\n\t\u201cI thought it was cool, but I didn\u2019t come away from it thinking I want to make a film about this,\u201d he says. \u201cThat happened moments later when I opened my phone, and the first video that popped up was a viral video of a guy busking in the subway station. It was the most beautiful, soulful, raw performance I had ever heard.The idea for adapting it was suddenly so crystal clear: I would retell this 1850 Russian short story, but with all these really unsuspecting, viral video singing talents who we would curate from TikTok and YouTube and Instagram from all over the world. Then we can fill a bar up with this group of geniuses in the rough, hiding in plain sight in a pub.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
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\t\t\t\t\tSam Davis directing \u201cThe Singers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto by Jordan Cramer<\/p>\n
\n\tThe result is a bold mix of classic filmmaking and new techniques. Davis doubled down on the risk of hiring non-professional actors by not writing a traditional script, instead letting his unique talent improvise much of their dialogue, the looseness of which drew on Davis\u2019 experience in the documentary world. Additionally, the project was shot on 35mm to create a rich look for the warm story, and the music was recorded live on set \u2014\u00a0two challenging maneuvers that added to the v\u00e9rit\u00e9.<\/p>\n
\n\tAlso timeless about this film is that it naturally speaks to the so-called \u201cmale loneliness epidemic,\u201d a social issue that has had plenty of ink spilled about it over the last year as more and more friendships are dulled by a very-online culture.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThat was definitely my takeaway from the original short story: \u2018Wow, this is a lowly pub in 1850 and a group of men who are these hard shells of men,’\u201d Davis says. \u201cThe lengths that a little bit of vulnerability goes to forming a community and having this moment of connection. I grew up in a small town in Michigan \u2014 definitely not a place where we are healthy communicators of our emotions, especially as men. I think making this film was a bit of me bearing my soul. Each of the characters in the film is opening up in a radical way for them. But on a meta level, that was what really drew me to this: The power of, especially for men, being open to connecting and sharing and discovering that the guy you\u2019re sitting next to at the bar actually has a lot in common with you, and for that to result in something cathartic.\u201d<\/p>\n