PBS: Bird watching always seems to be an activity associated with the elderly, but this imagery is used quite often throughout the film. Why did you choose to include this? For you, what is the symbolism behind it? 

JASON TIPPET: Ray would bring stale bread to feed the crows along the Los Angeles River so it didn't go to waste. They both loved birds, and seemed to believe that birds were these vulnerable and helpless creatures. I saw some of that fragility in Ray and Rosemarie too. Like so many older people, they are stretched thin and teetering on a very precarious perch. All they have is each other. As Rosemarie watches a solitary hummingbird flit away from the feeder toward the end of the film, she says, "They're here, and in less than a second they've gone away." It struck me that if you view it with enough distance, the same could be said for all of us creatures big and small. 

PBS: How did Ray and Rosemarie’s story come to you and what was their initial reaction about being involved in a film? 

JASON: Rosemarie and Ray lived in the apartment below me in Sherman Oaks. Every once in a while, before work I'd have coffee and watch the hummingbirds with Rosemarie. One morning I walked past her on my way to work, she was sweeping up leaves in front of their door. She said something like, “Can you believe I turn 90 in a week and Ray still expects me to sweep the walkway?” I asked her on the spot if she’d be willing to do an interview. It still feels pretty intrusive to me to just ask somebody if I can interview them. I hate doing it. But the only thing I hate more is letting a good story slip by. 

Rosemarie took some convincing to agree to be filmed, but she came around to it. A big draw for me was that she seemed to be one of the rare people who is unaffected by the camera. I felt like I was talking to the same person whether the camera was rolling or not. I love the way she phrased things and how excited she’d get about the birds and talking about Ray and his collecting, and I especially loved her big aviator glasses. She wouldn’t step outside without them. 

Ray was fine with being filmed, but hated how long it took me to set up a shot, or get in the car with all my equipment when he was ready to go. Ray’s favorite part of the filming was giving me a hard time. We had fun together. 

PBS: It’s so fascinating to see how much Rosemarie loves In-N-Out Burger. How did this conversation first come about? 

JASON: We were a week or so into filming and Rosemarie was watering the plants. I came home with In-N-Out for lunch one day, and when she saw that greasy white paper bag she just went bananas. Probably the most excited I've seen her. I gave her one French fry and that turned into “you can just have them.” I asked her what she had planned for her birthday and she said she’d probably just sit out and watch the hummingbirds. But Ray saw how turnt those fries got her and ended up surprising her by taking her to In-N-Out for her birthday. 

PBS: Whenever Ray and Rosemarie are watching TV, there’s always a war movie on – perhaps the same one. What was the reason for including and concluding with this? 

JASON: Yeah, “Windtalkers,”starring Nicolas Cage and Adam Beach. Ray taped it off TV, he liked that one. It was something my Grandfather did as well. He was a WWII veteran and would watch war films every night before bed. He never wanted to talk about the war but could watch those films for hours. Maybe it’s cathartic, or nostalgic, or something else altogether, it’s tough to say. 

At the end of “Windtalkers,” the men charge the hill, and if you took the hill that meant you were going home. Maybe to meet a nice girl, buy a house, start a business, raise some chickens. Ray came home, started a moving business, it didn't work out, bought a house and couldn't afford the payments, lost the house. Most things just never really worked out for Ray. But what did work out was finding the love of his life, and the years they spent together.