make me out to be. Then I also said a stupid thing, which I didn’t really mean to say, which was something along the lines of my style is distracting and stuff. But that’s not my style at all. If anything, I just like to use my visuals to really tell the story.
JC: I understand now. Was there a reason that you decided to make trailers for short films than actual short films?
MM: Especially for the one minute film, I had a bunch of concepts for one minute stories. But I just figured that since trailers are something that I’m pretty good at, it was better than coming up with an entire concept for a film. I think a lot of people thought I copped out by doing a trailer, but it was a hell of a lot of work. I had to come up an entire story and condense it down to one minute. It was like a 16 page treatment for an entire film. I just thought it would stick out, and I was actually surprised that I was criticized for doing a trailer and not following the rules. We have to pass everything through the producers for approval anyways, and they really liked it and approved it. So I thought it was good to go.
JC: Yeah, that’s interesting.
MM: Also, for the second film it was kinda an homage to Tony Scott. If I had known that it was going to be shown to the public, it was probably not what I would have made because I didn’t know it was part of the competition. So for me it was like I’m going to send this to the producers and it’s going to be an homage to Tony Scott. But then, of course, people thought I was a copycat and couldn’t do my own stuff, which couldn’t be further from the truth but whatever. I didn’t really think that was a trailer, it was just an interesing way of cutting up a short linear story.
JC: Right. So you like Tony Scott’s work as a director?
MM: Yeah, I wouldn’t say he’s my favorite director or anything. But yeah I like Tony Scott, I like Steven Spielberg, I like Michael Bay. I don’t know if you have seen the French movie, Amelie
JC: No, I haven’t seen that one yet.
MM: Okay. The director of that, Jean-Pierre Jeunet, is probably my favorite director. I think a lot of people watching the show assume that I like action movies a lot, but if anything I really like slow dramas so it can be confusing.
JC: Right. So why were you so antagonistic with the judges?
MM: Well I guess I could say on one hand that I was speaking for all of the contestants, because I was really good friends with all of the contestants. We were all pretty fed up with the judges’ take on things. I speak my mind and don’t really worry if someone is well known or if it’s a friend or what not. I just figured that if I had the opportunity to defend myself, why not take it? We were also encouraged to defend ourselves too. That probably just sparked me and made my mind up that I was going to defend myself. I regret it. I wish I would have said “thank you Carrie, I don’t quite agree with you but I appreciate your opinion.” I wish I would have said that, because I would probably still be on the show.
JC: Right. So you don’t think of yourself as arrogant then?
MM: No. It’s easy for me to say, because I know myself. But whenever I saw myself up on the screens, because we could see ourselves, the way they were showing me was so not me at all. It freaked me out. Even the guys on the show, we all hang out, they were like why are they doing that to you? I think clearly what it comes down to is that if you have anyone that fully speaks their mind, even if they are a really nice person, they are going to try and point that out more. So I think that’s what happened.
JC: Right.
MM: But at the end of the day, I’m a really nice guy. I have a family. My wife and I have been saving every penny over the last five years for me to try and make movies, and we’ve got a daughter. So it’s been a trouble doing that, because I’m not a rich guy who thinks he can do everything perfectly. I’m willing to learn from my mistakes and I appreciate criticism and anything that can help me become better, I try to look for. Just the other night was a perfect example of that.
JC: Yeah. So back in the semi-finals, where everyone was in teams and before the actual finalists were selected…
MM: Yeah, with Jeff?
JC: Yeah. Can you go back and explain why you bumped heads with him at that time?
MM: Yeah. It was really a weird experience, because I’ve never had an argument on set with anyone. Literally, the first couple of minutes we were together, Jeff was all over me. Trever, my other teammate, he couldn’t really understand why either. So I just kept calm and kept cool for the entire day. I was pretty passive agressive, because I didn’t want to have any issues on the set. But then finally after like 20 hours of working our butts off, he gets up after sleeping his ass off, he starts chewing me out again and I was like that’s it.
JC: Right.
MM: What I kept thinking as well was if my wife was watching all of this transpire, she would be like “why isn’t my husband standing up for himself, he always speaks up?” I just didn’t want to be that drama guy. So I just kept quiet until the last minute, and finally I was like this guy is being a jerk. Trever and I both couldn’t stand him. Trever is a very quiet person himself and never really stood out in that situation, but he kept me calm through the whole thing. Trever said “it’s not worth it. Jeff is a jerk, we all know that. Lets just keep working.”
JC: Yeah, so you just had enough.
MM: Yeah. Also, when I watched the show back they cut a shot of me smiling when Jeff got eliminated before the finals. Trever and I both watched it now and we talked on the phone and we were both like “oh my gosh, this editors are amazing!” Because I never did that.
JC: Yeah, that’s interesting. It also seemed like, or at least what was shown, that you didn’t stand up for yourself more at that time like you did with the judges.
MM: Oh yeah, because they only show so much. They only show a little bit of what actually happened during filming. If anything, when were actually in front of the judges there was one point where Jeff was holding me in his arms and kinda making fun of me in front of the judges. So I was like enough is enough. Why is he making fun of me in front of the judges, when we are supposed to be a team? So it was the weirdest professional experience I have ever had. But to give Jeff the benefit of the doubt, he actually came to the shoot a few weeks ago and said “hey, I’m sorry for what happened and I really wish you the best of luck.” So at the end of the day, he was a weird guy but he was nice.
JC: Well that’s cool. You mentioned earlier that you regret saying the things you said to Carrie Fisher. But what do you really think about her? Do you think she had it out for you?
MM: I have mixed feelings, because back when we were doing the auditions she loved me. But I think the way that my so-called “character” was developed on the show, she probably got fed up with seeing me because it made it seem like I was full of myself. So I can totally sympathize with that. I don’t think she really had it out for me, but I guess I just don’t know. I think she’s a nice person, but I don’t think her comments are always on point. I don’t think she was completely wrong with me the other night, I think I just overreacted and that was my demise. People just got sick of seeing this cocky guy on TV. But I couldn’t blame them, I wouldn’t have voted for myself either if I saw that guy on TV.
JC: So you think your comments towards Carrie was the reason that the viewers voted you off the show?
MM: Oh yeah. I was really hoping for the opportunity to be on the show for at least a couple more weeks, because I could have shown that softer side of me and I could have shown that I can actually tell a good linear story. Then again, it’s hard when you are supposed to make one minute films and you want it to be different than everyone else’s. So you do try to do stuff that will stick out and sometimes that’s the risk I was taking, while sometimes that was the reward.
JC: Right, well What do you plan to do now?
MM: I’m actually developing a couple of projects with a couple of producers in Los Angeles. I also have a film offer for a horror film, but I don’t know if I’m going to take it or not because horror is really not my genre. I will be moving down to Los Angeles in the next couple of months and try to make films.
JC: Very nice. Well that’s all I have for you. Thanks for your time.
MM: Yeah dude, and whenever this goes up on the Internet can you drop me a link to it.
JC: Yeah, I sure will. Thanks again.
MM: Thank you. Talk to you later.
– On the Lot airs on FOX on Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT time all summer long.
– On the Lot airs on the CTV network in Canada on Tuesday nights at 10:00 p.m. ET/PT time all summer long.
