ITV_PETER_CHIDIAC

THE INTERVIEW

April, 2025

PETER CHIDIAC

DIRECTORS OF THE FLAT EARTHER

BEST ROMANCE

Peter, tell us a bit more about yourself. Where does your desire to be a director come from?

Ayo Red Movie Awards! My name is Peter Chidiac, a 24-year-old male from Sydney, Australia. It is my love for STORYTELLING, no matter the medium, that has brought me to this point, whether it’s acting, writing, or directing. I have been inspired by comedy legends such as Rowan Atkinson and Jim Carrey since my earliest memories, and it has been my life’s purpose since then to uphold the banner of exaggerated reality through performance, much like Charlie Chaplin and Jerry Lewis before them.

Unfortunately, the ability to express yourself is a privilege when it should be a right. Too many people don’t have voices, not because they don’t choose to, but because prioritising survival comes first. I think a lot of people end up allowing the burdening weight of responsibility to stop them from being able to endeavour in creative pursuits. I believe life should be much more than that, hence why I dedicate my own to being about doing what I love most – entertaining people and telling stories.

However, the gaps between acting work can be vast, which is why I invest in the philosophy “if you don’t get work, make your own”. Fast forward to now, this endeavour of bringing an idea from my mind onto a paper script that turned into an actual film set, which then translated into a tangible MP4 file that is then screened around the world and then proceeds to win awards, is perhaps the most rewarding achievement I’ve ever experienced. Whether you want to critique the current political climate or share your favourite slice of life, to be able to showcase your worldview through anarrative in film is an experience I couldn’t recommend enough to get your voice onto something that lives forever.

What is your background?

While I am Australian-born, my heritage is half Greek and half Lebanese. I grew up in the inner west suburbs of Sydney, namely Kingsgrove, Bexley, and Marrickville. My ethnicity is something I take great pride in. For the majority of my upbringing, in either my home life or both primary and high school, I have been surrounded by European/Middle Eastern culture. Whether it’s the food, celebrations, family get-togethers, native languages, or the majority of my high school circle being of the Muslim faith. I believe life without upholding one’s family heritage and their respective traditions is replaced by Western culture, which I believe is ultimately the worship of capitalism and materialism. With the world collectively moving online, acknowledging our roots is more important than ever to maintain our individual and family identities in order to carry them on to the generations to come.

What were your references for The Flat Earther?

Before I came up with the film idea, I had a stream of strange but sudden occurrences from various people in my life that entertained the Flat Earth ideology. It was bizarre each time, but I’m agnostic, so I don’t judge (or at least try not to aha). Fast forward some time, and this film was born from a longline exercise in a screenwriting class that went on for 8 weeks. Essentially, we had to come up with several movie plots that loosely fit into this structure This is a story about *blank* who wants to *blank* but *blank*.
After going home with the task, and came up with 30 different plots. I returned to class and volunteered to read mine out to everyone. Even though I had some ideas that I was really proud of (and more excited about), it was this longline that had the most positive reception This is a story about a woman who potentially meets “the one,” until it is revealed that he is an avid believer of Flat Earth Theory.Considering I wanted my film to get chosen to be made by the class (there could only be two winners amongst the whole group of us, decided by a class vote), that was the idea I decided to work on. I began to write the best rom-com my mind could come up with. However, the more I worked on it, the less it became a film that I was making for my classmates, and more one I was purely making for myself. Once I found out that the winner of whoever won the vote wouldn’t be able to act or direct their script, I immediately changed gears and told people NOT to vote for my film, as I didn’t trust any of them to execute it the way it needed to be. When it came to the pre production stage, while there were no specific film references, I used the aesthetic of 2000s rom-coms (basically every DVD that had a white background, BOLD red writing and Matthew Mcconaughey on the front cover) as I wanted to aim for something that felt nostalgic but something entirely new at the same time.

You won Best Romance at the RED Movie Awards, what does that mean to you?

BEST Romance? In FRANCE? Woooooooooooooow. That’s absolutely insane to me. Initially I didn’t even expect this film to be submitted and screened anywhere outside of Australia. Being selected, let alone being awarded in any country, means the world. But BEST ROMANCE from the love capital of the world is something I never could have imagined when working on this film.
If there’s any country where I could win this specific award, it’s France! This is my first film script that I’ve ever completed too. So this whole experience is extremely affirming to know where my potential lies for all the projects I have in store from here on out. This is definitely a flex that I can take to the grave.

The Flat Earther blends humor with romance in a unique way. How did you find the right balance between comedy and emotional depth in your storytelling?

Overall, I wanted the tone of the film to be cheeky and light, as the source material doesn’t have any seriousness to it. Something that could be accessible and relatable for all demographics, regardless of age. I just infused what I thought was personally funny, and trying to contain the whole script to what was originally 8 pages means that I had to make every line count. During the writing process, I intended to make every line either a punchline or a setup for one, whether immediately or later down the road. More than anything, I wanted to stay true to the emotional arcs of both the main characters of the couple, despite coming from completely different worlds; ultimately, they’re both seeking a genuine connection. Tapping into the truthfulness of that throughout which underlines the ridiculousness of the circumstance, is what kept the plot grounded and, as you say, balanced.

You have studied humor extensively, and you are also an actor. How have these experiences helped you in making your film?

Haha I am flattered (no pun intended), but I wouldn’t say I’ve studied humor unless you count memes. It’s all Mr Bean really. I used to copy him religiously growing up, I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t have that shape my character for the rest of my life. Throughout my life, I’ve been obsessed with Family Guy, Borat, Housos, Seinfeld, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, and anything Dave Chappelle, George Carlin, and Eric Andre. All those different types of humor mixed with the 2016 (2015-2019) era aesthetic, sprinkle my own chaotic life in there, and that’s me in a nutshell. How I approach my creative projects is more of an expression of self rather than anything. Overall, I want to show my personality and what I find funny in my films.

What was the biggest challenge in this shooting?

Fighting a time limit and securing a location. The production of this movie occurred during my mid-year holidays, when I was studying acting full time. This meant that I had to prepare months in advance and line up over 20 people’s availability to make sure the film was shot within a very small timeframe. This meant that if we hadn’t completed filming within the allocated time, then it was going to have to be rescheduled for another 6 months from now, while I went back to full-time studying. And who even knows if everyone apart of the call sheet would have been available by then.

It was crucial we got it done across those two weeks. Being on top of this and ensuring minimal problems occurred during the shoot period was stressful, especially when we hadn’t 100% secured a location for the restaurant scene even AFTER we had completed the first day’s shoot. Luckily, thanks to The Regent Redfern, we were saved last minute. Still, the location securing element of filmmaking remains my least favourite component and the time allocation of it all made the whole experience feel like a bank heist.

Do you have an anecdote to share with us in particular?

The weekend prior to shoot week, the lead actor Jarred Mauch and I (since I portray Todd in the film) decided to do the final stage of our character preparation, which was to take our characters out to the street (Method Acting if you will). We decided to have a night out under the guise of portraying actual Flat Earth conspiracy believers. No matter what, we couldn’t break character, and we had to find a way to naturally bring it up in conversation with whatever randoms we met.

To skip straight to the interesting part of the story, we ended up at a city pub where we played a couple of rounds of Pool. We had small interactions with a table beside us, which eventually led to a proper conversation. I believe it was a small group of British travellers, at least one of them was British since he kept saying that he was from England, but we casually dropped the fact that we had just come from a Flat Earth Society convention when he asked what we were up to that night. Immediately, his whole demeanor changed towards us, from friendly to insulting. And while his friends kind of laughed us off, he couldn’t fathom that those were our actual beliefs.

We stood our ground and tried to “reason” with them, but there was a point where the main dude we were speaking with genuinely got agitated. We decided to back off, but shared a look amongst each other. He later came and apologized and reminded us again that he was from England. Jarred and I let him know that there were no hard feelings before stating that we also believed in the existence of Lizard people too.

At that point, he just swallowed his words and said nothing. Walking away from that interaction, not only were we laughing, but we also felt extremely accomplished, as we uncovered the layer that we never would have otherwise, which was the level of prejudice we experienced as soon as we shared our views.

If you are genuinely a Flat Earther and share that with anyone who isn’t, it’s almost the equivalent of handing out a pass to people to immediately speak down to and talk to yourself like you’re mentally challenged. It was quite eye-opening and allowed us to incorporate a whole new dimension to our characters. As a friend, fellow actor, and director, I was extremely proud of Jarred, as he continuously doubled down on what his “beliefs were” and who he was as his character in the moment. All the work he had done up to that point was showcased fully and more than anything, just proved how dedicated he is to his craft. I felt so confident after the experience that I made the perfect casting choice for the titular lead role.

Independent filmmaking often requires wearing multiple hats. Were there any unexpected roles you had to take on during the making of this film?

I mean, there were a lot of roles I took on board that I knew I was going to have to uphold, Director, Producer, Writer, Editor, and Acting. As for the rest of the crew roles, whether it was cinematography, script supervising, or even catering, I had my eye and hand on everything.
Otherwise, I picked the perfect people for each department, so I knew that the entire project was in great hands. I can’t stress enough how perfect the crew was, every single person pulled their weight and then some to make this film turn out exactly how it needed to be.

What is your next project?

I have about 10 film ideas that I am always switching between developing. For the sake of this interview, I will talk about 2. First off is a SEQUEL to The Flat Earther itself, titled Meet The Flat Earthers. Without spoiling the ending of the first film, it is in the sequel where we discover Nathan’s history, as he comes from a FAMILY of Flat Earthers whose beliefs have been passed down through generations, further exploring the themes of the first film while plunging deeper into the conspiracy rabbit hole all while staying true to the rom-com style of the original. Right now, I am absorbing myself into the real published texts of public Flat Earth Theory figures such as Eric Dubay’s “200 Proofs The Earth Is Not A Spinning Ball” to have a thorough understanding of the subject I’m going to expand upon. My main project, which I feel everyone in my life is now well aware of, is a feature film named 300 Livingstone Road (working title), which depicts the real events I lived through during my stay at a boarding house containing over 20 residents over the COVID-19 period. I often describe the building as a crossbreed between a haunted house, a mental asylum, and a crack house. It was an endlessly entertaining but eventually dangerous period of my life that’s simply too ridiculous not to share with the world.
During my stay there, I encountered extremely racist neighbors, raging drunks, countless drug addicts, a landlord with dementia, mentally deranged men, actual criminals evading police, and old men who have come to rot away the rest of their days. It remains the most uniquely ridiculous “experience” I’ve ever managed to survive. I’m currently writing a screenplay that has every single interaction me and my roommate had with every single resident in that building with the hopes of durning it into a 2 and a half hour dark comedy horror epic that serves as a commentary on how bad Sydney’s housing is for people just above the poverty line and the condition they have to put up with to avoid being homeless. As well as analyzing classic Aussie archetypes that aren’t typically seen as horror villains. As soon as I have the right location and cast, nothing will stop me from turning it into what I envision my ultimate creative statemen to be. The Flat Earther serves as a first stepping stone of many, so thank you RED MOVIE AWARDS, for recognising this important piece of art to me and assisting me in my filmmaking journey by giving me this platform!.