00:00 I went back and watched some Friends to kind of take in David.
00:06 It's prepared, I love that.
00:08 Yes. And I just, I don't think I'd seen it in 20 years.
00:13 And there I was sitting there going, "God, this is a funny show. These people are comic geniuses."
00:18 The movie is really about perspective and it kind of follows
00:27 a bunch of different characters in Los Angeles that are kind of going through different versions
00:31 of life crises. So some of that has to do with addiction, some of that is mental health,
00:36 some of that is more kind of crisis of meaning. And I think, you know, there are parts of the
00:42 movie that get surreal in their representation of that. So that's, you know, more generally,
00:47 it kind of deals with people who are sort of dealing with their own internal crises.
00:51 I saw a short that he had done that was similar to this film, basically. And I just thought it
00:58 was very innovative and intimate, which I think those two things don't really sit next to each
01:06 other sometimes. And I felt like he had an ability to, you know, talk about really intense things in
01:13 a very human and kind of clumsy and vulnerable way. And so when I read the script, I was just
01:20 kind of in awe of how... I'm always, I mean, I love young filmmakers. I just think it's like
01:26 such an incredible thing to be able to be, you know, the nerves of it, the excitement of it,
01:30 of making your first film. And I could just tell that he had put so much of his heart into this
01:36 first script that I was just on board. I couldn't wait. I just feel like that kind of excitement is
01:42 really rare and it can be very tangible and other people get to sort of feed off of it, you know,
01:49 when you're on set. So yeah, I think it was just an instant hell yes.
01:53 - Hell yes. Now, Jack does all my music videos and it's going to be hard to get another one out of
02:00 him after this, but it's easier that I worked with him on this, you know?
02:05 - Yeah.
02:05 - And now we kind of, he still owe me a little bit, so I'm good. I'll probably give two more
02:09 music videos out of you before you stop doing them.
02:12 - So what was your favorite thing about him from working together on music videos
02:17 that you knew you could trust him for a feature?
02:20 - Just eyes and body language and just the, he's never really forcing me, even though the
02:26 things that we do take on, like sitting in the cold for six hours at a time or drowning me in
02:30 a Florida swamp, he's never like too pushy. It's always like for the greater good. And I
02:37 always understand that. He just knows what he wants, which is nice.
02:39 - I really think Jack is a visionary and like Dominic said, he knows what he wants, but he's
02:46 also such an open, collaborative, present, vulnerable, beautiful filmmaker. And I sensed
02:56 that just from our brief conversation. And then on set, I was just blown away by it. And so,
03:00 you know, that ended up being really kind of a wonderful place to be.
03:07 - You're quickly learning that a lot of being at a film festival is like accepting praise.
03:10 - Yeah, trying to figure out what to do with my face.
03:12 - Well, don't worry.
03:14 - It's happening.
03:15 - Did you pitch this to Darren or did he hear about it and come to you and say,
03:20 "I want to produce this"?
03:21 - I think he and his company, Protozoa, came across the material. Like, so Donnie,
03:27 my writing partner, and I had written this script and we had a short, there was, you know,
03:32 similar concept. And that's how I think they came across it. So it sort of was almost out of the
03:38 blue in terms of, you know, Darren liked it and they want to meet, you know. And I think that once
03:45 we got into it, it really felt like they kind of saw the same movie that I did and Darren liked the
03:52 same things about it that I did. And so that made me feel like I was, you know, in really good hands.
03:57 - And David's not here, so we can embarrass him by me asking, "Does anyone have a favorite episode
04:03 of Friends?" - I went back and watched some Friends to kind of take in David.
04:10 - It's prepared. I love that. - Yes. And I just, I don't think I'd seen it in 20 years.
04:17 And there I was sitting there going, "God, this is a funny show. These people are comic geniuses."
04:23 I really kind of didn't know that, that, you know, what I saw when I was 12 was this like
04:29 incredible, masterful, comedic thing. I guess the whole world knew that. But, so I didn't take in
04:38 enough to remember what a favorite episode might be, but I was just kind of blown away by how
04:42 incredible they all are. - We're obviously at the very beginning of the year with like lots of,
04:47 especially coming off of like strikes and stuff like that. What is everyone really excited to do?
04:53 - It's interesting. You have to strike, right? You have to say no before you can say yes. I mean,
04:58 that is sort of the path of any artist because you can't just give things away for free. And,
05:03 you know, boundary work is sort of the unromantic language of an artist, but we should romanticize
05:10 it, you know? And so it's taking a while, I think, for things to kind of come back and find our feet
05:15 again. But maybe, amen. I mean, maybe it's a good thing that it takes some time because we really
05:21 have to, you know, the film industry is changing. Everything is restructuring. And I think instead
05:26 of, you know, trying to go full steam ahead back 10 years, we should really embrace what 2024 is
05:34 and the next 10 years and try to sort of build new bridges. So that's what I'm excited for in this
05:40 year is some bridge work. - Are you going on set for Euphoria? Is that in 2024? You don't know?
05:46 - I don't know. I know we're going on tour. - How sweet, that'll be fun.
05:51 - Yeah. - What city are you most excited for?
05:54 - Probably Brisbane, Shetland. We're going to Australia, New Zealand, and things like that.
06:00 There'll be many more. I'll probably be touring until I'm unable to.
06:04 - Like broken or... - Like you just give out?
06:09 - You're severe or your body? - You know what?
06:13 Whatever one goes first, who knows? It's a hard one to tell.
06:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]
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