Filmed in the black-and-white, silent comedy style of Charlie Chaplin, but set in modern-day Los Angeles, WHAT? tells the story of a Deaf actor, tired of the disrespect and discrimination he confronts in Hollywood. He decides - through sign language, gestures, and whatever it takes - to take matters into his own… hands.
Production Notes
Has there ever been a film like WHAT?
It’s a black-and-white silent feature starring Deaf and hearing actors, communicated through American Sign Language, Catalan Sign Language, German Sign Language, (silent) spoken English, title cards, subtitles, and universal gestures, with Deaf executive producers, Deaf investors, a Deaf cinematographer, and a hearing writer/director, fluent in ASL. With relative confidence, we can say: This film is the first of its kind.
It began as the seed of an idea by John Maucere, a Deaf actor from the U.S., and the Deaf Catalan comedy team of Marina Longares Escrichs and Josep Daniel Rosello. Together, they wanted to create a feature film, and with David Kurs, the Artistic Director of Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles, they imagined a story about two Deaf characters coming to America and meeting this Deaf American.
At that point they brought in Alek Lev, who is hearing, fluent in ASL, and has worked in film and theater with mixed casts of Deaf and hearing actors. Alek took note that this seed of an idea involved characters using different sign languages (and some characters who didn’t sign at all), and he made a suggestion: Why don’t we create a silent film? Not just a film in sign language (which would already have a kind of “silence”) but a genre film, black-and-white, and silent. WHAT? was born.
Alek wrote a script that reflected much of what John Maucere, as a Deaf actor in Hollywood, has had to live through. The discrimination against people with any kind of disability (a word we actually don’t always use) is very real, and John has struggled for years to be taken seriously in the film and television industry. While the story rises to a level of absurdity for comic purposes, the message is quite serious: People need to be seen for who they are, not who you assume them to be.
For years, in film and TV, Deaf characters have been played by hearing actors. WHAT? mocks this tendency, but as a production, we held true to one unbending principle: All Deaf characters are played by Deaf actors.But it’s not just in front of the camera. Every one of the film’s investors is Deaf. The DP and the gaffer (they work as a team, “Bus Door Films’) are Deaf, as were a large part of their crew. This is film about the lack of opportunity for Deaf artists in Hollywood, and the film itself succeeded in giving unprecedented opportunities to Deaf artists in Hollywood.
The film was produced at breakneck speed, in more than 15 locations, over the course of two weeks. The set boasted five languages: American Sign Language, Catalan Sign Language, German Sign Language, spoken German and spoken English. We shot on RED cameras, and as for sound, there is only one scene (a film within the film) with recorded dialogue. Otherwise, we worked just like filmmakers of the early 20th century, on loud sets, blissfully ignoring the sounds of set designers and passing cars.
But we honored our silent film heroes in so many other ways: The film opens and closes on the exact stretch of road where Charlie Chaplin filmed the Tramp’s final appearance (in Modern Times), walking into the sunset with Paulette Goddard. We filmed in an alley in Hollywood once used by Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd. Scenes were also shot outside of both Keaton and Chaplin’s former studios. And the role of Frances, assistant to the artist Maddie, was played by Keaton Talmadge, who is Buster Keaton’s great-granddaughter.
What was created was a unique world — Deaf and hearing characters in a black-and-white silent comedy — that yet reflects a truly universal story, aiming to bring laughter, joy, and connection to all audiences, Deaf and hearing, around the world.
Director’s statement
In 1995, I found my way to The National Theatre of the Deaf (NTD), the first professional theater for Deaf actors in the world. I’m hearing, but had started to learn American Sign Language (ASL), and through three summers of NTD’s intensive theater program I became fluent in the language, and went on to tour with the company. I have since worked extensively with Deaf West Theatre in Los Angeles as a director, actor, and interpreter. On stage and screen, sign language requires a physicality completely different than what spoken language demands. And while the meaning of ASL is opaque to the non-signer, there are aspects of the language that are more “iconic” and can be understood universally by Deaf and hearing alike, making it a particularly powerful tool for storytelling. ASL, then, was the first ingredient of this film.
In the same year I discovered ASL, I discovered Buster Keaton. For the nearly quarter-century since then, I have been watching, studying, and writing about Keaton, and I recently stepped down as the Vice President of the International Buster Keaton Society, where I worked to preserve his legacy and introduce him to new fans across the globe. When I’m watching his films in a packed 500-seat theater with kids and their grandparents, I know that silent films can still be vibrant and moving, and silent comedy can bring laughs across all ages and cultures. Oh, and my younger son’s name is Chaplin. Silent filmmaking was the second ingredient.
Finally, there was John Maucere. He is a Deaf actor who starred in the feature film, No Ordinary Hero: The Superdeafy Movie. Imagine the verbal dexterity of Eminem, the quick comic mind of Ricky Gervais, and the mime skills of Marcel Marceau. His sheer performing talent runs the spectrum from unbridled game show host to subtle, heart-piercing dramatic actor. But... where are the roles for him? Who is willing to see past their preconceived notions, and recognize the artist at his core? John Maucere, then, is the third ingredient.
WHAT? combines American Sign Language, silent filmmaking, and John Maucere, along with team of Deaf and hearing producers, cast, crew, and investors, and asks why it is that this community of actors and this genre of film, perhaps uniquely situated together to appeal to the widest of audiences, is considered to be a niche within a niche? It has nothing to do with Deaf vs. hearing or ASL vs. English. It’s a universal comedy that asks the important question: What does it take to be seen?