Where did The Mix-Ups central joke of using construction metaphors to represent relationships come from?
Eaton: That came out of thin air, I suppose, going on the theme of how can someone’s bad work still be valuable? The last line that Bill says when he’s on the show is a verbatim quote from my grandfather. We had this friend who was visiting, came to my grandparents’ house with us, and he’s kind of a makeshift construction guy himself, but he does things right. He’s sitting in my grandfather’s living room and says, “Boy, Johnny, this is quite the production you got going here,” or something to that effect and [my grandfather responded, tapping the side of his head], “Yeah, it’s all about engineering.” I worked backwards from that. Engineering, y’know. Guillén: Let’s talk a little bit about reception. You’ve shown The Mix-Up at the Palm Springs Short Fest and now here at the Idaho International. Have you confirmed any further festival appearances? Eaton: Not yet. I’ve been invited to submit to five film festivals. Guillén: Explain that process a bit. How does that work with a short film?
