WEBVTT 1 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:09.480 Oh g is, folks, it's show tied. People say good 2 00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:10.560 money to see this movie. 3 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.080 When they go out to a theater, they want clod 4 00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:17.280 sodas popcorn in No monsters in the Protection. 5 00:00:16.920 --> 00:00:20.879 Booth, everyone for tend podcasting isn't boring, Don and Off. 6 00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:50.719 We can all be forgiven the monstrous things this bedevil's 7 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:51.640 world has made us too. 8 00:00:54.640 --> 00:01:05.159 We can all be forgiven. Oh, I see a terrible 9 00:01:05.200 --> 00:01:06.239 fear of my words. 10 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:13.040 At Brodie, you are blessed, You are blessed. 11 00:01:13.680 --> 00:01:17.439 Why mean, what was so special about me? 12 00:01:20.040 --> 00:01:31.680 You were born to die for us? 13 00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:34.159 Hey, folks, welcome to a special episode of The Projection Booth. 14 00:01:34.200 --> 00:01:36.760 I'm your host Mike White. On this episode, I'm talking 15 00:01:36.760 --> 00:01:39.239 with Rob Cusino and Chris Rosick. They are the co 16 00:01:39.359 --> 00:01:42.400 directors of the twenty twenty five film So Fades the Light. 17 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:45.840 It is out there now available for streaming for purchase. 18 00:01:46.359 --> 00:01:49.319 I highly recommend it. I had a great time talking 19 00:01:49.319 --> 00:01:51.959 with Rob and Chris doing a great job with this 20 00:01:52.040 --> 00:01:54.400 film and all the other stuff of theirs that I've seen. 21 00:01:54.840 --> 00:01:57.280 Hope you enjoyed this interview and definitely check out So 22 00:01:57.439 --> 00:01:57.959 Fades the. 23 00:01:57.959 --> 00:01:59.799 Light, Rob and Chris. 24 00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:02.920 I'm super excited to have your board tonight talking about so. 25 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:03.680 Face the Light. 26 00:02:04.680 --> 00:02:07.799 I know you guys not from this movie but from before, 27 00:02:07.840 --> 00:02:09.520 and I'm so curious how do you know each other? 28 00:02:09.599 --> 00:02:11.759 Like how did you two become friends? 29 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:18.000 I met Chris at a failed Comedy Central pilot that 30 00:02:18.080 --> 00:02:21.240 I was hired to rent a camera to, and Chris, 31 00:02:21.240 --> 00:02:23.360 I think, was also renting a camera to it, like 32 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:25.479 after hours after a job that he was at at 33 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:28.919 the time, and they asked us to operate and I 34 00:02:28.919 --> 00:02:30.680 had literally no idea how to use this camera. I 35 00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:32.400 just saved up enough money as a bar tend to 36 00:02:32.400 --> 00:02:34.719 like buy this camera, and Chris was like the person 37 00:02:34.719 --> 00:02:36.479 who was nice enough to explain to me how to 38 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:38.159 use it. That's how I remember it. Pretty much. 39 00:02:39.080 --> 00:02:41.520 Right after that, we have a mutual friend who was 40 00:02:41.599 --> 00:02:44.800 at the bar Rob was working at, and he got 41 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:47.520 Rob in at a small agency we were working at. 42 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:49.919 So Rob was producing. 43 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:53.879 Small shoots that I was shooting and directing with the 44 00:02:53.879 --> 00:02:54.919 owners of that company. 45 00:02:55.639 --> 00:02:57.719 And then how long have you guys been working together? 46 00:02:57.759 --> 00:02:58.360 When was this? 47 00:02:59.159 --> 00:03:01.560 Oh god, this is like teen years now, I think, Yeah, 48 00:03:01.560 --> 00:03:03.919 we've been doing the code directing for fourteen years. We've 49 00:03:03.960 --> 00:03:07.919 been working together for fifteen years. Because I actually met 50 00:03:08.039 --> 00:03:11.919 Rob like three weeks before my wedding, and so that's 51 00:03:11.919 --> 00:03:15.719 coming on fifteen years, so I can always remember fifteen 52 00:03:15.759 --> 00:03:16.719 years of Rob as well. 53 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:19.280 Do you feel like you're as married to Rob as 54 00:03:19.280 --> 00:03:20.039 you are to. 55 00:03:20.000 --> 00:03:22.280 Your wife fifty percent of the time? 56 00:03:23.039 --> 00:03:25.719 What's that working relationship? Like, like how do you guys 57 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:28.400 divvy up the work or how do you work in tandem? 58 00:03:28.879 --> 00:03:30.400 So I do a lot of the writing and producing. 59 00:03:31.159 --> 00:03:33.560 Chris is the big ideas guy. He'll like throw a 60 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:35.080 few ideas at me. Then I'll make it into a 61 00:03:35.080 --> 00:03:36.840 script and then he'll go, Okay, what if it's this, 62 00:03:36.919 --> 00:03:38.840 So then I'll play with it, you know. But when 63 00:03:38.840 --> 00:03:41.080 we direct, Chris is far more visual than I am. 64 00:03:41.400 --> 00:03:43.280 I don't think about visuals at all. I'm very spoiled 65 00:03:43.280 --> 00:03:45.479 by working with Chris at this point. Like I basically 66 00:03:45.479 --> 00:03:50.240 focus on talent performance, talking to those folks, and you know, 67 00:03:50.280 --> 00:03:52.240 we work rereally differently. We have been like in out 68 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.000 of set big enough to have like an AD and 69 00:03:54.039 --> 00:03:56.680 like another producer, so like I'll be like coordinating the 70 00:03:56.719 --> 00:03:58.520 crew getting everything set, so I'll kind of be like 71 00:03:58.560 --> 00:04:00.960 AD while I work with and then Chris will be 72 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:03.280 like working with DP or shooting it himself, depending on 73 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:06.120 the project. I think Chris does the bulk of the 74 00:04:06.120 --> 00:04:08.000 post production for our company as well. Chris can do 75 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:11.280 visual effects. It's done color. Sometimes you like to work 76 00:04:11.319 --> 00:04:11.960 with colors. 77 00:04:12.439 --> 00:04:15.840 But I will say one of the best things about 78 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:19.319 co directing is you don't have to be one percent 79 00:04:19.399 --> 00:04:24.079 on point because it is a lot of like managing 80 00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:28.800 personalities or like crew members, and it's like there's a 81 00:04:28.800 --> 00:04:31.959 lot more of like making sure everyone's happy. And Rob 82 00:04:32.040 --> 00:04:35.240 is much better with like trolling his emotions on that. 83 00:04:35.279 --> 00:04:37.120 Like there'll be times maybe on set where I'm just like, 84 00:04:37.560 --> 00:04:39.920 nothing's going right, everything's gonna burn. 85 00:04:40.120 --> 00:04:41.360 Let me go sleep in my car. 86 00:04:41.399 --> 00:04:43.879 And Rob's good at like steering us back in the 87 00:04:43.920 --> 00:04:45.680 direction so that we actually finish something. 88 00:04:46.480 --> 00:04:48.800 I have a theory that as long as it's fun 89 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:50.879 to do it, you'll make something pretty good. 90 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:53.800 Is this your first feature together? 91 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:58.720 This is our second feature we directed together. We've worked 92 00:04:58.720 --> 00:05:01.800 on a bunch of features of other folks where we've 93 00:05:01.839 --> 00:05:04.079 done various jobs, like The Russian Five. We produced it 94 00:05:04.120 --> 00:05:05.720 as a company. I did a lot of producing or 95 00:05:05.759 --> 00:05:09.120 to Joshua Reel, the director, and Chris got the bulk 96 00:05:09.160 --> 00:05:12.000 of the film our first feature was called Future. It 97 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:13.560 was kind of us figure out how to make a film. 98 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:15.519 It's like a bit of an homage to Kevin Smith. 99 00:05:15.639 --> 00:05:17.279 I don't know, it's something I'm proud of because we 100 00:05:17.360 --> 00:05:20.519 made it, but I don't necessarily love that movie anymore. 101 00:05:20.560 --> 00:05:22.720 But I think it's a very important film that we made, 102 00:05:23.040 --> 00:05:26.199 and I think there's really great moments in it. I'm 103 00:05:26.279 --> 00:05:28.920 kind of more harsh on it because I've gotten so 104 00:05:29.079 --> 00:05:31.439 much better at writing since we wrote it, and I 105 00:05:31.439 --> 00:05:34.199 think most of that film come from my writing. So 106 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:35.680 I'm a little bit more negative about it. 107 00:05:36.720 --> 00:05:39.279 Well that was only what twenty sixteen, I mean, you know, 108 00:05:39.399 --> 00:05:40.079 just a couple. 109 00:05:39.879 --> 00:05:40.480 Of years ago. 110 00:05:40.920 --> 00:05:42.879 Yeah, but I do. 111 00:05:42.839 --> 00:05:45.079 Think it looks great and I think like it feels great. 112 00:05:45.079 --> 00:05:46.800 There's some great moments, And my little brother was the 113 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:49.639 lead in that, Josh, and he's a really good actor, 114 00:05:49.680 --> 00:05:52.800 and there's strong performances from other folks in it. So 115 00:05:52.839 --> 00:05:54.800 it's just it's not something I regret. In fact, I 116 00:05:55.120 --> 00:05:57.959 personally think that, like a lot of people get stuck 117 00:05:57.959 --> 00:05:59.680 on the idea that the first thing has to be 118 00:05:59.720 --> 00:06:01.959 so good, right, and I was a little bit stuck 119 00:06:01.959 --> 00:06:03.319 on that. Chris was just kind of like, let's just 120 00:06:03.319 --> 00:06:05.199 make a fucking movie. He like kind of forced us 121 00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:07.959 into making a movie, and so we just did it. 122 00:06:08.000 --> 00:06:11.160 And I learned so much through that process that if 123 00:06:11.160 --> 00:06:14.240 that hadn't been our first movie, like anything else we 124 00:06:14.279 --> 00:06:15.639 did wouldn't have been just going to I learned a 125 00:06:15.639 --> 00:06:17.759 lot about acting and method and I learned so much 126 00:06:17.759 --> 00:06:19.399 from making that because I was so afraid of fucking 127 00:06:19.399 --> 00:06:20.720 it up that I was like, I don't want to 128 00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:24.000 drop the ball, especially because like I had gotten investors 129 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:25.639 in that film. You know, he raised twenty five thousand 130 00:06:25.639 --> 00:06:28.279 dollars to shoot it, which seemed like an insane amount 131 00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:29.839 of money to shoot a movie with at the time, 132 00:06:29.879 --> 00:06:32.319 you know, for like a dumb idea we made up. 133 00:06:32.319 --> 00:06:33.600 I was like, oh my god, what if we lose 134 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.839 all this money? And we did because making profits on 135 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:38.399 independent hills isn't near impossible. 136 00:06:39.279 --> 00:06:41.240 How did so Fate's a Light come about? 137 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:42.480 Who had that idea? 138 00:06:42.560 --> 00:06:46.000 And how did the script kind of start to form itself. 139 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:50.160 I had the initial idea of, like, what would it 140 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:52.920 be like if you were raised in a cult and 141 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:56.240 you're worshiped as a child and then like the cult's 142 00:06:56.279 --> 00:06:58.800 broken up, you're young enough to where you go to 143 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:02.199 a foster home, you grow up, Like, what is that 144 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:07.240 person like fifteen years later, like in their twenties, Like 145 00:07:07.560 --> 00:07:10.800 how did they cope with everything? How do they view religion? 146 00:07:10.879 --> 00:07:13.279 How do they view people? That was the initial thing 147 00:07:13.319 --> 00:07:15.720 I wanted to explore. And then Rob went in on 148 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:17.519 the script and got a lot of the story beats, 149 00:07:17.560 --> 00:07:19.920 and then Rob can talk a lot more about the 150 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:22.759 actual cult and the basis for that. 151 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:28.000 In twenty twenty, when things got weird, I became obsessed 152 00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:31.680 with studying the strangest right wing shit I could find, 153 00:07:32.360 --> 00:07:36.279 like QAnon and Proud Boys and all that bullshit. So 154 00:07:36.319 --> 00:07:38.319 I started looking into that stuff and learning more about it, 155 00:07:38.720 --> 00:07:43.600 and I noticed consistent rhetoric among hateful people that I 156 00:07:43.720 --> 00:07:46.240 kind of latched onto and like because I wanted to 157 00:07:46.319 --> 00:07:49.240 understand it and be like, how is this working? How 158 00:07:49.319 --> 00:07:51.600 is this working? This is so dumb? How is this working? 159 00:07:51.800 --> 00:07:53.839 So like I lashed onto it. I sought out those 160 00:07:53.839 --> 00:07:56.519 communities and like, study the hell out of them, and 161 00:07:57.199 --> 00:07:59.399 things got even weirder. In twenty twenty one, I started 162 00:07:59.399 --> 00:08:02.120 seeing different cults pop up, and I started learning more 163 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:05.399 about cults and researching it's As the film developed, it 164 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:08.279 was like, we knew a couple of base rules about 165 00:08:08.319 --> 00:08:11.600 like things we did want to happen in the way 166 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:14.639 characters were represented. Right. For instance, something Chris and I 167 00:08:14.680 --> 00:08:17.879 talked a lot about was we wanted the Reverend to 168 00:08:17.959 --> 00:08:22.519 be charismatic and charming and have like those vibes of 169 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:26.240 like someone who you would be enticed by. Well, he's 170 00:08:26.240 --> 00:08:28.439 saying the worst shit, but it would be so easy 171 00:08:28.480 --> 00:08:30.279 to have him just to hate speech, right, Like, that'd 172 00:08:30.319 --> 00:08:31.680 be so easy and boring, And that's not what these 173 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:35.519 people do. It's all very coded. It's very like under stated, 174 00:08:35.559 --> 00:08:37.480 but it's all there. There's a subtext of it, like 175 00:08:37.519 --> 00:08:40.039 words like globalist when they mean Jewish people whatever, Like 176 00:08:40.080 --> 00:08:42.039 they use all these code words. It was important to 177 00:08:42.080 --> 00:08:44.720 us that that came through in a way that matched 178 00:08:44.720 --> 00:08:48.639 the tone of these right wing, hateful, piece of shit creators. 179 00:08:48.639 --> 00:08:50.879 So we found that tone and we layered that in. 180 00:08:51.679 --> 00:08:54.840 And another thing that was really important to was our lead, Kylie, 181 00:08:55.320 --> 00:08:58.519 Kylie Lotts. We wanted to find a lead that played 182 00:08:58.559 --> 00:09:01.240 someone who had a history of trauma well but didn't 183 00:09:01.279 --> 00:09:03.840 play it in a way that it sucks whenever I 184 00:09:03.879 --> 00:09:07.240 see films where the main characters had a history of trauma. 185 00:09:07.320 --> 00:09:09.080 It sucks. They're like slumped over. They like, I don't 186 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:10.879 want to be around that fucking person. I had a 187 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:13.080 real fucked up childhood. I'm super fun to talk to, Like, 188 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:15.120 can we find more people like that that are like 189 00:09:15.200 --> 00:09:18.000 funny and like fun So that was the two big 190 00:09:18.039 --> 00:09:20.639 tone setters. I think that helped define the film, and 191 00:09:20.679 --> 00:09:23.639 I think we really focused on in the writing it's funny. 192 00:09:23.639 --> 00:09:26.600 I got a lot of David Koresh from the Reverend. 193 00:09:26.840 --> 00:09:29.000 One hundred percent. I think I think honest to God, 194 00:09:29.159 --> 00:09:32.000 Duke just brought a lot of that because it's a 195 00:09:32.080 --> 00:09:34.759 really charming, sweet guy in real life. So I think 196 00:09:34.759 --> 00:09:38.399 he was able to take the best parts of his 197 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:41.519 personality and like use that to highlight the worst parts. 198 00:09:41.879 --> 00:09:43.519 Reverend A very. 199 00:09:43.440 --> 00:09:45.519 Important part of the movie in the opening is we 200 00:09:45.799 --> 00:09:49.759 open with like rhetoric and hate speech, and the guy's 201 00:09:49.799 --> 00:09:51.919 saying the most horrible things, and it's like, how can 202 00:09:52.000 --> 00:09:54.480 this guy be likable? And then we cut to the 203 00:09:54.519 --> 00:09:57.159 camera operator who's been recording this whole thing. We see 204 00:09:57.200 --> 00:10:00.120 he's really confused and saddened by all of it, and 205 00:10:00.120 --> 00:10:02.480 then you just see the Reverend like turn it on 206 00:10:02.600 --> 00:10:06.799 to like you're a special boy, we love you and 207 00:10:07.240 --> 00:10:10.679 that's why you're here. So I think that shows really quickly, 208 00:10:10.799 --> 00:10:12.799 like how these people get be sucked into it. A 209 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:14.519 lot of people are looking to be like, oh, you're 210 00:10:14.519 --> 00:10:18.120 a special boy, and people looking for that, I think, 211 00:10:18.159 --> 00:10:20.480 can get really sucked into some of this gnarly stuff 212 00:10:20.559 --> 00:10:21.879 like far too easily. 213 00:10:23.039 --> 00:10:24.360 My only thing to add to that. 214 00:10:25.240 --> 00:10:28.440 Once the script is in a more finalized state, how 215 00:10:28.440 --> 00:10:30.879 do you actually go about producing this movie and getting 216 00:10:30.919 --> 00:10:33.559 all the elements together? I know it's kind of I 217 00:10:33.559 --> 00:10:36.559 always compare independent movies to like going to War, So 218 00:10:36.600 --> 00:10:37.120 how did you. 219 00:10:37.320 --> 00:10:38.120 Play in the battle? 220 00:10:38.799 --> 00:10:39.120 Ours? 221 00:10:39.159 --> 00:10:41.679 Is funny because Okay, so I wrote the first draft 222 00:10:41.720 --> 00:10:45.559 of the script in I think two days, and then 223 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:48.960 I edited it for three months. We're taking notes from 224 00:10:48.960 --> 00:10:53.080 different people, the smarter people than me that put their 225 00:10:53.120 --> 00:10:56.200 two cents in, and we kept like like playing with 226 00:10:56.200 --> 00:10:58.120 the idea of making the film, but not really committing 227 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:00.000 to it. And then finally we got to the point 228 00:11:00.120 --> 00:11:01.279 we like, ex send a date. We were just like, 229 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:04.159 all right, let's go. So we got a bunch of 230 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:06.320 our friends together that worked in commercials. John Beaver shot 231 00:11:06.360 --> 00:11:08.480 the movies Great DP. We worked all the time in commercials, 232 00:11:08.919 --> 00:11:11.559 you know, Scotia Lighting was a company that we worked with. 233 00:11:11.600 --> 00:11:13.799 They gave us a couple of the guys they came out, 234 00:11:13.960 --> 00:11:16.399 you know, our friend Don Walker, Hen's Vision Bridge Media. 235 00:11:16.480 --> 00:11:19.960 He lent us like some camera equipment. Like basically, like 236 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:22.120 all of these friends that we had commercials that we've 237 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:24.840 like given commercial work with, become friendly with, they kind 238 00:11:24.840 --> 00:11:27.000 of just like gave us their time. Our whole crew 239 00:11:27.039 --> 00:11:29.240 for this film was right around ten people for most 240 00:11:29.279 --> 00:11:30.759 of it, and our whole budget for the film was 241 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:34.240 about sixty two thousand dollars. So we were able to 242 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:36.720 do that because of all the other work we do 243 00:11:36.799 --> 00:11:39.559 and all the goodwill that we built up. So essentially, 244 00:11:40.480 --> 00:11:42.600 about a week before we're supposed to shoot, Chris and 245 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:45.120 I started like it was even maybe in Leslie would 246 00:11:45.120 --> 00:11:46.960 have been like four days were supposed to share shooting. 247 00:11:46.960 --> 00:11:52.039 Our production designer Angie like pitched and started making stuff. 248 00:11:52.279 --> 00:11:56.639 We started scouting. She got COVID, so our friend Doug 249 00:11:56.720 --> 00:11:59.519 tagged in and helped her out on set, and then 250 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:02.080 she came back later and helped us bring the thing home. 251 00:12:02.080 --> 00:12:03.559 But she did a lot of leg work and Doug 252 00:12:03.639 --> 00:12:06.600 was great on set, and then Chris also got COVID 253 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:09.159 eight days we were supposed to shoot. 254 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:10.279 No, it was three weeks. 255 00:12:10.320 --> 00:12:12.720 So it's interesting because, yeah, I remember we had a 256 00:12:12.759 --> 00:12:16.440 production meeting and I went and skated before work, and 257 00:12:16.480 --> 00:12:18.200 then I was about to come into work and I 258 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:19.720 was the first one there, and before I went to 259 00:12:19.759 --> 00:12:20.159 the door. 260 00:12:20.039 --> 00:12:21.440 I just had like a weird panic. 261 00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:23.720 I was like, oh, I think I'm sick, and so 262 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:27.399 like before going around to anyone else, Like, I went home, 263 00:12:28.240 --> 00:12:30.120 took a test. My wife knows I'm a little bit 264 00:12:30.120 --> 00:12:32.240 of a hypochondriac, so she was like blowing it off, 265 00:12:32.279 --> 00:12:33.919 like it'll be fine, you just go to work, and 266 00:12:33.960 --> 00:12:36.879 then like she took the test and like two minutes 267 00:12:36.960 --> 00:12:39.559 later she's like, yeah, go get another test, like it's positive. So, 268 00:12:39.919 --> 00:12:44.480 which is a crazy thing to be in isolation three 269 00:12:44.480 --> 00:12:48.320 weeks before your movie with nothing but like time and 270 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:52.519 a shot list and a shot designing program and the script. 271 00:12:52.639 --> 00:12:55.759 Just like became a little bit of an insane person. 272 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:57.919 Once I was able to talk to people again. In 273 00:12:57.960 --> 00:13:00.480 those four days, it was a lot of like these ideas, 274 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:02.519 all these ideas, all these ideas, So it was probably 275 00:13:02.519 --> 00:13:04.080 a little bit annoying to people as well. 276 00:13:04.759 --> 00:13:08.159 Yeah, he was like Charlie it's always sunny with like 277 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:10.960 the fucking pin board and the strings walked away in 278 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:14.440 a room without his sense of taste. So Chris got 279 00:13:14.440 --> 00:13:16.600 that done and then we popped out. We just started shooting. 280 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:18.600 I think, like what a week after you were out 281 00:13:18.600 --> 00:13:21.799 of quarantine, not even yeah, but yeah, it was. It 282 00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:24.240 was pretty wild and we just kind of fat it together, 283 00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:25.840 like it was a bunch of weird shit that just 284 00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:28.200 kind of worked out. Like my friend Scott, he plays 285 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:30.200 the biker singer in the movie, the guy, the big 286 00:13:30.240 --> 00:13:31.720 guy who singing at the beginning of the movie with 287 00:13:31.759 --> 00:13:33.879 the great voice. He just went to this weird like 288 00:13:34.440 --> 00:13:37.320 church camp when he was younger. So we had a 289 00:13:37.320 --> 00:13:39.679 compound that existed that looked like that. Like we didn't 290 00:13:39.720 --> 00:13:42.200 have to do much to it, you know. The cast 291 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:44.840 was all our friends. We'd been casting it on and 292 00:13:44.879 --> 00:13:47.720 off for a little while before, about two months before 293 00:13:47.720 --> 00:13:49.840 we started looking for people, right, we just already had 294 00:13:49.840 --> 00:13:52.480 all the pieces around us, like Tony the Skater was 295 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:54.320 our friend Lou that would hang out there great. And 296 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:56.440 then Kylie I met through the music scene and through 297 00:13:56.559 --> 00:14:00.200 friends of my wife, so and they're great. And Ailie 298 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:02.840 introduced this to Anika. Anika was a singer of a 299 00:14:03.200 --> 00:14:05.240 punk band that Chris really liked, and I really loved 300 00:14:05.279 --> 00:14:07.840 her folky stuff and she's great. It all kind of 301 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:09.440 worked out, and Duke was a guy we knew from 302 00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:12.440 advertising and he's great. It just kind of worked and 303 00:14:12.480 --> 00:14:14.679 then everybody kind of pitched in to fill in the blanks. 304 00:14:14.720 --> 00:14:16.279 Like I said, our whole crew was like ten people, 305 00:14:16.279 --> 00:14:18.279 and it was a very ambitious film. When I say that, 306 00:14:18.320 --> 00:14:21.440 plus the scale and the budget, it was like, we 307 00:14:21.559 --> 00:14:23.519 just got lucky. My friend Tom Way Cities, who's like 308 00:14:23.559 --> 00:14:25.159 the best location guy I ever worked with. He just 309 00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:29.120 helped us find substitute locations. Our buddy Julian, who was 310 00:14:29.120 --> 00:14:31.440 like an associate producer on it, hit so many jobs. 311 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:33.279 He was helping us scheduling, and he was doing second 312 00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:35.519 ac work and he was shooting some stuff. It was 313 00:14:35.559 --> 00:14:37.679 just everybody just did everything. 314 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:41.960 Higley is amazing and I'm so glad that you found 315 00:14:41.960 --> 00:14:46.200 them because performance they give is just phenomenal. And like 316 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:48.720 I always say, when it comes to independent film, it 317 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:51.080 lives and dies by those performances, because you can have 318 00:14:51.080 --> 00:14:52.919 the best looking thing in the world, but if your 319 00:14:53.000 --> 00:14:56.799 lead actor or actress is clunky, and Kylie is the 320 00:14:56.840 --> 00:15:00.000 opposite of clunky. In fact, I think straight down the lay, 321 00:15:00.240 --> 00:15:03.039 there are so many good performances, thank you. 322 00:15:03.120 --> 00:15:03.279 Yeah. 323 00:15:03.320 --> 00:15:05.960 And I do think like so much of what this 324 00:15:06.039 --> 00:15:09.159 film is rested completely on Kylie, because so much of 325 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:12.120 this film is just living with this person, and that 326 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:16.679 person needs to be so dynamic and not be you know, 327 00:15:16.799 --> 00:15:19.120 some doll sad sack, which is like, again, something we 328 00:15:19.120 --> 00:15:20.799 talked a lot about. Not that I mean whatever. I'm 329 00:15:20.799 --> 00:15:23.080 not judge people are depressed. I'm just saying, like, as 330 00:15:23.080 --> 00:15:25.879 someone who experiences depression, I'm not one note and I 331 00:15:25.879 --> 00:15:27.360 think I find that a lot of times in film, 332 00:15:27.399 --> 00:15:30.759 this is a person who's like got like shooting fun 333 00:15:30.840 --> 00:15:32.720 things in their van and they like have a little 334 00:15:32.759 --> 00:15:34.399 life and they're doing all these things. Like it was 335 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:36.679 a fully fleshed out character, and a lot of it 336 00:15:36.720 --> 00:15:38.480 came from I mean, Kylie. We met with a lot 337 00:15:38.600 --> 00:15:41.639 before the film. We talked to Kylie. I'm many guests, 338 00:15:41.639 --> 00:15:44.240 like thirty or forty times about like tone and character. 339 00:15:44.840 --> 00:15:47.200 And another thing we did prior to shooting was we 340 00:15:47.240 --> 00:15:49.600 did a table read with all of the talent, and 341 00:15:49.720 --> 00:15:51.399 in that read, we would go scene by scene. At 342 00:15:51.399 --> 00:15:53.559 the end of each scene, I go, how did that feel? 343 00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:56.600 Would you say that? Because a lot of these people 344 00:15:56.600 --> 00:15:58.679 were first time actors or non actors too, and I 345 00:15:58.720 --> 00:16:01.080 would just have to rewrite the script in their own words, 346 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:04.480 and it was great, Like a god of what is 347 00:16:04.519 --> 00:16:07.879 the sci fi writer's name that Lou brought to the table, 348 00:16:07.960 --> 00:16:11.639 it's they reference it in the skater scene. But that 349 00:16:11.759 --> 00:16:17.480 was that bit where like Lou talks to Tony but yeah, yeah, 350 00:16:17.480 --> 00:16:19.240 So I didn't know who Actavit Butler was until Lou 351 00:16:19.279 --> 00:16:21.639 brought Actavia Butler up to me. So like that bit 352 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:23.679 where they're talking, that was a bit I wrote around 353 00:16:23.720 --> 00:16:26.320 as I lay dying with Focner. So the whole scene 354 00:16:26.320 --> 00:16:28.399 was supposed to be out a Faucner reference of like 355 00:16:28.480 --> 00:16:30.960 going home this long road home, and Lou is like, 356 00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:32.679 have you read Actavia Butler? And they gave me this 357 00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:36.200 like reference and that works so much better because it's 358 00:16:36.240 --> 00:16:38.559 something Lou connected with. And by the way, Luke came 359 00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:41.519 so prepared, Chris, that was the first time Lo's ever 360 00:16:41.559 --> 00:16:44.440 been in a film, and they were great. We just 361 00:16:44.480 --> 00:16:45.000 got lucky. 362 00:16:45.799 --> 00:16:48.799 I do have to ask, because you have some non 363 00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:52.960 binary people in here, You've got your main character su Wen, 364 00:16:53.159 --> 00:16:55.879 but can also be heard as as oh, and I mean, 365 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:58.639 how much was gender factor when you were writing this? 366 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:02.320 When I was right, it was very little. Once we 367 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:06.200 started casting it, I became very cognizant of it in 368 00:17:06.240 --> 00:17:09.759 the writing. The funny thing about Sun is I based 369 00:17:09.960 --> 00:17:12.440 a lot of the cult off of an actual existing cult, 370 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:13.799 which I don't know if I can say it, just 371 00:17:13.839 --> 00:17:16.640 in case they're litigious, but like, the names came from 372 00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.000 real people in that cult. So that was where it 373 00:17:19.039 --> 00:17:21.279 was like the reverend had a name and the lawyer 374 00:17:21.359 --> 00:17:22.920 was like, absolutely not, don't do. 375 00:17:22.880 --> 00:17:24.000 That, so that went away. 376 00:17:24.839 --> 00:17:26.680 But yeah, no, I became very cognizant of it in 377 00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:30.160 the process, Like casting Lou made that scene. Even kyl 378 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:31.640 that was talking about how that scene felt like a 379 00:17:31.640 --> 00:17:33.319 little bit of like a crush then, and it was 380 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:36.359 this fun new element and I hadn't thought of any 381 00:17:36.359 --> 00:17:38.559 of that stuff until I had watched the actors interact. 382 00:17:38.559 --> 00:17:41.160 Then I became very cognizant of it, and I think 383 00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:43.119 Chris and I really adapted to Like I said, we 384 00:17:43.119 --> 00:17:45.000 really tried to adapt it to their voices. And I 385 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:49.440 always knew that I wanted everyone that Son encounters to 386 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:52.160 be someone that would be othered by or rejected by 387 00:17:52.200 --> 00:17:54.839 the people in the cult. So that way Son could 388 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:58.359 meet these folks and have a positive interactions with them, 389 00:17:58.599 --> 00:18:01.920 because in a way, it's like you're seeing, you know 390 00:18:01.920 --> 00:18:04.440 what ripening in America has put on this person, and 391 00:18:04.480 --> 00:18:06.759 you're seeing them interact with these folks in real life. 392 00:18:06.759 --> 00:18:09.400 And Sun doesn't have those like preconceived notions that they 393 00:18:09.400 --> 00:18:11.720 were raised with, but like you're seeing them interact with 394 00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:13.519 these people in real life, and you're seeing the kindness 395 00:18:13.559 --> 00:18:15.960 that comes from these communities. And even though a lot 396 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:18.319 of these folks, like the couple at the campfire, have 397 00:18:18.440 --> 00:18:22.519 been rejected by or like damaged by these communities, they 398 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:25.839 don't shy away from meeting new people. And in fact, 399 00:18:25.920 --> 00:18:28.559 Anika is like, I'm done apologizing for the way I've 400 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:31.359 been treated. I'm not going to apologize for that. I'm 401 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:34.119