WEBVTT 00:00:23.399 --> 00:00:26.219 Welcome to the Deep Rinter Movies Podcast. My 00:00:26.219 --> 00:00:29.280 name is Stephen T. Hanley. I'm the founder of 00:00:29.280 --> 00:00:33.460 Deep Printer Movies. We program good movies around 00:00:33.460 --> 00:00:37.100 London and New York. We release soundtracks and 00:00:37.100 --> 00:00:42.100 books and record a podcast which you are listening 00:00:42.100 --> 00:00:45.299 to. Today on the podcast I'm joined by Benny 00:00:45.299 --> 00:00:49.719 Safdie, writer, director of the new movie The 00:00:49.719 --> 00:00:54.439 Smashing Machine and co -director of such bangers 00:00:54.439 --> 00:00:58.789 as Uncut Gems, Good Time, and my personal favourite 00:00:58.789 --> 00:01:03.310 Safdie Brothers movie, Heaven Knows What. This 00:01:03.310 --> 00:01:06.650 was a great chat. Really fast and loose. We got 00:01:06.650 --> 00:01:10.650 into a lot of things about his love of folk music, 00:01:10.870 --> 00:01:14.269 his love of physics, and I should explain because 00:01:14.269 --> 00:01:18.829 we don't do video. Benny holds up a copy of Daddy 00:01:18.829 --> 00:01:22.349 Long Legs, the Australian edition, which he explains 00:01:22.349 --> 00:01:27.000 his crazy audio, the wrong audio. and I tried 00:01:27.000 --> 00:01:31.939 to trump him by showing him my copy of an ex 00:01:31.939 --> 00:01:37.659 -library DVD edition of Daddy Long Legs but Benny 00:01:37.659 --> 00:01:42.060 wins. And the only other thing I need to mention 00:01:42.060 --> 00:01:47.319 is toward the end there was a viral photo going 00:01:47.319 --> 00:01:50.120 around of Benny during the release of Daddy Long 00:01:50.120 --> 00:01:53.939 Legs where he was outside IFC growing a sandwich 00:01:53.939 --> 00:01:57.840 board advertising the movie all day and for fun 00:01:57.840 --> 00:02:02.459 he shows me his new sandwich board for The Smashing 00:02:02.459 --> 00:02:07.239 Machine where he stood outside the theatre recreating 00:02:07.239 --> 00:02:11.620 that moment from many years ago. This is a great 00:02:11.620 --> 00:02:28.080 chat. This is me and Benny Safdie. watching Megadoc 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:30.719 whilst I was waiting for you. Amazing. How are 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:35.560 you? I'm good. I'm good. I was talking to your 00:02:35.560 --> 00:02:39.460 friend Oscar Boycent earlier. Oh, no way. Yeah. 00:02:40.039 --> 00:02:43.599 I was just complaining that I lost my copy of 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:46.460 Heaven Knows What and now it's discontinued and 00:02:46.460 --> 00:02:50.240 I get competitive and I was in one of my eBay 00:02:50.240 --> 00:03:01.020 bidding wars and I Wow Pound which is Twice what 00:03:01.020 --> 00:03:02.580 I bought for originally and must have learned 00:03:02.580 --> 00:03:05.439 out but You know what you know what the real 00:03:05.439 --> 00:03:07.599 collector's item is and I'll let you in on it. 00:03:07.599 --> 00:03:11.919 Oh don't tell me is it the Death star the ninja 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:17.259 star vinyl. No. No, it's not. Oh shit. Oh Here 00:03:17.259 --> 00:03:24.990 it is, this is the real collector's item Let's 00:03:24.990 --> 00:03:27.669 see if you can see it. There we go. OK, wait, 00:03:27.729 --> 00:03:34.710 wait, one second. This might impress you. I'll 00:03:34.710 --> 00:03:38.569 see your copy and I'll raise you. But do you 00:03:38.569 --> 00:03:41.169 know? I see. But do you know why mine is more 00:03:41.169 --> 00:03:44.389 of is a collector's item? No. Oh, is this the 00:03:44.389 --> 00:03:48.330 one with the crazy gunshot sounds? Yes. Oh, this 00:03:48.330 --> 00:03:53.060 is this is the this is the the gunshot. printed 00:03:53.060 --> 00:03:57.939 to the dvd the australian dvd it was printed 00:03:57.939 --> 00:04:02.199 put out in theaters and here it is it's actually 00:04:02.199 --> 00:04:06.340 on the dvd so that's nuts i don't need did you 00:04:06.340 --> 00:04:08.580 ever work out how that happened was this like 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:11.900 uh it was we so early on we didn't really have 00:04:11.900 --> 00:04:17.519 like um it was a it was a very small uh international 00:04:17.519 --> 00:04:22.300 just like uh film distributor like one of those 00:04:22.300 --> 00:04:25.660 persons who like the sales agent and so everybody 00:04:25.660 --> 00:04:28.139 just all these little companies reached out to 00:04:28.139 --> 00:04:31.759 them for the movie and they just said yes and 00:04:31.759 --> 00:04:35.759 didn't follow up in some way and so somehow war 00:04:35.759 --> 00:04:40.120 movies music and effects track was put to our 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:43.860 film so there's no music and effects that we 00:04:43.860 --> 00:04:46.699 added so all of the music in the movie is gone 00:04:46.699 --> 00:04:51.019 and it's all this like swooping violins and machine 00:04:51.019 --> 00:04:54.639 guns. Okay, that's even I thought my public library 00:04:54.639 --> 00:04:56.939 copy was cool. But that's even I love that is 00:04:56.939 --> 00:04:59.000 that is cool. But this one is people because 00:04:59.000 --> 00:05:02.079 people don't know that the Australian DVD actually 00:05:02.079 --> 00:05:06.240 had that it was official release that way. That's 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:08.920 crazy. That should be like a I remember when 00:05:08.920 --> 00:05:12.180 one movie was a pretty odd movie. Europe Euro 00:05:12.180 --> 00:05:17.060 trip. The director when was in Thailand and saw 00:05:18.529 --> 00:05:21.589 camcorder bootleg on sale of his movie so he 00:05:21.589 --> 00:05:24.449 made it a dvd extra so you can watch so i wanted 00:05:24.449 --> 00:05:27.189 i wanted to put it on the criterion but they 00:05:27.189 --> 00:05:30.629 they didn't they didn't do it that would have 00:05:30.629 --> 00:05:33.610 been yeah that would have been easy for crazies 00:05:33.610 --> 00:05:36.870 dvd extra what's the wrong version yeah watch 00:05:36.870 --> 00:05:39.189 the version and which actually because it was 00:05:39.189 --> 00:05:41.250 pirated that was the only version that existed 00:05:41.250 --> 00:05:46.060 for like eight years So I'd see people referencing 00:05:46.060 --> 00:05:48.199 it everywhere and coming up to me and talking 00:05:48.199 --> 00:05:51.500 about the extreme sound design that we did on 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:54.339 it. I was like, what are you talking about? That's 00:05:54.339 --> 00:05:57.839 crazy. So I always ask my guests, what kind of 00:05:57.839 --> 00:06:01.459 teenager were you? What kind of movies and music 00:06:01.459 --> 00:06:06.720 were you into? I was into The Grateful Dead. 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:14.360 I was into Bob Dylan, early folk music. intensely 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:19.360 by myself. I didn't have that many friends. I 00:06:19.360 --> 00:06:24.800 kind of, I loved school. I liked learning. And 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:27.220 so I maybe had one or two friends and that was 00:06:27.220 --> 00:06:29.720 it. I didn't really go out and do a bunch of 00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:33.660 stuff. And so yeah, I was into physics and dark 00:06:33.660 --> 00:06:40.399 matter. And yeah, I guess I like I willingly 00:06:40.399 --> 00:06:44.540 took a stand, I guess against it. It was like 00:06:44.540 --> 00:06:52.100 my way of rebelling was to not go out and party 00:06:52.100 --> 00:06:58.019 and do very well in school. Yeah, that's relatable. 00:06:58.300 --> 00:07:00.199 It's kind of funny. I was chatting to someone 00:07:00.199 --> 00:07:01.980 the other day and they were like, you know when 00:07:01.980 --> 00:07:04.199 you're younger and you're just going out and 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:07.339 getting fucking wasted every night and partying 00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:12.199 and I'm like... No, but I saw it in movies. I 00:07:12.199 --> 00:07:16.480 know about it. Other people did that, but no. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:20.500 But then looking back, I'm kind of I was quite 00:07:20.500 --> 00:07:23.240 impressed with my story. I had a group of friends 00:07:23.240 --> 00:07:26.420 who were just got way into like, you know, let's 00:07:26.420 --> 00:07:28.079 hang out in the park and just drink all day. 00:07:28.100 --> 00:07:30.759 And I was like, that's so fucking depressing. 00:07:31.720 --> 00:07:34.160 I'd rather go to like see a movie or something 00:07:34.160 --> 00:07:36.569 like. Well, you go to you do your weird art movie 00:07:36.569 --> 00:07:40.029 shit. We're going to keep trying liquor stores 00:07:40.029 --> 00:07:42.829 until we get served and then drink warm beer, 00:07:42.829 --> 00:07:46.310 probably. And I was like, God bless. I think 00:07:46.310 --> 00:07:48.850 it was it was I was probably maybe I was I guess 00:07:48.850 --> 00:07:52.769 13. That's teenager, technically. I think at 00:07:52.769 --> 00:07:56.769 that point, I had saved up some money to buy 00:07:56.769 --> 00:08:00.970 the Evelyn Wood speed reading course on cassette 00:08:00.970 --> 00:08:04.699 tape and. and i was attempting to learn how to 00:08:04.699 --> 00:08:06.339 speed read and i think it actually messed me 00:08:06.339 --> 00:08:08.360 up for the rest of my life because there's all 00:08:08.360 --> 00:08:10.379 these weird rules that they have to try and get 00:08:10.379 --> 00:08:13.800 you to read faster but it's not you're not actually 00:08:13.800 --> 00:08:17.019 reading so it's a shame but yeah you know so 00:08:17.019 --> 00:08:19.980 much people do it you know so much swimming in 00:08:19.980 --> 00:08:22.620 the lake or kind of more just doing like speed 00:08:22.620 --> 00:08:25.720 laps yeah it's nice to get lost in the preposition 00:08:25.720 --> 00:08:28.899 what made you want to do that was was that just 00:08:28.899 --> 00:08:31.680 like i was always i was always a very slow I 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:33.899 liked reading and I was always like slow at it. 00:08:33.899 --> 00:08:37.019 Not slow but I would take my time and I thought 00:08:37.019 --> 00:08:39.100 oh I wish there was a way to like speed this 00:08:39.100 --> 00:08:44.440 up to get more books. And my mother would read 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:46.639 really quickly and I was so like how did she 00:08:46.639 --> 00:08:49.019 do that? Yeah I have friends who like devour 00:08:49.019 --> 00:08:53.139 a book a week and really or less and I'm like 00:08:53.139 --> 00:08:57.360 I'm on chapter 10. Yeah exactly it's like what 00:08:57.360 --> 00:08:59.480 I do like is when I'm reading a book and I get 00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:02.450 close to the end I like to finish it in a place 00:09:02.450 --> 00:09:05.129 where I could just kind of settle. I don't like 00:09:05.129 --> 00:09:07.690 finishing it outside, you know? Yeah, yeah, for 00:09:07.690 --> 00:09:10.070 sure. Where were you, where does all this folk 00:09:10.070 --> 00:09:13.049 music come from? Where, who are you getting your 00:09:13.049 --> 00:09:16.649 music recommendations and stuff from? Um, it's 00:09:16.649 --> 00:09:19.789 interesting because like, well, it was like, 00:09:19.870 --> 00:09:23.750 because I was into, um, The Grateful Dead, it 00:09:23.750 --> 00:09:25.710 was like, it was, it was an earth, like you, 00:09:25.950 --> 00:09:28.769 you kind of like branch off into, I did a lot 00:09:28.769 --> 00:09:33.230 of, I was part of this, uh, CD trading company 00:09:33.230 --> 00:09:36.149 called etree .org. It was on the, it was early 00:09:36.149 --> 00:09:38.690 internet and it was message boards and you'd 00:09:38.690 --> 00:09:41.809 go on and you'd see, I would go to the, who, 00:09:41.889 --> 00:09:45.750 who was at the, the rat dog show at the Beacon 00:09:45.750 --> 00:09:49.090 Theater on like this date and you'd find somebody 00:09:49.090 --> 00:09:51.529 who had recorded it and you'd email them and 00:09:51.529 --> 00:09:54.049 you'd say, hey, can I get that recording? And 00:09:54.049 --> 00:09:56.110 they'd say, of course, just send me two CDs and 00:09:56.110 --> 00:09:59.279 postage. So I would send them a blank blanks 00:09:59.279 --> 00:10:01.620 and postage and they would send me back the album. 00:10:01.759 --> 00:10:04.039 And then because I was starting and then you'd 00:10:04.039 --> 00:10:07.000 have a list of your concerts and recordings that 00:10:07.000 --> 00:10:09.460 you had and people would email you and you would 00:10:09.460 --> 00:10:11.279 do the same for them. It was like a community. 00:10:11.639 --> 00:10:15.879 And so I remembered people would say, hey, I've 00:10:15.879 --> 00:10:18.580 got this cool thing. If you want to send me an 00:10:18.580 --> 00:10:21.759 extra CD, I'll give you like the origins of this 00:10:21.759 --> 00:10:26.039 or this bootleg of Bob Dylan or this. So I had 00:10:26.190 --> 00:10:28.769 I had a lot of early Bob Dylan bootlegs before 00:10:28.769 --> 00:10:31.269 they came out on the bootleg series. I had an 00:10:31.269 --> 00:10:33.409 alternate Abbey Road because I love the Beatles. 00:10:33.809 --> 00:10:36.129 So I had all of the Escher tapes before they 00:10:36.129 --> 00:10:39.429 came out. It's really awesome. And it was amazing 00:10:39.429 --> 00:10:41.610 because that's like that kind of thing is gone 00:10:41.610 --> 00:10:44.929 now. Yeah. You know, but like literally I would 00:10:44.929 --> 00:10:49.610 be I would just send CDs in the mail to this 00:10:49.610 --> 00:10:52.590 random person in the middle of the country. And 00:10:52.590 --> 00:10:54.809 three weeks later, I get it back with like a 00:10:54.809 --> 00:10:57.820 handwritten thing. sadly I don't have my book 00:10:57.820 --> 00:11:00.440 anymore of dcds because you lose that stuff over 00:11:00.440 --> 00:11:03.740 time but it was really cool and then eventually 00:11:03.740 --> 00:11:05.779 when you had like a collection of people were 00:11:05.779 --> 00:11:08.960 reaching out to you it was a nice it was nice 00:11:08.960 --> 00:11:11.500 but I the other thing I remember I had like um 00:11:11.500 --> 00:11:16.059 I was so I saw Bob Dylan in 2002 at Madison Square 00:11:16.059 --> 00:11:20.000 Garden and he played something the day George 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.139 Harrison died and he never played anything that 00:11:22.139 --> 00:11:25.039 was like out of never even talked to the audience 00:11:25.039 --> 00:11:27.500 and so when george harrison died i was like he's 00:11:27.500 --> 00:11:29.460 got to say something this was like his good friend 00:11:29.460 --> 00:11:33.779 and he came out and he sang something and i desperately 00:11:33.779 --> 00:11:36.259 went on the message boards to get that and i 00:11:36.259 --> 00:11:39.500 got it but now it's actually available on youtube 00:11:39.500 --> 00:11:41.700 somebody like it's amazing there's like this 00:11:41.700 --> 00:11:44.240 like three camera setup from like the stands 00:11:44.240 --> 00:11:46.480 where they captured the song it's a very it's 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:50.529 a beautiful version Yeah, I really miss that 00:11:50.529 --> 00:11:53.570 early internet era where everyone was a lot kinder. 00:11:53.570 --> 00:11:56.690 I remember when I went to put on my sport I'm 00:11:56.690 --> 00:11:58.769 going to a Sonic Youth concert tonight and someone 00:11:58.769 --> 00:12:02.750 said The t -shirt I wanted was sold out at my 00:12:02.750 --> 00:12:06.799 show, but if you see it size s i'll paypal you 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:10.320 yeah exactly post it to me if you if you get 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:13.200 the chance and i was like i love the fact here's 00:12:13.200 --> 00:12:15.639 20 pound to a stranger and i'm just gonna hope 00:12:15.639 --> 00:12:18.059 the t -shirt will turn up and obviously i i did 00:12:18.059 --> 00:12:22.940 i did but that was such a nice era or just people's 00:12:22.940 --> 00:12:25.159 fan recordings of shows and stuff like that it 00:12:25.159 --> 00:12:29.049 was yes it's it was Yeah, and then so that's 00:12:29.049 --> 00:12:31.169 kind of like so you'd build up like people would 00:12:31.169 --> 00:12:33.049 say Oh, do you like this and I've like never 00:12:33.049 --> 00:12:35.549 heard it and then you'd kind of Get into that 00:12:35.549 --> 00:12:38.269 and then I had a teacher who was also a photography 00:12:38.269 --> 00:12:40.590 teacher who I'm still close with is my friend 00:12:40.590 --> 00:12:44.509 he was into early folk music, you know, like 00:12:44.509 --> 00:12:50.230 the the Smithsonian recordings by is it Harry? 00:12:51.070 --> 00:12:59.019 What's his name Harry? I'm looking it up, Smithsonian 00:12:59.019 --> 00:13:06.179 Folk Recordings. They're great. It was, so it 00:13:06.179 --> 00:13:16.039 was, what's his name? Let's see. Harry Smith. 00:13:16.440 --> 00:13:19.139 So he had all, so just like, so he would put 00:13:19.139 --> 00:13:23.620 me onto this and then, yeah, you know, and then 00:13:23.620 --> 00:13:28.429 it was just like you'd somehow like, It's interesting 00:13:28.429 --> 00:13:31.129 because yeah, now music discovery is so different, 00:13:31.610 --> 00:13:35.029 you know, but it is nice like when when you'll 00:13:35.029 --> 00:13:37.490 get like a recommendation from somebody and they're 00:13:37.490 --> 00:13:40.370 like, wow, this is cool. Yeah, or even when I 00:13:40.370 --> 00:13:44.129 used to go to the I grew up in the 90s. I guess 00:13:44.129 --> 00:13:46.570 my first kind of exposure was like grunge and 00:13:46.570 --> 00:13:50.519 shoegaze. And I'd go to the record store. my 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:52.360 mom would let me pick a CD and I'd be picking 00:13:52.360 --> 00:13:54.100 up like maybe like two Sonic Youth albums and 00:13:54.100 --> 00:13:56.159 like all right this one's got Dirty Boots on 00:13:56.159 --> 00:13:58.299 it which I know is really cool but this one is 00:13:58.299 --> 00:14:01.720 going to be the better record. Yeah. On a whole 00:14:01.720 --> 00:14:04.379 and I'm not sure or the same when I got into 00:14:04.379 --> 00:14:08.879 like Bob Dylan it was like I know Blood on the 00:14:08.879 --> 00:14:10.399 Track is going to be the one but I really like 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:13.340 that song I heard on the Big Lebowski. Yeah. 00:14:13.519 --> 00:14:17.059 And I'm sure this is yeah and like I don't know 00:14:17.059 --> 00:14:19.509 which is better I don't want it to get and then 00:14:19.509 --> 00:14:21.070 and then whatever you get you got to sit with 00:14:21.070 --> 00:14:24.690 it exactly and then that's and then and you can't 00:14:24.690 --> 00:14:28.370 like and I remember making mixtapes I'm like 00:14:28.370 --> 00:14:30.690 okay I got I want to listen to all this stuff 00:14:30.690 --> 00:14:32.950 so I'd go through and make a mixtape and then 00:14:32.950 --> 00:14:35.909 I was really big on because I because I was big 00:14:35.909 --> 00:14:39.029 on making mixes for myself when mini discs came 00:14:39.029 --> 00:14:43.330 out oh you can you I had I had the deck that 00:14:43.330 --> 00:14:45.909 plugged into the stereo and I could record onto 00:14:45.909 --> 00:14:48.190 it so I had like a whole That's what I did with 00:14:48.190 --> 00:14:50.889 a lot of them. I recorded them on the mini just 00:14:50.889 --> 00:14:54.669 so that I could have it on the go. And then when 00:14:54.669 --> 00:14:57.490 mp3s came out, I remember there was this thing 00:14:57.490 --> 00:14:59.769 called the yet pay. I don't know if you know. 00:15:00.009 --> 00:15:05.889 No, it was like a really little thing. And the 00:15:05.889 --> 00:15:08.570 only song that I could have on it was Hurricane 00:15:08.570 --> 00:15:11.110 by Bob Dylan because it was a long song and it 00:15:11.110 --> 00:15:15.440 filled up the entire thing. And I was like. Yeah, 00:15:15.500 --> 00:15:17.379 this is not I didn't like it because I couldn't 00:15:17.379 --> 00:15:19.200 have any songs. And then there was this thing 00:15:19.200 --> 00:15:22.379 called the creative nomad, which was this huge 00:15:22.379 --> 00:15:24.659 looked like a CD player and it had five gigabytes 00:15:24.659 --> 00:15:28.759 of music. So yeah, no, I that's the thing is 00:15:28.759 --> 00:15:33.080 I've always loved music deeply. And it like it's 00:15:33.080 --> 00:15:37.019 as a way to like, yeah, kind of get through the 00:15:37.019 --> 00:15:39.559 world in a way. If I didn't have it, I don't 00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:43.139 know what what the world would be like. And when 00:15:43.139 --> 00:15:46.379 did you did you Did you and Josh always know 00:15:46.379 --> 00:15:52.279 you wanted to make movies or did you? The thing 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:54.480 is is like there was there was a moment when 00:15:54.480 --> 00:15:57.120 well, I wanted to be a physicist I was like all 00:15:57.120 --> 00:16:02.659 in I loved dark matter. I loved Elementary particle 00:16:02.659 --> 00:16:05.820 physics. I liked Studying it and I was part of 00:16:05.820 --> 00:16:08.860 this like extracurricular class, which was essentially 00:16:08.860 --> 00:16:12.480 like double high school So I would like go I 00:16:12.480 --> 00:16:14.720 would learn with this teacher I hooked up when 00:16:14.720 --> 00:16:17.100 he was at Columbia University at the time and 00:16:17.100 --> 00:16:19.120 then I had this physics teacher who would walk 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:21.899 me through and I would read papers and try and 00:16:21.899 --> 00:16:24.340 understand it and the whole goal was to explain 00:16:24.340 --> 00:16:27.419 what you learned to the class so you would learn 00:16:27.419 --> 00:16:30.240 it in a way that allowed you to teach it to everybody 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:34.279 and I had such a good time teaching to people 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:36.480 that I thought oh that's what I want to do in 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:38.950 life you know so I was pretty sure of that. but 00:16:38.950 --> 00:16:41.389 when it came time to go to school I was getting 00:16:41.389 --> 00:16:43.830 more into movies with Josh and then also just 00:16:43.830 --> 00:16:46.909 like Buster Keaton, Andy Kaufman, I did a bunch 00:16:46.909 --> 00:16:49.649 of stand -up in high school so I was like really 00:16:49.649 --> 00:16:53.549 into this idea of like creating fake realities 00:16:53.549 --> 00:16:56.889 that was really interesting to me and that was 00:16:56.889 --> 00:17:01.950 kind of hand -in -hand with physics and I tried 00:17:01.950 --> 00:17:04.690 to go to school for both but if you're gonna 00:17:04.690 --> 00:17:07.630 do something you have to do one thing you know 00:17:07.630 --> 00:17:11.789 so yeah eventually picking film you know and 00:17:11.789 --> 00:17:16.910 and here i am but i definitely i was like there 00:17:16.910 --> 00:17:19.069 is an alternate world where i went to like read 00:17:19.069 --> 00:17:22.650 college and studied classics and worked at the 00:17:22.650 --> 00:17:24.690 nuclear reactor that they had over there you 00:17:24.690 --> 00:17:27.990 know i that is a part of me that like i think 00:17:27.990 --> 00:17:34.250 about you know and One thing that I forgot about 00:17:34.250 --> 00:17:36.230 is you guys, I think, did you guys have a rule 00:17:36.230 --> 00:17:38.549 that you'd try and make one short film a year? 00:17:39.250 --> 00:17:40.650 Or have a sort of discipline? I don't know if 00:17:40.650 --> 00:17:42.990 it was exactly a rule, but we, it was the kind 00:17:42.990 --> 00:17:45.789 of thing where we tried to do, we would put, 00:17:46.930 --> 00:17:49.029 because we were part of like a group of people 00:17:49.029 --> 00:17:51.490 that we all rented a space together. And the 00:17:51.490 --> 00:17:53.349 idea was that we would all help each other out 00:17:53.349 --> 00:17:55.750 on things. And yeah, you would try to make a 00:17:55.750 --> 00:17:57.829 movie and post it, because this is before YouTube. 00:17:58.250 --> 00:18:00.190 So I was running the whole website, built the 00:18:00.190 --> 00:18:03.279 whole thing and... we'd post our videos online. 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:07.539 And in order to keep getting traction, you'd 00:18:07.539 --> 00:18:10.299 post new stuff. And so you'd really try to make 00:18:10.299 --> 00:18:12.960 new things every now and then, just to kind of 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:16.400 keep it fresh. And I think what that did is it 00:18:16.400 --> 00:18:18.319 allowed you to experiment and be a little bit 00:18:18.319 --> 00:18:21.400 less precious about certain things, which can 00:18:21.400 --> 00:18:23.880 get in the way is if you keep waiting for stuff 00:18:23.880 --> 00:18:27.359 to happen, then you never do anything, you know, 00:18:27.420 --> 00:18:29.579 so. If somebody would like, so we would be like, 00:18:29.640 --> 00:18:32.740 okay, what can we do with this? You know, okay. 00:18:32.859 --> 00:18:34.500 Like, and that's like, when I would go to stand 00:18:34.500 --> 00:18:37.900 up, I realized, oh, I could basically make, I 00:18:37.900 --> 00:18:40.799 get a lot of source footage because that back 00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:44.140 VHS camera with the Gotham comedy club logo or 00:18:44.140 --> 00:18:47.019 the comedy cellar logo, that's pretty awesome. 00:18:47.240 --> 00:18:50.059 Like, so that's built in production design, built 00:18:50.059 --> 00:18:52.779 in look with the VHS. People are going to think 00:18:52.779 --> 00:18:55.559 that this is a real guy. So I would try to post 00:18:55.559 --> 00:18:58.359 it online and trick people. into thinking that 00:18:58.359 --> 00:19:02.740 this was a real comedian and that was my goal 00:19:02.740 --> 00:19:06.799 with that. So were you like bombing deliberately 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:10.039 or? Well the thing is yes I would be I was a 00:19:10.039 --> 00:19:13.319 terrible comedian but the point was I didn't 00:19:13.319 --> 00:19:16.500 want people to think that I was bad on purpose. 00:19:16.619 --> 00:19:21.019 I wanted people to not know that I didn't realize 00:19:21.019 --> 00:19:24.230 I didn't know what was funny or not. You know, 00:19:24.269 --> 00:19:26.609 so the first guy I had was this kind of delusional 00:19:26.609 --> 00:19:29.849 comedian, Zach Muldin, whose life was actually 00:19:29.849 --> 00:19:33.509 a little bit sad. And he thought, okay, I could 00:19:33.509 --> 00:19:36.029 just tell jokes about my life. And he would, 00:19:36.150 --> 00:19:40.710 and he was like, kind of like, they're silly. 00:19:41.210 --> 00:19:43.230 Like he'd be in the doctor's office. He's, you 00:19:43.230 --> 00:19:44.690 know, I was in the doctor's office the other 00:19:44.690 --> 00:19:48.269 day and I'm sitting in the waiting room and the 00:19:48.269 --> 00:19:51.009 doctor comes in, walks right by me. I was like, 00:19:51.069 --> 00:19:52.819 all right. sitting in the waiting room, maybe 00:19:52.819 --> 00:19:55.160 35 minutes reading a magazine. Doctor comes out, 00:19:55.160 --> 00:19:57.960 takes another patient, walks right by. I'm thinking, 00:19:57.960 --> 00:20:00.240 this is really strange. But another hour and 00:20:00.240 --> 00:20:02.019 a half goes by. I'm still sitting in the waiting 00:20:02.019 --> 00:20:04.160 room. And I finally say, you know what? I'm done 00:20:04.160 --> 00:20:05.960 with this. I go right up to the receptionist. 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:08.980 And I said, hey, can the doctor see me now? And 00:20:08.980 --> 00:20:11.400 she says, now that you've taken off the black 00:20:11.400 --> 00:20:18.980 cape, I can. And he's serious. This is, in my 00:20:18.980 --> 00:20:22.759 mind, He actually was sitting in a doctor's office 00:20:22.759 --> 00:20:26.420 with a black cape over him, and nobody knew who 00:20:26.420 --> 00:20:31.460 was there. So that's one element. And then from 00:20:31.460 --> 00:20:34.359 there, I developed another guy called Ralph Handel, 00:20:34.599 --> 00:20:37.339 who I would do, who was like a young businessman 00:20:37.339 --> 00:20:39.940 from Wall Street who had a really normal life. 00:20:40.539 --> 00:20:42.779 And he figured, oh, comedians just get up and 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:45.359 talk about their life. I could do that. So big 00:20:45.359 --> 00:20:48.259 movie out this weekend, huh? Smashing Machine? 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:52.380 How many of you have seen it? And you'd hear 00:20:52.380 --> 00:20:57.319 like, hey, raise your hands. How many? There's 00:20:57.319 --> 00:20:59.480 about four. How do I know? Just count it. So 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:01.519 anyway, I went to the supermarket the other day. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:07.500 What'd I buy? Anybody? Frozen pizza and a pack 00:21:07.500 --> 00:21:10.420 of gum at the checkout aisle. So speaking of 00:21:10.420 --> 00:21:13.519 pizza, and then I'd go on seven minutes like 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:18.099 that and unfazed. unflappable I would go in as 00:21:18.099 --> 00:21:21.460 the guy and I would I had all this cologne on 00:21:21.460 --> 00:21:27.160 and so I was and I would have these like really 00:21:27.160 --> 00:21:30.500 like I had horrible like pit stains but like 00:21:30.500 --> 00:21:32.920 very realistic so that I would get hot I would 00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:35.279 take off my jacket I put my hand up all it was 00:21:35.279 --> 00:21:40.460 a whole thing and I had a hot dog ketchup stain 00:21:40.460 --> 00:21:42.980 on the shirt and I would say hey everybody like 00:21:42.980 --> 00:21:44.880 notice the stain on my shirt how did it happen? 00:21:45.769 --> 00:21:48.269 And people would yell out whatever and I'd be 00:21:48.269 --> 00:21:50.109 like no actually was I was eating lunch the other 00:21:50.109 --> 00:21:53.890 day Got a hot dog. Then what went to take a bite 00:21:53.890 --> 00:21:57.089 hot dogs slipped out fell on my shirt. It's true 00:21:57.089 --> 00:22:01.089 Where are these where are these videos? They're 00:22:01.089 --> 00:22:03.549 actually still on YouTube. This is what's so 00:22:03.549 --> 00:22:06.029 amazing So like if you go to YouTube and you 00:22:06.029 --> 00:22:10.250 type in Ralph handled you can find him and there's 00:22:10.250 --> 00:22:12.089 there's I'm looking at right now. I uploaded 00:22:12.089 --> 00:22:16.950 it in 2006 so that's almost 20 years ago which 00:22:16.950 --> 00:22:20.769 is crazy to me that like so you can go on you'll 00:22:20.769 --> 00:22:24.670 see like Ralph Handel from at the Gotham Comedy 00:22:24.670 --> 00:22:28.309 Club or or Bean Town you know right so doesn't 00:22:28.309 --> 00:22:31.190 even become like short films or basically yeah 00:22:31.190 --> 00:22:35.069 and I and they're supposed to be watched in full 00:22:35.069 --> 00:22:38.430 you know and then of course I made these like 00:22:38.430 --> 00:22:41.130 fake pseudo documentaries about the characters 00:22:41.130 --> 00:22:46.630 and his their lives and edited in with the footage 00:22:46.630 --> 00:22:49.150 that I the real footage that I would capture. 00:22:49.450 --> 00:22:51.869 So it was this kind of weird. So early on, I 00:22:51.869 --> 00:22:53.950 was really kind of obsessed with like mixing 00:22:53.950 --> 00:22:58.170 reality and fiction. Did you ever consider becoming 00:22:58.170 --> 00:23:02.569 a straight actor per se? Or did you always? Yeah, 00:23:02.890 --> 00:23:05.009 always. The thing is, I always liked acting. 00:23:05.329 --> 00:23:09.690 And but at the same time, it was like in school, 00:23:09.809 --> 00:23:12.509 like when I went to school for film, I was like, 00:23:12.589 --> 00:23:15.150 okay, well, I wrote this story and the story 00:23:15.150 --> 00:23:18.970 is based on me. And I want, I'm like, I'm pretty 00:23:18.970 --> 00:23:21.369 sure I can do it. So why don't I just play the 00:23:21.369 --> 00:23:22.950 part, you know? And that was kind of the first 00:23:22.950 --> 00:23:26.349 thing I did. And it just kind of, it just helped 00:23:26.349 --> 00:23:28.490 me like work with actors and understanding how 00:23:28.490 --> 00:23:31.930 that is. And then it to the point where it was 00:23:31.930 --> 00:23:36.430 also just, it was just easier. It's like, okay. 00:23:36.759 --> 00:23:39.440 I could just I could tell somebody else all this 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:41.720 stuff, but I have to find the person all this 00:23:41.720 --> 00:23:44.319 stuff and I think it'll be more interesting if 00:23:44.319 --> 00:23:48.079 I do it because like It would get and I could 00:23:48.079 --> 00:23:50.259 get more complicated, you know with what I was 00:23:50.259 --> 00:23:54.740 going through But then like from there so kind 00:23:54.740 --> 00:23:57.660 of went hand in hand and then good time was like, 00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:00.579 oh, yeah I this is I'm this character is a part 00:24:00.579 --> 00:24:02.299 of me, you know, like I said, you're like, oh, 00:24:02.380 --> 00:24:05.799 what did you do? Early on and I was by myself 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:11.700 I, my room was 60 degrees. I was really particular 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:14.400 about if drawers were closed, they had to be 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:16.940 in the exact right places. I didn't like anybody 00:24:16.940 --> 00:24:19.059 coming in and bothering me. It was like, so there 00:24:19.059 --> 00:24:23.019 was a lot of him inside of me. And it was just 00:24:23.019 --> 00:24:25.839 kind of like imagining myself ratcheted to another 00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:29.480 degree. And so I was like, okay. Um, but then 00:24:29.480 --> 00:24:31.920 from there it was just like, yeah, I really do 00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:35.740 love the craft of it and getting to a place of 00:24:35.740 --> 00:24:39.200 like, feeling an emotion that isn't yours, and 00:24:39.200 --> 00:24:42.779 that's kind of what drives me on both sides, 00:24:42.799 --> 00:24:47.500 you know? So I was thinking, I've been, I get 00:24:47.500 --> 00:24:49.960 occasionally invited to have a tiny walk -on 00:24:49.960 --> 00:24:54.619 on things, and I remember I was on Lena Dunham's 00:24:54.619 --> 00:24:59.940 show recently, and the director said, hey, just 00:24:59.940 --> 00:25:02.420 wander around, we're in a bar, wander around, 00:25:03.099 --> 00:25:05.099 and after a while just head through the door. 00:25:05.390 --> 00:25:11.029 and then I got so nervous wondering that I was 00:25:11.029 --> 00:25:13.289 like I don't know anyone's marks because at one 00:25:13.289 --> 00:25:14.589 point someone the one of the main characters 00:25:14.589 --> 00:25:17.269 bolts through one of the side doors gets into 00:25:17.269 --> 00:25:18.990 this huge argument I was like I got it I got 00:25:18.990 --> 00:25:22.049 so into my head I'm gonna bump into her at that 00:25:22.049 --> 00:25:24.829 time yeah I was just like I'm gonna destroy the 00:25:24.829 --> 00:25:28.730 scene I'm gonna waste production budget and things 00:25:28.730 --> 00:25:32.309 like that and it took a real while to just fucking 00:25:32.309 --> 00:25:36.170 relax and own the space But when I was thinking 00:25:36.170 --> 00:25:39.690 about you in Oppenheimer, I was wondering how 00:25:39.690 --> 00:25:43.410 is it being on a set of that scale with a director 00:25:43.410 --> 00:25:48.069 of that magnitude? It was, you know, it was it 00:25:48.069 --> 00:25:50.730 was actually incredible, you know, because like 00:25:50.730 --> 00:25:53.470 you get there and then I'm just like watching 00:25:53.470 --> 00:25:58.230 Chris and Hoyta figure it out. Like they're just 00:25:58.230 --> 00:26:01.029 like, OK, that like we would do the rehearsal 00:26:01.029 --> 00:26:02.529 and then they'd be like, OK, how do we do this? 00:26:02.549 --> 00:26:04.509 And I'd see them just kind of like huddled together. 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:07.619 placing the camera and I was like, wow, this 00:26:07.619 --> 00:26:10.400 is, I remember there was one time where we're 00:26:10.400 --> 00:26:15.859 in this lodge. It's like period piece from like 00:26:15.859 --> 00:26:20.319 40s packed with two, 300 people. And I'm looking 00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:21.619 at this, I'm gonna be like, oh, we're gonna be 00:26:21.619 --> 00:26:25.240 here all day. Cause it was like seven scenes 00:26:25.240 --> 00:26:29.359 in this place. And we shot mine first, like my 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:30.940 little section where like somebody's trying to 00:26:30.940 --> 00:26:34.250 put a party hat on me. And it's like, What was 00:26:34.250 --> 00:26:37.410 amazing is I every moment in a movie. I'll treat 00:26:37.410 --> 00:26:39.509 it as if like it's the most important thing in 00:26:39.509 --> 00:26:42.569 the world So this I got really angry in this 00:26:42.569 --> 00:26:44.490 moment this guy trying to do this and it was 00:26:44.490 --> 00:26:48.349 really fun because like I think Chris really 00:26:48.349 --> 00:26:51.369 likes when like people like put it care, you 00:26:51.369 --> 00:26:55.690 know, and so What we did that and then I just 00:26:55.690 --> 00:26:58.950 got to sit and watch because we did the same 00:26:58.950 --> 00:27:01.150 thing but then I would just watch them do the 00:27:01.150 --> 00:27:05.029 rest of the scenes and Boyd just got this IMAX 00:27:05.029 --> 00:27:08.869 camera on his shoulder. Bang, bang, bang, bang. 00:27:09.109 --> 00:27:12.089 Chris like moving around. They're just like flying 00:27:12.089 --> 00:27:15.529 through this thing. And we finish and then we 00:27:15.529 --> 00:27:18.109 move to the next location, rehearse the next 00:27:18.109 --> 00:27:21.589 scene, and then go to lunch. And I said, how 00:27:21.589 --> 00:27:26.509 the hell did you do that? And it was like, it 00:27:26.509 --> 00:27:29.309 was the craziest thing I'd ever witnessed. And 00:27:29.309 --> 00:27:32.210 I was like, wow, that level of efficiency was 00:27:32.210 --> 00:27:34.700 awesome. And also what that did for me as an 00:27:34.700 --> 00:27:36.579 actor was like, oh, this guy knows what he's 00:27:36.579 --> 00:27:40.380 doing. So you really feel comfortable performing 00:27:40.380 --> 00:27:45.400 in an environment like that. And then I think 00:27:45.400 --> 00:27:49.480 he said something about the car crash in Dark 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:52.920 Knight. And they did that in the first half of 00:27:52.920 --> 00:27:55.779 the day. And that's something that would normally 00:27:55.779 --> 00:28:02.180 be a long time, not that. So it's just like. 00:28:02.170 --> 00:28:07.569 But again, it's not compromising anything, you 00:28:07.569 --> 00:28:11.130 know. Is he just super technically proficient 00:28:11.130 --> 00:28:13.730 or does he just know what he wants? But at the 00:28:13.730 --> 00:28:16.529 same time, there's a there is an element of discovery 00:28:16.529 --> 00:28:19.490 and there is a warmth that's there, you know, 00:28:19.490 --> 00:28:23.269 and you're having fun and everybody's there talking, 00:28:23.630 --> 00:28:26.029 you know, everybody makes a big deal. No phones 00:28:26.029 --> 00:28:28.009 on set, no this. But I think that there's something 00:28:28.009 --> 00:28:29.930 really beautiful about it in the sense that. 00:28:30.079 --> 00:28:32.279 you get to know the people that you're around 00:28:32.279 --> 00:28:35.920 you talk to them and it just kind of everybody 00:28:35.920 --> 00:28:39.559 kind of folds into this kind of group you know 00:28:39.559 --> 00:28:43.079 and once you're all there it's like on that one 00:28:43.079 --> 00:28:44.460 it was interesting because i would come in and 00:28:44.460 --> 00:28:48.920 out a lot so i would come back and then um i 00:28:48.920 --> 00:28:52.079 would hoiter called me the super you know like 00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:54.640 because that's what i wanted to create the super 00:28:54.640 --> 00:28:59.440 bomb but i was myself like this larger than life 00:28:59.680 --> 00:29:02.259 person who would just storm into the room and 00:29:02.259 --> 00:29:04.380 the super was here. And it was really, it was 00:29:04.380 --> 00:29:07.500 a fun environment. But that's what I, what I 00:29:07.500 --> 00:29:09.900 took from that was, oh, you can have something 00:29:09.900 --> 00:29:13.000 on that scale and it doesn't need to feel like 00:29:13.000 --> 00:29:15.119 that. And I thought, isn't that really cool? 00:29:15.380 --> 00:29:19.079 That is really cool. Yeah. Did he have the Casio 00:29:19.079 --> 00:29:23.299 view? Oh yeah. His monitor. I love it. Yes. Make 00:29:23.299 --> 00:29:26.720 it mix. Is this, my theory was that if it, that 00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:29.019 kind of thing when like bands would try out the 00:29:29.019 --> 00:29:31.480 album in the car stereo of if it sounds good 00:29:31.480 --> 00:29:34.259 on this or sound good on anything. Yeah. Is that 00:29:34.259 --> 00:29:36.140 the idea for the Casio? Well, I think it's just 00:29:36.140 --> 00:29:40.700 like it's it's purely it's like because when 00:29:40.700 --> 00:29:43.140 you get these monitors and all this stuff, it's 00:29:43.140 --> 00:29:45.720 very like there's a lot of other bells and whistles 00:29:45.720 --> 00:29:50.180 on it. And that is literally just straight image. 00:29:50.880 --> 00:29:54.339 And it looks a certain way. And it's like it's 00:29:54.339 --> 00:29:58.849 like, for example, Like I'll take pictures. I 00:29:58.849 --> 00:30:02.809 love taking photographs and I have a digital 00:30:02.809 --> 00:30:07.369 camera and it's exactly the same company lens 00:30:07.369 --> 00:30:10.609 so it's a digital Leica and I have a Leica m7 00:30:10.609 --> 00:30:14.069 and I got I started being like, okay How can 00:30:14.069 --> 00:30:16.549 I get this to look like that and I would take 00:30:16.549 --> 00:30:19.910 it around but at the end of the day I know what? 00:30:20.589 --> 00:30:23.170 One of them looks like just I know it's gonna 00:30:23.170 --> 00:30:24.549 be this way and the other one I have to work 00:30:24.549 --> 00:30:27.640 a little harder to to figure that out and I think 00:30:27.640 --> 00:30:30.519 that's probably what goes into that is he knows 00:30:30.519 --> 00:30:35.279 what that is and he can that's part of the process 00:30:35.279 --> 00:30:38.039 you know I know this looks a certain way and 00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:40.000 so that it's like it's out of the it's also you're 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:42.740 not getting caught up in Lutz and whatever even 00:30:42.740 --> 00:30:44.619 though it's shot on film but like you can do 00:30:44.619 --> 00:30:46.720 you're not getting caught up on any of that little 00:30:46.720 --> 00:30:48.140 stuff you're just looking at what's straight 00:30:48.140 --> 00:30:52.559 feed from the camera and it's also small and 00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:55.380 portable and because like again it's like it's 00:30:55.380 --> 00:30:58.440 interesting because like you're on set all the 00:30:58.440 --> 00:31:01.339 time and I find that that's the way I love to 00:31:01.339 --> 00:31:04.339 work too I like to be in the scene basically 00:31:04.339 --> 00:31:07.440 that's why I ran boom is because I'm right there 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:10.779 with everybody I don't like the like there is 00:31:10.779 --> 00:31:13.539 a place where people can go and see it you know 00:31:13.539 --> 00:31:16.799 the monitors it's not I'm never there you know 00:31:16.799 --> 00:31:19.740 so it's like and I find that really exciting 00:31:19.740 --> 00:31:21.640 because you're there with everybody you know 00:31:34.619 --> 00:31:38.220 What was different about directing solo this 00:31:38.220 --> 00:31:40.599 time? How was it much different than previous 00:31:40.599 --> 00:31:43.180 experiences or I guess you know, there's like 00:31:43.180 --> 00:31:48.240 you don't have to have a discussion. Yeah Don't 00:31:48.240 --> 00:31:50.180 have an argument about like I want to do this. 00:31:50.319 --> 00:31:53.299 No, no, it's like so it's just simpler in that 00:31:53.299 --> 00:31:55.900 sense But then there's a lot more things that 00:31:55.900 --> 00:31:58.619 get that get complicated. So it's but what was 00:31:58.619 --> 00:32:01.160 interesting is is I had already done a lot of 00:32:02.139 --> 00:32:04.500 acting and then I made the curse with Nathan, 00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:06.940 you know, so there was there was kind of this 00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:11.079 process of me doing stuff on my own and having 00:32:11.079 --> 00:32:13.880 to make decisions like that and be confident 00:32:13.880 --> 00:32:16.400 in them. And so it wasn't really that I wasn't 00:32:16.400 --> 00:32:18.460 really thinking about it in that way, you know, 00:32:18.640 --> 00:32:20.460 because also this was a story that I really wanted 00:32:20.460 --> 00:32:24.599 to tell and a really clear idea of how I wanted 00:32:24.599 --> 00:32:28.170 to do it. And so that was just, that's all you're 00:32:28.170 --> 00:32:30.230 thinking about. You're not thinking about like, 00:32:30.230 --> 00:32:33.170 um, the dynamics of what might be, you know? 00:32:34.789 --> 00:32:37.210 What was the first thing that drew you to? Was 00:32:37.210 --> 00:32:39.869 it, was it, were you interested in UFC itself 00:32:39.869 --> 00:32:42.509 or, or Ultimate Fireball? Was it just Mark's 00:32:42.509 --> 00:32:45.869 story? Yeah, I love combat sports. I love boxing. 00:32:46.230 --> 00:32:48.910 I went to an early like UFC fight with my stepfather 00:32:48.910 --> 00:32:51.750 because I watched these fights, the tapes. Early 00:32:51.750 --> 00:32:55.970 MMA was crazy, you know? It was like experimental 00:32:55.970 --> 00:33:00.849 and wild and like very foreign. And so it's really, 00:33:01.009 --> 00:33:04.710 it's an interesting time and it looks cool. And 00:33:04.710 --> 00:33:10.230 I think when Dwayne actually approached us about 00:33:10.230 --> 00:33:14.089 this after Uncut Gems, he said, watch this documentary. 00:33:14.269 --> 00:33:17.650 I really like, I wanna play this guy. And I watched 00:33:17.650 --> 00:33:21.109 the documentary and I really loved it. And I 00:33:21.109 --> 00:33:24.660 thought, man, I wish I was there. I wish I was 00:33:24.660 --> 00:33:30.779 there to like see this stuff. And so it really 00:33:30.779 --> 00:33:33.160 just, and Mark as a character just kind of burrowed 00:33:33.160 --> 00:33:37.140 into my brain as this kind of beautiful contradiction. 00:33:37.140 --> 00:33:39.740 And I felt very connected to him. I don't know 00:33:39.740 --> 00:33:43.000 why, like I saw him and I have pictures of him 00:33:43.000 --> 00:33:44.839 like screen grabs from the documentary. And I 00:33:44.839 --> 00:33:49.680 just felt like I understood him in a very deep 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:54.210 way. And I don't know exactly why. And as I got 00:33:54.210 --> 00:33:56.069 to know him, you know, in the making of the movie, 00:33:56.089 --> 00:33:58.730 I realized why. And it's weird how that happens 00:33:58.730 --> 00:34:01.130 where you see somebody and you know that you 00:34:01.130 --> 00:34:05.329 have a shared experience that's different, but 00:34:05.329 --> 00:34:08.610 shared in an emotional sense. And I just like, 00:34:08.650 --> 00:34:11.530 I could tell this guy's story and I need to for 00:34:11.530 --> 00:34:14.349 myself. And it was the kind of thing that I just 00:34:14.349 --> 00:34:16.929 never stopped thinking about it. And I knew Dwayne 00:34:16.929 --> 00:34:18.789 knew the same thing and felt the same thing. 00:34:18.809 --> 00:34:21.050 And again, I had the same thing with him, whereas 00:34:21.050 --> 00:34:23.579 I'm talking to him. I just connected with him 00:34:23.579 --> 00:34:26.679 in a really deep way. And I thought, oh, we could 00:34:26.679 --> 00:34:28.840 do something really special together, you know, 00:34:29.059 --> 00:34:34.039 and it just it was like there. And then like 00:34:34.039 --> 00:34:37.659 Covid comes in and then other projects come come 00:34:37.659 --> 00:34:39.539 along. And then it just kind of drifts away. 00:34:39.539 --> 00:34:42.400 And I just kind of always thought, you know, 00:34:43.219 --> 00:34:46.260 it would suck if I didn't do that. And I really 00:34:46.260 --> 00:34:50.760 hate myself if I didn't tell that story. And 00:34:50.760 --> 00:34:53.579 so when it came time to think like well what 00:34:53.579 --> 00:34:56.380 do you want to do right now this is after the 00:34:56.380 --> 00:34:58.059 curse you know when i wanted to make something 00:34:58.059 --> 00:35:00.579 on my own it was just like well do that thing 00:35:00.579 --> 00:35:02.699 that you want to that you haven't stopped thinking 00:35:02.699 --> 00:35:06.360 about you know how was it approaching mark because 00:35:06.360 --> 00:35:09.579 obviously i saw the documentary years ago i found 00:35:09.579 --> 00:35:14.119 it in a blockbuster dvd bin and i saw i knew 00:35:14.119 --> 00:35:17.079 the guys who made the music were kind of god 00:35:17.079 --> 00:35:19.340 speed you black emperor post -rock adjacent so 00:35:19.340 --> 00:35:22.480 i was like yeah post -rock and UFC, fuck yeah, 00:35:22.579 --> 00:35:27.280 sold. Yeah. But it's a very heavy doc and Mark 00:35:27.280 --> 00:35:32.519 doesn't, you know, and how was Mark about reopening 00:35:32.519 --> 00:35:36.360 that story in that part of his life and all those 00:35:36.360 --> 00:35:39.480 experiences? Well, what I, the first thing I 00:35:39.480 --> 00:35:43.159 did was when I talked to him, I said, okay, this 00:35:43.159 --> 00:35:47.219 is A, what I'm going through right now. And this 00:35:47.219 --> 00:35:49.599 is everything that's happened in my life that 00:35:49.599 --> 00:35:55.349 has Like everything the bad stuff this terrible 00:35:55.349 --> 00:35:59.090 things People things nobody even knows I told 00:35:59.090 --> 00:36:02.469 him and I said it's only fair that you know everything 00:36:02.469 --> 00:36:05.429 about me because I if you're gonna trust me to 00:36:05.429 --> 00:36:07.829 tell your story I'm gonna trust you with mine 00:36:07.829 --> 00:36:11.190 and It really was like something that I felt 00:36:11.190 --> 00:36:14.190 was necessary to do because I really wanted to 00:36:14.190 --> 00:36:16.550 get to know him and I wanted to explore what 00:36:16.550 --> 00:36:19.170 his feelings were and I wanted to make a movie 00:36:19.170 --> 00:36:23.179 that put you in that place, in that time period, 00:36:23.360 --> 00:36:26.719 put you physically there, you know, and made 00:36:26.719 --> 00:36:30.239 you feel what he was feeling and made you understand 00:36:30.239 --> 00:36:32.280 what he went through because for me it was like 00:36:32.280 --> 00:36:34.340 a form of something I called like radical empathy. 00:36:34.780 --> 00:36:37.500 I want to get inside this guy's head who I normally 00:36:37.500 --> 00:36:40.280 would not be able to because that's how I felt. 00:36:40.820 --> 00:36:43.619 I felt I understood this guy and I could learn 00:36:43.619 --> 00:36:47.969 more about myself by being in his brain and I 00:36:47.969 --> 00:36:49.329 said to him, there's going to be things that 00:36:49.329 --> 00:36:51.309 we change. There's going to be things that aren't 00:36:51.309 --> 00:36:53.929 the same. And I said, we're going to be talking 00:36:53.929 --> 00:36:56.530 about it, and it's going to be externalized to 00:36:56.530 --> 00:36:59.110 reach a larger group of people. Because I want 00:36:59.110 --> 00:37:00.829 a lot of people to see this, because I think 00:37:00.829 --> 00:37:06.789 it could be beneficial to them. I think it's 00:37:06.789 --> 00:37:09.949 an awesome experience in a theater to watch it 00:37:09.949 --> 00:37:13.750 and succumb to this kind of violence and extreme 00:37:13.750 --> 00:37:16.900 sport. But then at the same time, like, oh, I'm 00:37:16.900 --> 00:37:19.639 really connected to the guy in the ring you know 00:37:19.639 --> 00:37:21.739 because I had one of the best experiences of 00:37:21.739 --> 00:37:25.019 my life was I did a lot of boxing you know for 00:37:25.019 --> 00:37:28.880 10 years maybe more and I still do it but the 00:37:28.880 --> 00:37:31.880 gym I the gym I would go to closed during COVID 00:37:31.880 --> 00:37:36.300 and they just reopened uptown but I got really 00:37:36.300 --> 00:37:38.219 close to everybody there and it became this really 00:37:38.219 --> 00:37:41.059 beautiful environment very loving and supportive 00:37:41.059 --> 00:37:43.099 and you go in and somebody would say hey you 00:37:43.099 --> 00:37:46.260 want to spar and be like they'd be like yeah. 00:37:46.280 --> 00:37:48.699 and then you get in and get your ass kicked and 00:37:48.699 --> 00:37:51.519 it was the greatest feeling in the world and 00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:54.500 I knew from that moment that like I need to explore 00:37:54.500 --> 00:37:58.780 this in a way that I don't think has been seen 00:37:58.780 --> 00:38:01.340 and it really I want to show what this feels 00:38:01.340 --> 00:38:04.380 like this kind of camaraderie in the face of 00:38:04.380 --> 00:38:07.760 all that and as I talked to Mark and Boz and 00:38:07.760 --> 00:38:11.119 Ryan and I realized oh wow this is true what 00:38:11.119 --> 00:38:13.860 I'm experiencing is real that like they love 00:38:13.860 --> 00:38:16.420 and support one another even though they don't 00:38:16.420 --> 00:38:19.099 you think that this like it's this machismo world 00:38:19.099 --> 00:38:21.039 but there is a lot of vulnerability there and 00:38:21.039 --> 00:38:23.800 that's okay and there's strength in that vulnerability 00:38:23.800 --> 00:38:26.079 you know it's like bruce springsteen you know 00:38:26.079 --> 00:38:31.659 it's okay yeah you know and so um yeah so that 00:38:31.659 --> 00:38:34.199 in that sense it was just like every it was it 00:38:34.199 --> 00:38:37.099 was there was so much to this world that i wanted 00:38:37.099 --> 00:38:41.559 to explore and live in and be in and um i love 00:38:41.559 --> 00:38:43.900 the documentary and i want this to be like in 00:38:43.900 --> 00:38:46.730 conversation with it you know and like to the 00:38:46.730 --> 00:38:49.090 point where I actually just saw John Himes yesterday 00:38:49.090 --> 00:38:51.449 he came to the premiere I was so excited for 00:38:51.449 --> 00:38:54.250 him to see it and there's one shot where I'm 00:38:54.250 --> 00:38:56.469 like I can't wait for him to see it it's the 00:38:56.469 --> 00:39:00.090 shot of the scooter and he's like because why 00:39:00.090 --> 00:39:04.250 the hell did you do that and he's like because 00:39:04.250 --> 00:39:07.449 it's like I found the scooter I recreated the 00:39:07.449 --> 00:39:10.570 scooter all the stuff and I even recreated the 00:39:10.570 --> 00:39:13.539 shot you know and it's like He's like, what are 00:39:13.539 --> 00:39:17.900 you doing there? And I said, honestly, it's like, 00:39:18.019 --> 00:39:21.780 I wanted to see if I could recreate reality to 00:39:21.780 --> 00:39:24.400 such a high level. And there's this document 00:39:24.400 --> 00:39:27.460 that you created that's there. And I wanted, 00:39:27.820 --> 00:39:31.099 that's how I discovered it. So I wanted you to 00:39:31.099 --> 00:39:33.980 be able to do that, you know? And I think it 00:39:33.980 --> 00:39:36.280 was really special. And he said, he goes, you 00:39:36.280 --> 00:39:39.239 know, and I'm so proud that he said it, he goes, 00:39:39.380 --> 00:39:42.559 that might be the most accurate biopic I've ever 00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:45.079 seen in my life. Beautiful. Because everything 00:39:45.079 --> 00:39:47.559 is there. And I saw it all. And he goes, and 00:39:47.559 --> 00:39:49.860 you did it all. You got everything. And I'm like, 00:39:50.000 --> 00:39:52.179 that's killer. Because that's, I wanted, there's 00:39:52.179 --> 00:39:55.920 an early UFC shirt that said, as real as it gets. 00:39:56.320 --> 00:39:58.719 Wow. In the back. Yeah. And I thought, that's 00:39:58.719 --> 00:40:01.639 what this is going to be. You know? One scene 00:40:01.639 --> 00:40:04.559 that's living in my head rent free since I saw 00:40:04.559 --> 00:40:07.480 the movie that I'm, can't stop thinking about. 00:40:08.710 --> 00:40:12.469 Emily Blunt when she's on the Gravitron. Yeah, 00:40:12.510 --> 00:40:16.110 and then she almost pulls up the side and is 00:40:16.110 --> 00:40:19.510 just pinned Yeah, what a fucking shot dude. That 00:40:19.510 --> 00:40:23.550 was amazing. How did that? I know that was No, 00:40:24.630 --> 00:40:27.150 no that was all written into the script and here 00:40:27.150 --> 00:40:30.849 I'll let me see if I can find this picture I'll 00:40:30.849 --> 00:40:34.110 talk to the videos recorded for this right? Yes. 00:40:34.349 --> 00:40:36.889 Okay, great. So then this will see I can show 00:40:36.889 --> 00:40:40.679 it But so, yeah, so basically in that moment, 00:40:40.980 --> 00:40:43.260 I had originally wanted both of them to go on 00:40:43.260 --> 00:40:46.940 the ride. And Dwayne is like, I get really... 00:40:46.940 --> 00:40:49.380 Oh, that's when he's like... I get really sick. 00:40:49.400 --> 00:40:52.639 My tummy, yeah. Yeah. He's like, my stomach, 00:40:52.760 --> 00:40:55.420 I can't handle that. And I thought, that's amazing. 00:40:55.800 --> 00:40:58.079 I'm changing the script because I think it's 00:40:58.079 --> 00:41:01.119 beautiful that your tummy hurts, you know? And 00:41:01.119 --> 00:41:05.659 so he's on the outside and she goes in. And it's 00:41:05.659 --> 00:41:10.469 also right when he's sober. And it actually became 00:41:10.469 --> 00:41:13.269 the perfect thing to represent where the two 00:41:13.269 --> 00:41:16.449 of them are. And of course, one of my favorite 00:41:16.449 --> 00:41:20.010 movies is 400 Blows. And I don't know if you 00:41:20.010 --> 00:41:22.110 remember that. They go on and he goes on a gravitron 00:41:22.110 --> 00:41:25.409 in 400 Blows. And I was like, wouldn't it be 00:41:25.409 --> 00:41:29.230 really cool to reference that in this movie? 00:41:30.030 --> 00:41:32.969 But I also thought like... Here, I'm gonna go, 00:41:33.030 --> 00:41:36.650 you know, the maps feature on the phone is really 00:41:36.650 --> 00:41:39.690 exciting because you can go right to the place 00:41:39.690 --> 00:41:44.429 to find the picture. And so, yeah, so basically 00:41:44.429 --> 00:41:48.789 that was in the script and I said, I tested it 00:41:48.789 --> 00:41:51.849 because I really wanted, and with Miseo Bishop, 00:41:51.949 --> 00:41:53.449 the cinematographer, we were like, okay, how 00:41:53.449 --> 00:41:56.250 are we gonna do this? And I wanted it to be that 00:41:56.250 --> 00:41:58.750 Gravitron with the alien and all the signs and 00:41:58.750 --> 00:42:01.670 stuff. music blasting. And if you listen to it 00:42:01.670 --> 00:42:05.289 in a theater, the Atmos, this thing is spinning 00:42:05.289 --> 00:42:08.789 around. And if you hear the sounds moving around 00:42:08.789 --> 00:42:14.489 you, it's really killer. But hold on, I'm like, 00:42:14.610 --> 00:42:18.570 okay, where's this fairgrounds, the peony? So 00:42:18.570 --> 00:42:22.030 basically, I wanted her to go on there. And it 00:42:22.030 --> 00:42:25.150 was very important to me that she went upside 00:42:25.150 --> 00:42:27.869 down because I wanted it to be literally that 00:42:27.869 --> 00:42:31.869 they were on opposite in opposite places, and 00:42:31.869 --> 00:42:35.429 I want to be in a place where the laws of gravity 00:42:35.429 --> 00:42:40.130 don't apply, you know, and so here, so I remember 00:42:40.130 --> 00:42:47.929 going on and here we go. So this, I did it, I 00:42:47.929 --> 00:42:53.190 tested it because I wanted to know and so I was, 00:42:53.289 --> 00:42:55.409 so here's another video with this is what the 00:42:55.409 --> 00:43:02.539 stunt coordinator did. Oh, Jesus Christ. Outside 00:43:02.539 --> 00:43:11.460 out, you can do them. So I really because I was 00:43:11.460 --> 00:43:14.960 like, OK, again, part of the thing is, it's like 00:43:14.960 --> 00:43:17.099 if I'm going to ask somebody to do it, I'm going 00:43:17.099 --> 00:43:20.559 to do it. You know, I got on there to see, hey, 00:43:20.639 --> 00:43:22.619 if it was like because I remember doing it as 00:43:22.619 --> 00:43:27.369 a kid. But when you get older. something happens 00:43:27.369 --> 00:43:30.869 to your ear, that stuff isn't very easy anymore. 00:43:31.829 --> 00:43:34.670 So I remember doing it, the moment you lift your 00:43:34.670 --> 00:43:38.070 head up, it just like gets shaken. And it took 00:43:38.070 --> 00:43:40.969 me like two hours to recover from that. So I 00:43:40.969 --> 00:43:42.929 realized, okay, we're gonna have to do that at 00:43:42.929 --> 00:43:45.309 the end of the day, because like, it's gonna 00:43:45.309 --> 00:43:49.469 be difficult. And so I did it and I showed Emily, 00:43:49.530 --> 00:43:51.409 this is the position I would like you to get 00:43:51.409 --> 00:43:55.170 into. And What's also amazing, I don't think 00:43:55.170 --> 00:43:57.050 anybody knows that, but that's a wig that she's 00:43:57.050 --> 00:44:00.090 wearing in the movie. It looks - Wow, yeah, perfect. 00:44:00.489 --> 00:44:03.389 Insane. And so she has to do all that and not 00:44:03.389 --> 00:44:05.409 have it get messed up, but me and Neil did an 00:44:05.409 --> 00:44:09.269 incredible job with it because there's a specific 00:44:09.269 --> 00:44:15.130 hair that existed at that time. It's just not 00:44:15.130 --> 00:44:17.170 now. Different nutrition, whatever, everything 00:44:17.170 --> 00:44:19.389 is different. But those are the things I wanted 00:44:19.389 --> 00:44:22.329 to really nail with the movie. but so she's doing 00:44:22.329 --> 00:44:25.369 it and she gets in there and I wanted her to 00:44:25.369 --> 00:44:28.130 be sideways and then I wanted to cut back and 00:44:28.130 --> 00:44:30.889 have her be upside down in all of those so you 00:44:30.889 --> 00:44:33.809 see the progression yes and also what's amazing 00:44:33.809 --> 00:44:37.349 is you know that that thing is moving at that 00:44:37.349 --> 00:44:39.550 speed because the light through the side you 00:44:39.550 --> 00:44:42.550 know that like and it was it was really cool 00:44:42.550 --> 00:44:44.730 to to be able to do it and also like we had the 00:44:44.730 --> 00:44:47.570 camera first which Maseo hooked up to a remote 00:44:47.570 --> 00:44:50.519 head but he was in there with me and he had a 00:44:50.519 --> 00:44:53.079 remote head and he's basically operating the 00:44:53.079 --> 00:44:56.340 remote head because I'm like go on because you 00:44:56.340 --> 00:44:58.300 couldn't see her feet and I wanted people to 00:44:58.300 --> 00:45:00.380 see that she was actually doing it and so he's 00:45:00.380 --> 00:45:04.659 like moving this thing but he had the idea which 00:45:04.659 --> 00:45:06.679 was really great he goes we don't actually have 00:45:06.679 --> 00:45:08.619 to move first because when you're in there and 00:45:08.619 --> 00:45:11.539 it's locked it's with her perspective so you're 00:45:11.539 --> 00:45:13.000 going to be moving and it's not going to look 00:45:13.000 --> 00:45:16.400 like we're moving so before I'll ramp it and 00:45:16.400 --> 00:45:19.360 I'll spin it so that we have that kind of so 00:45:19.360 --> 00:45:22.920 that one was her still and we just moved the 00:45:22.920 --> 00:45:25.400 camera and then the other thing was the camera 00:45:25.400 --> 00:45:29.639 in there and moving at the same speed and it 00:45:29.639 --> 00:45:32.239 was just it was a cool shot and I think it was 00:45:32.239 --> 00:45:34.940 very representative of where they were and that 00:45:34.940 --> 00:45:38.420 was very important to me you know we got time 00:45:38.420 --> 00:45:42.989 for one last question and there's that amazing 00:45:42.989 --> 00:45:45.010 photo of you going about with a sandwich board 00:45:45.010 --> 00:45:49.289 when you're advertising a movie and aside from 00:45:49.289 --> 00:45:54.750 our podcast one of our I got it right here coming 00:45:54.750 --> 00:46:05.570 hell yes here it is so hey you never know I might 00:46:05.570 --> 00:46:10.719 do it might do it again so With one of the things 00:46:10.719 --> 00:46:12.860 aside from our podcast, we do screenings every 00:46:12.860 --> 00:46:14.940 week and one of our big mission statements is 00:46:14.940 --> 00:46:18.820 showing under scene movies and indie movies. 00:46:19.599 --> 00:46:21.659 So I think we're basically the only people in 00:46:21.659 --> 00:46:23.920 London who will show like Mike Balandick's movies, 00:46:24.159 --> 00:46:27.619 Eugene's movies. Amazing. And God bless Matt 00:46:27.619 --> 00:46:30.679 Grady and all the kind of exciting indies coming 00:46:30.679 --> 00:46:35.030 out. It's such a chaotic landscape for distribution 00:46:35.030 --> 00:46:38.210 and getting eyes on indie movies. I was just 00:46:38.210 --> 00:46:42.090 wondering any Insights or advice or thoughts 00:46:42.090 --> 00:46:46.869 on small movies breaking through? Well, that's 00:46:46.869 --> 00:46:48.849 the thing is is like I originally did it on daddy 00:46:48.849 --> 00:46:52.409 long legs because like IFC was really like putting 00:46:52.409 --> 00:46:57.530 all their money behind Ken Loach and I was and 00:46:57.530 --> 00:47:01.750 ours had a one week only at the IFC Center And 00:47:01.750 --> 00:47:04.130 I knew that if your movie got held over, you 00:47:04.130 --> 00:47:06.789 read these stories of like independent movies 00:47:06.789 --> 00:47:09.289 playing in movie theaters. Like if it got held 00:47:09.289 --> 00:47:12.809 over, that would be a huge achievement. And so 00:47:12.809 --> 00:47:16.349 I made this sandwich board and I walked around 00:47:16.349 --> 00:47:19.190 a bunch before handing out flyers basically because 00:47:19.190 --> 00:47:22.070 like there wasn't a lot of advertising for the 00:47:22.070 --> 00:47:24.710 movie and I wanted people to know that the movie 00:47:24.710 --> 00:47:27.090 existed. And so I walked around and the other 00:47:27.090 --> 00:47:29.170 thing I did was I stood outside the IFC Center 00:47:29.170 --> 00:47:32.489 and I convinced people Don't go see that movie. 00:47:32.690 --> 00:47:36.530 Sorry, Ken Loach. What Ken movie was it? What 00:47:36.530 --> 00:47:39.369 was the one that came out in 2009 or 10? It was 00:47:39.369 --> 00:47:42.489 like The Wind. When the Shakes the Barley. Was 00:47:42.489 --> 00:47:51.889 it that one? Yeah, the Irish movie. Yes. No, 00:47:51.909 --> 00:47:53.190 it wasn't The Wind that Shakes the Barley. I 00:47:53.190 --> 00:47:56.710 wouldn't do that to Killian. Okay. It was another 00:47:56.710 --> 00:48:10.590 one. 2010. What was it? It was, um, I forget 00:48:10.590 --> 00:48:13.250 which one it was, but I know IFC looking for 00:48:13.250 --> 00:48:17.050 Eric. Okay, fine. That's a less can work. Yeah. 00:48:17.050 --> 00:48:18.610 So that was one where I was like, they were just, 00:48:18.789 --> 00:48:20.769 they were, that was their, that was their horse. 00:48:20.949 --> 00:48:23.150 And I wanted to be like, we're going to stay 00:48:23.150 --> 00:48:25.449 in theaters. We're going to make it. And I literally 00:48:25.449 --> 00:48:27.110 stood outside and convinced people and they're 00:48:27.110 --> 00:48:28.550 like, well, who are you? And I'm like, well, 00:48:28.550 --> 00:48:31.719 I made the movie. And they're like, what? And 00:48:31.719 --> 00:48:33.500 the people at IFC Center thought, oh, isn't this 00:48:33.500 --> 00:48:35.780 funny? This is like a little stunt. And you'll 00:48:35.780 --> 00:48:37.960 be there for like an hour and get the picture 00:48:37.960 --> 00:48:41.380 taken. But I was there every day for the weekend, 00:48:42.320 --> 00:48:44.659 for every showing to convince people, because 00:48:44.659 --> 00:48:47.239 I knew that this was the only chance. And then 00:48:47.239 --> 00:48:50.340 even when I did this, like 824, I was like, oh, 00:48:50.340 --> 00:48:52.179 let's go over to the IFC Center and recreate. 00:48:52.360 --> 00:48:54.960 Because the idea was like, I want to show that. 00:48:55.059 --> 00:48:57.079 Because somebody asked me, they showed me a tweet. 00:48:57.159 --> 00:49:00.650 And they said, which had me in the sandwich board 00:49:00.650 --> 00:49:02.130 and then me at the Venice Film Festival. And 00:49:02.130 --> 00:49:05.590 they're like, what's changed? Yeah, great question. 00:49:05.610 --> 00:49:06.949 What do you think has changed? And I thought, 00:49:07.510 --> 00:49:10.369 not that much. I'd hope. I'd like to think that 00:49:10.369 --> 00:49:13.869 I'm not that different, you know? And so then 00:49:13.869 --> 00:49:15.530 I thought, well, I'm going to prove it. I'm going 00:49:15.530 --> 00:49:16.630 to go out there and I'm going to do it again 00:49:16.630 --> 00:49:20.269 because it's, I like being outside. I like talking 00:49:20.269 --> 00:49:24.489 to people. And so I went from 68th and IC was 00:49:24.489 --> 00:49:26.219 like, oh, we'll get a picture. I'm like. No, 00:49:26.300 --> 00:49:27.960 not actually. It's H -24. We'll get a picture 00:49:27.960 --> 00:49:30.460 and then we'll do it. I said, I need you to print 00:49:30.460 --> 00:49:33.480 1 ,000 flyers, and I'm going to hand out 1 ,000 00:49:33.480 --> 00:49:37.579 flyers today. And so I went 68th, then Times 00:49:37.579 --> 00:49:41.139 Square, West Forth, Angelica. I hit up all these 00:49:41.139 --> 00:49:44.260 places, and I just handed out flyers. I talked 00:49:44.260 --> 00:49:46.960 to people. People blew me off, whatever. There's 00:49:46.960 --> 00:49:50.440 something about getting put in your place that 00:49:50.440 --> 00:49:53.840 I think is kind of necessary. Because you can 00:49:53.840 --> 00:49:56.300 get lost. Oh my God, everybody's talking about 00:49:56.300 --> 00:49:58.280 this. And you get out there and nobody's heard 00:49:58.280 --> 00:50:00.139 about your movie. Nobody knows who the fuck you 00:50:00.139 --> 00:50:03.139 are. Sorry. And it's like, that's the truth. 00:50:03.440 --> 00:50:06.539 So it's like, I thought like, I'm going to go 00:50:06.539 --> 00:50:08.539 and I'm going to do that. And it was really funny 00:50:08.539 --> 00:50:11.019 because people would come out and be like, why 00:50:11.019 --> 00:50:13.840 are you doing this? And it's like, I don't know. 00:50:14.119 --> 00:50:17.219 I think it's important. Does it mean so much 00:50:17.219 --> 00:50:19.949 fun? I could talk for ages. This was great. Great. 00:50:20.050 --> 00:50:21.949 Thank you for your services to cinema. Really 00:50:21.949 --> 00:50:23.969 appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you for your 00:50:23.969 --> 00:50:38.230 services to cinema. Boom. That was me and Benny 00:50:38.230 --> 00:50:41.230 Safdie. What a great chat. That was not the Benny 00:50:41.230 --> 00:50:47.380 I was expecting. Physics, folk music. Bizarre 00:50:47.380 --> 00:50:50.480 stand -up characters. Just a great chat. He had 00:50:50.480 --> 00:50:54.539 so much good energy. That's it from me. Thank 00:50:54.539 --> 00:50:57.440 you for listening. Thank you to Joshua Eustace 00:50:57.440 --> 00:51:01.420 aka Telefon Tel Aviv for our beautiful music 00:51:01.420 --> 00:51:03.380 and we will speak soon.