 David Desola and his writing partner, Pedro Rivero, are the screenwriters of the film The Platform, which is currently streaming on Netflix and has been featured on the streaming platform’s top 10 list within the United States. Both David and Pedro have a friendship that spans almost as long as their careers. During that time, they’ve written short films, features, and plays. The Platform, originally produced in Spain and winner of the People’s Choice Award for Midnight Madness at the Toronto Film Festival (TIFF), is the first time that a work of theirs has garnered international attention. Both currently reside in Spain, continuing to do what they love: writing. The Platform, or El Hoyo, in Spanish, literally meaning ‘the hole,’ is about a vertical prison in which the cells are stacked on top of each other. Each cell has two inmates. A platform, starting at the top, makes its way down, with a plethora of food. However, the inmates on each cell underneath the first can only eat what the level above them left behind or didn’t have time to finish. After a certain amount of time, the two inmates will stick together as they wake up in another cell. The thing is, they don’t know whether the next level will be lower or higher than the one they’re on now, making it either easier or harder for them to survive and remain sane. Tell us about yourselves. How did you meet? How did you get started? David: Well for me, I got started with short films back in the 90s. Before that, I was writing theater plays. In fact, there was this competition for plays, in which I won a prize, which is how I also met Pedro…as time went on, I started to experiment and I tried writing screenplays instead of scripts for theater. And I’ve had some success. I’ve written short films, features like The Platform… Your turn Pedro. Pedro: Well as David said, we’ve known each other and have had a good friendship for around 20 years. We’ve worked together on several projects. And as for my origin, I was heavily involved and interested in animation. At the age of 18, that’s what I was mainly focusing on. I was also interested in comics and was writing a few of my own. After that stage, I started to write TV scripts and then features and here we are. Who are some of your inspirations? David: I know Pedro’s. It’s David Lynch. Pedro: Yes, David Lynch is one of my inspirations…when people find out that that’s my inspiration, they are quite surprised…another one of my inspirations is the film Solaris… Kurosawa (Akira Kurosawa). David: For me, it’s harder to say. But Fellini (Federico Fellini), Mankiewicz (Joseph Mankiewicz). Pedro: …and me and David are both fans of the film Seven Samurai. David: Yes, and of course, Seven Samurai. What other projects are you guys working on? Anything with Netflix? David: Currently, there are several projects I’m working on. Pedro: Same here. I have a couple of feature film scripts I’m writing, including a biopic. David: …and are we allowed to talk about the sequel possibilities. Can we talk about that? Pedro: Yeah we can. There are talks and possibilities and ideas being thrown around for a sequel to The Platform. David:…apart from that, I mean we are always writing and working on projects and scripts… actually, I will be directing a short, a local short film, but that’s at least something apart from writing that I’ll be doing. Are you guys interested in working on any projects in the United States? David: Well, the thing with that is that it would be really hard. My English is very basic. I wasn’t good in school with it, and apart from the basic stuff, I can’t really handle it. But, if an opportunity presented itself to us or me, I would absolutely love to work on a project in the United States. As long as I got paid well and got screenwriting freedom. Pedro: And of course, everything going on with the WGA and their rules with screenwriters from abroad would make it a bit more difficult as well. David: That being said, the United States audience is watching more foreign films and investing their time in movies originally made abroad, which will open more opportunities for people like us in the future…and Pedro, don’t they pay more in the United States? Pedro: I think they do, yes. Do you guys have any dream projects? David: Absolutely. A lot to mention and describe. So many ideas. In fact, this is another tip for screenwriters: they shouldn’t just stick and work on one project. Work on many, especially when stuck on a particular script. Pedro: We both have lots of screenplays that we’ve written that we’d love to get to work on. Whether that’s by having someone else direct it or if they let us direct the scripts ourselves. That’s any writer’s dream, to direct their own work. But yes, we have a lot of possibilities. What are some other tips you guys have for aspiring screenwriters? David: One tip is to never give the first offer. Let the producer start and offer first because your first offer may be less than what the producer was going to start with…and in my life, I’ve realized that a screenwriter shouldn’t ask for advice from other screenwriters because each screenwriter is different. Pedro: Yes, we all work different, different routines… David:…Yes, and another tip would be to write something with mass appeal, something that will sell and garner the eyes of producers… And if you can, don’t do anything too ambitious or spectacular…keep a relatively small cast and film…like The Platform…as a result of us making it small cast and few locations and small sets, we could be more creative in regard to story and the characters and have a little bit of fun… We were able to make that film because of the relatively small scale. How can screenwriters get their work noticed? Pedro: That’s a really tough question. David: …it is. It’s also really difficult to get noticed. But what I can say is to keep working. Continue working as a screenwriter, and more importantly, develop and establish relationships, especially with producers. Your circle will keep growing and that will help… as for contests, at least here, even if you receive a prize, it’s not guaranteed that the film or script will get made…or even picked up… Pedro: …the goal is to get people to read it, especially people that can actually do something to make it or at least help you. What’s your writing routine like? When you experience writer’s block, how do you overcome it? Pedro: David your routine is, waking up in the morning, eating breakfast, writing, and taking a nap? David: Yes of course. But in all seriousness, there’s a lot of people out there that think that screenwriters lock themselves up for hours and just write. That’s not the case for me. In fact, I don’t spend more than two or three hours a day writing…but I’m always in the mindset of writing. I’m always thinking about the story, about the dialogue…no matter what I’m doing, I’m always in the story…even when I’m out, with friends, at a bar, I’m always thinking about the story.…also, I don’t start writing until I know for a fact what I’m going to write about, including specific dialogue. Pedro:…in addition, I like to take notes and outline my work. David: … and let me add something about deadlines. That’s also a factor in our routines. But usually, we never make the deadlines…we’ve jokingly have said to producers to add a day or two to the deadline and that’s when we’ll have the script by…to be honest, a good screenwriter never makes the deadline. A bad screenwriter does… Pedro: …before we start working on a script for a producer, we let them know to add a couple of days to the deadline and that’s when we’ll have it done by… David: …now that I think about it, I think neither the good nor bad screenwriters make deadlines. Pedro: …yeah, they don’t. David: …as for writer’s block, whenever I’m stuck on a particular story or script, I move on to other writings. Whether that’s another script or some other form of writing it doesn’t matter, but I work on another project. And then later on, it could be two years later, I’ll come back to the script in which I was originally stuck on…there’s a lot of screenwriters that make the mistake of staying on just one script or project, trying to shop it around, getting people to read it…you should always be working and writing and coming up with new scripts and projects because you never know.  Where did the idea for The Platform originate from? What about the specifics, i.e. hole/prison itself? David: I was eating at a cookout, and from there is where I got the initial idea. Sooner than later, I began dreaming about it, about the seed, the foundation of the initial idea. And then roots started coming out and developing. I started thinking and dreaming about the platform filled with food, going down levels. Soon I began writing, but The Platform originally started out as a theater play. I wrote about two acts when I hit a massive writer’s block. I didn’t know where to take it. So I decided to send it over to Pedro. Afterwards, we decided to finish out the story but this time as a movie script. The Platform was also originally more comedic, albeit dark comedy, but once I sent it over to Pedro, he added more drama and dark situations/aspects to it. And that’s how we work, I usually bring the humor to a work and he brings the drama and darkness to a script. So we each mixed our skills and characteristics we’re good at, and thus The Platform was born… Furthermore, the character of Trimagasi is more Pedro than it’s me. It’s more reflective of him. He was also the most fun character to write and work with. It’s funny because even though he can be seen as a villainous character, most of the things he says are true. It’s obvious, as he would say. And it was certainly fun to play around with that character. That’s the goal too, when screenwriting. If you’re not having fun writing your characters, situations, and what they would say – there’s something wrong. You’re supposed to have some fun.  As the writers of the film, David & Pedro, do you know any specifics about how certain aspects of the film were shot, for example, the platform? Pedro: David and I visited the set quite often. We’re friends with the director, and plus he wanted at least one of us there for rehearsals especially, in case a particular line was improvised a bit. He wanted our input to make sure the improvisation fit into the story and most importantly the character. As for the shooting, I’m from Bilbao and David lives in Barcelona. The director is also from Bilbao, so the majority of the filming was done here. So David couldn’t go to the set as often as I could. David: Also, we had a small cameo within the film. There’s a scene in the film that has a pool. The two people in the pool are me and Pedro. It was pretty cool and fun. But it’s also a perfect metaphor for us, the screenwriters .Naked, at the bottom of the pit – at least, in comparison to producers. Pedro:…and I also remember, it being quite tiresome. It was a small set, with a lot of crew and cast members, with a lot to do. How many endings did you toggle with? Did you have at least an idea of how you wanted it to end before writing? David: As is often the case, there was a lot of discussion and argument in regard to the ending. We toyed with a plethora of possibilities. And what’s funny, is that there are a lot of fascinating theories out there to what happened after the ending. Pedro: Yes, I must admit, I wish I would’ve thought about some particular theories. They were really good. David: I won’t say what the theories are specifically. But we decided that it was important to have an open ending, which serves as a compromise to some extent. Having an open ending allows us {the two writers} to have our own version of how we want the story to end. Including what happens afterwards following the ending… the theater script for The Platform was originally just the first two acts, so act 3 was written directly for the screen. Having Netflix distribute your film must have been a pretty surreal process. Can you explain to us a little about that? David: There wasn’t and isn’t really a relationship with Netflix. Usually, it’s the producer. Pedro: Yes, but what happened was that Netflix took note during the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Particularly, due to the fact that The Platform won the prize for the specific category it was in the running for. So Netflix reached out to the producer. David: …usually the screenwriters don’t make a connection with Netflix per se. That’s not to say that we don’t, but it’s usually the producer and even director. Overall, when films are originally made in a non-English speaking country, sometimes dubbing has to happen when distributed worldwide. But more often than not, the original meaning of the words spoken is lost. Would you prefer captions than dubbing? Pedro: Well for this case, I know particularly well who dubbed and did the translation for The Platform, and from what I’ve been told, is that the translation is pretty accurate and that he did a good job with it…I, personally, haven’t seen the film with the English subtitles and dubbing. David: …and for me personally, I like to use subtitles. A lot of countries use subtitles, which is very convenient but also aids the musicality of each language. There’s just something about listening to the original language in which the film was made and reading the subtitles…also something to note, is that Spain used to be fascist. So back then when dubbing, certain things and translations would be left out, because they didn’t want the people to know of certain ideas or they didn’t want the population to know about a particular aspect. They still used dubbing, but it was very filtered – in a very controlling manner. What would you both take into the hole with you? Pedro: That’s not something that I’ve thought about. That’s a tough question. David: Neither have I…But if I were to choose one thing, maybe it would be dental floss. Because I just hate getting things stuck in my teeth and I would certainly get lots of things stuck in my teeth if I were in the prison. Pedro: …for me, I’d like some alcohol, like a bottle of some good alcohol. David: …why not a pack of alcohol? Not just one!  There are 333 levels within the hole/prison, and there are supposedly two people per ‘cell’ or level. That means there are around 666 people. Was that number coincidental, or did you purposely make it that way, due to the symbolic meaning of the number? David:…well it’s not just the 666 that has biblical meaning, but the 333 as well. It’s in relation to the trinity. So to answer your question, yes we used these two numbers on purpose. Pedro:…The number 666 has always had a negative and demonic and diabolic connotation and meaning to it. David:…and the prison itself is a representation of hell. So it’s only right that there are 333 levels, so 666 inmates… but when coming up with the number of levels we wanted to include within the prison, we wanted it to be a surprise. We wanted the audience to be stunned when they see how many levels there are. Cause within the film, there’s a moment where we think we know how many there are, but in reality there’s more. The mother of the child never mentions a word. Why was that so? In addition, it’s mentioned that she’s Asian, but mostly everyone else speaks Spanish. Can you talk to us about the significance of her being Asian? David: Well, during the writing of the film, the growth of Asia was happening. Certainly China, but not just them – Asia as a whole was developing and becoming stronger… Pedro:…but it wasn’t let’s say, something that was intended to have symbolic meaning per se. In fact, in multiple parts of the film, there are people speaking different languages, like French…but in regard to your question, part of the reason why we decided to make her Asian is because me and David are fans of Asian horror movies. The physical presence of Asian females is something that we thought would fit, in regard to the dark hair and the strong character. We wanted a strong, female presence within the film, and we wanted her to be independent. There’s a lot of metaphor and symbolic characteristics within the film, which can be viewed as an allegory. What are some of the ideas or principles that you wanted the audience to understand and take note of? David: oof, there are a lot of messages and themes we would have loved the audience to understand. I think of the messages that we wanted to get out there was, ‘the impossibility, within society, to take influence over whoever is above or over you.’ It’s a very simple metaphor. Something that’s obvious within the film. Pedro:…there’s a line in the movie, where Goreng literally says, “I can’t shit upwards,” which, of course, is a metaphor for, ‘I can’t control or influence what’s above me,’ or, in this case, the people who reside over me. David:…and we also wanted to include a messianic figure (Messiah). Goreng of course is referred to as a Messiah within the film, and we wanted to include that and show what a person like that means…Furthermore, there’s of course the theme that, ‘one day you could be on a top level, and the next you could on the bottom,’ and even though life doesn’t work that really work that way, it’s something we can relate to. Pedro: It’s also something that we see quite a bit…the film in itself, also speaks about capitalism and the human condition. Interviewer: Thank you so much for your time. It has been a pleasure speaking with you both and learning more about your writing process and The Platform. Pedro: Absolutely, it was an honor to meet you. David: It was a pleasure. And it was quite fun as well. Pedro: Yes it was. Interviewer: Thank you guys and good luck with everything down the road. Can’t wait to see the sequel. Pedro: Thank you. Neither can we. David: Yes, we have some work to do. But thank you and good luck as well.
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