Recently, MODE Weekly had the opportunity to speak with Harrison about his experience in making this small hit, a film that wowed them at the Sundance Film Festival, netting him four studio offers. After living in L.A. and working on film trailers, Harrison moved to San Francisco (where the film is based) in 1994. While there, he partook in the rave and party scene that’s very prevalent in the area — the inspiration for the film came from the two years that Harrison was in his party phase. When asked what led him to choose this subject, he said that when you are making your first film, it is usually an independent film that is "a passion" and is based and "motivated by experience." While not the party guy that he was in his early twenties, making this film now, at 31, was, in essence, a way for Harrison to "try and make sense out of an intense period of time" in his life. "[Raving] was a great page in a great book" and Groove helped him turn the page.

As for his believable cast, Harrison revealed that "about 75% of the [cast] never acted before and don’t expect to be actors." The cast of characters can relate to the plugged in and wired world of San Francisco youth. The messages to the partiers in the film about upcoming raves travel quickly through their voice-mail, e-mail, message groups, beepers, and cell-phones. While raving is prevalent everywhere in this country, San Francisco has a "real community sense," Harrison said, and is almost like the "epicenter" of the rave culture.

The process of actually getting this film made was a long and arduous one. About two-thirds of the funding "came from under 30 Internet entrepreneurs" who wanted to invest in a film they felt some connection to. Their investment paid off when the film, which was made for about half a million dollars, "returned [about] 43% profit to the investors before hitting the theatres," according to Harrison. It was at this point Columbia/Tri-Star bought it for $1.5 million. Harrison wore several hats including director, co-producer, editor, and writer. When asked what he would like to do on his next film the answer was a swift "direct!" "I did it all at once so that I wouldn’t have to do it gain … seven days a week with very little sleep," he added. From about July, 1999 to March, 2000 Harrison figures he didn’t sleep at all. The editing process started as soon as the film was put in the can. "We had six weeks to finish the film [before it showed at Sundance]."

San Francisco has changed since the film was shot. Many of the locations where the raves took place are no longer abandoned buildings. They have been taken over by up-and-coming tech companies. As Harrison puts it, "[the] cultural face of the city is changing … the party in Groove might exist in spirit, but [not] logistically," due to the loss of the appropriate spaces. He believes that this tech influx is a little shortsighted, (especially with the astronomical raises in rent that cripple artists and non-internet millionaires), since many dot com companies are folding. Once these companies go "belly up" they will leave a wasteland in their wake.

What was refreshing about this film was the lack of pretentiousness. The tone was in keeping with the groove — no pun intended — of the party in the film: friendly and with a strong sense of community. With real area DJs and some world-renowned DJs like DJ Digweed, the soundtrack pumps at a good pace and gets your body twitching to the beat. While there are definite adult situations occurring — like drug use and sex — there is still a strong sense of innocence and childhood happiness-no worries, you just dance the night away. There is even a room in this abandoned warehouse with pillows and candles where you can just go and chill out, drink some bottled water (the de rigeur liquid refreshment of raves), and eat fresh fruit. The one who runs this rave does it for the altruistic pleasure it gives him. Not for the money but for the nod. That ‘nod’ of recognition comes from partygoers telling him how great the party is and thanking him for doing this for them. It truly is a fascinating subculture.