Q&A WITH XANDER ROBIN

Q. Before filming the eponymous competition, you also participated in it. How did this influence your directorial approach to the film?

A. My friend Lance Oppenheim, who was trying to help me get things made, mentioned the Python Challenge to me and was like, “How about this as a movie?” I had known about the bounty program, where the state paid professional hunters to go out and catch pythons, but I wasn’t aware of this competition.

It was one of the first years they were doing it for 10 days over the Summer and it was funny that the government was trying to gamify the python problem, so I went and joined the competition. After five nights, I didn’t see a single python. It was very confounding and it became clear that whatever I had heard about the state Python program, this way weirder and more interesting. It was 95% amateurs, and it was more of a story of failure, of people trying to be Crocodile Dundee. 

I met this guy who had this handlebar mustache and a red trucker hat. I thought he was just another interesting python hunter. I got in the back of his car and I found out he was from San Francisco. He was staying there for 10 nights and he was on mushrooms — he wasn’t driving, his friend was. It was bizarre and exciting. I also met Jimbo, who ended up being in the film too. He was basically like, “All these Yahoos are coming in from California, but this python issue isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be.” 

I wasn’t sure how interesting the hunters would be and then, after that first summer, I was like, “The hunters are fascinating.” 

Q. As you’ve mentioned, there’s a wide cast of characters in The Python Hunt, from local hunters who oppose the competition to Bay Area interlopers in search of adventure. How did you go about assembling your cast?

A. We reached out to as many people as possible. A lot of people who join this competition are people who either do it year-round, hunt other reptiles, or go looking for reptiles and post pictures of their findings on Instagram. But we also wanted to figure out how to get people that don’t have a social media presence, so we just tried everything available to find out who would be joining, knowing that a lot of it would be word of mouth.

Q. A lot of The Python Hunt takes place in the swampy Everglades under the cover of night. What challenges did this pose in terms of the film’s visual style?

A. This movie couldn’t have been made 15 years ago because of the sensitivity of the cameras we used at night. There’s no ambient light out there other than the moonlight. We lit the whole thing with flashlights. And, everyone had these amazing light rigs because they also had to see the pythons. Their eyes don’t reflect camera flashes, so the hunters need as much light as possible.

A lot of the time, we’d be filming for like six hours until something crazy happened. The Alexa has this amazing feature where you can actually back-record. So, if you’re rolling and you suddenly see a snake and hit record, it’ll actually save the last 10-15 seconds. 

Q. What is the last film you saw and loved?

A. I programmed Crash for a local film series in Miami. We played it outside in the backyard of a bar, so people on the sidewalk could hear it. I think it made a lot of people uncomfortable, but people kept gravitating toward the bar and standing outside to watch it. It brought everyone together. 

Q. What have you been listening to lately?

A. A lot of Björk. Also, I am finally getting into The Smashing Pumpkins now, as an old man.

Q. What’s the first movie that ever scared you?

A. The Blair Witch Project.

Q. What’s a happy creative accident you’ve had on set?

A. Documentaries are all happy creative accidents.

Q. What’s next for you?

A. I want to make a scripted reptile project.

Q. What image would you like to end this interview with?