Split Tooth celebrates its sixth anniversary with the online premiere of a new Frank Ross video series on YouTube

For Split Tooth’s fifth anniversary in April 2023, we had the privilege of screening Frank V. Ross’ Quietly on By (2005) in Portland, Oregon, at the Movie Madness Miniplex. To make the showing extra special for those in attendance we conducted a video interview with Ross to follow the film. In celebration of Split Tooth’s sixth anniversary today, we are publishing an updated and extended version of the interview that is the first in an upcoming series devoted to each of his films.

Looking back at Quietly on By, his breakthrough third feature film, Ross recalls the people and experiences that inspired it, his relationship with frequent leading man Tony Baker, and recognizes aspects of the film that have only become apparent to him in recent years. The lessons learned and ideas that led him to make the film continue to drive his creativity.

Watch the interview here:

Read an excerpt from the interview:

Brett Wright: You seem to have gone into Quietly on By with different interests than in your previous films. Can you describe any changes to your approach?  

Frank Ross: I made two films before Quietly on By, and if there’s any shift in my interest it’s that I got a lot out of my system with those first two movies. The original idea for Quietly on By was going to be all in one house because I had seen this contest where you made a movie in 48 hours. So I was like, I’ll do it all in a house and we’ll shoot through the windows. In a lot of Quietly on By when we’re shooting through the windows, that’s all sort of remnants of the movie that was supposed to be shot all in the house. The feedback that I got for this idea was so bad. So stupid. Just so stupid that I found it very inspiring to complete the project and do it anyway. 

I think in the movie I did previous I was trying to make like Magnolia or some other movie that I really liked — my version of something. There’s a lot of plot. There’s a lot of over-the-top stuff in the movie. At the heart of it, the stuff I liked shooting the most was the people talking, the people ad-libbing. None of the story stuff was engaging to me. So the tire swing was the beginning of Quietly on By and then it was all built out from there.

Read Brett Wright’s complete series on The Films of Frank V. Ross here

When was the last time you watched Quietly on By, and what are your impressions of it nearly 20 years later? How do you think it holds up with your other films? 

I have a really bad affliction, which is I really like my movies. I think they’re good. I think they’re scrappy. I think they are what they are. Warts and all, I like ’em. When somebody buys a DVD online or asks me about it or when I pop them in and just watch scenes or whatever, it’s like, I like this. This was a funny time in my life. But only now, it took 20 years to look at it, and watch that tire swing scene, and be like, oh, this is a movie that’s about the disintegration of a friendship. That’s something I couldn’t possibly have known at the time. There’s that whole work before comprehension kind of thing, and look what we did. We made this thing that’s still true today, even though it was 20 years ago. Which isn’t saying much, but at the same time it kind of is. Because there’s lots of stuff that doesn’t make it.

The last time I actually watched Quietly on By was the premiere at the Siskel Center where it got laughs, and when Aaron bumps his head looking out the window, there was audible gasps. And I was like, well this is what I want, all the time. And there was no reason to ever watch it again because it was such an experience. It was a life-changing experience. There’s my life before and after watching that movie with a crowd. And I always watch the premieres with the crowd, and it’s great. 

Check back for more Ross-related news in the near future

Special thanks to Bill Hoover for permission to use “Strike Up (The Dark Town House Band)” by Dark Town Houseband.

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