Jacob Aaron Estes’ debut feature Mean Creek isn’t your normal teenage exploration picture. Combining elements of Joseph Conrad, Stand by Me and The River’s Edge, the young director’s first foray into moviemaking is a dark, brooding epic that explores the complex nature of childhood bullying. It is an uncompromising yet surprisingly hopeful work, firmly planting Estes as a filmmaker to watch.

I sat down with the writer/director during a recent trip to Seattle. Sitting in the lobby of the downtown Fairmont Olympic, I was struck by how unassuming, almost disheveled, Estes is. Yet there is a gruff perkiness to him, an inquisitive gleam highlighting an introspective thoughtfulness.

Written years earlier, the screenplay for Mean Creek was the calling card that got the filmmaker into the American Film Institute (AFI) film academy, a setting to which by all accounts Estes acquitted himself admirably. Even upon graduation, this script wouldn’t leave him be. But after the horror of Columbine the prospects of making Mean Creek his first feature looked bleak. “Columbine was a huge problem,” said Estes, “especially at that moment. Then there were a bunch of movies that had to do with violence and kids like Kids, Bully, Elephant – so on. So I knew it was possible [making Mean Creek], so I just kept following leads until it worked out.”

“When we finally had the money it was like, okay, good, now I’ve got a lot of work to do. Once we had the budget that made sense for this movie, we had to get right to work. Once it was obvious that ‘yes’ really meant ‘yes,’ I really had to dive right into it so there was not much time for celebrating.”

One of the most remarkable aspects of Mean Creek are the multiple layers of bullying. No central figure terrifies more than another, and the tragedy at the heart of it relies upon the inner bully inside all of the characters. “I honestly didn’t sit down with the theme of ‘bullying’ in mind,” said Estes. “That word, that concept, was something I hadn’t even thought of until after I wrote the screenplay [and] there was this book called Bully. A director I was talking to read that book because he wanted to make sure that Mean Creek wasn’t too much like the plot in [that book], which it really isn’t.”

“I think that there is sort of a natural tendency for teenagers to act out these primal needs to establish power and understand their relationships to the world. They push each other around and establish their position in the group. So I think it sort of flowed out naturally from dealing with this period of time in life. I imagine, more a less, [this] is true in any culture. Some may be more or less permissive in allowing that behavior, but in the end I think that all teenagers go through this cycle. That’s just my guess.”

And what influenced Estes? What brought him to writing a screenplay about adolescents stuck on the wrong side of the tracks? “Well, initially I remember the moment I went to see this movie Manny & Lo. I was really impressed by [it] and I came out thinking I would love to work in this genre. Then it occurred to me growing up and watching movies in the ‘80’s there was this whole plethora of films out there I loved, like Manny & Lo, The Outsiders, The River’s Edge and Over the Edge – which is actually one of the better ones – that had disappeared. It was a financially defunct genre, didn’t serve to make a lot of money for Hollywood [so] they disappeared.”

“I sort of naïvely got into it wanting to revisit that genre and I had the idea but didn’t know the story. Then the story sort of came out of the personal times I was having, either simultaneously or afterwards – I can’t remember exactly when. I used to play basketball everyday and, well, you know the story.” I did, but it is still worth recounting all the same. Proving that bullying isn’t just a teenage problem, Estes ran face-to-face with his own personal horror on the basketball courts of San Francisco. “This guy would come to the court drunk and verbally abuse me,” said Estes. “He was a hateful guy who inspired a lot of anger in me. Of course, the only revenge plots I acted on were of a creative, non-violent nature, but the more I sought revenge the worse things got. Ain’t It Cool News has a great version of the story. It’s worth checking out.”

“So, it all came back, the anxiety of wanting to get revenge on this guy, and I worked that into the screenplay. A lot of storytelling you need to distance yourself from your subject in order to see it. But, it’s still a similar place, and you [have] to draw from your own understanding.”

One on the most striking qualities of Mean Creek are the universality of its themes, just don’t ask Estes if that was the intent. “I never attempt to make [movies] universal,” said Estes. “That’s key. I can only make them as distinctive as possible. By doing that, you tread a lot of recognizable qualities. From a [viewer’s standpoint] I think that makes them universal, but if you try to make them [that way] than I think it’s a really bad idea. I mean, it works sometimes, but not often. Whenever I hear storytellers or filmmakers say they are making [their movies] ‘anywhere’ or universal, I usually start thinking it’s going to be something I’m not going to like.”

The cast of "Mean Creek" - Photo © Copyright Paramount Classics

Our discussion went on, running from other movies that influenced him to storytelling concepts Estes is most uncomfortable with. But when we started talking about casting, it was clear from his animated expressions the director holds a deep affinity for his young cast. “We had our pick of the litter [during casting]. They all, every working and non-working actor, seemingly had access to the script. They just all came to audition.”

“Finding people to play Millie and George were huge obstacles. With George, his physicality was important. Not that there aren’t a lot of really talented overweight kids out there, it [was]just finding the percentage of them that were talented enough to play this part. In Josh [Peck], I think we got the best possible actor for the part, but that was just luck, for no one else we saw captured [George] like Josh did.”

“Millie was even more difficult. We kept having to go younger and younger and ask ourselves, could they play the part? Carly [Shroeder] was actually the last girl to audition and it was clear she had what it took. She had an unusual combination of self-confidence, maturity and a great sense of childishness – in the best sense – and I felt it would allow her to make huge changes in the course of the story. She got the part that day.”

Working with kids? Shooting on water? Throw in a few dogs and Estes would be breaking all three of the cardinal rules of whom (and what) you’re not supposed to work with while filmmaking – and Mean Creek is only his first trip out. Yet it all comes together beautifully. How? “Here’s what you have to do,” said Estes. “It’s all about problem solving, [saying] here’s what I have to do today, here’s what I have to do tomorrow, etc. Honestly, the hardest thing about it is dealing with everyone else’s anxieties. ‘Oh my God, we’re going to be on this river!’ ‘Oh my God, [the kid’s] parent’s are all going to freak out!’ Well, are they going to freak out, or, are you going to freak out? That’s what you have to deal with, because if you freak out, then of course the parents are going to freak out. So, you have to hold it together, be in control.”

“The only thing we couldn’t control was the weather. If it had rained twice while we were on our shoot we might not be here, I guarantee it.” Filming just down the street across the border into Oregon, wasn’t making a picture in the Pacific Northwest – an area known for its rainfall – more than a little dangerous? “We chose the three/four week period where there’s limited rainfall and just rolled the dice,” said Estes. “We had a couple of covered sets we could go to if it rained, but except for the shot of the police boat going up the river – a moment we wanted rain – it never did. It was blind faith on our part, and nature definitely helped us out.”