‘How to Rob a Bank’ Co-Director Stephen Robert Morse on Constraints of True Crime, What He Learned From Hollywood Bandit Scott Scurlock
Despite its title, “How to Rob a Bank” is not an instructional video on how to commit crime. Instead, as its co-director Stephen Robert Morse tells Variety, it’s a documentary about “the consequences of crime.”
The doc, which dropped on Netflix last week, focuses on a prolific ‘90s Seattle bank robber called Scott Scurlock, whom the FBI soon nicknamed Hollywood due to his penchant for elaborate disguises.
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Morse (a producer on “Amanda Knox”) and his co-director Seth Porges (“Class Action Park”) began working on the film back in 2020 and quickly tracked down many of those involved in the notorious case.
As the documentary works its way into the streamer’s global top 10, Morse sat down with Variety to discuss the genesis of the project and what he learned from getting up close and personal with a notorious bank robber.
How did you get involved with this project?
My collaborator, Seth Porges reached out to me in the darkest days of the pandemic. He sent a one-sheet that described this story and immediately it was a yes. I mean, maybe I would have said yes to anything at that point. “Tiger King” was on TV. It was one of those times where the world seemed very bleak and this seemed like an absolutely fascinating story and a great way to spend some time.
It was quite big news at the time in Seattle but how much did people remember this story when you started making the doc?
I don’t think that any of the execs we pitched were aware of this story however, in Seattle, yes, absolutely. Many people we spoke with — people would come out of their house when they saw us, saying “Oh, what are you filming? Oh, I remember that. I lived right there when that happened.” So in terms of the lore in Seattle, yes.
Scott is at the center of the story pretty much from the off; there’s no big reveal about who Hollywood is. How did you decide on that structure for the film?
I think we tried numerous permutations to get to a place where we were happy. It’s always this question of “How long do you want to keep the mystery going before an audience is no longer interested in the mystery?” We introduced Scott at seven minutes in, roughly, and I think in various cuts it was 15 [minutes], it was 20, it was three. We fortunately had a lot of time to play around to figure out where as storytellers we thought that information would make the most sense. But it’s also about building a sustainable movie too. So I think you have to think about the architecture of a scene and you have to think about the architecture of the opening, but then how is that gonna relate to this thing that you’re actually building. Hopefully we’ve landed on what is the best version of what we’ve actually built.
You have some pretty incredible archive material, including footage of Scott, his diary and even dispatch calls when he was on the run. How did you get all that?
We went to all corners of America to track down video archive. Our contributors were hugely helpful in turning over a lot of their personal archive and they had a vested interest in wanting to see this film made and see this film made accurately. You can’t make a documentary that has holes in it. You need to make sure that every hole is plugged, otherwise you’re gonna get slammed. So it’s about making sure that you have the most comprehensive, bulletproof, iron-clad documentary possible. Otherwise you’re fucked, in my opinion.
Some parts of it also include live-action dramatizations and animation. Why did you decide to include those in addition to the interviews and archive?
In the initial pitch, I think we had a vision where we thought maybe the animation would be used as [the robbers] were training and when they’re in action is when we’ll use the dramatic recreations. Those are shot by Steven Campanelli [the second unit director], who is like, Clint Eastwood’s number two, he’s incredible. I think we just thought that the ‘90s was a time that was really rich in animation. So everything for us comes back to a ‘90s feel. Start by hiring the guy who worked with Clint Eastwood during his during his glory days and do the animation in a style that is original, but reminiscent of the ‘90s.
You also got interviews with Scott’s co-conspirators Mark Biggins and Steve Meyers. Was it difficult to get them on board?
Seth was really instrumental in doing that. He did a great job in building those relationships with those contributors to get them on board. He will always tell this story, “Oh, I had to go fishing with Mark in Montana and not talking about this for a while.” Obviously having them leads to an elevation of the story for sure, because you’re getting their perspectives. And I think that that is one of the things that makes this film unique and awesome is the fact that we get very much a 360 perspective of people involved with in case.
The tone of the documentary is very non-judgmental. Was that deliberate?
I mean, obviously, we’re not trying to glorify crimes. And I do want to make that point very clear: do not rob a bank, never rob a bank. This is a movie about the consequences of crime, rather than a movie about crime in, our minds.
We’re trying to present the facts. It’s funny when I read, like, Letterboxd critiques of the movie. It’s like, dude, I can’t change how life played out. I’m sorry that you didn’t like someone walking around the treehouse with his penis hanging out, but that’s how he walked around, with his penis hanging out, so what do you want me to do? There’s some things that we can’t change. That’s one of the constraints of making documentary is we have to stick to the story that we’re given.
Do you feel like you got to know Scott?
I feel like I know him very well. And obviously, he’s influenced me, I’m sure in many ways, even just like, when you walk in somewhere, be confident and then people will listen to you. You don’t actually have to wave a gun in someone’s face to get them to listen to you, just be a little more confident. I think I learned a lot about, you know, that there are two sides of people: a dark side and a light side. And I think that it’s taught me to understand that no one is perfect. Give someone a break once in a while. But at the same time if your friends are robbing banks, maybe call them out a little earlier.
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