Gil Kenan on the set of City of Ember Courtesy of Fox Walden

Gil Kenan claims it's merely luck that got Robert Zemeckis interested in him fresh out of film school, but it was more than luck that won him an Oscar nomination for his first film, Monster House. Chances are he'll continue his so-called lucky streak with his new film, City of Ember, a movie that he describes as a "post-apocalyptic children's film." Based on the novel by Jeanne Duprau and adapted for the screen by Caroline Thompson, City of Ember is about an underground city whose inhabitants have long since forgotten why they haven't seen the sun in 200 years. A massive generator keeps their city alive, but it's slowly creaking to a halt and no one knows why. Messenger Lena Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and her best friend Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway) find a mysterious box and begin to unravel Ember's true story, and maybe, just maybe, they'll end up saving Ember — and the human race.

Premiere got a chance to speak with Gil Kenan about creating his claustrophobic underground city, steampunk, sci-fi, and why he's only 85% nerd (maybe).

So, how was Fantastic Fest?
I'm not gonna fall for that trap and say it was fantastic. I'll say it was very, very good. No, I had a great time. As is always the case with taking a film to a festival, at least in my, um, limited career, you don't actually get a chance to see other films in the festival, which is a real shame because there are a lot of films at this particular one that I really wanted to see, but I'm hoping to catch up with them on the next festival I go to, which seems to be almost the same line-up but just on a different continent.

What films did you want to see? And what's the next festival?
I wanted to see Let the Right One In, and The Good, The Bad, and The Weird. Those are the two I really wanted to see. Oh, and South of Heaven I wanted to see also. The festival I'm heading to is Sitges in Spain [Festival de Cine de Sitges].

Did you watch your movie with the audience at Fantastic Fest?
Well, this [was] a particularly surreal experience because I brought Bill Murray out for the screening, and so it was sort of... I wasn't really in a mood or any sort of condition to sit in the audience during the screening, but I did come in for sort of key moments. I would come into the auditorium, sit in the back for about 20 minutes, and then leave the theater and pace nervously.

And what did everyone's faces look like?
Well, they looked appropriate. I mean, it's difficult to know what someone's face is supposed to look like when they're watching a post-apocalyptic children's film... [laughs] There's no face chart I have to reference. But it seemed like the audience was appropriately involved in the film, and in fact, after it, I talked to a bunch of people who came up and shared their enthusiasm for the film.

Fantastic Fest is kind of a difference sort of fest just because it's in Austin and it's fanboys and girls.
It's really great, because you know, we sort of figured out what the distinction is. It's like every other film festival minus the cynicism. Like, people don't go into a theater looking to criticize something. They go in to enjoy a movie. And I think that's sort of what gives that particular festival its life. Of course, the film community in Austin is one of a kind, and Tim League and company really know how to put on a show, so you throw all that in the blender, and you end up with Fantastic Fest.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you started working on City of Ember even before Monster House.
Yeah, but only by a few weeks. I got involved with City of Ember and made a big pitch and a song and dance to get attached to it and to get Playtone to option the rights for it, and then a few weeks later I got a call that Robert Zemeckis had seen my short [film] and wanted to talk.

And it's all history from there, right?
[laughs]

It's kinda crazy to be under his wing and Spielberg's and all that.
Super crazy.

Especially as such a young director.
Yeah, no, it was completely overwhelmingly great. It's the sort of best-case scenario of going to film school. Or it's even the best case scenario, plus, and I honestly was just in the right place at the right time and it all kind of worked out. I try not to analyze it too much, because I'm afraid it will go away if I do so I just sort of look forward and I want to try to keep making as many as movies as I can before I disappear.