Excuse the Intermission
Alex, Erica and Max take you on a journey through film with this discussion podcast about movies.
Excuse the Intermission
A Journey Through Crowdfunding with Filmmaker Ducky Dutkiewiczz
The magic of filmmaking often lies in that sweet spot between meticulous planning and creative spontaneity. Andrew "Ducky" Dutkiewiczz embodies this balance as he joins us to discuss his upcoming short film "Call This Land Mother" – a story about an Irish immigrant recalling his first summer in America and the mysterious girl who can speak to his dead mother.
Ducky pulls back the curtain on his crowdfunding journey through Seed&Spark, revealing both the struggles and unexpected joys of this process. "Crowdfunding alone is a career," he explains, describing the constant anxiety of outreach while still needing to function as director and maintain a day job. Yet despite these challenges, he's found a beautiful camaraderie with other filmmakers in similar positions, all "trying so hard to scrape together pennies" for their art.
What makes this conversation particularly fascinating is Ducky's exploration of how personal meaning emerged from what began as a simple creative impulse. The film, which blends realistic storytelling with magical elements, eventually connected to his experience as the child of an immigrant. "My mom's an immigrant... I started talking to her and understanding that feeling," he shares, revealing how artists often discover themselves within their work through the creative process.
Film buffs will delight in Ducky's breakdown of his top five cinematic influences for this project, ranging from Japanese animation masterpieces to indie darlings like "Submarine" and "Aftersun." These selections offer a window into his artistic vision – one that values the delicate balance between reality and magic, the power of memory, and the significance of place.
Ready to support independent filmmaking and be part of bringing this unique vision to life? Visit seedandspark.com/fund/call-this-land-mother or find Andrew on Instagram @AndrewDuckowitz. Every contribution makes a difference, and starting soon, donations will be matched until the project reaches its green light goal!
Welcome. To Excuse the Intermission, I'm Max Fosberg and I'm Alex McCauley. Today, we're joined by filmmaker Andrew Ducky Dukowitz to talk about his new short film Call this Landmother and the crowdfunding campaign that's bringing it to life. Ducky also brought us one of our favorite things a list His top five cinematic influences that shaped and inspired this project, giving us a glimpse into the creative dna behind his latest work. All of that up next, after this short break. This episode is presented in partnership with the Gig Harbor Film Festival. The Gig Harbor Film Festival will take place September 25th through the 28th in beautiful Gig Harbor.
Speaker 2:Washington, hosted at the Galaxy Uptown Theater, this year's festival will feature 90 wildly rich films from across an array of genres. The lineup includes filmmakers from 11 different countries, ranging from the United States and Canada to the Philippines and Vietnam.
Speaker 1:The opening night centerpiece is September 25th at 6 30 pm. The film is Bob Mackie Naked Illusion. We are excited to host Bob Mackie and producer Joe McFate for a Q&A session following the screening. There are 11 blocks total, including animation, washington-made short films and scintillating feature films. Our own Jeremy Kent Jackson, gig Harbor resident actor and Gig Harbor Film Festival board member, will be featured in Gunslingers, which is screening Saturday night, also starring Nicolas Cage, stephen Dorff and Heather Graham.
Speaker 2:This year's attendees will enjoy exclusive premiere screenings, q&a sessions following the film blocks and, for VIP pass holders, an all-immersive, all-access experience, including parties and events throughout the four days. Digital programs are available now via the film festival's website and for more information on scheduling, vip passes and general admission tickets, please head over to wwwgigharborfilmorg, and you can also follow the festival on Instagram at Gigharborfilm.
Speaker 1:Hey guys, welcome in Alex. How are?
Speaker 2:you, I'm doing well. I'm battling through some early alarms. All these professional learning days are starting to pop back up. The days of summer are limited, they're fleeting. Yeah, we were in a training last week and they were like now we know summer's not quite over and I looked around to a couple of people at the table and we were all like it's over, not quite over. And I looked around to a couple of people at the table and we were all like it's over. So yeah, we're just, we're squeezing every little bit of summer that we can out of these last few days, going straight to pickleball after this recording, as should be surprised to anyone who's been listening this summer. So, yeah, we're, we're doing, we're doing well. How are you?
Speaker 1:I'm doing all right, I'm. You know I had a little bit, so I got off a project last gosh I guess that was last Sunday. We had Tunia the short film. I was second AD in on or not short film, feature film. I was second AD in on wrapped and we had our wrap party on Monday and then, yeah, the rest of the week. It's really interesting. I experienced a little bit of like post-mortem, like onset depression.
Speaker 1:You know, it's such an intense thing that you do with this group of people for you know, 15, 20 days, and then when it ends, it's just like everyone just kind of disappears.
Speaker 2:It's gone. You don't like? Wean off of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's so interesting, it's so weird. But you know, I also had some time to relax. But yeah, I'm itching to get back on a set or some sort of job. But what did I do this weekend? I went and saw Sunset Boulevard for the first time, first time ever, first watch, and then really, really old theater downtown here in LA. It was built in like 1918 on 35 millimeter film Fantastic. Are you kidding me? Hey, guess what? That's one of the best movies of all time. I had no idea.
Speaker 2:And one way to experience it. I feel like that's how you should be watching it, not on your TV at home.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think I had posted something and my aunt, who's a big, like old movie buff, she like reached out and was like I can't believe you haven't seen sunset Boulevard, like it's like required watching. And I was like, yeah, you know, I I guess I've been saving it for this exact moment because if I would have watched it at home, I just don't think it has the same, the same gravitas.
Speaker 2:I don't know I mean, we talk about this all the time and and I'm excited we can talk to our guests about this too maybe later, but I think it's important as a cinephile, a movie buff, whatever you want to like, you know, self-proclaim yourself to save movies like we. We've done this for a long time now. Right, like I was always told you have to watch the shawshank, you have to watch the shawshank, and so I sat on it for like 10 years because I just wanted to wait until the moment was right. And now, does that maybe potentially affect your viewing in an adverse way? It could, because it builds up a lot of hype. But when something comes to you organically, like that, you know there's no, there's no rush. Like you could wait until you're 60 to watch a movie that's been on your watch list for for decades and maybe that's the right time, right. So I I think that that's. That's a wonderful story, great, great.
Speaker 1:That was a fantastic, fantastic experience and, speaking of which we have here in the podcast with us, andrew Ducky, ducky Witts. Hi Ducky, how are, how, are you welcome? Welcome to the show. Thank you for being here I'm so delighted I'm so delighted.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I, I was gonna say what you guys are saying is like I always feel just to hop right in. Yeah, like I always feel like there's some things that are just classics for a reason you know, or like like there's a reason they're gonna be, like they're on your watch, like I know I'm gonna this, or it's that feeling where you don't go through somebody's filmography super fast. That's like I want to save this. You know what I mean? It's like it's still new to me. I think the same thing is like when it's in a theater.
Speaker 3:I remember like I think heat was a movie that I was like for it to be in a theater, you know, or waiting for it to that right time, I think, like when I was living in la I saw scenes from a marriage at brain debt, like the entire six hour, like television version from bergman, you know, and it's one of those things where it's like like if I had just thrown that on over like a weekend and like made my way through it and, you know, paused it and whatever it different experience than you know, just waiting for that right, right moment to go see it. So I mean it's great. I mean that's right, like keeping cinemas alive for new stuff is great, but also like those repertories and those old films are so so important.
Speaker 1:Brain dead also sneaky like really cool theater down here. Yeah, a lot of people and the arrow and all that stuff. But yeah, brain dead's a great spot. Yeah, yeah, they've been great programming.
Speaker 3:They've great. And vidiots, they have great programming new bef, of course, but vidiots and brain dead have just like such such sneaky programming that it's just like always. It's like you're playing what. I remember I would go to brain dead and I would see they'd play like the old trailers in the movies that were coming and I'd be be like what the hell is this? And it's like Sorcerer or Welcome to the Dollhouse. And then you stumble around the movie. You're like I don't know, you just go pick it up and it's amazing. So it's a great way to like continue that dive into movies that you've never heard of or wouldn't see any other way. I think it's like the Swimmer there or something like that. I would have never probably watched regardless.
Speaker 1:Right on, right on. Well, Ducky, you are here today because you are in the middle of a campaign for a new short film called Call this Land Mother. That is it. Yeah, yeah, tell us a little bit about the campaign and then we can kind of dive into the film.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so we're funding right now through Seed&Spark Pretty cool program. It's been an interesting time. I have like such mixed feelings so far about crowdfunding. It's my first time doing it. It's funny I have done it for about it's almost it's not halfway done and I've had people reach out to me that are doing it or have done it that are like man, this sucks you, this sucks you know, and it's like it's such like you find like this like camaraderie among people that are like trying so hard to scrape together pennies, you know, for their films. But there's something like beautiful about that and it's so cool to like hear from people you haven't heard from in so long but like still support you or, you know, reach out to you or just building your network. So we're just in the middle of that.
Speaker 3:About two weeks in we are going to raise I I sort of budgeted out a low budget, mid budget, high budget. So the mid is sort of like the goal on the site, but there's an 80% goal that you have to hit to get the money and that's your green light goal and that was sort of our low budget. So our low is 12,000. Our mid is 15. And then our high is about 18. And right now we are about five to 5,200. So it started really high and then it sort of plateaued in the middle, but that's supposedly the equation that happens to everybody.
Speaker 3:So I'm trying to not let that set in my brain, but it should be a good. Last couple of weeks. We're talking to some local organizations to sponsor and then we have a donor that, starting Wednesday, is going to match every donation up until the green light. Wednesday is going to match every donation up until the green light. Somebody in Seattle that was really kind and really liked the idea is going to match until green light. So that's really great. So hopefully that'll help us. Yeah, it should. That way it turns the last 6,000 into 3,000, which makes it a little easier for people to come on in and help out. So that's where we're at.
Speaker 1:You've been releasing like amazing, uh, campaign videos which would be like, as a filmmaker myself, I would hate making those. I don't know how you feel about them, but the fact that you're like out in these fields or you were liking kind of like a smoky bar in one of them been doing like lens tests and whatnot, which is really really smart because it kind of shows the, the viewer, like hey, this is what the movie's gonna kind of look like. Was that something you, you kind of planned out?
Speaker 3:yeah, for sure. I mean it was. It was when we got to the video part. They say, like you want to show them that the why and if you can't, like obviously there's always like the why is and like you can pick a topic that maybe relates to your film. But I kind of was like I want to show the whys and can we make this movie, and can we prove to somebody that we can make this movie? And then we also need to do lens tests.
Speaker 3:We're shooting on Atlas Scope, which is vertical anamorphic. So we're turning an Alexa SXT on its side and it kind of hovers over four feet on this bracket. Four feet four feet on this bracket, four feet four inches on this bracket. It's like four inches of space that it's just dangling over. And then you put the lens on, you have to mount a certain way and it squeezes the image and then you have to unsqueeze it and there's like this weird thing I don't know, it was a whole thing in my dp that I we talked about for like years.
Speaker 3:We wanted to do this. We had this short idea, this black and white kind of like religious short that we want to shoot it on, and then we that, you know, died out or whatever happens all the time. But this one, when I sent him the script, he kind of was like this is the perfect time to do it, but we needed to test it. So it was a way to to as well say you know, can we do this? Is the math gonna work? It's been done a few times. I mean, a lot of people shoot vertical, so you get the max resolution for, say, a vertical video. You know a?
Speaker 2:reel or whatever.
Speaker 3:But the way that this works is it sort of it usually creates a skip, a square image. But we wanted a one six six ratio. So he did the math and we figured out how to get the one six six ratio and it took some time. It was like a lot of worry, a lot of fear of like if it would work or not, but it was. It was a great way, was a great way, I will say. I recommend it to anybody that wants to test it out. It's a good thing to do because we learn not just on set stuff, like you know weight and you know like handheld is like as of right now is kind of really difficult to do. We have to figure that out but on top of that, like the color space, how we color it, how we edit it, how it works you know, in premiere da vinci.
Speaker 3:And then on top of that, it was really cool to do the video similarly to the film, because it sort of had me thinking a lot about. We did everything tripod in this video and I was like, oh, this whole movie is going to be sticks, whole thing's going to be still. And I did the video and I was like, oh no, it doesn't really work, like it's too, like it's too stiff, so like we're going to do a lot of handheld and like dolly movements. So if I didn't do the video the way that I did it, I probably would have made the film and then I would have said, shit, we should have done more camera movement, and then, you know, I would have regretted that. So so, yeah, it was a good process, it was fun. But yeah, making them is an interesting time for sure, because right now we're shooting in late September. So it's like crowdfunding alone is a career.
Speaker 1:It's a whole other movie.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a whole job. It's like it's absolutely insane how much work goes into crowdfunding. I don't envy anybody that does it for a feature. That's like looking to raise a ton of money. It is like you are. It's constant anxiety. You're constantly reaching out to people that you know, that you don't know.
Speaker 3:You're looking all over, you're making these videos which like doesn't sound like a lot, but it's like you know, two, three hours is you still have to produce a film, you know. So that's a lot of time. And then I'm still a director, like after all that, like after crowdfunding guy and producer guy, I still like have to cast people and analyze the script and storyboard. You know, do my thing that I really want to do. So that falls to the lower bracket, sadly. And then, on top of that, it's like you know, I'm an independent filmmaker, so I have a day job as well, but I'm also that's eating up time. So when you spend three hours making a reel or doing something, it's like you have to really. It's like be economic with your time and, you know, with the whole thing yeah, you just kind of give up on sleep, you're just yeah, working yeah yeah, exactly.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's been a. It's been a month for sure. So it's like the second. I like don't crowdfund. I am on a producer meeting or I'm emailing. I've got two great producers max, there's a, alex, I believe, probably knows them too. Quentin, uh, laboe and tommy and maizel are both producing with me, so they're great. But it's still one of those things where it's like you know where we're, you know, you know it's just it's producing a film. You know my girlfriend's been helping a ton. She's like doing location scouting and art direction and been great and she's hopped on and has been super supportive and on board. But it's still like you know one second from this project my list is just long, but you know it's the adventure. It's one of those things like, oh, we'll sleep after, you know right, totally so.
Speaker 2:So, after painting this, this picture of this gauntlet that you're going through, talk to us about why this story deserves that and and kind of what got you up to this point. So it could be inception of the idea for the script and anything really that that you would draw on as far as inspiration, or or, I guess, just like that catalyst that made you say, like this is the project that I'm going to to pour all this blood, sweat and tears into.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's funny Cause I don't think I thought about it, but I knew it in the sense of like that doesn't make any sense what I just said. I'll try to make sense of that. I spent like the last like a year and a half going through like I think I've written like 10 shorts last two years and I would start production on a short. I would start pre-production, we'd start breaking down the script whatever it is, and then I'd be like I don't want to do this one, like it's not the right time or the money isn't there or it's too like out there or whatever it was. I just didn't feel especially.
Speaker 3:I moved up here to washington two and a half years ago, so my resources were all different too. I don't know, I don't know anybody, I don't know the locations, I don't know. I love washington but like I'm from connecticut, the forests are different, the land is different. I don't know how to like frame the forest here. It's so cluttered to me and dense and it's so it was really hard for me to come up with an idea to shoot here. Like everything I was writing was like script for Connecticut and it was like that's impossible, like I'm gonna fly over there like how do you even pre-produce?
Speaker 3:You know, I did a music video in Austin, texas and pre-production was a monster, you know, trying to understand things. And then you get to the location three days before and you're like great, I storyboarded for a different place and like the images were different and you know, the size is different, whatever it is. So I was struggling to find a script but I like really wanted to make. And then I got to a point where I just couldn't like bear. I was like I don't know, I'm giving up. I was like I'm just going to write features and I'm going to like if a short comes, a short comes. And that's exactly when a short came. It's like that moment in kiki's delivery service. You know, like lay down in the forest and just like let it all go and I knew that had to happen.
Speaker 3:But you know, regardless of knowing it has to happen, you have to just, you know, get to that point and the idea just like started coming. And I met the guy who plays one of the roles I met is a friend's dad. My last short film, everything happens. We I casted my mom in it and my dad's in it, my sister's in it and I like, working for some actors or fighting people that I'm like, oh, you just have this thing about you. And he's from Ireland, he's an Irish immigrant and he had this great accent which is such a sweet, generous man and I thought, man, I'd love to cast him one day. And that was about a year and a half, two years ago.
Speaker 3:And then this idea came. I saw like these images and this sort of thought and feeling for the area I was living in and I am, I don't know. It was like these like weird webs all came together and I wrote the outline or the script and I think that's why I feel so at first, passionate about making this film is that it was like oh, this is the one you know. It just felt like, after everything happens, which is very dramatic, it's very realistic, I was like I want to do more magic, not like tim burton magic or like fantasy, but more like I really want to play with reality I want to play with mystery and the things in the corner of your eye and omens and like these little tiny things in the world, and that's what I really want to do.
Speaker 3:With films, I want to mix as much grounded reality as I can with with magic, and I was trying to find that right script and this one sort of felt like the next step, like the right step. It's like realistic and it has these little magical notes and it works. And I was like I have this guy that feels perfect for it and it was the first idea here that I was like I can shoot this and this feels accomplishable and this feels like something that I want to make, like I really want to make. And then you know this great part about art for other people, for an audience, you make something and the best art is the art that gets it's specific but anybody can understand it or empathize with it like a good song, it's like it's very specific lyrically, but you can, you know, find yourself in that. And when I was writing the, the same thing happens when you're writing something, when you're creating something. You make something because you want to or you love to, or it just has to come out, you know like it, just it has to exist. And then that post moment, you start to analyze it, you start rewriting it, you start finding things, and then you start to find yourself and you start diving into it and that's like the beauty of it and when that happens, and maybe that's like fugazi and maybe that's just like you have to, you have to analyze it, you have to find something to make it for and maybe it is just a thing where you find yourself in it and because you have the power to change it, you get to rewrite and redraft to make it for yourself.
Speaker 3:But my mom's an immigrant and I you know, draft two, draft three made that connection. I started talking to her and I started just understanding like that sort of feeling. And then, of course, there's everything going on in the media right now and politics and the world, but it felt like, oh, I'm gonna make it for my mom. You know, and I'm not irish myself, it's about an irish immigrant, but I have this actor who is an irish immigrant. My mom was an immigrant and just trying to understand, like what it means to take tradition, to take your old life, to move somewhere and to bring them into a new place was really interesting to me, what it means. I mean, I've moved. I'm from Connecticut, I've moved there to New York City, to LA, to New Mexico, to Washington State. I've seen a lot of people, I've met a lot of people and it's like how do you consist, how do you consistently bring yourself through those lines, through that time? I think that's what I sort of like latched on to once it was settled and maybe that's like the subconscious of the project coming through.
Speaker 3:But the initial thing was I was excited to finally make something and then it sort of turned into this like oh, this actually could mean something to me. Past past, just wanting to. But I feel like it always has to start with the want. You know, like if you sit down, you're like I want to write. I don't know if you guys ever done this. Like, if you sit down, you're like I want to write a film or a story about, I don't know, like grief or horror or like what, like a genre thing or whatever it is. I find that you know, you, you get into a position of like I don't know you get it all.
Speaker 1:It all comes back to you, right, it all comes back to you, right, like it all comes back to your experience and like what and again, I think it is subconsciously when you're writing, especially that first draft, you know things are just coming out of you because you think it's just natural and and like you're just going off the cuff. But really I mean it's, it's all your experience in your, your life and or people in your life who have had experiences like it yeah, yeah, it's an interesting thing how that works, you know, and it's interesting.
Speaker 3:I always like I don't know. It's probably like I don't know what I'm trying to say here, but there's just something really cool to me about when you get an idea that gets you really excited and then you start to see yourself in it, you start to like become it and you start to change it. I think that's just. Yeah, I think it's just so cool, it's so much fun and it, like you know, you get to make it personally about you and I think that that's just. You know, that's what makes it what it is. So I don't know, it's all it's, you know, whatever it's bs, but it's also great well no, I think I mean there's.
Speaker 2:There's part of it too, where it's also great. Well no, I think I mean there's part of it too, where it's like, how you mentioned earlier, listening to a song where you're like I don't know why this resonates with me, but I think it does. And then you have to get to that place where, even if maybe the lyrics or the thematic messaging of it it first didn't really hit you, it can grow on you and you can take that and turn it into something that has meaning for yourself. And so it's almost like the reverse of imposter syndrome or something like that, where where, all of a sudden, this, this idea that I had, that I knew was, you know, in me somewhere, has now taken life once I've put it to the page or once I've started to go out and storyboard and see locations or whatever it may be. So that's really cool that it's come together that way for you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's really.
Speaker 3:I think it's one of those things where it's like and it sucks, it's like sounds like it's I don't want to say like it's BS, like reduce it, but it sounds like it when it comes out of my mouth.
Speaker 3:But I feel like you need like that project that gets you there. You know, know, like gets you excited, because if it's not, then it's like how do you get people behind like, how do I like like this crew is incredible, you know, like tommy and clinton and my dp devlin like, but it's like all these guys are people that are like donating their time to this film. You know what I mean. Like these aren't like guys that are like I'm like giving them like day rates and like all this stuff. Like they're like they. You know you have to care for it, you have to believe in it, you have to like be very passionate about it, and I think that, like, how dare you like ask somebody to like join your coalition if you're just like oh well, it's a little horror flick and I'm just gonna, you know, throw it together?
Speaker 3:and you know it's like this four minute thing like like, how dare you like ask somebody to like go out of their way, to like give you their time and their energy and their money and whatever that is that like you know that does that for them. So it's it's you know. And then and then also yourself, it's like. It's like this thing, right. It's like I'm like waking up crowdfunding and producing and directing all this stuff.
Speaker 1:It's like I don't even know how I could do it if I didn't have you know that connection So's so true, and that feeling never really goes away, even through like production, Right, Like I you know the, the films I've made, like especially if it's like the last day, and it if it's something I've written, I've produced and I am now directing, and like I have all this crew around me and and all these people have come together to make this thing that came out of my head. It's, yeah, it's, it's very just like you have to, you have to love it and it has to come from a true place, Otherwise, you know cause, cause you're always asking, like why are these people? Why are they here?
Speaker 3:Well, yeah, this is the imposter syndrome again. Right, you like look around and you're like man, this is, you know, it's crazy, you know, but yeah.
Speaker 1:How long is your writing process how? How long did it take to get from you know the? The first maybe like outline or initial idea written down to the shooting script they're all different, you know it's.
Speaker 3:I mean, sometimes you get like I don't know if you've ever had this, but you know you get a script that you like, an idea that you love, and you just like fly through it and that's awesome, and then sometimes it takes some more time, and usually it takes more time. It's usually the idea that you don't want to, you know, and like you'll come to a conclusion. I don't want to make this, but usually it's a. It's a few months. I would say like maybe the first week is like the first draft, you know, or the first couple of days, especially a short, you know, if it's 10 to 20 pages. But I'm also an overwriter Like I. I I definitely overwrite, so I, that's always good.
Speaker 1:Especially on the first draft. It's so smart.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, I think I mean it's, it's good, but sometimes it feels like I'm overwriting like crazy. It's like you know it takes, you know, it's like I'm like jesus christ, it's actual on, like page 90, I'm like how like like introduce the main character.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's a scare, yeah, I don't know. I don't know what it is about it, but I, I love overwriting, but I uh. So the first draft can take a week or two it takes any longer than I probably start to peter out on it. And then I redraft a lot. I rewrite like crazy, I really do, and I'm hypercritical, but maybe maybe two.
Speaker 3:Sometimes, you know, like I think I just rewrote a draft of this film, like we're shooting in a month and I, like last week I was like I'm changing some stuff and I'm, you know, trying to always think of, I don't know, a better thing or a better scene. Or you know, there's always like that one scene that doesn't really work for you, or something's thin, like the first act was a little thin and I was like last week I was like we need to fix this or, you know, figure out more something else, to like build it up. But I don't know it's a process, because it's like shorts. At this point I don't even have an outline anymore. It it's more like a paragraph, and then I just sort of go for it and then rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, do it over and over and over again until it's done.
Speaker 3:But features at this point have been like it's like an outline for act one and then I write act one and then, like you know, I rewrite act one and then I go back to the outline and there's a bunch of notes and I sort of like try to coagulate those notes into meaning and then, you know, it's like a bad, it's like a ping pong match, but I feel like I used to have a better answer for this, but I don't. Right now. I'm like strong. I feel like I used to have like oh, this is how I do it. Now. I'm like it's been so long since I think I've actually written, just because I've been working on the film, that it's like hard to think about how it comes, other than just like a blur of time where you don't have a script and then you have a script.
Speaker 2:You know like yeah, yeah, I don't know I wish you're so lost in the flow state you just find it and you're blacking out and then, boom, there it is.
Speaker 3:Yeah you have to, or I mean I, I do. I will say I do try to write when I'm not like busy. I try to write like three to five pages a day. I try like every day. I mean like it's like it's which is hard, Like that's like I always, like I feel like there's such like a mystique behind, like you'll hear like a director be like oh, I watch a movie every morning at 6am and then I write 10 pages and then I like you know, and then it's noon and then I pick up my game.
Speaker 3:It's like ridiculous, yeah, have a life, obviously, and it's important. I think it's important too to like, you don't you know, like finding that balance of living and then also writing and working or you burn out. But I try to do like three to five pages a day, especially like having some features written and ready. It's like I've been really trying to like when I have those days off or like whatever, like three to five pages, just because it's like the littlest increment, because I've written shorts for so long that it's like, oh well, I take three days and I write a short and it's done, and then a feature. It's like fuck man.
Speaker 3:It's like you know, three days you have half a scene and you're like awesome, fantastic, and you know you have all these things in your head floating around and jumbled and I have fomo. It's like I don't want to miss a scene, I don't want to miss a character, I don't want to miss a moment. So I'm bouncing around, but if I can do the three to five pages a day in my head, that's like 25 pages a week, five days a week, you know, a hundred pages a month, 200 pages in two months. It's a feature film. But you know, I want to say it's that easy, but it's. You know it's not, but that's the idea, that's the goal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, working on a feature, writing a feature right now. But like I I'm a streaky writer, like I will write, you know, maybe two day, in two days I'll write maybe like 10 to 15 pages, then I won't look at it again for like two weeks yeah, so I'm just, I am so slow, I've worked.
Speaker 3:Have you tried routines? Have you? Like tried it. Have you tried like routine I?
Speaker 1:I haven't. No, and part of that is because you know if, if I'm going to set, to work on on someone else's film, or trying to find a job, or, like you know, I'm constantly doing way too many things at once. But yeah, no, I, I would love to get to a point where, like, okay, you know, at from this time to that time every morning, I'm going to sit down and try and write.
Speaker 2:Cover all the furniture in your room with white sheets and pour yourself a highball whiskey glass and just white.
Speaker 3:It's hard, man, it's so difficult, you know. And then it's like you know, things change. Things change, you know, you like have friends in life and like the work thing, when I was in la, that was when I left la because I was like I was on set so much I was like I'm not, I'm not writing, you know, which is I love being on set, but it was like you know, but it's hard even now, you know. Like you know, I just moved a couple, a month and a half ago. You know, job and all this stuff and you know, trying to find that time can be really difficult. And again, like, I think it's like it's so easy when, like a professional filmmaker, you know somebody's making features for a living sits there and is like, oh, like they like build this mystique around. You know how, how simple it is. Like you know, no, I love stephen king's great, but stephen king will be like, oh, every day, right, five pages, it's like yeah, cool man.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're stephen king, yeah yeah I'm in my mid-20s.
Speaker 3:I work at you know a restaurant and I'm trying to, you know, make a, make a short film, so it's. You know, it's one of those things where it's like it's so interesting always to talk about people how they write and like how they do.
Speaker 3:It's always fun to try new things, but I think it's also important to remember that it's like you know, it's hard for everybody, you know it's a difficult thing that I find, like everybody I talk to is like, yeah, it's hard to hard to find the time, hard to find the, the pace or, you know, or the idea that gets you back to the table, to like right, yeah right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, sometimes it's like and I think with a feature right is like you might have like four scenes that you're like I fucking love these scenes and you get to those scenes and you write them and you love like the certain character. Usually it's always, you know, your set your secondary characters, who you love, and your first character is like whatever. And then you, you write, you know those four scenes, and then in between you're like struggling till I get there.
Speaker 1:You're like oh my god, you pop around the script like that I don't know.
Speaker 3:Sometimes it's it's, sometimes I do because it's like, or sometimes what I'll do if I'm really struggling is I just write like in brackets on the screenplay. I'll write like something happens here or like something needs to happen here. That's like I'm like come back to this, like you know, because it's like especially a first draft is it's like I I heard this thing recently from dan harman. It's like prove to yourself that you're a bad writer if you're struggling to write.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think that's so helpful because it really taught me to like all right, like if you're struggling to write, like it's okay that you suck, like like a little progress better than no progress, and it's okay if you're bad. It's okay if a scene's not working, it's okay if a character doesn't work right now especially that first draft when really what you're doing is just like building a block of marble to then carve away later. You, that's all you're doing. You're just gathering the resources. Anyways, for a while I was writing novels first. For that reason, I would write in a novel format, because it was like I can be as omnipresent as I want.
Speaker 3:I can go into the characters' minds. The issue with that is it takes so long. Even a short film becomes like a 20-page short story when you have the time and you have like the, the space and the budget to like go into people's heads and go here and do that, and then you have to adapt that, which is cool, it's explorative, but you know, but it's not a bad way to do it either.
Speaker 1:You know always things, yeah well, okay, let's shift from from writing. So you're doing that in the pre-production. You've got the script, now you're storyboarding. So do you always storyboard all of your films?
Speaker 3:Yeah, I did one short writing storyboard and day two we can't. Day one I canceled the shoot. It was for other reasons too, but I was doing this film. I was like 19, super zealous, super egotistical. I was shooting a short new york and it was like I poured all my money into this. I was like sick. I like lost like 30 pounds. It was ridiculous. And day one we were on set. I didn't storyboard for some reason. I was like, oh, we're gonna try. I think I heard barry jenkins in a storyboard and I was like, oh cool, I won't storyboard. And then I I showed up to like set and we're, like you know, in my apartment, not showed up. I woke up and I walked in the other room and and I I don't know what it was at day one finish and I was like we were like four scenes behind or some shit. Like it was bad. It was like it was really rough did you at least have a shot list.
Speaker 3:Yeah, we had a shot list but, like you know, things are falling apart. We lost power at one point because, like New york had a power outage I'm not joking like brooklyn had a power outage like a night, and it was just one of those things where I was like the set design was bad, makeup wasn't all there, and I was just like this sucks. I looked around and I was like this isn't it, man? Like this is this, isn't this, isn't what. Like this isn't why we're here. You know, right, there was something about it. I was like I don't know, it was just too much, so I canceled the whole film.
Speaker 3:But I remember one of the reasons why is I learned that shoot I need a storyboard? Because it was like to me storyboarding is like man, it's like everything, because, like it's not just getting the shot, but like if you can storyboard and you can understand, like what you need for art design, what you need for wardrobe, like all these things that are going to make the image of your film location. And then, like there's been times, like this music that I just did, where it's like you know you're, we did like 35 shots a day. It was two days, like we're cruising. But if it wasn't for, like that, pre-production and being that prepared, being able to like you turn, being able to turn my binder and show somebody an image Like this is what it is. We talked about this two weeks ago on Discord. Then they just go and you know what I mean. It's like we know we need this here and this here and this here. This is what it looks like and it saves so much time.
Speaker 3:And then also, it just gets me thinking about the production design. You know, nothing's worse than when you're on set and you're like, oh, I wish there was something in the bottom right corner. I wish this was different. It's just another way to draft your story, which is the best thing that you can do as a director. It's like redraft every way possible. If I can look at that film from every fucking angle up until editing it, it's like you know that's the best thing for you. It's like every single angle needs to be perceived. And if I don't do that, you know, then it's like thanks, it's anxiety, you know. And then it's like there's the tales all the time. Once you do that, you have those things. Then if something goes wrong or you don't have something, then you can figure it out, because the other eight dominoes aren't going to fall down because you already, you know, plastered them up.
Speaker 1:So Ducky, I the the, the two features I've worked on here again very indie, very small, no shot list, no storyboard, like just raw dogging the production. Uh, it is and it is. I I don't know how I can't work that way. I have to have some sort of map, right, yeah, whether it's a shot list or or storyboard, which I've done both on on a lot of my films. But like, yeah, I I just can't even imagine trying to make a film without, without those tools. That's so crazy. I'm so happy to hear that yeah, it's.
Speaker 3:It's crazy too, because to me, because it goes back to like that and no offense, like that production or anything, but don't do that. But it's one. I think, and this is I like the 48 hour film festival. I think this also is nurtured in that, where it's like it's okay and I'm not filmmakers that don't storyboard or don't shot less, and they say like, oh well, I like doing like the running gun thing and I'm like I get that works in, like these other scenarios.
Speaker 3:But it's like going back to the idea of like you're asking people to like come out of their way to help you and make this thing Like the best thing that I can do is make sure that, like any incident can be prohibited.
Speaker 3:You know that's my job as a director. It's not just like, yes, working with the actors, yes, like giving it tone, whatever, but it's like my job is also as a director, slash producer is to like make sure that any obstacle or any speed bump can be avoided. And for myself as well, like I want to make a good fucking movie movie. You know, like this, this fucking I, I I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't care, you know. So it's like if I can plan out every little thing so that when we get to set, it's not like we're following everybody's, everybody's excuse, like, well, I don't want to follow a book, I don't want to, like, I don't want to, like you know, be on this rigid schedule, and it's like no, no, this is like. This is to make sure you can get off the rigid schedule.
Speaker 3:Like this is to make sure that like that, like, okay, like things aren't going well. Well, at least we have this backup plan, at least we have this. You know this schedule. I mean I, after I storyboard and shot list, I do this thing where I, on the side of the script, I have a whole other draft of the script where I just etch out how long I think a shot is going to go and where I'm going to cut, and it's just like, just like trying to map it out as much as possible, even to like when you're on set.
Speaker 3:It also helps. That helps me alone when it's like we're we're losing time. Okay, well, I believe strongly that this shot is going to end on this line. Right, we don't have to shoot, we don't have to run the whole fucking scene 18 times because just in case we need. I also hate coverage, but it's like you know, but this helps me not have to do coverage, you know, like it's not like, oh, we'll get the wide and the two overs. It's like you know. It's like I can think harder than that I can, you know, plan better, right, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you're planning for the edit already, which is yeah, it's really smart.
Speaker 3:And things always change, but it's one of those things where you know it want to do your editor loves that too, right yeah.
Speaker 3:Because you show that and then you know you get your, you get your like frame done and then you can start to play and things always change. You know a shot gets cut or a scene gets cut or something like that happens, or a whole thing gets replaced. But but yeah, I think it's, you know it's being open to all of it. But having having that that structure is just like I can't imagine. I would never do it again without it, ever, ever, ever, ever yeah, well, awesome, let's, let's dive in to your list.
Speaker 1:You brought us a list, let's do it and this list is, I guess, the top five inspirations or influences that you've realized or are trying to capture within. Call this Land Mother. What is number five?
Speaker 3:Number five is I have it open next to me so I'm going to, I'm going to go with it. My number five is I'm going to say I'm going to it. It's gonna be like a little bucket and we can go over this one briefly. But I just watched your name recently, which I thought was immaculate. That's such a good film.
Speaker 3:But up until then there was also some like miyazaki films on my list which was like tortero and kiki's and boy in the heron, and I think he's like one of the. I think mi Miyazaki is just absolutely like, like one of the last of his time, like him and Scorsese are like the last of like this philosophical filmmaker I think we still have some, but it's like these people that are making films or were making films with such a different love for it, Like it was a different time, right. It's like they're sort of wrapping out as the digital age comes in and the social media age comes in. But the way that Miyazaki approaches a film, how he cares for his characters and his world and how he balances the reality with the magic, I think it's just out of this world. So I was looking at those films a lot and then I saw your Name, which is also an animated Japanese film, which is also incredible, and those all do such a good job at balancing the reality with the magic as well as capturing the world. So Colossal Mothers.
Speaker 3:Briefly, if everybody knows, it's a film about an Irish immigrant recalling his first summer in America and the girl who can speak to his dead mother. That's the rehearsed logline. I've learned over and over again that he moved to Pacific Northwest, becoming one with the land, becoming one with the people there, as well as the person that helped him do that, which is this person who could speak to his mother, who passed away before he moved to America. So it has it's very realistic, but it has this sort of unreliable narrator slash like magic element. And the way that Mizaki in the film your Name like capture a town and capture people is so gorgeous to me and the land is really important here.
Speaker 3:There's a portion of the film where the film goes a little documentarian. For like three minutes we're gonna break away and two days after production we're gonna go around like different towns for three days and just shoot documentarian, get a bunch of you know what's it called releases from a bunch of random people and just try to like capture the life of these towns as much as timeless capturing that we can. And I just love the way that like there's a portion of your name, that like they're talking about the town that they're in and it breaks away and you have like a minute where you're just, you know, in the land and in the people and in the city, and I think that these movies do such a good time, do such a good job that's what I was going to say at capturing those moments. So it was really inspiring for me capturing all of that.
Speaker 2:And then, of course, like tortero and boy in the heron, they have such a great job of the magic elements as well I'm really happy that you put your name on your inspirations list because, to circle back to something we talked about at the beginning, that had been on my watch list forever, that, and susame, because I'm trying to and and so again also to speak to what you said earlier, like not go through a director's filmography too fast, but makoto shinkai is someone who I am.
Speaker 2:Maybe I think a lot of people are sort of like buying season tickets for as far as maybe someone who can come along and sort of fill the Miyazaki gap that is unfortunately going to be left in a lot of our hearts now. And you're absolutely right, like the magical component of it and kind of bending it within, still our own reality, but also adding this like sort of like celestial, you know, cosmic element to it is something that we've seen Miyazaki do a little bit, but it seems like more of maybe, like is something that's sort of Shinkai's calling card is to do that and it honestly so. I just have to say thank you because I checked it off my watch list in preparation for this episode. Your name, yeah, just watched your name for the first time last night and it's honestly one of the most I've never seen. It's one of the most beautiful movies I've ever. I've ever watched.
Speaker 3:I've never seen light captured this way in an animated film before like there's that shot where it's like the extreme, very extreme close-up of like the yarn, that like it's like it like pushes over the yarn. It's like in insane, like the cinema I think I said when I watched I was like I think this is the best, the prettiest movie I think I've ever seen, which is so hard to say because it's like I just saw it. But I was like this is gorgeous, like absolutely miraculous, yeah it really is.
Speaker 2:It's quite the accomplishment, and so that was great. I can, you know, one of those movies it definitely lived up to. I don't want to say the hype or my expectation, but just the setting in which I watched it. I also have to give a shout out to Crunchyroll. If people aren't familiar with Crunchyroll, this is one of my new favorite streaming services. It's all anime and their catalog is so deep with stuff, so definitely give yourself a seven-day free trial of that.
Speaker 3:We're not partnered with Crunchyroll at so so, yeah, definitely one that people should check out, and and susan may's next on my list as well yeah, yeah, I haven't seen susan may, but yeah, your name was on my when I was in college, into the year of school, and I had these friends that were like crying after watching it oh, I was on my watch list for like five years and then I finally was like my girlfriend brought it up and I was like, alright, we'll put it on.
Speaker 3:And the score is. I'll say that movies I've been jamming that film Radwimps score like crazy. It is insane. It is such a good score it is.
Speaker 1:Real quickly. If you had to choose one Miyazaki movie that is like your all time favorite Totoro, Totoro.
Speaker 3:Totoro is like top three.
Speaker 1:Alex, do you remember, on our Miyazaki episode was Totoro the number one or was it?
Speaker 2:No, we, we zagged just a little bit and put Mononoke number one. I used to say Mononoke, to be honest to say mononoke, to be honest, but I do almost want to say that we continued to zag and put totoro 2 and spirited away 3, whereas I think a lot of people might have those backwards.
Speaker 3:Yeah yeah, I. I think tortero is just like the runtime isn't. I love a good under 90 minutes. Oh yeah, it's amazing, but that movie is just so special, it's just it's one of the best movies about childhood.
Speaker 2:It's so whimsical it it checks almost every box that you want from a Miyazaki film, I think.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's incredible. I think it is top three for me, Like like ever, like I would you know, I die for that movie.
Speaker 2:I die for that man To be honest that man, I'm here.
Speaker 3:Okay, number number four for you submarine.
Speaker 1:Uh, so this is one that I fired up last night for the first time. Man, it is. It's an extremely touching, like but subdued film about, about teenage anxiety. I I thought it was great. I was kind of wondering if you were going to do some of the things it does structurally, as far as, like you know, it's told in three parts. The music is amazing and, like, the score is fantastic, but also, like, the needle drops are so incredibly important in the film. But yeah, I thought it was a beautiful film yeah, yeah, I think it's great.
Speaker 3:I think it's it's so kinetic, because what I love about that movie is that it's just like it takes you on such a trip and it's so clever with how it displays its ideas, and I think that's also great. Yeah, I don't know something so special about that movie to me. I think it's just the characters are fantastic and I love how like they're so right, yeah, yeah, and they're just like so righteously terrible. I love it, I just love it. They're just such hilarious little people and I think it's great and the cast is great and I there's some parts of it that I I feel like I wouldn't say I'm a huge fan of, but I think that it's like it's such a special movie that I I'm okay with them, you know know, but I really liked that movie a ton and I just felt like, when I look at at call the same mother and I especially a lot of the narration stuff, right, like, I mean, narrated films are all through time, but especially something that is this one's so much more fast paced than call the same mother, but I just love how he approaches that film and how he approaches those characters and watching that film or re-watching it.
Speaker 3:In preparation to make this movie was like oh, I think I need to give my characters a little more not like, I guess, life, yeah, and more breath, and just give them more of a you know, a trip. So I think that was a huge reason why I put it on this list, because it was just like it's to me it's like one of the most perfect like coming of age voiceover movies that you could do and it's so good at just yeah, flying through and I think it's great is there going to be voiceover in your film?
Speaker 3:yeah, it's a ton. It is a ton of voiceover. It's like because it's all being told from this, this old man's perspective, it's older guy's perspective, so it's I don't say he's old, he's maybe like 50 or 60, but yeah, it's all his perspective. So it's one of those things that to me, is very yeah, yeah, tons, tons of voiceover. For us it's from like the beginning to the end. So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, there's even like a little. We have a song actually in the film. We at the end the main character sings a song.
Speaker 1:Uh, yeah, is this an original piece or no? No, no, it's california it's by.
Speaker 3:I'm trying to think of who I know who it's by, I can see his name in my head, but I'm like almost thinking all the other movies. So I'm like shuffling through like all this like information in my head. But it's. The song is mentioned at one point in the film and then at the end of the film, but the lead actor voiceover sings the song in like the last moment. So we have like kind of a needle drop ourselves, but not as, not as like again, not as kinetic as submarine. The film is nowhere near as kinetic as submarine, but it was really inspiring to me of how you can tell a story, how you can use visuals. That was a big thing too. It's like how you can use visuals to like get a point across. Or sound to get a point across was also cool.
Speaker 1:So yeah Cool. What's your number three?
Speaker 3:Aftersun, charlotte Wells. Yeah, I love Aftersun. I think Aftersun is just great Again. It's such a great film about memory. You know, like that whole movie is about memory. It's a whole film about nostalgia and thinking and I just think that it's so well captured. She does such a good job at capturing those moments again with, like the handheld thing, but it's not like too crazy. It's just very like lived in and set in and call some others about. You know this sort of perspective of coming to a new place, being somewhere you're not from. But also it has a lot to do with parents, the relationship between oneself when they get older when they're younger.
Speaker 3:But also it has a lot to do with parents, the relationship between oneself when they get older, when they're younger, but also, like you know, your dad and your mom and those are sort of large themes of the film. Obviously mothers in the title. So, after some just does such a great job at recognizing an adult and recognizing somebody you know for who they are, or recognizing a past differently Once you have some perspective. So I think that our film does that a lot. Where it's you know the whole film is this guy sort of recalling this person or who this person was to him and looking at it differently down the line and in turn there's some unreliable narration. I think that that movie does a good job at it as well. Where it's this person trying to she's much more sly about it charlotte wells in that film she's very sly.
Speaker 3:It's like one of the greatest parts of the movie. But how, how, how that character is recalling this childhood and this memory, so yeah, yeah, that's that's.
Speaker 1:That's a great pick. I I love that movie. We were just talking about that movie. It was on it's on the top 100.
Speaker 2:New york times yeah, top 100. For the 21st century yeah I love that movie.
Speaker 3:I know it's not contended. I think there's a lot of people that are kind of like meh about it, but it was one that I don't know. When I first saw it I walked out and I was like just shaking. I was like, wow, like those last few moments. She's so sly in those moments but I'm so reserved. But the under pressure scene into that final shot is just so, so great. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:I remember being a crying mess coming out of that film. I was waiting to see how you were going to describe yourself.
Speaker 2:I knew where we were going A wet mess in my eyes.
Speaker 1:Is your film going to make me cry?
Speaker 3:I hope that's like a hope, hope, right. But here's the thing right, it's like it's, it's, it's. I find you can't like I try not to like even think about that kind of stuff like I'm like, I'm like it could, but like everything happens was funny. Because it's like that's a movie that, like, some people laugh at, some people don't laugh. Some people see it as a comedy or drama, some people like that last scene your mother got yeah yeah, some people at last scene, people will cry or people will not.
Speaker 3:So it's one of those things where I'm like all right, you know it's it's okay. You know again the good man I think we were talking about earlier. It's like it's your, my job is to create something and then it's your job as an audience to do what you want with it. So, yeah, yeah, you know. So I this one's a little more, I think, direct in the emotion. You know, like we're definitely like there's like a score. Everything else is I'm scored. It's a score in this. That'll hopefully help carry it through.
Speaker 3:But you know, I, I hope at least it makes you think of something in your life. But I don't know, I don't know if it'll make you cry. I, I, I don't want to. That's my intention, because then it's like, once you make that again, once you make that the intention, then nobody's gonna cry. All I can say is I can do the character's justice, to the film justice and, you know, ship it off well, I'm an easy mark.
Speaker 1:Sure, I'll send you a picture of my what's your number two? Uh, big fish tim burton yes yeah another film we talked about at length on our on our burton episode. Yeah, like just underrated and another one too.
Speaker 2:I I love that there's a theme here because it's, it's great when you know you either watch a director's interview on letterbox and they say, you know your four movies that influence this and and they just say, like Lawrence of Arabia, cause it's awesome, or you know, like the Godfather, cause I love that movie, or whatever, like there's a real theme here to to what you're talking about. And big fish totally matches the magic, the memory, again, kind of that whimsical nature of things. And and yeah, big fish, I mean is, I think, completely slept on as far as here is one of, like the best movies of the 21st century yeah, it's incredible.
Speaker 3:It's incredible. Yeah, this list too. It's like the last three the miyazaki, for sure, like that like will always appear if I ever did any movie ever. But the other three are more like I would recommend or I watched to like prepare myself and I was like these are really in line. But these next two Big Fish and the other one are like the two that I'm like if you just combine these movies and then throw a little ducky on top, this is what you're going to get what you're going for nice.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so, but Big Fish is like the way I just watched it and the way that he balances like it's like three levels of meta storytelling at some points, which is just really impressive and you don't ever get lost and the casting is so good and the tone is like it's like this brilliant americana, but like also strange and yeah, that that whole thing I'm going forward with like you want that reality, you want this feeling that that you could be there, that you're telling the story, that this did happen. But there are like these very weird idiosyncrasies and moments and things that like you're like maybe that did happen, maybe that could have happened and yeah, missing fragments, right yeah?
Speaker 3:yeah, big fish is just. I mean, it's so good man, it's such a good yeah. Yeah, burton's got a few that are just completely slept on, and that final scene in big fish is just massive. It is just such a great, great, great scene yeah, that's a great pick all right uh and number one moonrise kingdom.
Speaker 3:So I would always say moonrise kingdom meets big fish. The film is about, you know, these two people in summer that are meeting getting to know each other and through voiceover. So there it is, you know, and moonrise kingdom is just just great, you know. And Moonrise Kingdom is just just great, you know. I mean, come on, it's just so perfect, alex.
Speaker 1:Alex runs the. You know it's the best Wes Anderson film. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:I'll say Grand Budapest. I think is is is maybe his, like, best work work, but I think moonrise is my favorite.
Speaker 2:You know, if I were to like draw a line, I mean I think it's the most emotionally intelligent of his films.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's dude. I just rewatched it and, like he's such a great, I will say I always say this is that it's like quentin tarantino is a it's a fairly rated writer, but he's an underrated director. I'll say and I'll say, like wes anderson's a fairly rated director, I think he's an underrated, underrated writer, like I think he is such a good, like I mean I know it wasn't just him on that script but like the way that they are able to deliver, like bill murray's character in like four lines and just like scenes where he's in the background is immaculate. It's so good, it's like the whole thing about that with edward norton's character as well too.
Speaker 2:Like anytime that I watched that movie, I'm like this is one of the funniest movie characters ever.
Speaker 3:Edward norton is that as the scout master he's so good what he's going through and there's like there's just like these little moments but like when he loses the whole troop and he's just, you know, in that moment and it's like he's so good at playing it and he's just, they all understand what they're doing and the kids are great. And there's a scene in this film that isn't like. It's very similar to like the, the moonrise kingdom, the beach scene. Just there's a lot of like water stuff. This is what we've been doing a lot. It's like trying to find locations to shoot this film out up here in in washington, but a lot of like sunrise, sunrise, lake type stuff or beach type stuff. But this scene it's very similar to that scene. It's not too similar. I was worried when I was watching. I was like, oh, this isn't a one for one, it's not, it's not, it's more of like a 0.3 for one. But but you'll see it.
Speaker 2:When you see it you'll be like, oh, I get what he's talking about, but yeah, yeah, I love moonrise kingdom, yeah so when, when you talk about all five of these influences, you're really leaning on on the thematic influences and not so much the composition, perhaps, of of these movies and the way they they look, but you're more interested in the way they make you feel, is that a fair assessment?
Speaker 3:yeah, yeah, for sure, for sure. The look is one of those things where it's like it's funny. I feel like last five years it's been a lot of writing and I've sort of been like I know what I want to do with movies. I think at this point, like what I want to say, this film might challenge myself. How do I want to say that? Because my last film, everything Happens, is very objective. It's very like every shot is very static, it's very still, it's four by three. I want to play around, you know. So this film, I'm really challenging myself to like break out of that barrier. You know the handheld moving the camera, the dollies, you know, like what can I do with composition and what can I do with that sort of stylistically? But I would say like, yeah, for like thematic elements or just like those little affects that come through. Those movies that I think are really well done would be on that list for sure yeah, yeah, amazing, amazing.
Speaker 1:Well, we got to get you out of here. What, how long? How much longer does the campaign go on? Can you plug about 13?
Speaker 3:or 12 days. September 6th it ends at like 8 am, so early september 5th it'll end because everybody will go to bed. And yeah, we've got Wednesday. We start the matching campaign, the matching fund. So if you, if you're looking to donate, if you're interested, you can head over to seed and spark it's seed and sparkcom. Slash fund, slash, call this land. Mother is the URL.
Speaker 3:My Instagram is at Andrew Duckowitz, also a long name, but you know you can find me. My website's byduckycom, b-y-ducky, b-u-c-k-ycom. That's the easy way to find me. But you can go through there to donate. If you want to wait till Wednesday, it's always great to do because then you know, $10 turns to $20, $50 to $100. We got some cool incentives you can get. We have the original score, that Film Society, after everything happens, screening, and we've got a screener link for one of those, which I think is probably the most advantageous of the incentives. And yeah, we got about 12 days, a little ways to go, but hopefully we can round it out. And then we shoot September 23rd to 26th and then we'll let it through the fall and get everything together and hopefully for the next fall film festivals we can start submitting and we'll see how it goes.
Speaker 1:You know that's. That's fantastic and I I really, I really can't wait to see see this film because I love all the work that I've seen from you before. And, gosh, thank you so much for coming on the pod and thanks for having me sharing all I love.
Speaker 3:I love talking movies, so you know we got, we got to find another.
Speaker 1:If there's any other like big release coming up this year, let us know. We'd love to have you come back.
Speaker 3:Yeah, yeah, we'll do. We'll do, I will. I'll talk to you guys soon. Thanks for having me. You guys have a brilliant rest of your day.
Speaker 2:Thank you and congratulations on everything up to this point and for everything that's to come.
Speaker 3:Yeah, thank you. Thank you, enjoy the pickleball.
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:We're coming off a groin injury, so I have to be careful. But I'll be careful.
Speaker 3:Max, enjoy your rest after getting off set, you know what I am rested up.
Speaker 1:I'm ready to get back on. So if you know anyone who's doing a project down here, let me know.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I'm ready to get back on so if you know anyone who's doing a project down here, let me know. Yeah, we'll do, we'll do. Yeah, enjoy it. Well, you guys. Have a great rest of your day.
Speaker 1:All right. Thank you, listeners, and if you want to follow us between shows, check us out on Instagram. Excuse the intermission, obviously check out Andrew Duckowitz as Instagram as well. Go help him raise the money for this, this awesome movie that he's making. Ducky, you're on letterbox too, right.
Speaker 3:I am. I think it's. Let me look really quick. I think it's you gotta you gotta scroll.
Speaker 2:You can scroll through my followers to find him pretty easily. I don't have. I don't have hundreds like Max does.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's hard to like see your the duckworth is mine the duckworth, yeah so check all three of us and follow all three of us on letterbox to see what we're watching in between shows. And until next time, we will talk to you later on. Excuse the intermission where movies still matter. Thank you, thank you.
