COUP! / Film School Radio interview with Co-directors Austin Stark & Joseph Schuman

KUCI: Film School

In their cheeky social satire COUP! Co-directors Austin Stark & Joseph Schuman drop us into an isolated seaside estate during the 1918 Spanish Flu. The estate belongs to a wealthy couple, an entitled journalist, Jay (Billy Magnussen) and his socialite wife, Julie (Sarah Gadon).The couple hires a mysterious grifter as a their private cook, Floyd (Peter Sarsgaard). When the plague finally descends on the island, the wily cook rouses his fellow staff to rebel and take over the mansion. Their wealthy employer suspects the cook’s coup is part of a more sinister agenda, and mind games between master and servant escalate into boisterous class warfare. With a terrific cast, stars Peter Sarsgaard (currently on Apple+ hit series Presumed Innocent), Billy Magnussen (Road House remake), and Sarah Gadon, the film also stars Skye P. Marshall, Faran Tahir, Kristine Nielsen and Fisher Stevens. Co-directors and co-writers Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman joins us to talk about the tonal challenge of presenting this satirical tale that leans into the comedy of menace while embracing the themes of the class divide and revolution, as well as bringing Peter Sarsgaard into the project to play Floyd and to be the film’s Executive Producer. For more go to: greenwichentertainment.com/film/coup