Interview by Cliff Stephenson
August 6, 2001

Following the accidental death of his father, Barret Michaelson and his mother move to a new town, hoping to start life afresh. Things get to off to a bad start when Barret is shunned by his peers, accused of sexual harassment and runs afoul of a group of bullies. Finding an unlikely ally in self-confessed misanthrope Ryan Walker, their friendship quickly turns obsessive. The full extent of Ryan's violent nature is soon revealed, dragging Barret into a world of violence and destruction...

And so begins Vincent Pereira's A Better Place, one of the most impressive filmmaking debuts in the past decade. Back in 1999, Pereira whiled away his days at the Quickstop convenience store, talking film with fellow Jersey native Kevin Smith. Following their dreams into filmmaking, the result was Clerks, shot on a shoestring budget and one of the biggest indie hits of the 90s.

Along with working on Smith's Mallrats and Chasing Amy, as well as contributing to all of Smith's DVD releases, Pereira would write, direct, edit and co-produce A Better Place with funding from Smith. A tough, thought-provoking examination of violence, A Better Place is now out on DVD from Synapse, complete with director's commentary and a host of other extras.

DVDFILE recently had the opportunity to chat with Pereria on the film, his career, working with Smith and the rigors of independent filmmaking. Having just completed his second screenplay, Autograph, keep your eye on Pereira... you'll be seeing more of him...