00:00This is Tim Wasper from Festtrek Concert TV.
00:28I'm here at the Regal Cinemas Union Square in New York City for Dances with Films New York.
00:33Telling the story over that period of time, one night with, they're not all strangers,
00:40but the two younger folks don't know each other very well.
00:44And then there's the two older gentlemen, including the store, the customer.
00:49So what I want to do is have them be put in close proximity to each other
00:53so that they were sort of forced to interact and get to know each other,
00:56which is one of the things that's a theme for me is connectivity in the film.
01:00I feel like all of us are doing this and it's hard to connect.
01:03I just met you and we don't know each other very well,
01:06but it's like when you have an opportunity to spend more than two seconds with somebody
01:10or 15 seconds with somebody, you get to know them.
01:12So trapping them physically inside the store was obviously a convention
01:16to get them to be able to have to face each other.
01:18So that was great.
01:21And then narratively, the different generations, the Gen X, Gen Z generations,
01:26three males, one female, just having that mix wasn't a super broad mix,
01:31but having that mix of people in there enabled them to create their own,
01:36well, we wrote it and then the actors filled their voices.
01:39And so the narrative just continued as they got to know each other
01:41and the different combinations of people.
01:43During the shooting or did you workshop?
01:45We workshopped it a little bit.
01:47First of all, I had worked with Ronnie Blevins and Sam Daly before.
01:52So we had a relationship.
01:54I had just met Johnny Sayers and Peyton Toubrae
01:56through different circumstances about five months before the movie
01:59and just wrote roles for both of them because I have written for them.
02:05So I had met them and asked them both if they wanted to be in it.
02:07And originally it was just this Generation X, two guys thing,
02:10and it wasn't working, I had written it for Ronnie and Sam specifically.
02:14And then when I met Peyton and Johnny Sayers, Peyton Toubrae and Johnny Sayers,
02:18I went and asked them both if they'd be in it.
02:20They both were yes.
02:22And they had, like Johnny had done a bunch of short films
02:24and he was doing acting classes with a really well-known acting instructor.
02:28And Peyton is a content creator and influencer.
02:32So she, and I actually did do some branded work with her over how I met her.
02:36And I had met Johnny through another person who worked on another film,
02:38a young guy I know who went to the Ringling College of Art and Design down in Sarasota.
02:41So in any case, I wrote it for them.
02:43And then we did workshop for a very brief period of time remotely.
02:48And then we got together a week before the film, did one table, one day of table read.
02:52And then they, the actors, did their own table read, like without me, which was great.
02:56Open them up.
02:59Now, Miles is totally straight edge.
03:02I mean, doesn't drink, doesn't smoke, none of that stuff.
03:04But he makes these mushroom microdoses.
03:07I mean, they are like handcrafted, high-quality artisanal gummies.
03:13Psilocybin, yeah, they're great.
03:15Wow, a straight edge drug dealer.
03:16Oh, no, he's not a drug dealer.
03:18He gives them away for free for people with anxiety.
03:20That's very kind of him.
03:22Sure is.
03:23Shoot, Gen Z might save this guy.
03:25Hmm.
03:26Try one.
03:26Okay.
03:27You said they're microdoses?
03:35Mm-hmm.
03:35More and more?
03:36Sure.
03:37Okay.
03:40Not bad, right?
03:41Yeah.
03:47We might as well do one more.
03:49Okay.
03:51I've only taken two before, but...
03:53What's the worst that could happen?
03:54What should we do now?
03:59Let's go look at some Clorox.
04:02Sounds good to me.
04:03Okay.
04:05We could see certain things in the younger generations,
04:09and they could see certain things in ours,
04:10but sometimes that does...
04:12Acceptance does not mean understanding.
04:14I'm fascinated with generational differences.
04:17My grandparents were born in the early 1900s
04:19and died in the 80s, early 90s, you know?
04:22My parents were born right after World War II.
04:25I was born...
04:25You're in the same year.
04:26Yeah.
04:27I'm Gen X.
04:28Born in the 70s.
04:29My wife is Gen X.
04:30We have four daughters.
04:31They're all Gen Z.
04:32They range from 15 to 23 years old.
04:34So I live with Generation Z a lot,
04:37and we make fun of the millennials and Generation Alpha.
04:41Both of them.
04:42Because they're behind my kids,
04:43and they're in between us.
04:45And that's not nice,
04:45because I have lots of friends that are millennials,
04:47and they even have actual boomer friends
04:50who are 60-ish and 65 and up.
04:52People I know.
04:53So I'm really fascinated with that.
04:55I have another script I'm actually writing now
04:56that's about generational,
04:57so even more generations.
05:00But so knowing Gen Z,
05:04you know,
05:04I can be talking, you know,
05:05some cultural language,
05:07things I won't repeat to sound like,
05:08I'll sound too cool here,
05:09but I'll try to sound cool.
05:10But I know their language from my daughters.
05:13My one daughter, Sydney,
05:14who just graduated from film school,
05:15is they were all going up on sets.
05:17She was a co-producer of a film
05:19because she worked with me on the creative
05:20to make sure that their voices
05:21for Johnny and Peyton were writing.
05:22So I didn't want it to be the 54-year-old guy
05:25writing the voices of a 25- and a 23-year-old.
05:33What are we going to do
05:34if the storm actually hits?
05:36We watch it.
05:39Let it come.
05:40Or not.
05:41You know?
05:43People think power is control,
05:45but the real power is really in surrender.
05:49Just got to, like, let go.
05:52Not out of weakness, but trust.
05:58Find a space and get quiet,
06:01and the universe will just start
06:03moving pieces around.
06:07And it's crazy, because, like,
06:09you'll get what you pray for,
06:10but not always when you think
06:12you're going to get it, so
06:13you just got to be the type of person
06:16who can hold it when it shows up.
06:19That's what I want to be.
06:24Not an influencer,
06:26a receiver.
06:31Is that even possible?
06:34It is.
06:35If you're patient.
06:36Because voice, it has to do with inflection.
06:41It has to do with certain word usage.
06:44And as a writer, you know,
06:46in my own right,
06:47nothing major,
06:48but I've read a few things,
06:50I've always struggled with the,
06:52there's you write what you know, right?
06:54But then I think about,
06:55like, I produced a film
06:56that was about a woman named Ann Gregory,
06:58a true life person
06:58who was a first African-American female golfer
07:01to play in a USGA-sanctioned tournament
07:03in the 1950s.
07:04So it was a really great film.
07:05It was a sports film first,
07:07and obviously there was a theme
07:08of race and gender,
07:09because she played against another woman,
07:11a white woman.
07:12And I did some,
07:13I didn't write the script,
07:14someone else did,
07:15but I did some writing on it.
07:16And I worked with the actresses,
07:17and it was odd
07:19writing the voice
07:20of an African-American woman
07:22who was of a different generation.
07:25And then I thought,
07:26well, you know,
07:27I mean, actor,
07:28you know,
07:28famous writers write actors' voices
07:30of all sorts of things,
07:31you know,
07:32or, you know,
07:32whether they're monsters
07:33or they're fictitious characters
07:35or they're real-life characters.
07:36And you look at some of the great writers,
07:38and it's like,
07:38well, they do that.
07:39So this was much more narrow.
07:41I just wanted to capture
07:42a cultural moment with Gen Z
07:44and do it right.
07:44So that's how I got there.
07:46I came in here to tell you
07:47that the bridge is closing
07:48in less than an hour.
07:49So you got to close down
07:50and get out of here,
07:51or you guys are going to be
07:52stranded on the island.
07:52It's going to pass us right by
07:53just like the other ones.
07:54Apparently, they think
07:55this one's moving in quick.
07:56How many people you got in here?
07:58It's just living miles.
08:00Oh, and some guy
08:01in the cereal aisle.
08:02Love sticks.
08:03Come on, man.
08:05Silly rabbit.
08:06Tricks are for kids.
08:08Unless, of course,
08:08your kids get stolen.
08:09Hey, that's dark.
08:11You're not planning
08:11on robbing us now, are you?
08:12Well, I wasn't.
08:14Until now.
08:15Calder asked me to check on you.
08:17I'm good.
08:17Are you mad at him?
08:19No.
08:20Calder's had my back.
08:21That counts for a lot.
08:23Let's meet our contestants!
08:28You said they're microdoses?
08:29Mm-hmm.
08:30I've only taken two before,
08:31but what's the worst
08:31that could happen?
08:32Oh, thank you.
08:34A lot of this film
08:35is also about perspective
08:36and perception.
08:37Yes, thank you.
08:38I mean, you know,
08:38with the Gen X,
08:40obviously, the two of them
08:41and how they want to be seen
08:42and how they are seen
08:43and how their lives have changed
08:45because of it,
08:46because of the bad times
08:47and the good times.
08:48And now these,
08:49and the Gen Zers
08:50are just starting
08:51to experience that.
08:52You make a really good point
08:53about the perspectives
08:54and the perception.
08:56Yeah.
08:56The perspectives
08:57is something that is,
08:59again,
08:59it's part of that
09:00generational thing,
09:00but it's also individual.
09:03You know,
09:03a family to me
09:05is actually,
09:06like your literal family,
09:07your parents
09:08or your siblings
09:08or your children,
09:10they're just a group
09:10of individuals.
09:11Yeah.
09:12And I always have said
09:12to my wife,
09:13we are individually
09:14more related to our daughters
09:15than we are to each other.
09:17We're blood with our kids.
09:18Blood, yeah.
09:18So individuals
09:19and their relationships
09:20is really fascinating to me
09:21and how they change
09:22and how you kind of,
09:23right now,
09:24you know,
09:24maybe I'll meet someone,
09:26maybe I'll meet you,
09:26maybe we know each other
09:27for a long time,
09:28maybe we never see each other again,
09:29you know,
09:29and I'm really fascinated with that.
09:31So again,
09:32four strangers in one place,
09:33see what happens.
09:34And then, of course,
09:35there's the sort of
09:35the other, you know,
09:36plots that drove it.
09:39Y'all headed
09:40to the retirement home?
09:44It's mass consumerism
09:46as the opening
09:47form of distraction.
09:49Where are you going?
09:50Where do you think
09:51you're going?
09:52Oh my God.
09:53Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.
09:54Put that down.
09:55Seriously,
09:55what are the chances
09:56that one of those things
09:57goes wrong?
09:57They haven't yet.
10:00We didn't start the fire,
10:01but we sure came out
10:02at the other side
10:03as something else entirely.
10:04Fluent in chaos.
10:06Do you speak?
10:07Uh, as little as possible.
10:10We've been drinking.
10:11That's evident.
10:15Whoa.
10:16That's funny,
10:17Bear's work.
10:18You talk about
10:19finding sort of
10:20that rhythm.
10:22Yeah.
10:22Because the rhythm
10:23of the piece,
10:24you know,
10:25and there's throwbacks
10:26to all kinds of things.
10:27It's just a matter of
10:28where you wanted
10:29the tone to lie.
10:30I wanted the tone
10:31to be entertained.
10:31That's not the right way
10:32to say it.
10:33I wanted people
10:33to be entertained.
10:34Yeah.
10:35And so the tone
10:35came from that.
10:36I also wanted to acknowledge
10:37that every day we have,
10:39every hour,
10:40we have ups and downs.
10:41There's a lot of talk
10:42about anxiety in the film.
10:44Something mental health
10:44that's important to me.
10:46It's something that
10:47when I grew up,
10:48no one talked about it.
10:48And then I had anxiety
10:50when I was in my 20s.
10:51Now everyone talks about it
10:52and you know.
10:53So,
10:53but I also wanted to be like,
10:55you know,
10:56even people with anxiety
10:57can laugh.
10:58And even people
10:59who are always happy
11:00can be sad.
11:01So there's that tone
11:02of the cadence,
11:04like you said,
11:05of people's perceptions
11:07and how they interact
11:08changing.
11:09So it actually,
11:11the tone,
11:12I struggled with how much
11:13I was trying to do
11:14in 86 minutes.
11:15And there are places
11:16that are,
11:16it turns too quick
11:17and too quick
11:18and I'm like,
11:18okay,
11:19but that's the point.
11:21And I think people
11:22will understand that
11:23and they'll at least
11:24be able to reflect.
11:24And what I've been getting today
11:26is,
11:27you know,
11:27one of the tones is,
11:29one of the most important themes
11:30of the cereal aisle effect
11:31is contentment.
11:33I said last night,
11:34like if you go to a grocery store,
11:36there's the chip aisle
11:37and there's the soda aisle
11:38and there's the,
11:39and it's,
11:39if you go to a big store,
11:40it's 150 feet long.
11:42And when we grew up,
11:42there was one kind of Cheerios,
11:44one Dorito,
11:45one Coca-Cola,
11:46literally.
11:47And now there's like
11:4720 or 30 of each.
11:56We'll see you next time.
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