(tape deck whirring)
- [Alex] So guys, just relax, it's gonna be fine.
Just act natural, act natural. - Okay, cool.
- [Alex] Is this your first interview, guys?
Kind of, you're been, as-- - I mean--
- [Alex] As a group?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- Okay. - Yeah, as a group.
Absolutely, collectively. - Okay.
All right, so I'ma do a three, two, one countdown
and we'll get going, okay cool?
- [Julia] Okay, let's do this.
- Three, two, one.
I'd like to introduce...
- Julia Clare, director.
- Lorenzo Bautista, actor.
- Johnny Walker, producer.
- Awesome, guys.
Now you guys, your first time here.
- Yeah. - At Sundance?
- [Johnny] At Sundance, yeah.
- [Man] 'Cause I remember mine was pretty hectic,
so what was your first--
- I think it's been a really exciting experience
and that we've really been, like,
welcomed into the fray of like, the, you know,
Sundance community.
- What fray are we speaking of?
- Well, actually, I had our film play at this
very cool festival in New York,
a very trendy festival.
While we were there as filmmakers,
a really notable producer said, "Come to Sundance,"
and that he'd take a look at our film.
- Yeah.
- So at that point I was like, we're invited.
We're invited to Sundance.
- Now you guys are here trying to sell a movie?
- Yes. - Yeah.
- Yes. - Finished, just shot.
Okay, who came up with the idea?
- Well Lorenzo and I about, well, it was Lorenzo's idea
and I kind of just helped him with some
of the concepting and-- - Yeah.
- But since they weren't actually storytellers,
I went and put my artistic flesh and blood into the story
and physically wrote it.
I did pay homage to some of the cute little notes
that they put in their notebooks,
but it took more of a seasoned storyteller
to get it down on paper.
- I mean, I did write it.
Like I wrote it out and-- - I mean, not in like
a literal sense. - And I put the dialogue.
- Yeah.
Well no, I literally wrote it in my notebook
and gave you the script.
- You were like a slight script doctor, if that.
- Okay, I don't really wanna insult my work that way, and--
- Okay this-- - I understand that we're
at a bit of an impasse right now.
- Bit of an impasse?
The movie's done.
It's like way passed an impasse.
- Yeah of course, my movie is done.
- No it's not your movie, it's our movie.
We're here together.
- Okay, I mean, I do understand--
- We actually have a trailer for it.
- The fact of the matter is that this is my work
and you are playing it off as something--
I can't deal with this.
I can't deal with this. (sobbing)
Ow.
Fuck!
(upbeat acoustic music)
¶ First you say you do and then you don't ¶
¶ And then you say you will, that's when you won't ¶
¶ You're undecided now, so what are you gonna do ¶
¶ Now you want to play, and then it's no ¶
¶ When you say you'll stay, that's when you go ¶
¶ You're undecided now, so what are you gonna do ¶
¶ Well I've been sittin' on a fence ¶
¶ And it doesn't make much sense ¶
¶ 'Cause you keep me in suspense, and you know it ¶
¶ Then you promise to return, when you don't I really burn ¶
¶ Well, I guess I'll never learn and I show it ¶
¶ So If you got a heart, and if you're kind ¶
¶ Don't keep us apart, make up your mind ¶
¶ You're undecided now, so what are you gonna do ¶
¶ Ooh ¶
- Oh my god.
(kissing)
Sundance 2018, ah!
- Whoa.
This is sick.
Crap, all right.
Where are these guys?
- Oh my god.
Oh my god.
I'm here, I can't believe I'm here.
Oh my god.
Johnny! - What's up?
You made it, finally.
- We're here.
- What's up?
- We're here.
- I know, this is freakin' crazy.
- Can you believe it? - Look at this.
- Isn't it the most beautiful thing
you've ever seen in your entire life?
- You never see something like this in New York.
- Oh my god.
This is our break.
- I know, I know. - This is our fucking break.
- Have you seen Lorenzo?
- No, where the fuck is he?
- I don't know, he's always late.
- Oh my god.
(Lorenzo chuckles)
- [Lorenzo] Yo.
- Dude. - Dude.
- [Lorenzo] Hey guys.
- [Johnny] Well you're not as late as usual.
- Well, I mean.
(Julia squeals) Hey.
- We're here.
Oh my god.
- What's up dude? - Oh, my god.
We are here.
And it's real.
It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life.
- Yeah, it's definitely up there.
- Yeah.
It's exactly like your vision board.
- It's just like vision board.
HBO, Netflix, The Egyptian Theater.
And we're here, and we're gonna make fucking history.
- You know what this is?
- Kismet?
- This is kismet, but it's also a culmination of
two years of hard freakin' work.
- Talent meets hard work meets preparation.
(Lorenzo sighs)
Okay, let's do it. - Yeah.
What should we do first?
- Um-- - Atticus Bookshop is where
all the cool filmmakers hang out, so,
that's where you're gonna find the next Lars von Trier.
Let's go.
- But, let's check in the AiR.B.nb first.
- Fine, whatever. - I wanna drop my stuff off,
get ourself settled in. - It's happening.
- [Johnny] And then we can go to Atticus and network
and that stuff. - Okay you guys just lead
the way, I'll be right here.
- This is amazing.
- Hey check it out, DirecTV Lodge.
- Yes. - Oh, nice.
- And there's an IMDB Lodge over there,
and I wonder, since we're all IMDB Pro members--
- Do you think they'd let us go in?
- We could probably get in. - You think?
- I don't know, maybe. - Well I have IMDB Pro, too.
- Yeah, so, maybe they'll let us in.
And then there's also, I saw a Vimeo place
and a Dropbox place and since we have all of those places,
I'm sure we're probably VIPs in there.
- And, free swag. - Okay, cool.
- Free swag, yes.
- Maybe they'll have sweet t-shirts.
- You think there'd be like, cool actors there or something?
- Yeah, probably. - Yeah.
- We might be able to get somebody to cameo
in our next thing. - Oh that'd be amazing.
- Wait hold on, hold on. - Whoa, whoa, whoa, whao.
- What? - This is Sundance.
You gotta wait. - You can't cross right now.
- Okay come on, let's just go. - Go.
- Look at this.
Do you think people actually go skiing?
Like why would they waste their time on the slopes
when they could be actually schmoozing, you know?
- [Johnny] Don't forget, we're here to find R.B.
and sell this movie.
- [Julia] People keep on looking at me.
- [Lorenzo] Oh, really?
- Yeah I feel like maybe they recognize me.
- Oh.
- Do you think they could have seen me
from my Q and A at the Uptown Downtown Film Festival?
- Oh, yeah. - Oh, of course.
- Totally.
- 'Cause I keep on getting looks and it's like,
they might just think that I'm somebody
who's already famous.
So I'm thinking when we're here next year,
it's gonna be all about our sophomore feature.
- Oh look at the dog. - So at that point we're gonna
know a little more, and I think we'll probably
premiere at Eccles-- - Okay.
- And they planned this whole filmmaker retreat thing--
- Really? - Only the director,
I'm sorry, not the producers or anyone else,
but the director gets invited to Bob Redford's house
and you get to have lunch in his living room
and he's like really chill because by then,
you're like one of the anointed ones.
Oh, look, there's the IMDB Lounge.
- Hey guys, sorry, we're closed for a private event.
- Oh, I have an IMDB account. - I have IMDB Pro.
- Yeah, this is invite only. - Yeah.
They're doing talent interviews in here.
- But we're talent.
- We're talented, too. - We're all talented.
- Yeah. - All right.
- Yeah, sorry.
You're all right, get it next year.
- Stay warm.
- Okay. - Take care.
- [Johnny] Thanks.
(upbeat music) (cheering)
- [Julia] So we're here to sell the movie.
- [Johnny] Yes.
- We're here to try to get our work seen
and taken seriously at a really high level.
So I think that if we just think eye on the prize--
- Yep.
- Here to make this movie, we're going to
get this work seen on a huge level.
- Guys, guys, guys.
Guys, it's the bear.
- [Julia] Are you shitting me right now?
- I'm not.
- Okay. (Lorenzo laughs)
- I found the bear. - Let's take a moment
from our all-important Sundance trip to pose
with a fat bear.
Sundance 2018, ah!
- Hey, it's me, your boy, friend.
Uh.
Anyway, sorry, just calling to let you know that we're here.
I'm actually here with a bear.
Oh, um, you don't know about the bear.
There's this statue of a bear at Sundance
called Franz and like it's just, um,
it's a statue of a bear.
Anyway, uh, yeah, give me a call back when you can.
Okay, bye.
(people chattering)
(Johnny sighs) - We made it, guys.
Ground zero of Sundance.
- I can't believe it.
- It's a lot smaller than I thought it was gonna be.
- Shush.
It's beautiful.
- No it is really nice.
I just thought, you know. - It's perfect.
We're gonna be on that screen one day.
- And hopefully sooner than later.
- Yes.
Oh.
- Cool.
- All right, let's find this Airbnb.
So guys, it says in five feet we make a right.
- Okay.
- Guys look, there it is, there's the stairs.
- Ooh, let's do it.
- Dude, that's a fuckton of stairs.
- Come on, slowpokes.
- I know.
- Sundance waits for no man.
Ah!
Come on.
- [Johnny] Dude.
Did you hear that "Sundance waits for no man" jab?
- [Lorenzo] Yeah, I heard it.
- Dude the altitude's really messing me up.
I thought I was in shape.
Apparently not.
You okay?
- Yeah, I'm good.
Oh my god, there's so many more stairs.
- We're good, we're good.
Come on, come on, we got it.
We got this.
- [Lorenzo] Oh my god.
We're good, we're good.
- [Johnny] Dude, why is she running so fast?
- [Lorenzo] Is she like, training for like a marathon?
I just need to lose weight.
- It'll be all right, you're good.
- Oh my god, son of a bitch. - I can't go anymore.
- [Lorenzo] Dude I need you to let go of my bag.
- [Johnny] My heart's really--
- [Lorenzo] I need you to let go of my bag, it's too much.
- [Johnny] All right, all right, all right.
- [Lorenzo] Oh my god.
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.
- Dude are you kidding me?
More stairs?
- There's more stairs.
How is she going so fast?
Oh they're so steep, why are they so steep?
- And why are there so many? - Oh my god.
This is horrible.
- Come on guys, woo! - I hate her.
- My legs are burning.
- My head's starting to hurt, dude,
like it's really hurting.
Do you think it's like...
- Come on!
Woo!
- [Lorenzo] There's a light at the end of the tunnel.
- [Johnny] I can't do this, I can't do this.
- [Lorenzo] Somewhere.
Holy shit.
Oh my god, I can't.
- Okay.
Come on.
Come on, we gotta go.
We can't stop, 'cause if we stop, we're not gonna make it.
- Woo!
Sundance 2018, woo woo woo.
Woo woo, woo woo.
Let's go!
(laughs) Come on.
Ah!
Look at this place. - Okay.
Guys, there it is.
- Where? - There's the Airbnb.
- Oh my god.
- Hey, did I do good, or did I do good?
- Done good.
- This is pretty nice. - This is sweet.
- All right.
- I call the master bedroom.
- [Lorenzo] Fine.
- Look at this place. - Yeah, it's super super.
(heavy breathing)
Hey. - Everything's happening.
- I know. (heavy breathing)
- This place is sweet. - I know, it's so nice.
- [Julia] I can't wait to get inside.
- Yeah, right? - It's huge.
- Hey, dude, you good?
- Nah dude, we're good.
We're good.
Hey.
Yes, this is Johnny from the three people renting.
No, no, we're outside right now actually.
No, I didn't get your email actually, what did it say?
Oh, I mean, a leak?
That's fine, I mean, we're just like crashing for the night.
What do you mean we can't stay?
I know you sent the email, I didn't get any email.
No, we can't find any other reservation.
You guys didn't even give us the refund yet.
That's our last $400.
- Mwah.
(laughs)
So, I was watching Yojimbo on the
Criterion Collection laser disc and I had this realization
that everything that I was doing as an auteur
with my work in like the downtown scene in Brooklyn
could be my calling card, and that the way that I
was using black and white and like the visual style
that I was getting wasn't just like merely
like the French new wave thing.
Yes, I mean I do use that thing where every single one
of my character's dialogue has this like,
really shrewd philosophical statement thing.
And then Johnny said to me, "You know, Julia,
"like style over substance could be a thing."
And I thought that intrinsically if what I was doing,
if that's what I'm trying to say,
and the suffering that I'm using,
that it could actually really inform the kind
of visual work that I'm doing.
So I thought to myself that my film could be the very
thing that puts me on the map.
And I read somewhere that if you reach out to like
Jessica Chastain or Gerard Depardieu and you say
that you're writing a character that transcends
the mere type that they normally play
that that would be a calling card--
- Hey guys, guys, sorry.
Can we have team meeting?
(sighs)
So, I just got off the phone with Justin,
the guy who's renting us the house--
- Sweet, so are we getting in now.
- So that's the thing.
So as you may or may not have noticed, I couldn't get in,
so I called him and that's when he gave me some bad news
and some badder news.
- Okay. - What?
- So the bad news is there is a leak--
- That's fine, I mean, you can have the room
closest to the bathroom.
You can sleep through anything, we'll be fine.
- I said the same exact thing--
- [Julia] Right, right, let's just move in right now.
- Exactly, we're only here for the night.
- [Julia] Exactly, it's all good.
- Totally.
But apparently he emailed me, which I never got and--
- Why didn't you check your email?
- I did.
- But what if we have agents and managers
and distributors writing to us during this trip?
- Yeah that's all great and stuff.
What are we doing tonight?
- We need to focus on making sure that when
people are trying to get to us that we're
available to be gotten to.
- Guys, I got it.
Look.
Between the three of us, we have to know someone
we can crash with-- - Wait.
You're really saying that we can't stay here tonight?
In the place that we booked out--
- It is so fucking cold.
Oh my god, dude, are you serious?
- Guys, this-- - Look, he's gonna refund
our money back. - But this Airbnb was
on my vision board.
It's not something that we can just replace.
- Okay, look, no one cares about the vision board.
- You're saying you don't care about my vision board?
- [Johnny] That's exactly what I'm saying.
- You're my producer, you're here to support me
and to support my vision. - Okay, guys.
What are we gonna do?
- Okay, um, Julia.
We're gonna take off our filmmakers hats and we're gonna
talk as friends now.
- [Julia] I can't take the hat off, I am the hat.
- Okay.
No one cares about the vision board.
- What? - Look, I'm stressin' out.
Listen, we will just sleep in the airport, okay,
we'll figure it out, I don't care.
- I can't fucking work like this.
(sighs)
- Just fix it, dude.
- Yeah.
(people chattering)
- Oh god, I'm so tired.
- Me too.
- It feels so good to sit down.
- Look guys, I don't want you to worry, okay?
I'm reaching out to everybody I know who could
be at Sundance.
I'm sure somebody has a floor we can crash on.
Just somebody.
- In what has become a tradition of the festival,
this year's non-panel panel called This Is Not A Panel
will be featuring filmmakers sharing object stories
and sensory representation of what influenced their work.
Is that not the most Sundance shit you have ever heard
in your entire life? - Yeah.
- Guys, is this how it's gonna be all day?
You guys are just gonna keep ignoring me?
- Ooh.
Madeline's Madeline.
Sounds so subversive.
The new frontier section is almost
entirely female filmmakers.
- Yeah, I don't-- - This is the shit.
And since we don't have anywhere to stay this afternoon,
we might as well go and you know, sit in the theater.
- True.
- What do you think is at Eccles at noon?
Do you think we should just crash it?
I think we should just, like, walk the fuck in
and act like we work there.
- Oh okay, cool.
I mean, I don't know if that's gonna--
Ooh, they have breakfast pizza.
- Do they have any unicorn lattes?
- What's a unicorn latte?
It has that, like, sugar pink unicorn poop--
- Guys, guys, guys.
R.B. is talking at Slam Dance.
He goes on in 10 minutes, we gotta run.
We gotta go, we gotta go. - Okay, let's go.
- I really wanted the pi--
(grunts) God, why is it so difficult?
- R.B. is here, R.B. is here.
We gotta go, hurry.
- Oh my god, oh my god.
- Dude just rest. - Yeah.
- I have a confession.
I always wanted to be a director and actor,
but then 2002, Robert Evans, The Kid Stays in the Picture.
That's the film that made me realize that there is
an art to being a producer, albeit a very painful one.
The thing about being a producer is you're the person
that keeps everything together.
You're essentially the heart and soul of a movie.
You're also the one that when shit hits the fan,
everyone seems to crap on you. - Guys, guys.
- What's up?
- We missed him.
- Oh, shi...
- You guys have to keep up when I'm running.
We're not gonna get to do anything if we're slow.
- It's the hills and stuff.
- I know, I know.
- Sorry. - It's okay.
What do we do now?
- Well why don't we just go to the ticketing center
and see if maybe he's doing panels?
- I mean I checked the app and there's nothing, but,
maybe we can convince someone in person.
- Okay. - All right.
- Okay. - Cool.
- We can do this, let's go.
- Oh, we're going.
- [Julia] Woo.
When do you think the next bus is coming?
- Oh, I'm not sure.
Uh, let's see if I can find the schedule.
- Sit down.
- So, I was able to Google.
It's about three minutes to the next bus.
- Awesome. - Cool.
- Guys, can you believe they're all free here?
- We're at Sundance.
A land of opportunity.
- Free opportunities are great.
- Oh my god.
I can't wait for today.
- Yeah.
I can't wait to get inside somewhere warm.
- Yeah. - Like a warm theater.
- Oh, wait. - No.
- Oh, come on.
(people chattering)
Guys, I've got a confession to make.
- Another one?
- I did not prepare for this trip.
I didn't bring thermal underwear,
I don't have any winter socks,
and I haven't felt my feet in about 27 minutes.
Anybody have an extra pair of socks that they
would be willing to lend me?
- It's fine, you're taking all of this to seriously.
Your feet will thaw.
Your life will go on.
We're only here in Park City for 24 hours to see art.
Forget the rest of it.
Let's just go see something really cool and avant garde
and expand our artistic palates and have the best--
- Guys, look, I get it.
We're at Sundance Film Festival, but why are we
trying to see movies when we're trying to sell a movie?
That's our purpose for being here.
- Because we're not the kind of self-indulgent artists
that don't take in the work that's around us.
We're here to support art and live art and breathe art.
We'll sell our film, we'll take in some world class cinema.
- We just have time to kill anyway, dude.
You lost our Airbnb, so like,
we have to be inside somewhere.
- Yeah, I mean, if we had the Airbnb,
then we might be able to, you know,
go and chill out there, but.
- So we're gonna keep bringing that up again all day, huh?
- Well I'm just saying that we don't have a home,
so the cinema is our home today.
- Guys, look.
One movie, okay?
- Or a block of shorts.
- Fine.
- If we just follow our artistic hearts and go
and see the best shit, we're probably,
through the laws of attraction, going to draw him
towards us anyway.
- [Johnny] Trace any celebrities yet?
- [Lorenzo] Oh yeah, I've seen a bunch, have you seen any?
- No, who'd you see?
- Oh I saw Jon Hamm, saw Kevin Smith.
- Wow. - Saw Nic Cage.
Uh...
- Did you talk to any of them?
- No, no one talks to Nic Cage.
(laughs) That's crazy.
- When you're at Sundance, this is the perfect opportunity
to talk and meet other actors.
People that are trying to do what you are trying to do,
you know what I'm saying?
- Yeah, I guess, but...
- Look, Lorenzo.
Sometimes, dude, you just gotta put your balls out there,
you know what I'm saying?
- Yeah. - Take a risk.
- Okay, no I got you, cool.
Nic Cage, pull your balls out, got you.
I mean I'm not gonna literally pull my balls out.
- No. - 'Cause that'd be weird.
- I said put your balls out there.
Put your balls out there.
Not pulls your balls out. - Oh.
- It's a metaphor. - Yeah.
- Got you.
Maybe next time, don't use metaphors.
Just like, build your confidence, you know,
somethin' like that.
Just so it's more clear.
You know what I mean? - I think that's a good idea.
(people chattering)
Come on guys.
- [Julia] Ooh.
- [Lorenzo] Wow.
This is nice.
- All right guys, we're here, so first thing's first.
Let's go upstairs and check out the panel schedule
and try to find R.B. - And movies.
- Okay. - Movies.
All right, you hang tight.
Just like, mingle or something.
- Okay.
Cool.
(people chattering)
This is, this is intense.
There's a lot of tension between those two,
which it's been ongoing for I don't even know how long,
but it's fine.
We're here, we're gonna make this happen,
we're gonna meet R.B. and it's gonna be great.
Because I just want it to be really great
'cause I'm really nervous about this.
I'm just like, it's my first feature and I want people
to like it. (chuckles)
And um, (clears throat) yeah, there's a lot of prep
for this character.
You know, miser technique, Alexander technique.
I just, like, really, honestly, I just watched a lot
of movies to like see what the actors did in those movies.
Like Dumb and Dumber, Liar Liar, The Mask.
Just a lot of Jim Carrey movies.
Um, just to see, you know, what he did
that's gonna help me get into my character
as a minority from the Bronx falling in love
with an alien who's just like a smaller minority.
So that's gonna be
a fun thing to see how R.B. reacts to it, you know,
and I'm just like really excited to see how--
- Hey Lorenzo. - Yeah.
- [Johnny] We're having another team meeting.
- Oh, okay.
(Johnny sighs) - All right guys,
so here's the situation.
All short blocks and feature films are sold out,
R.B.'s not speaking at any panels.
- And we have no place to stay.
- Thanks for that.
- Okay mister producer.
What now?
- You know what?
I actually think I got somethin'.
- [Lorenzo] Oh good, good, he's got something.
- [Julia] It's real reassuring.
- This is nice though.
- My feet hurt.
- Yeah, my face hurts.
- At least we're at Sundance.
- Yeah.
There's that.
- The fire's pretty. - Yeah.
- Guys. - Yeah?
- I am a freaking genius.
Do you remember that guy I told you about
that I follow on Twitter, Indie Film Hustle?
So I don't know why the hell I didn't remember this,
he is doing an interview with R.B. here at Sundance,
so I sent him a direct message and I said,
"Listen, is there any way me and my two
"filmmakers friends can possibly swing by to
"meet R.B. after your interview?"
And he said, "Dude you guys are members of the tribe,
"no problem."
We're gonna meet him tonight.
(Julia squeals) - Yes!
- [Johnny] Did I tell you guys I would come through for you?
- Dude. - Do I ever let you down?
- Oh. - Thank you.
- Awesome.
So we're gonna meet R.B.?
We're gonna meet him? - Yes.
We have four hours.
- It's happening. - Oh, god.
- For once, like we said, let's just
freakin' enjoy Sundance, okay? - Yeah.
Let's relax.
Everything's good, all right.
Let's make it happen. - Take a breath.
- Okay.
- Okay, let's explore. - We'll make the best of it.
We're at Sundance, come on guys.
(Julia squeals)
(upbeat jazzy music)
- Hey babe. (chuckles)
Uh, I was just calling to check in,
let you know that we're here.
Just waiting for the bus now, trying to meet up
with a producer and hopefully sell this movie. (chuckles)
But uh, yeah, just give me a call back when you can.
I'll text you a little later,
and um, yeah, talk to you soon.
K, bye.
(upbeat jazzy music)
- Okay guys, so question.
Good idea, or amazing idea, if I just cold write
to an assistant at WME on Facebook?
Why not try it?
Like the worst that could happen is they block me.
- Right, yeah. - Well.
- Or they watch our trailer and realize
that we're the next Kubricks.
And if I send your trailer, like, the more hits on it,
if it goes viral, like, the more likely we are
to probably get a deal.
- Anyway guys, I might've met someone back home.
- Aww.
Like, a girl?
- I don't wanna, like, say much about it.
It's just like--
- You mean like a special someone?
- Or a boy? - Yeah, maybe.
I don't know, we'll see, I don't know.
- Oh.
- It's a girl, you knew that.
(Julia laughs)
- That's really sweet.
- Yeah.
I mean, I don't know.
It's just like, we talked a couple times.
We'll see what happens.
- What's she like?
- Uh, I mean, she's really nice.
I mean, we're getting to know each other.
Nothing, like, too crazy yet.
Only been on like two dates, but, I feel somethin',
and I'm kind of excited about it.
- Is she an actor?
- No, she's a dentist.
- Probably for the best.
You never wanna date within the industry, trust me.
- I don't know about that.
- So says the one who hasn't has a boyfriend in two years.
- I mean, it's not like I've taken, like, an actual vow
of celibacy, but, I just think my work
has to be number one in my life right now.
- For sure.
I mean, I don't know, it'd be nice to like, have someone.
- Yeah, no, for sure.
I'm just saying the most successful people
are often married to their careers
and I just don't think we should get distracted before--
- Okay, you know, nevermind.
- Married to their careers? - Yeah.
- We have to have more than just a film business, though.
- Why?
- Because, at the end of our lives, we're not gonna take
the movies we made with us.
It's gonna be the people-- - (laughs) I don't know.
I plan to sleep next to my Oscars every night
and stay really warm.
- You're really delusional.
(scoffs) - At least I'm focused.
- Anyway, yeah, she's like super nice.
- Hey, maybe we'll get a free cleaning out of it.
(scoffs)
- I don't think we're at that stage yet.
- [Julia] Oh, um.
May I get a thin mint?
- Milk or dark chocolate?
- Yes, mom, of course I'm eating healthy.
Yes, I got the kale chips.
And the granola.
No, no, of course I'll be staying away from sweets.
K, love you, bye.
Perfect.
(laughing) (Julia squeals)
- Insta time.
- This is fun guys, isn't it?
- Let's take a picture. - Okay.
- Um, excuse me?
What are you guys doin'?
You can't hang here.
- Just one selfie?
- Nope, I gotta have you leave.
- No selfies? - No selfies, sorry.
Why don't you get up and head on out?
- Sorry.
- Come on.
- Sorry.
- Come back later.
- Hello, is this WME?
Yes.
May I speak to someone in the packaging department?
No, no, not the mail room, the pack, like TV packaging.
(sighs)
I got the number off IMDB Pro.
No, it's cool, I can wait.
She's out to lunch again?
Okay, I'll call back.
I'll call back, okay, okay.
Good bye.
(sighs)
- You're gonna have a whole damn photo album.
Good for you, good for you, kid.
Great job, all right.
- Holy shit guys, that's Glickman.
That's Stephen Glickman.
- I have no idea who that is.
- Hey, you're Stephen Glickman, right?
- Uh huh. - Yo, big fan, man.
Can I get an autograph? - Sure, yeah, no.
No autographs man, but I'll take a picture with you.
- Oh yeah, cool.
- I just don't do autographs. - That's fine, I get it.
- People try to sell it on the Ebay and shit.
- Yeah. - Before you know it,
it's worth $45. - Right, right, right.
- Like, you know, I'm not worth $45.
I'm worth $55.
- Oh, thanks, dude, appreciate it.
- Yeah, no problem man.
You bet. - Oh shit, it's blurry.
Can I just get, can I get one more?
- Hurry, it's a new filter queen.
- Okay, yeah, I mean I got a picture.
- That's good.
I have no idea who he is, but, let's go meet real auteurs.
- Okay.
(upbeat jazzy music)
- Mom, I got your text, what's up?
Yeah, I borrowed the money.
Well what do you--
Look, you're the one who told me that I need
to invest in myself, that if I don't invest in me,
no one else is gonna invest in me.
But I know, but I didn't have the money.
No but mom, look, this film is gonna be my chance.
It's my way in.
Look, I was trying to do it for us.
I don't want us living in this shitty apartment anymore.
You know I always wanted to buy you a house,
you know I always said that.
What do you--
What do you mean don't come home?
What the fuck am I supposed to do?
(upbeat jazzy music)
- Ooh, look. - Whoa.
- Look.
They're showing Read the Animals, which is a
Sundance film this year, and they're doing
a reading right now.
Come on guys, let's go. - Okay, okay, okay.
- Let's go. - We're going, we're going.
Geez.
(upbeat jazzy music)
- Hey, it's me calling again, voicemail number five.
Sorry, I just thought you had the day off, so,
I'm just not sure what's going on. (laughs)
But yeah, give me a call back when you can.
Uh, that's you calling, sorry.
Hey.
Hey, how's it going?
Yeah I got a s--
Sorry?
Well, no, I mean I was just calling to see
how you were doing.
No, I just, I just thought we had something.
Okay.
Yeah no, I get it.
Okay.
Okay, talk to you later.
Bye.
Hey guys.
- Hey. - Ready?
How's she doin'?
- She's good. - Huh, loverboy?
- [Lorenzo] Yeah, she's good.
- Oh my god, I love all of this, these, the crowds.
The adrenaline just like lights me up, you know?
- Yeah, totally.
- Don't you just live for people to wait in line
to see you and your work?
- [Lorenzo] Yeah, I, you know, making people
laugh is awesome.
- I just wanna move to Sundance.
(Lorenzo laughs)
- You wanna move to Sundance?
- Yeah.
- It only like lasts for like 10 days.
- Shut up. - Okay.
- Is that Leonardo DiCaprio? - Oh Jesus.
Oh.
(gasps)
- Do you think if I got out right now
and told him that I had a script and that he
would come and be in my next movie?
Oh.
Oh my god.
- Probably not, but.
- Shut up. - Okay.
(upbeat jazzy music)
- Hello?
Hey, it's Julia Clare, I'm just checking in.
I wanted to let you know that I'm at the
Sundance Film Festival.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm one of Samantha's clients.
(scoffs)
What do you mean I'm no longer on her roster?
No, no, no, I told her that I was booking out
to go to the Sundance Film Festival
to show my feature.
Downsizing?
Oh, do you mean you're not repping filmmakers
above a certain level, because,
I'll totally take referrals if you think I should be
with like a bigger management company like in
Zero Gravity or Nauthenic.
Dropping me?
(chuckles)
Yeah, I understand.
No, I...
(upbeat jazzy music)
Hey guys.
Let's...
(upbeat jazzy music)
- [Johnny] How are you guys feelin'?
- I'm feeling ready. - I'm okay.
- What about you? - I'm okay.
I feel really good.
Is this is it?
- [Julia] This is it.
- [Johnny] How do you feel?
- [Julia] About to go up to Oz.
I was born ready.
- [Johnny] Remember guys, the pitch,
just like we talked about.
- I'm ready. - We got this.
Hey.
- [Lorenzo] Wow, cool.
This place is dope.
- Hey.
- Hi.
Uh, is the elevator this way?
- [Woman] Right down the hall.
- [Lorenzo] Great, thanks.
- It's right here.
(elevator dings)
You ready?
- Yeah. - Mhm.
- After you.
After you, sir.
- All right.
- [Johnny] All right.
So.
- Okay, so, what's Indie Film Hustle again?
That's pretty cool.
- [Johnny] Um.
(humming)
All right, it's gotta be this way.
- [Julia] We seriously can't be late.
Do you know how unprofessional it's gonna look
if we're late?
- [Lorenzo] Um, that one says 203.
- I am never trusting you guys again.
- [Lorenzo] Oh geez.
- God, now the numbers are going back down.
This place is like a freakin' maze.
(sighs)
- [Julia] We're gonna miss him, guys.
- Well we're trying here.
- You gotta stay positive.
- Everyone just use the law of attraction.
- Okay.
- Okay look guys, 202, three, four,
the numbers are going up.
This is good, this is very, very good.
(Julia groans)
Six.
- [Lorenzo] What is it, 247, was it?
- 247. - 247.
- [Johnny] Where?
- [Julia] Oh.
- That's 207.
Crap.
Hey guys, look.
Before we go in, can we just have like a quick
little pow wow?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I wanna make sure we're on the same page
with all of this.
- Oh yeah, for damn sure.
100%.
So, I am having a really tough time with
the name of the film.
- But I think it's because you don't get it.
The Tango of Neptune's Fury: The Battle of Persephone
is a beautiful homage to all the kind of
Europeans films that everyone is like,
actively looking to get behind.
- I just think that, just the name is just too damn long.
- I just don't think this is the right time
to talk about this.
- I mean, The Battle of Persephone is an
internal battle.
It is just filled with estrogen, I mean,
it comes from down here.
It's the kind of thing that when we talk about
as women, female filmmakers, this is like the
Me Too movement all encapsulated in one sci fi film
filled with feminist propaganda.
Right?
- Sure. - Yeah.
- It's subjective.
I just thought-- - I mean, I don't think
it's subjective when it was probably the title
that got me past the first round of the Nickels Fellowship.
I mean, it's the kind of thing that is so intrinsic
to my style of work.
I mean, my passion comes through in that title.
That is like an homage to the kind of work
that everyone wants to work to be part of.
I mean, it's beautiful cinematic story telling.
- Okay you barely got through the first round,
but like, regardless-- - Okay but the coverage that
I got, people told me that it was really saying something.
- Guys, guys, guys.
All I'm saying is, from a marketing stand point,
what if we shorten the title to this: Persephone.
- What, I mean, this isn't Pixar.
- Look I know, but I just thinking that, you know,
with a title that long, it's,
people are gonna think we're pretentious and--
- Like, we don't need a one name, like, thing.
It doesn't have to be catchy.
- Yeah, something-- - And people are going
to remember it because it's in--
- Very mature. - The Criterion Collection,
not because it has a slightly pretentious title
that actually is really kind of brilliant.
- God, the numbers are going down again.
It's like where the heck is this room?
- I don't remember this hallway at all.
- No, I don't either.
- [Man] Podcasting from the back alley.
- Guys, 247.
- Yeah.
- Finally.
This place is super cool.
- Hey Alex, nice to meet you, I'm Lorenzo.
Big fan of your Indie Film Hustle podcast.
It's really awesome stuff right there.
- Oh I'm not Alex, man.
- Sorry?
- I'm not Alex, man, I'm Paul.
- Paul?
- Yeah, Paul.
- Paul.
Oh, okay.
Uh-- - Hey guys, I'm Alex.
- Oh fuck. - Hi, Alex.
Julia.
- Nice to meet you.
- Oh dude, good to meet you, finally man,
after all this time. - Thank you man.
- Thank you very much. - Awesome to have you man.
Awesome to have you here man.
- Hey, Alex.
Lorenzo.
- Pleasure to meet you guys. - Sorry about that.
- Pleasure to meet you, thanks for comin'.
- I mean what you're doing for the community,
it's really amazing.
- Oh, we're just trying to help other filmmakers.
You know, we're all in this together,
so why not help each other?
- Is, is your guest R.B. still around?
- So I got a little bit of bad news.
R.B.'s not gonna be able to make it today
'cause he got stacked up on some other interviews,
so he's not gonna be here, I'm so sorry.
- Don't even worry about it. - That's cool.
- Nah dude, it's fine, it happens.
No worries. - What's with the mics?
- Oh I'm just interviewing filmmakers here at Sundance
trying to get the word out on their project.
- Oh, sweet.
- I don't know if you've told him, but,
we've been getting a little bit of buzz
on the festival circuit.
- You got a feature film you just finished?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- [Alex] Oh awesome.
- We just were shopping it around at Sundance and maybe,
maybe you could interview us.
- Um, yeah, why not?
We're all set up, absolutely, we'll help you guys out.
- Yeah? - Oh nice.
- Pretty cool, let's do this.
- Oh sweet. - Sorry, dude.
- No worries guys, just take off your jackets and stuff
and we'll get going right away.
- Hey you guys look really similar.
- So guys, just relax, it's gonna be fine.
Just act natural. - Absolutely.
- Is this your first interview, guys?
Kind of, or you've been doing this before?
- I mean-- - As a group?
- As a group, yeah.
- Okay. - Yeah, as a group.
Absolutely, collectively. - Yeah.
- So uh, all right, I'm gonna do a three, two, one countdown
and we'll get going, all right?
- Awesome. - Okay, let's do this.
- Three, two, one.
I'd like to welcome to the show...
- Julia Clare, director.
- Oh, Lorenzo Bautista, actor.
- Johnny Walker, producer.
- Fantastic guys, so, first of all,
what made you guys wanna be filmmakers?
- Well-- - Well I--
- I mean I really would say it's a bit of a calling.
- Okay.
- It's one of those things that you just grow up
as a storyteller with a diverse voice.
And as a disenfranchised millennial,
it just really felt like I had a story to tell
and I'm a spokesperson for so many girls just like me.
So I just started making shit and--
- Just going for it? - Going for it.
- All right.
- Um, yeah, I mean I had a filmmaking mentor in college
and he said, you know, being a filmmaker is cool,
but one of the coolest things about it is
being the voice of the voiceless and that just
really resonated with me.
- [Alex] Cool.
Lorenzo?
- Oh, wow, I just really love movies.
- All right, what's some of your favorite directors?
- Uh, I think right now, Tommy Wiseau.
- [Alex] The Room?
- Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, have you seen it?
- I have.
- It's the only movie he's directed.
- [Alex] Yeah, I know.
- Yeah, it's like, wow, he just like left his mark and
hasn't worked on anything else since.
- Okay. - That actually also inspired
you to get into acting. - Yeah.
His performance in that movie was just like,
it really hit home.
- He has very unique vision. - Oh yeah.
- Without question. - 100%.
- Now, you guys, your first time here at Sundance.
- At Sundance, yeah.
- [Alex] So what's been the experience here at Sundance,
your first time?
'Cause I remember mine was pretty hectic so
what was your fist experience here?
- It's been hell. - Super rocky.
- It's been bad.
- I think they're exaggerating a little.
- Okay. - I think it's been a really
exciting experience and that we've really been like,
welcomed into the fray of the, you know, Sundance community.
- What fray are we speaking of?
- Well actually, I had a film play at this
very cool festival in New York, a very trendy festival.
While we were there, as filmmakers,
a really notable producer said,
"Come to Sundance," and that he'd take a look
at our film. - Yeah.
- So at that point, I was like, we're invited.
We're invited to Sundance.
- You've got a positive outlook on things,
I appreciate that, I appreciate that.
- [Julia] Thank you.
- You guys, so your feeling on your experience so far?
- Well, I mean, sure, yeah.
It was pretty intense but like,
we lost our Airbnb this morning.
- That was my fault.
- And you know, some people would be concerned
about earthly things like that.
- [Alex] Okay.
- But the way I see it, we're being invited into
a community of filmmakers and it's just been this, like,
really surreal experience, so.
- Yeah. - I don't wanna define
24 hours of our life by what did we get or lose, you know?
It's material. - 24 hours?
How long are you guys here for?
- Just through tomorrow. - 24 hours.
- For a day.
- So you're doing Sundance in one day?
- Yeah. - Yeah, and some might say
it's a little ambitious that--
- Many people would say something like that.
It's uh, it's-- - Well I mean it's just, like,
all we could afford right now.
- Is that the reason why it's just like--
- Yeah, it's just, so we like just--
- I mean-- - I feel ya, I feel ya.
- We're spent. - Y'all gotta hustle.
Now you guys are here trying to sell a movie?
- Yeah.
- Yeah, yeah. - Yes.
- Finish and shot.
Okay, so what's the name of the feature?
- It is called Persephone.
- [Alex] Okay, and, and what is Persephone about?
- It's a romantic dramedy.
We like to think of it as E.T. meets
The Shape of Water, with...
- A little Transformers sprinkled on top.
- I'd actually say it's a bit more of a really personal
coming of age story.
It has like an intergalactic element but it's really
based on my own experience as a legal alien
and I decided to transpose that and make that something
that was an experience based on a young boy
and how he was navigating this relationship with
this really exceptional alpha woman, you know?
- We have a trailer. - I'd love to see it.
- We do, we do. - Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
- We shot it in black and white and I think
it's just such a--
- Shot the movie in black and white?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- That is a bold choice. - It was, thank you.
- It's a bold, it's a bold choice.
- Not my choice.
- No, you didn't make many creative choices,
but it's something I'm very proud of.
- All right, so it's, it's shot in black and white.
- It's a bit Frances Ha meets Criterion Collection.
- So, all right, so you shot it all in black and white.
- I actually, um, edited that.
- You edited the feature or the trailer?
- The trailer.
- No, you don't have to be humble.
- Both.
- He edited the whole feature.
- You did the feature as well? - Yeah.
- He did. - And um, have you ever
edited a feature before? - No, that was my first time.
- It made it really raw.
- Yeah. - He killed it.
- Yeah. - Thanks.
- And um, what did you edit on?
- iMovie.
- Yeah, 'cause I recognize the star wipe, um,
which is also a bold choice in a trailer.
- Well, it's an intergalactic--
- I understand, I understand the connection
between the stars and-- - Thematically, I thought.
- Thematically, like, I get you.
- I'm glad, like, that came across, 'cause--
- No, no it's there, it's there.
- It was something that I was hoping wasn't too subtle.
- No, no, no, you're there, you're there.
- Okay. - That's why I didn't have
a lot of choices in iMovie, so, um,
I just went with-- - You know, limitations are
sometimes the best source of creativity.
- Yes, creatively, I feel really inspired.
- Uh, as a marketability situation, I mean,
black and white's gonna be tough.
- I know, but I was thinking Criterion Collection
the entire time that I was shooting this.
- Okay. - And I was thinking that,
you know, Lena Dunham was exalted when they brought
Tiny Furniture into the collection.
- Okay. - And I feel like that what,
and now that Virgin Suicides was recently introduced.
- Okay. - I feel like this is really
the trifecta. - Okay.
- And it really kind of, I feel like this
is my time and my voice and my moment.
- So um, this is, it's a bold trailer and a bold idea.
Who came up with this idea?
- Well I mean, I was the writer and auteur.
- Oh, well-- - And I directed it,
of course, obviously.
- Well Lorenzo and I, well it was Lorenzo's idea
and I kind of just helped him with some
of the concepting and he took the first steps--
- But since they weren't actually storytellers,
I went and put my artistic flesh and blood into the story
and physically wrote it.
I did pay homage to some of the cute little notes
that they put in their notebooks.
But it took more of a seasoned storyteller
to get it down on paper. - I mean, I did write it.
Like I, you know, wrote it out--
- [Julia] I mean, not in like a literal sense.
- I helped with the dialogue. - Yeah.
Well no, I literally wrote it in my notebook
and gave you the script.
- I mean, if I were to base, if I were to credit
every person who said conversationally little snippets
that made it into my script, I mean,
as an artist I can't just credit every bystander
on the train. - I feel like that's like
severely downplaying what I did, but whatever.
- Yeah.
- They didn't write it.
I mean I, you know, I have the copyright
in the Library of Congress.
Like, I'm-- - Wait, wait.
What do you mean you have the copyright?
- Well I mean it's under my name
because I actually wrote it because as the only
actual person who's qualified as a screenwriter,
you both had ideas that inspired my creative muse.
- Wait, wait, we said we weren't gonna copyright.
- Well obviously now that our project is getting such buzz,
and it's going to kind of take the
festival circuit by storm, I had to do the
responsible thing of-- - Well of course, I mean.
- Right, of course.
- As long as we're on the same page.
- And now, right. - Wait, wait, wait, hold on.
Hold on, did you put our names on it?
- I put my name, the writer, director, of the project.
I mean, I wasn't gonna go and put, like,
the names of PAs and everyone else
who worked on the film on the script.
- That's kind of taking it, we're not PAs.
Like, I was the lead, he's the producer.
- Yeah, but, darling, just because--
- Yeah, and we came up with the concept.
He wrote it first.
And then you took it and zhushed it up.
- As an actor, you mean he spoke my words.
The privilege of getting to speak my words as an actor
in a project that I clearly, I am the inception and the art.
- I mean, you were like a slight script doctor, if that.
- Okay, I don't really wanna insult my work that way.
I think that he artistically means that it's
all based on my vision board.
- Would you stop with the damn vision board.
Nobody cares about your vision board.
- Okay, we're talking right now about the law of attraction
and if it wasn't for me and my vision,
we wouldn't be here.
We wouldn't be at Sundance, we wouldn't be making art.
We would still be sitting in your mom's basement.
- Well it's so funny that you talk about, you know,
this vision board and the law of attraction because
it's just like the way you attracted $100,000
out of my mom's retirement to make this movie.
That's how the movie got made.
- Just like you were attracted to my entire
artistic process and are now claiming ownership.
I'm sorry you've never done anything artistic
in your life and you want to piggyback on
your ex-girlfriend's success.
- Alex. - Yes?
- This is why you never work with someone
that you used to date.
- Oh.
I can't deal with this.
Ow.
Fuck!
- Way to have my back, dude, like,
for the love of god, just grow some balls for once.
- Oh come on, that's mean.
- Um.
So, uh, Lorenzo, you got anything else going on?
- Um.
I mean, I'm gonna be in next week's episode of CSI.
Have a featured walk on, under five, so um,
look out for that. (chuckles)
(knocking) Julia.
- [Julia] What?
- Come out.
- [Julia] No.
- Julia, come out.
Please.
- [Julia] I'm embarrassed.
- Yeah, well that was embarrassing.
Can you guys just, okay, I know Johnny can be
a bit of a dick sometimes. - He's a bad producer.
- Yeah, and he's kind of a piece of shit, you know, but.
- [Julia] And a shitty friend.
- Just, all right?
So.
Just come on out. - Fine.
- Thank you. (Julia sniffles)
Okay, look, I think at this point,
we should just cut our losses, grab our stuff
and get out of here, okay?
- Do you think this is gonna hurt the movie?
- It's probably gonna hurt the movie, but let's just go.
(sighs)
- Fine, let's go.
- Do I know you guys?
- You know, it doesn't even matter, here.
I need you guys to do me a huge favor.
I need you guys to go to the liquor store
and get enough vodka, whiskey, gin,
for about 30 producers for the party tonight, okay?
Good.
Here's the list.
Bring me receipts.
Oh and uh, get some hand sanitizer and chap stick for Alex.
He's a little bit of a bitch, I know,
but you guys get it.
Anyway, thanks guys, appreciate it.
- Go, go, go, go.
(Julia squeals)
(upbeat jazzy music)
Guys.
30 producers.
Okay, go, go, come on.
- Do you know how many people we're gonna pitch tonight?
(Julia laughs) - 30?
(upbeat pop music)
(laughs) - Woo!
- Oh shit. - Let me know when to go.
Fuckin' shit balls.
(people exclaiming) - Oh no!
- No! - No!
(laughing)
- Fuck!
- Get it.
To the night.
- Cheers.
- Hey!
(clapping) (cheering)
- Oh.
Oh, you are so fuckin' lucky.
(cheering)
- Bottoms up!
(cheering)
- [Johnny] Fuck!
(people exclaiming)
- [Group] Johnny, Johnny, Johnny, Johnny.
(laughs)
- [Man] Number 52!
Woo!
(upbeat music) (people chattering)
- Oh, no way.
Um hi, excuse me.
Do you play Michelle in The Room?
- Yeah.
- Oh my god.
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god.
- Have you seen it?
- Yeah, it's my favorite movie.
- Really?
- Oh my god, I'm Lorenzo.
Nice to meet you.
I've seen that movie like 50 times.
I just saw The Disaster Artist and it just like,
oh wow, you're freakin'.
What's he like, is he-- - Tommy?
- Who are you? - Are you talking about Tommy?
- Sorry? - Who are you?
- I'm Lorenzo. - Do I know you?
- Uh. - Do you know him?
- I mean, no, I just met him.
- Yeah, that's okay.
Lorenzo, you're a great guy, I'm really glad to meet you.
- Yeah.
- Thank you so much. - You're welcome.
- But we have to go.
- I mean, can I just get a quick picture?
- No. - I don't mind, it's fine.
- No. - Okay.
- Thank you, it's nice to meet you.
- Okay. - It was nice to meet you.
- All right. (people chattering)
Oh my god.
(upbeat music) (people chattering)
- So tell me about this thing you're in.
- Look, uh, I'm gonna be honest with you man.
I don't know-- - Oh my god.
That is R.B., the producer. - A rhinoceros that goes
to the beach.
That seems like a fuckin' weird movie.
- Hi, I'm so sorry to do this.
I came, I'm here.
- Hold on one second.
I want you, I wanna keep talking about this.
- You wanna talk about this?
- Yeah, I do wanna talk about it.
- All right, we'll talk about it tomorrow, all right?
- All right, all right. - I'm gonna go get drunk.
- Let's make sure we catch up.
Oh you're gonna get drunk.
I'm sorry.
- Hi.
I, I came to Sundance.
- Well you did, here we are. - Yeah.
- So how do we know each other?
- You don't remember? - No.
- We met at the Uptown Downtown Film Festival.
- Oh. - You were on the panel.
- Uptown Downtown. - And I was doing the Q and A
and I asked you a question and I said,
"How would a first time filmmaker be able to get
"their work in front of a producer like you?"
And you said, "Well, you come to Sundance."
- Yeah, that's what I said.
- So I came.
- And now who's this? - Yeah.
This is my producer, Johnny.
- Very nice to meet you, an honor.
- Have we met? - We did.
- All right.
- [Julia] And my star actor, Lorenzo.
- I'm Lorenzo Bautista. - Hi Lorenzo.
Okay. - Yeah, so you told us to come
and we wanted to pitch for you.
- So you guys have done it?
- We did it, we made it. - I wanna see it.
- Yeah. - Yes.
- Okay. - So how do we see it?
- We have a trailer, yeah.
- Let's go outside, let me see it.
There's a lot in here, let's go see your trailer.
- After you.
(people chattering)
- All right, so I promise you, one time.
- Thank you so much. - I come to this festival,
I invite somebody to come show me something one time.
You guys told me you had something, show me it.
- Okay, as you can see, it's Shape of Water meets E.T.
with a little bit of Transformers thrown in there,
and it is an homage to the early Noah Baumbach film,
Frances Ha.
And we shot it entirely in slo-mo
with this black and white thing an homage
to the great French cinema.
You'll see little bits of Truffaut here,
and I think like the French new wave,
I deliberately used all the characters speaking
in philosophical statements, but, it's also
kind of a Brechtian allegory.
So I wanna disenfranchise the audience while
using these, like, angry, filthy images.
And as a disenfranchised millennial,
I feel like my voice is really coming through
and I'm really infusing it with this certain
je ne sais quoi that I like to think is my own essence.
- Why do you think anybody cares about Truffaut right now?
Does anybody even know who Truffaut is?
- Look, I-- - So how much did this cost?
- Only 100K.
It's a micro budget franchised--
- $100,000? - Yeah.
I know it looks like more.
- You're wasting your money.
I appreciate what you're going for, but this is not for me.
This?
Amateur hour, I'm sorry.
- But you don't think that,
I mean, art is subjective.
Like maybe there is the right buyer out there,
someone who will see that-- - Nah.
You're stealing from everybody else.
You're not getting your own voice.
- But I thought that-- - This,
this,
here,
doesn't play.
It doesn't play at all.
And nobody knows who Truffaut is anymore.
- But as a first time filmmaker, I thought that if
I played homage to the great films--
- So you got Greta Gerwig.
- No. - And you got Aronofsky.
- No, I-- - And you got all these.
It's a fuckin', it's like a mixed jam of the best
of what's doing it right now.
What separates you from that?
Look, I asked you, I said if you'd come up here,
I would look at, and I have looked at it,
but it's not for me.
It's not gonna play here.
I'm sorry, it's not.
- But it's a micro budget-- - It's not gonna play.
- You know what?
We have gone through so much shit today.
We came all the way here from fuckin'
New York fuckin' City.
We came here to sell this fuckin' movie,
and we're gonna sell it, with or without you.
- I hope you do.
But I gotta pass.
- Fuck!
- Guys.
(people chattering) (upbeat music)
I need to be alone.
- Wait, Julia, hold on, hold on, hold on.
- Oh my fuckin', fuck!
Fuck!
¶ Isolated ¶
¶ Into the dark ¶
¶ Now's my time ¶
¶ To disembark ¶
¶ The truth brings out ¶
¶ Hurtful remarks ¶
¶ You can't take back ¶
¶ You ran away ¶
¶ From winter's bite ¶
¶ Guard your head ¶
¶ Stay out of sight ¶
- Crazy day, huh?
(people chattering)
Dude.
Ballsy-est move I've ever seen, seriously.
- Fuck that guy, man.
- Yeah.
- He's not cool.
To say the things that he said, man, like,
you worked too fuckin' hard to hear that.
- Dude, I'm a real shitty producer.
- Nah, man, stop that.
- No I mean, like, look.
I dropped the ball on the house.
I didn't help us to prepare enough for this meeting,
and I tried to change the name of the freakin' movie
right before our interview.
It's like, I just don't know what I'm doing, you know?
- My girlfriend dumped me today, dude.
- What, why'd she do that?
- I don't know, she wasn't answering my calls,
and then she finally called me back.
And then she said this isn't gonna go anywhere.
- Dude, why didn't you tell me?
- 'Cause you were just in the middle of the whole thing,
like, you were having a good time.
I just didn't wanna, like,
ruin the mood, you know what I'm sayin'?
- Well you know what?
Screw her.
'Cause you know what?
You're a catch.
And you're a great friend and you would've
been a better boyfriend, so, it's her loss.
You wanna hear what happened to me?
So my mom found out about the 100,000.
She told me not to come home.
- What do you mean she found out about the 100,000?
- I borrowed the money hoping that we would
sell the movie before she found out.
Dude, I know what you're gonna say, all right?
So I'll probably have to be crashing with
you for a couple weeks just until I find
a place or something.
I'm gonna have to find a way to get her
that money back, though.
You know?
(sighs) - Yeah.
- Look, I just want you to know that
no matter how bad things went,
I'm just really glad that we just did this together,
you know what I mean?
Like ever since we were kids,
all we ever said was we wanted to make movies, you know?
We finally made one.
A really bad one.
- Dude, it wasn't even, we were just different.
Like, one guy?
One guy?
- You're right.
- We just gotta keep doing it, man.
I don't, I can't, I can't not do it.
- I know, I know.
I can't not either.
I just want us to keep doing it together,
do you know what I mean?
- For sure.
- Like, just keep sticking together and maybe
eventually something will just stick.
- Yeah.
(sighs)
(soft rock music)
- Whoa, whoa.
You okay?
Hey, what's wrong?
- Oh my god.
It's you.
(laughs)
I'm a, I'm a big fan.
- Oh.
I appreciate it.
I'm worried about you.
- Oh.
- Who put the cloud over your Sundance?
Tell me.
- I came to Sundance to show a producer my movie
and he thinks it sucks and I can't believe
I actually bothered to come here and thought,
I can't believe I thought I was any good.
- Welcome to independent filmmaking.
Let me tell you, everybody goes through that, everybody.
Sweetheart, your story is everybody's story.
I've dealt with it on every film I've ever made.
I've made 43 films.
Every single one of them somebody said was shit.
Somebody out there said it was shit.
One of my films won an Oscar.
Someone said it was shit.
That's what they do.
They like to break artists down.
- But how do you know that you have a voice
or you're any good?
- You don't know.
But you keep going.
You keep going no matter what.
- But what if I'm not like you?
What if I don't have any talent?
(sighs)
- Let me tell you something about talent.
A lot of people don't recognize it until it's too late.
It doesn't mean you don't have talent.
Look at Van Gogh.
Van Gogh didn't sell a painting.
Cut off his ear.
I'm not telling you you have to cut off your ear,
I'm just saying, hang in there,
believe in yourself, all right?
You know, look at the movie It's A Wonderful Life.
You know, nobody recognized how great that film was
until way after it was released, right?
- I love that movie. - I love that movie, too.
- Would you look at my movie?
- You know, you don't need my approval either.
Believe in yourself.
- Thank you.
- But who's in it?
- There's this cool up-and-coming actor who had
a one-liner on a CSI episode and he's getting some buzz.
- Yeah.
Just believe in yourself. (Julia laughs)
I wish you the best with it.
- Thank you. - Yeah.
- [Clarence] Just remember, it's a wonderful life.
It's a wonderful life.
(sighs)
- I have no I--
Oh, there she is.
(people chattering)
Okay.
Well we're outside now, so.
- [Johnny] What, another team meeting?
- Guys.
I've had an epiphany.
- Does it have something to do with your vision board,
'cause I just can't right now.
- Look, I'm sorry I was an asshole.
We have to keep doing this.
We can't just give up on this after everything we've done.
But most importantly, we have to do this together.
You're the reason that I do this,
and you're the reason why I wanna be an artist.
I've been an egomaniac and I've been a dick
and I've been running around, pushing you guys too hard,
but we're here because we wanted to make something
and we wanted to do something together,
and I kind of dropped the ball on that.
But, let's just continue.
We can't let some stupid festival, or some stupid producer
come and take our dreams away.
What do you guys say? - I mean you did some,
you did some fucked up shit, dude, like--
- You really hurt us, you know?
- Look, I'm sorry, I was just trying to do what
was right with the movie.
- I felt like you were trying to do what
was right for you and that's the part that really sucked.
- You know what, I probably was.
Will you forgive me?
- I mean, look.
I just think the problem is from both of you guys.
You're gonna stop being dicks to each other.
- I know.
- 'Cause like, enough's enough.
You guys are constantly bickering and going at it,
like look, you're right.
It's a team sport.
We couldn't be here without your vision.
You put this all together.
- And we can only do this together.
- You're totally right.
So like, enough.
- It's true.
- And I'm sorry that I wanted to change
the film's title at the witching hour,
that was irresponsible.
- We can call the film Persephone.
It's your idea, and it's a good one.
So I've decided to make it up to you.
I'll call the WGA in the morning
and I'll put both of your names on the script.
I couldn't have done it without both of you
and it's all of our work.
I'm sorry.
I can get carried away sometimes and I know
I can be a little extra.
But I'm not kidding, we have to keep doing this.
Look at all of this.
We imagined this.
It was on the vision board.
- You know what? - And now we're here.
- Yeah, it's really cold.
I'm good, I'm good. - Okay well I love you guys.
- I love you too. - Okay.
- Let's go make more movies.
- Okay, cool. - All right, fine.
- Group hug. (groaning)
Let's get the fuck in there. - Okay.
- [Johnny] Seriously.
(snoring)
- Johnny, you're snoring.
Dude, you're snoring.
- Mom, it's Saturday, I don't have school.
- Shh.
(snoring)
- Guys, guys, it's light out.
Get up, get up.
I don't know what time it is,
but I don't wanna be late for the flight.
Get up, please. - Mm, I'm sleeping.
- [Johnny] Guys come on, get up.
- Okay. - Oh shit, what time is it?
- I don't know. - Oh, my head.
Ugh, why did I drink so much
pumpkin ale? - Oh, god.
(Julia groans)
- Yeah, no, this trip did not go how I imagined.
I lost my representation.
I had the worst pitch of my life.
I realized that some people might not think
that I'm as talented as I know that I am.
And most traumatically, I lost my friends.
I think I've learned a lot.
I learned that making an indie film
is a group effort, and it takes a village
and all of that.
But, I was thinking that indie film has just
gone way too commercial, and you know what isn't commercial?
Commercials.
Next stop, YouTube.
(chuckles)
(brushing)
- So, what did I learn from this whole experience?
It aint easy working with your friends,
even harder working with an ex-girlfriend.
It's like I said about being a producer:
when shit hits the fan, everyone kind of craps on you.
That Julia, she's a real pill.
Sort of an asshole, but she's my asshole.
I don't know, maybe next time I'll direct
and she'll be my producer. (brushing)
- You know, the past 24 hours was definitely an experience.
I don't know if I'm ever gonna do anything like that again.
We didn't get what we wanted, but,
we found what we needed, you know?
(spits)
(upbeat acoustic music)
(Johnny sighs) - All right, guys.
The Uber'll be here in six minutes.
- Cool, cool, cool, cool.
(sighs) So guys, what's next?
- Toronto's right around the corner.
(chuckles)
¶ I'll see you in my dreams ¶
¶ Hold you in my dreams ¶
¶ Someone took you out of my arms ¶
¶ Still, I feel the thrill of your charms ¶
¶ Lips that once were mine ¶
¶ Tender eyes that shine ¶
¶ They will light my way tonight ¶
¶ I'll see you in my dreams ¶ (upbeat jazzy music)
- [Alex] Why don't you get comfortable guys,
and we'll get on the couch and we'll do it.
- Yeah, you guys look similar.
I don't know if you--
(laughing)
(upbeat jazzy music)
You guys do look really similar.
(laughing)
Sorry.
(upbeat jazzy music))
- [Julia] But it's representative of my own journey
as a Canadian filmmaker who's a legal alien
and that is why I'm linking the alien sub genre to this.
- Holy shit, I need a drink. (laughing)
(upbeat jazzy music)
- Um, I'm gonna be on next week's episode of CSI
in a featured walk on role.
It's pretty exciting. (laughing)
(upbeat jazzy music)
(laughing) - I hope we use that.
(upbeat jazzy music)
- What's your, I'm just curious, what's your cut on?
- Oh, iMovie.
- 'Cause I saw a couple star wipes, so,
it seemed like it was iMovie.
- Yeah.
(laughing) (upbeat jazzy music)
Oh my god. (laughing)
- What is a star wipe again?
Which one is, what is that?
- It's like the fuckin' Star Wars, like vroof.
(laughing)
¶ I'll see you in my dreams ¶