August 23, 2024 • 47 mins
We are thrilled to welcome Albert Birney, the man behind the unforgettable Mr. Sprinkly in 'I Saw the TV Glow'.
Albert is also a prolific filmmaker and shares with us his story in the film industry, including how he became involved in 'I Saw the TV Glow' and his experience working on the film, where he also took on the unique role of a talking ice cream.
Albert is also a prolific filmmaker and shares with us his story in the film industry, including how he became involved in 'I Saw the TV Glow' and his experience working on the film, where he also took on the unique role of a talking ice cream.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Welcome to the Nerd Party.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hello, and welcome to the A twenty four project Here
in the Nerd Party Network, my name is Lee Hutchinson
and Dallas King and I make a way through the
A twenty fourth momography and along the way bring you
interviews with the talent involved in front of and behind
the camera. In this episode, we're really thrilled to welcome
Albert Bernie, the man behind the unforgettable Mister Sprinkley and
I Saw the TV Glow. Albert is also a prolific
(00:34):
filmmaker and shares with us his story in the film industry,
including how he became involved in I Saw the TV
Glow and his experience working on the film, where he
also took on the unique role of a talking ice cream.
A big thanks to Albert for joining us, and be
sure to tune in next week for a special guest
as we celebrate our two hundredth episode. Thanks for listening
and enjoy the show.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Us to me and directing elect.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
You are a director, writer, editor, producer, and actor, probably
just to name but a few. What was the beginning
of your creative journey?
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Oh that's yeah, that's a that's a tough one. I
you know, ever since I was a kid, I've always
been drawing, you know, just really loved drawing, and then
that led to like painting, and that led to music.
I used to record a lot of songs in the
basement with my brothers. And then at some point, you know,
(01:34):
film kind of became the thing. I think around high school,
when you start watching more movies and thinking, wow, that's
something that maybe I could do, and you know, you
borrow someone's dad's camcorder and you start making videos. This
is you know, this is back before it was digital,
and it was you know, many DV tapes, so it
(01:55):
was like you had just hundreds of these little MiniDV
tapes filled with you know, the very At the time
you thought they were really huge films, but then, you know,
looking back on there just kind of a lot of
them were riffing on you know, Scorsese or gangster movies
that I was into at the time. You're you know,
(02:16):
a version of those with your friends, your seventeen year
old friends. But yeah, so then you know, I went
to school for film and then really about halfway through
school really got into animation and took an animation class
and was interested in kind of like trying to figure
out how to combine live action filmmaking with animation. So
(02:41):
I saw my one of my film professors showed me
Alice by John Spankmeyer, the Czech surrealist animator, and that
really kind of blew my mind and opened up my
brain to a whole new type of filmmaking that could
be you know, kind of half live action, high animation,
very surreal, very tactile. I've always been a fan of
(03:05):
like the films that really feel like they've been touched
by somebody, like they're you can feel like the filmmaker's
fingerprint in the movie, whether that's like a literal fingerprint
in clay or just like their style coming through. So yeah,
and then you know, just through school I kept doing that,
and then after school I started making music videos for
(03:25):
my friends who were in bands. It was a great
way to like make a three minute film and you
didn't have to worry about the sound because it was
just the music of the band. So I did that
for a few years, which then kind of just led
to making my first feature film with my friend John
called The Beast Pageant, which was you know, it was
(03:46):
like three and a half years of shooting on sixty
milimeter film on a bolex, just a great time and
you know each then that kind of led to the
next film, which I did, the next film, which you know,
here I am many years later, still kind of on
that journey making things with my friends.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Have you always wanted to be that kind of broad
kind of creative, you know? Or is there a field
that you feel more attached to perhaps than another.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yeah, you know, for me, it's always I jump around
to different roles, I think because ultimately different projects kind
of scratch different itches that you have, and you know,
whether it's helping friends make a project, or animating by
myself into the night, or working as part of a
bigger team. Yeah, I don't really, you know, I like story.
(04:36):
I like telling stories, so a lot of time it's
just like an idea that I have, that kind of
you share with friends, and some friends align with it
and then you all kind of go on this journey together.
The last two films I've made have been with my
dear friend and collaborator Kentucker, oddly, and we're working on
our hopefully our third one now, which it's it's been
(04:58):
a journey, but it's a it's I really love collaborating
and making things with with Kentucker and with friends, just
because you know, filmmaking is it's very and it's root.
It feels like it's very kind of insane undertaking, like
you're you're trying to literally like stop time or go
(05:18):
against like the natural kind of flow of the universe,
you know, by like making imaginary worlds and making people fly,
or you know, making mice dance or you know, just
different things that shouldn't happen. So it's nice to have
a buddy, nice to have a friend to go through
it with who you can kind of at the end
(05:40):
of the day look at it, look at each other
and just say like, okay, we made it, we made
it together. Let's just do it another day. You know,
let's keep going.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
And I suppose we've seen in the past few years,
like relying on the studios Hollywood to fund these things
to turn up for the kind of smaller films, the
personal projects is it's hard to come by, but you
can rely on friends and like that community that you've
you've clearly established, that's that's always a constant.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
It feels like, yeah, you know, and that's exactly it it's
as it gets harder and harder to kind of fund movies,
and you know, you just keep hearing people say, how
what a what a hard time, what a strange time
it is in the industry, you know, with all the
strikes and all these Yeah, just just uncertainty about the future.
(06:27):
At the end of the day, you can still just
kind of like grab a camera and go make a
movie with a friend. And I taught film for a
few years here in Baltimore, and that was my the
thing I always would tell the students. It's like, look,
you know, they all have these big dreams of you know,
Hollywood and explosions and multimillion dollar budgets, and you know,
(06:48):
I get it. I have those dreams too. But while
you're waiting for those dreams that happen, you should be
doing something. You know, like what do you have around
you right now? Who are the friends, the actors, the
crew that are willing just to go out into a
field and have fun with you, you know, at midnight
on a Wednesday night or something like make those movies?
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Why you can?
Speaker 4 (07:09):
And you know, in my own slow career, if you
want to call that our journey, it's like starting out
just making movies with my friends has grown into bigger things,
you know, And I think that's the key is just
like why are you in it in the first place?
Why are you making films? Is it to like be
rich and famous that you know, that's not a good
(07:31):
reason you should do it, just because what else do
you want to do on this earth with your time?
But like have fun with your friends and make something
special from your soul, you know. And I think if
you're doing that, then maybe, if you're lucky, other things
might happen afterwards. But if they don't, that's okay, because
you still had a heck of a time with your buds.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
You know. We've always asked these whe wherever we take off,
like a new locations over guests to call in from
of like you're a first one from Baltimore. What's like
the community like there for film? Like whether it's like
watching it or like the community for making it? What? Like?
Is there something that makes Baltimore quite special?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (08:11):
I think the first thing that comes to mind is
just that it's it's a place where it's still somewhat
affordable or easy to live, you know. So I've lived
in New York I've lived in other places where the
rent is a lot higher, the cost of living is
much higher. It's it's just more difficult to like kind
of be a struggling artist, you know, whereas in Baltimore
(08:34):
it's still I feel like you can still do that.
You can you can just film kind of on the
street and no one's going to stop you. You can,
you know, call up a supermarket and ask if you
can film there, and they're gonna just let you do
it for free, whereas like New York or LA maybe
some places know that they can charge you a lot
of money. So yeah, for me, I grew up here too,
(08:54):
so it's nice to have, you know, my family here
and those those roots that I grew up with. But yeah,
I think also, you know, John Waters is from here,
and he's a great you know, he's still around. You
still see him going out to movies and shows, and
but you know his films will very much do it
yourself with your friends, be weird, don't conform to any
(09:19):
you know, idea of what a movie should be. And
I think that still is in the water a little bit,
no pun intended, but yeah, I don't know, and it's
a you know, it's a relatively small city compared to
the bigger cities, and yeah, it is a pretty small
film scene. Everybody kind of knows everybody, you know what
(09:40):
people are up to, you know what projects people are
working on. And for many years there was the Maryland
Film Festival here, which was a great yearly festival every
May where a lot of people would come from out
of town and it was I think that happening every
year for many years kind of made Baltimore feel like
(10:01):
this little point, this little place where you know, good,
good movies were being made and people wanted to come
and share them their movies every year.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
So yeah, I think that's that's what Baltimore is.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
You've obviously got quite a kind of big filmography so far.
Like where can you recommend like people seeking out these
kind of films And is there anyone that you're particularly
fond of? If people were, this was their first instruction too,
that they should check in.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Yeah, you know, honestly, probably the last live action feature
that Kentucker and I made together Strawberry Mansion, which is
it's a very surreal, fantastic kind of dream movie. But
it Yeah, I think just that one captured you know,
a little bit about me and who Kentucky and I
(10:50):
are and yeah, that's I think it's most places online.
I don't know if it's especially in Scotland or the
UK or where it it is, but over here in
the States it's on. It recently went on to be
Do you have to b?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Yeah, I think we recently got to be and so on.
There was a real buzz about it within a very
certain type of film fan here in the UK. Yeah,
finally came along years after all the jokes about it,
and then it became a different kind of platform and
so definitely behind the curve here.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
To Be is cool and people if you watch Starry
Mansion on two B, I think there's an extra layer
of irony or jokes in there because Strawberry Mansion has
this idea of advertising and to Be has ads. So
you'll be watching this movie that's kind of like, you know,
has its own ads, and then like this this machinape
(11:44):
on your head that blocks ads and then boom, you'll
be interrupted by an actual ad. So I've been told
that it adds like another layer to the film. So
if you've got to be, check it out there and
then the other film that I feel very proud of
is an animated feature that I did called Hucks and
Fanny and it's on YouTube for free, and that was
(12:07):
just I just did that by myself. And yeah, it's
very different from Shari Mansion. Maybe it's got some overlap,
but it's it's probably something that's like talking a little
bit earlier about like how hard it is to get
films made. This was one that I just started because
I needed to do something. I was going crazy in
(12:29):
the time between films and so I just animated started
animating it myself and the end product is eighty two
minutes and I'm very proud of it. And there's a
sequel to which if you make it through the first one,
then the second Tux and Fanny is out there waiting
for you. I have dreams of doing the third one,
which I'm kind of writing now, but you know, there's
(12:49):
a lot of other projects started, so I have to
kind of figure out where I'm putting my energy.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Excellent, I'll definitely be be seeking that was And obviously
people might be be very familiar with you now from
you know, you're in UK cinemas at the moment. When
did you sort of first hear about the opportunity to
be part of I saw the TV Glow.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
So Jane is an old friend and we have just
kept in touch over the years, and then in twenty
twenty we were in a film group together, which was
I think there were about eight or nine of us
where we would watch two movies every week and then
(13:32):
get on zoom and talk about them. And it was
one of those things that it kind of happened for
a year. So it was like April twenty twenty to
maybe April or May of twenty twenty one when it
was just like, you know, we were all locked down,
we didn't have anything, and it was it was just
like the most wonderful, beautiful club.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
So we got closer.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
I got closer with Jane over that year as we're
you know, sharing movies, and half the calls we would
all just be talking about the movies. The other hat
we're just kind of you know, checking in and seeing
everyone's doing. And then Jane's first film, We're All Going
to the World's Fair, premiered at Sundance with Strawberry Mansion,
the film I just mentioned Pucker in my film, So
(14:15):
we were both in the next category at Sundance, which
was really exciting because we'd been, you know, in our
film club talking about these projects and the post production
on them and whatnot. And that was the first year
Sundance was all virtual. It was all online, so I
got to, you know, see the movie. Everyone else online
through a movie. And then I think pretty soon after that,
(14:40):
they emailed a few of us in the film group,
the ones that were interested in reading. I saw a
TV glow of the script and I was very excited
to read after seeing their first film. I also, I
should mention, I forgot that I did some animation and
we're all going to the World's Fair. There's a section. Yeah,
there's a section where it's like a typing out like
(15:02):
an old eight bit video game. I animated that, and
I think Jane they were like an executive producer on
Tucks and Fanny, and they knew I did this kind
of pixel animation, so that was fun to do. You know,
it's like twenty seconds in the movie. Anyway, So I
read the script in I guess twenty twenty one for
TV glow and just yeah, it was very hit me,
(15:25):
very hard, very emotional script. It was all there on
the page. It just kind of like, you know, everything
that made it into the movie. So yeah, I just
told them I loved it and how it resonated with
kind of my own high school experience a little bit
of just kind of feeling like an outsider for me.
The show was X Files that I really.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Yeah, I was. I was an X Files kid as
well BBC two Sunday Night and so on. Yeah, I
was an element where I was thinking about that recently
where I was a ten year old when the film
came out, and like I went to the cinema on
two pairs of socks so that it would look like
fifteen years old to get into the film. Like that
was a huge moment for me as like a nineties kid.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Amazing.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Yeah, so yeah, you get you know these shows especially
of that era, you know, maybe still today, but they
felt this is kind of like it was like early Internet,
you know, and there were like message boards and so yeah,
just responded to it. And then actually Jane came here
to Baltimore for three or four days, and I think
(16:30):
this would have been early twenty twenty two. January twenty
twenty two. We still had our Christmas tree up. That's
how I remember it. Was like post Christmas, but it
was early January, and we drew I think I drew
about fifteen or twenty different scenes in the movie. They
weren't storyboards, they were more just like, here's this moment
when you know Owen is laying in the basement and
(16:55):
electricity or something's happening with their head, and I think
Jane just wanted to kind of like start visualizing certain
key moments and we were doing a lot of but
like the lighting and the shadow and the colors and
just kind of figuring that out. And then they took
those two the cinematographer and was kind of like, here's
you know, these these scenes and this is kind of
(17:16):
how I want them to look. So that was that
I had never done that before, even for my own films.
I'd never really like dove into that. But it was
fun to do and it was exciting to see Jane
kind of like had the vision already formed, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
So then that, yeah, that would.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Have been January, and then they were off in pre
production mode and didn't hear anything until that summer. I
guess when they asked myself and Graham Mason, who's a
friend and filmmaker who made an amazing film called inspector Ike,
(17:54):
which is also on two be and you should watch.
But Graham was also in our film club. So Jane
knew the two of us and asked us if we
would film some elements that would appear on the TV
in in throughout the movie at TV Glow and so
that was that was a really fun kind of assignment,
and we did a couple of commercials. We did an
(18:16):
animated section which is is Tucs and Fanny, my Tuxs
and Fanny creation, but like as imagined if it was
on you know, TV at nine point thirty, right before
the pink Opake. And then yeah, they they had Jane
had the script for that scene, which is like the alternate,
like the true version of what the pink Opake was
(18:38):
for Owen as an adult looking back. And it was,
you know, very fun to make his paper mache ice
cream mask in my basement and we found a suburb
here in Baltimore and filmed it, you know, found some
local children actors and yeah, so that that kind of happened.
(18:58):
And then all throughout this I knew that Jane was
casting like the actual TV Glow and at some point
I think I was kind of working with them still
because I had done some of these design drawings, and
some of the design drawings were of character, so I
was like, they had hired a VFX house in California
(19:20):
to make the big mister Sprinkley, like the really scary
one that appears first time in the movie. So I
was working, I was on all these email chains with
this amazing mass kind of going back and forth with
the designs, and they were kind of basing it off
our original drawings and then basing part of it off
of like the paper mache version I'd made, and I
(19:41):
think someone from that company was going to wear it
like in the movie because it's very big and bulky,
and I forget what happened, but something either fell through
or the person got sick or couldn't do it, and
at that point I think, you know, I kind of
nudged and said, hey, I would love to put it on.
(20:05):
The first film that Kentucker and I made together, called Silvio,
I wore a latex mask for the entire film, so
I had a little bit of you know, had I
had worn a mask before, So I figured, you know,
I'm probably as qualified as anybody, and also because I
wore the paper mache one. Maybe it'll be fun to
have like both mister Sprinkley's be the same person. And yeah,
(20:26):
Jane said, Okay, let's do it. That sounds great, And.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah it was.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
I think this was August of twenty twenty two. They
were filming in New Jersey, so I took I took
the train up where I drove up to New York.
I stayed at my sister's apartment and yeah, headed to
the set early one morning. I think it was a Sunday.
It was like a Sunday morning maybe, And yeah, it
(20:51):
was just one day of filming with this this mask,
and it was very fun. Arriving on the set. There
was like a trailer and it just said mister Sprinkley
on the door. It was like, that's pretty cool. First
time I ever had a trailer and it's for this
ice cream character. But yeah, it was.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
All in all, it was.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
You know, it was it was fun to be a
part of the film for many years, from reading the
script and doing the drawings and working on these inserts,
these you know, things that appeared on the screens in
the movie, and then to finally like get to go
to the set and see Jane in action. See like
when I came, I think it was like the last week.
(21:30):
It was one of the last few days, so it
had a little bit of that feeling of everybody has
been doing this for like a month and it's very
hot and everyone's doing great work. But it just I
felt like all excited and like, yeah, this is so cool.
I'm on this film set, and I think some people
were just like, here we go. We got to just
get through this last week.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
And when you were kind of designing the mask at
the kind of this paper mache mask, what kind of
inspirations were you drawing from, because did you have an
idea what like these this terrifying version was and it's like,
what's the complete opposite to that? Or kind of thinking
back what would be on Nickelodeon or you know, all
those kind of networks and so on at the time
and just designing from there, what was your kind of
(22:13):
thought process.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Definitely, it was definitely those Nickelodeon shows. Pete and Pete
was a big one. The adventures is it The Adventures
of Pete and Pete? They have an episode with an
ice cream character, and I know that that was definitely.
Jane and I talked about that, and yeah, just like
(22:36):
the flip side of a terrifying creature should feel very
you know, playful and cartoony. And it's also kind of
the limits of what I could do with paper mache.
I'm not like, I'm not doing like a mold or
I'm not like a mass or mask maker. So it's
kind of like it fit perfectly into what I was
(22:58):
able to do. And yeah, we the mask had a
velcrow mouth and eyebrows, so it could be it's kind
of mean, angry, and yeah, those are just like belcode
on and then I would kind of stay still and
Graham or Ema producer that day would run in and
change them, you know, velcro them the happy face and
(23:21):
the happy eyebrows. When the young girl says, let's have
a soup party, you know. Yeah so and then yeah,
looking like I was looking back through small emails and
it's like the the VFX house, the mask makers in
LA they had their own in house artists who was
(23:42):
just doing like these amazing drawings, which I think were like,
I don't know what the inspiration was, probably just like
the simple version just made very realistic and actually what
how horrifying it would be if there was you know,
like ice cream spilling out of the mouth and like
the eyes kind of claud and just like these really
cool drawings that then they did a pretty i think,
(24:04):
pretty close job to actualizing them in the final version.
But yeah, I don't know, I don't know. I know
that Jane is a big fan of like Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, and I think that was a big inspiration
for pink Opake, So I'm sure some of those monsters,
you know, the different monsters of the week, would would
have informed kind of the design too.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
I can kind of see now, having speaking by the
XL I could see him older with like a gun
in the face of like the more horrifying version of
Scully being a bit dismissive, Like I can picture that
and that.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Yeah, and I'm I think I'm sure Jane watch X
Files too.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
I think we've talked about that before.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
So yeah, you know, all these shows of that era,
they all were I think big inspirations too to filmmakers
now our age, and it's exciting to kind of see
how that shows up. You know, you can see like
the different both like both those old TV shows and
also video games. I think there's like a crop of
(25:03):
filmmakers now who you can feel like, oh, they grew
up playing Zelda, you know, or are they played Mario
the same way?
Speaker 3 (25:12):
You think we're getting to that stage where what was
like maybe about a decade ago that we got the
late seventies eighties kids that had Star Wars and we
saw like, you know, you're kind of JJA when Ryan
Johnson's etcetera coming through that that was their grounding. And
then it's going to be interesting as the years go on,
like he got the nineties when TV became a little
bit more you know, better quality in terms of the IPUO,
(25:34):
and we're going to get into the HBO eras as
well that you know, how are people going to be
informed by kind of those those experiences that they had,
And I think we're we're definitely starting to see that.
I mean, you certainly see that with with Jane, Like
they clearly experienced like the Internet and sort of the
TV in a very unique way, and you've seen that
in their two films so far.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, Yeah, it's it's it's only two. When
Jane came here and we were drawing, we would finish
a drawing and then to reward ourselves, we would play
Mario on the Switch in super Ma Brothers three.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
You can do that first.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Once you beat the first level, you can go back
and play it and it's a battle mode when if
you ever say that, But we would just battle for
you know, ten to fifteen minutes and then kind of
reset and do another drawing. And yeah, it's just so
yeah fun to feel the TV in the video games influence.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
And it sounds like you're you know, you're you know,
people might just see it first, so if this was
the guy that was the ice cream mem But talking
from you, you have your involvement throughout the kind of
film and it sounds like, based on your career so far,
that you're someone that likes to do all these different
parts of films as well, and there must be something
so rewarding about that of not just being a day
player or you know, oh, I'm just considered for one job,
(26:52):
but something where you can have a kind of say
an impact and be a real creative, kind of contributor.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
And I think that's the fun of you know, having
friends who are also their own filmmakers and you know,
kind of this big working situation where can help out
on Jane's film. And I showed Jane an early cut
of you know, one of my films for feedback and Graham,
who I did the the little TV bits with. You know,
(27:22):
that was the first time the two of us had
really worked on a project together, so that was exciting.
And yeah, you know, it's like like I said, it's
like filmmaking is such a collaborative you know, art form,
and the more you can kind of like find the
right people, your people that are like on the same
wavelength or maybe even on different wavelengths, but like when
(27:44):
you put each other to you know, put your brain together,
these exciting things happen. And you know, I think Jane's
very smart in that they were like, let me get
Graham and Albert to do these other things because it's
supposed to feel a little bit different than the rest
of the movies. So you know, Jane had a very
clear vision of what those should be on the script.
But then it was kind of like, I'm getting YouTube
(28:05):
to do this because I you know, trust you and
I like your styles and just have fun with it,
you know.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
And was that a challenge to go back to the
nineties and that visual esthetic back into those boxed in
TV kind of screens and you know even just like
how people are set aside the kind of the acting
and these sorts of things. Was it a challenge or
was it quite easy to.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Yeah, it was quite easy, and actually it was quite fun.
Especially there's the one ad which you can see a
little bit of for the Young Adult Network, which is
what the pink opake is on. They have a magazine
called Young Adult Party by AP and it's very much
inspired by the like Nickelodeon magazine, you know, with like
(28:52):
the bright orange colors and the green loop.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
And so we.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Watched, you know, Graham and I watched a bunch of
those old commercials, and you know, they were on TV
all the time, so they're just kind of like buried
deep inside of us. And so it was fun to like,
let's make our own version of that and you know,
rip off some shots, but also have you know, try
some new ideas and then knowing that it's going to
be played on you know, I think they even did
(29:18):
some like they put it through a VCR first maybe
or then they put it on the TV. But just
it's always fun knowing that like it's going to be
removed a little bit and it's just going to be
this kind of like background thing.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
So yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
It was actually like working on all those were very
fun and Graham and I had just a blast. And
one little side story, the day we were filming the
ice Cream Mister Sprinkley in the Suburbs, we got in
the car to drive there, Graham and I did loaded
the big head in the back of my car, turn
(29:52):
on the radio and ice Cream Man by Tom Waits
started playing and we were just like what it was
just on the radio randomly, couldn't believe it. And as
we were driving, then that song ended, and then the
next song came on and it was another ice cream song,
and we were like, this is insane, what's going on here.
It happened like three times, and finally the radio DJ
(30:13):
came on and said it's National ice Cream Day. And
you know, we had no idea, but it just felt
like one of those things like, Okay, this is this
is a sign, this is the right day to film,
this is this is all happening for a reason.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
It's amazing, and you know, one of the things that
was the highlight I experienced it my screaming and the
person they do this podcast with. And there's as well
that the line that in the winter time, instead of
selling ice cream, you can sell soup got one of
the biggest bally laughs and I saying it to my
to my mate. The other day I went to see
TV Go obviously came out here in the UK, and
(30:48):
it was like the story of how it's come around
into the cinema so quickly here, like it was maybe
coming here, but then there was no official day and
I think Jane got a campaign sort of going up
on twere like just about a month ago, like let's
get it into cinema, so how can we get it here?
And Sony put it in this week and it was
kind of like kind of the counter programming to Deadpool
(31:10):
and Wolverine. There's a really great stat the other day
where you know, all relative and so on, where it
was like, oh, TV Glow we got like oney four
hundred per screen in the UK, and you know, there
was a really great turnout to these screenings, like people
are like I could see the other Marvel movie or
I could see this, but you know, being the completion
stide was I saw both and that got a bigger
(31:31):
belly left than any anything in Deadpol Wolverine, which is
mentally a little bar for a movie like that, but
it was one of those ones you're just like, there's
this brilliant independent film, what a brilliant payoff that line was.
And then you just watch this film where it's like
the worst jokes, just constant crap and stuff, But that
one was just a real, real highlight for me. I
think that could be one of the moments of the
(31:52):
year for me.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
Oh, that's that's so great to hear. And yeah, I
think you know, Jane is so smart. That was one
of the lines that they written. But I think in
that scene especially, you know the movie, it's kind of
been building and there's you know, it's it's an emotional film,
and then that scene when Owen goes back and watches it,
it's kind of a lighter moment where it's a little
(32:15):
bit silly or like it's still very sad, because it's
kind of that idea of like, look, how things are
different when you're older looking back. You know, this thing
you remember being very scary is actually very silly and goofy,
and it almost like the film gives you that moment
to kind of like have a have a laugh or
have just kind of like a release a little bit,
(32:35):
even though it's still kind of beneath the surface to me,
very poignant and sad, but you know, just yeah, so
that's cool to hear that, that that's hitting. I've seen
the film. I've seen it twice. I saw an early
cut with just Jane and a few friends and that
it was unfinished, that you know, it had unfinished vffects
and music and all that. And then I saw it
(32:56):
recently the New York premiere and that was that was wonderful.
But I'm still I want to try to see it,
ah in a theater where I can kind of feel
that that release and that.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
It was definitely a real tree And it was great
to just see like it was, you know, Sunday, Sunday afternoon,
like it's gett a couple of showings a day here
and everywhere. It was just like, oh, there are people
here to see this and so on. Sometimes you think
about these films and you hear about them in your
own bubble, and you're like, oh, there is a wider
community that wants to see these original films and so on,
and feel probably either underserved or desperate to sport film
(33:33):
like this, especially when that's kind of come out of
nowhere after a few months of buzz kind of stateside.
Speaker 4 (33:39):
Definitely, Yeah, I think it's it's so nice when just
new new films and new voices and you know, mentioning
like the Deadpool of Wolverine.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
It's like, yeah, there.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
There's there's those movies, but there's there's a whole other
world in universe the movies that that can be out there,
and so it's nice when one kind of breaks through
and and you know, cross over the ocean and find
a bigger audience hopefully.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
It was a great tweet I saw earlier this week
where it was like some stills from Deadpool, like you know,
crazy budget, and then it was like above it and
it's like thousands of shares. Was like I saw the
TV Glow as a budget of zero point zero three
three percent of Deadpool, and I had some of those
beautiful kind of purple shots and images and so on,
and just reminding people like there's such great independent movies
(34:29):
that you know, artists like yourself and involved in where
you go, Oh, this is clearly a passion project brought
to life by people that are that are interested in
think about the craft as opposed to kind of churning
stuff out. And it was just I saw that tweet
multiple times before I went into the cinema, which just
kind of hyped me up even more of like I
need to finally see this and what and what's Jane
(34:52):
like as a as a director? Obviously a kind of
very much a new voice, but I think for some
of us we're getting to know them a little bit
better from some of these brilliant inner and so on.
What are they like? Because as a director, it's obviously
signs that you have a good working relationship, But what
was that even like to be directed by them?
Speaker 4 (35:09):
Yeah, I'm trying to remember, you know, it was such
a quick kind of scene and I mostly just remember
how hot it was under the mask. But I think
I think what I just remember is that they had
a very you know, very clear vision of what they wanted.
And yeah, I think it was like a well oiled machine.
(35:30):
Like I said, it was the end of the shoot,
so when I came in there, it was kind of
like everybody was knew what to do and how to
do it. Yeah, very I just remember a very gentle direction,
just kind of telling me to do the ice cream
take again, or you know, lean forward a little bit
more on this take and lift your hand up a
(35:50):
little higher. You know, nothing too crazy, you know. I wish,
having seen it been on set. Just one day after
I took off the ice cream helmet, they were shooting
a couple more scenes, so I just kind of hung
around on the on the edge and watched. But yeah,
they just seemed like they they had a you know,
they were working really closely with Eric, the DP, and
(36:12):
you know, just kind of lining up the shots and
getting everything that they needed to get that day. So yeah,
I can't say much more than that other than yeah,
they have a they.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Had a vision.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
They had a clear vision, and it's I think it's
nice when you feel like somebody in charge knows what
they want.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
You know.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
I've been on some film sets where maybe you don't
feel that, maybe you feel that the director is a
little bit unsure, and it can it can definitely be
a little bit tougher in that situation because you're looking
for someone to kind of be.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Like in charge.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
I think all that there's a lot of crew and
a lot of people who are just basically want someone
to make the decisions. And so from what I saw,
I think they they were making the right decision. They
knew the decisions they wanted maybe, you.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Know, And that feels like it translates tests as a
viewer and so on, Like you watch TV glow World's
Fair and you go, that's someone's vision and so on,
brought to it to life. It doesn't feel like by
committee and so on. It feels like you look at
that and go, oh, I get that as a person
that's made this and so on, and you know, there's
(37:23):
you feel like you really want to dive into their brain.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
And exactly. I think with some of these bigger movies
there's maybe because there's so much more money involved, there's
so much more of like a committee feeling behind it,
where it's been stripped of that kind of feeling of
this comes from one person and it's more of like
this is just a Marvel movie or whatever, and it's
just going to have it's going to take all the
(37:47):
little boxes here, but at the end you're gonna it's
you're gonna leave kind of empty. And I mean no
disrespect to any of those movies, but I remember I
think I saw the first Avengers and I.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
I was like, it was like a roller coaster ride.
I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
And then you leave the theater and I kind of
had an empty feeling a little bit. And and again,
I mean, I mean nothing against these films, but I
think usually what I relate to more, or what I
find I'm interested in, is films that feel like they
are coming from some somebody's like soul or some something
(38:27):
pure and real inside. And that comes in all different type.
You know, there's all different types of movies and filmmakers
that can do that. It's not just like I'm not
talking about just like an indie film. I'm talking about
you know, like the Coen Brothers for example, like David Lynch.
You know, I watched their films and as they've gotten bigger,
it still feels you still feel them in the movie.
(38:47):
You never feel like they're like making decisions to please
the studio or to please the money people. And you know,
so yeah, I think that's personally what I what I
love about filmmaking myself, and what I react to and
respond to in others films.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
I'm curious, where's the paper mache hat head.
Speaker 4 (39:08):
Now it's in the basement still, it's just down there.
And yeah, my nieces and nephew were visiting or recently
and I showed it to them, And yeah, I still
have dreams of putting it in a future film project,
kind of like in the background a little easter egg.
If Jane will give the okay, I.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
Look forward to seeing that. Like it feels like it's
destined for like the Hollywood Museum or something like. I
know they added like the Midsummer Dress and wherever there
a couple of years ago. I feel like that's the
next stage, is getting mister Sprinkley in there.
Speaker 4 (39:41):
Yeah, I guess I have to keep it together then.
Right now it's on the ground and every once in
a while, I like, I hope it doesn't flo down
here or anything. Maybe I'll put it on a table
so that it can stay in good shape.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
And it's obviously immortalized in a T shirt that sold
out it quite instantly on online as well. If you go,
did you manage to blag one or.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
You know, I didn't. I think I saw that shirt
after it was already out. Maybe they'll do another pressing
and all I'll be able to grab one. But I
did just see that the Blu Ray was announced or yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
I saw that it looks like a beautiful set.
Speaker 4 (40:15):
Yeah, and it comes with little polaroids and one of
the polaroids is mister Sprinkley. And it was actually so
after I filmed the scene and I took the head
off and had a break, we went over to like
a school where they've been filming and we did a
whole photo shoot with Sprinkley. So I put it back on,
and I don't know if it exists anywhere, if it
(40:35):
should exist, but there's like a twenty minute interview maybe
with me wearing the Sprinkley doing like a voice, and
they're just asking me questions, and I was kind of
like just joking around. Maybe it's on the Blu Ray
or maybe a bit of it a peer somewhere on
the feature ed on there.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
But it's the best promotional technique for ever getting anyone
to listen to get the twenty minute, I asked, mister
Sprinkley cup.
Speaker 4 (40:57):
Yeah, but yeah, I was happy to see that one
of the picture is in the Blu Ray at least.
Speaker 3 (41:02):
So one day you'll be a comic con signing it
for a young fan. Right, Yeah, So what's kind of
coming next for yourself, Albert? I imagine there's probably a
lot of exciting projects on the r. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (41:15):
You know, it's this third film with Kentucker that we're
working on. We've been writing it for a few years,
and yeah, we're just getting closer, I think, to hopefully
going into production.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
We've been.
Speaker 4 (41:28):
You know, I'm hesitant to talk too much about that
because things fall through and fall apart, but we're getting
closer to the place where it might be happening, which
you know, it's been so Strawberry Mansion premiered at Sundance
in twenty twenty one, and here we are in August
of twenty twenty four, and you know that whole time
(41:50):
we've been working on it, writing and developing. So it's
been a been a long couple of years. But you know,
this is kind of like the end of this aficial
trilogy that the two of us have been working on.
So yeah, it's just a bigger, bigger, stranger, more surreal
movie than Shawbury mentioned.
Speaker 3 (42:08):
So amazing.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Yeah, the next year or so, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:11):
It feels like there's a lot for me to dive
into a bite to begin a nice week off work,
so I have to check these, and obviously we mentioned
it like TV Glow was kind of, you know, an
a twenty four release as well. Are there any films
of their filmography that stand out for you as well? Oh?
Speaker 4 (42:26):
Yeah, I mean the first one, it's definitely Marcel the
Shell with Shoes On. That one really hit me hard.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Last year.
Speaker 4 (42:36):
I saw it kind of opening weekend here in Baltimore,
had a beautiful screening with some friends, and then I
watched it a few months later on a plane, thinking, oh,
surely this isn't going.
Speaker 1 (42:47):
To be as good as I remember.
Speaker 4 (42:49):
That must have been a magical night, and it was
even better, and both times had me crying, you know,
And yeah, I think that's just a really magical film.
And I I had a grandmother who was very dear
to me and kind of got me into film and art,
and so the grandmother's storyline in Marcel really really resonated.
(43:11):
And yeah, just a beautiful film with a lot of
emotion and heart. So that first comes to the mind.
And then the other one from last year it was
last year was it was Past Live.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
Yeah, beautiful film. Beautiful film was another one that I
never cried, but I felt like I was on the
cusp with it the whole time. Just maybe it was
just like the stress of the anxiety about it was
like just on that kind of cusp the whole time.
It was. It was intense.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
It's it's beautiful film.
Speaker 4 (43:40):
And my friend Taylor, who was one of the producers
on Strawberry Mansions, she worked on that film, so she
was telling me all about it during the shoot. And
then I happened to be at Sundance with a film
that I edited, a short that I had edited, and
so I got to go to the premiere at Sundance,
which was I think the world premiere. It was this
huge theater and yeah, you know, I was crying there
(44:02):
and definitely just a I guess as I get older,
I'm just drawn to movies that are had these like
really beautiful emotional centers to them, that are that feel
very much like rooted in and like being alive and
the strangeness of being alive and you know, relationships and
that kind of thing. So, you know, I could list
(44:24):
a ton more films, but I think those two are
the ones that, you know, even looking back to their
whole the A twenty four Cannon or whatever, I think
those two still rise to the top from me.
Speaker 3 (44:35):
And I must feel nice as well, like you know,
what's been been amazing. I kept myself in a bubble
with TV globe like until I finally got to see
a week ago. Like I knew it was purple. I
knew that there was some buffets sort of connections in
the trans allegory, and he was involved behind the camera
like I wanted. That's all I wanted to know until
I saw it, like and it you know, obviously been
(44:56):
reading up on it since and just you know, reading
some of the beautiful articles from sort of the trans
queer and your divergent communities and how much that's most
emotionally resonated with so many audience members as well. It
must feel nice as well that films are making you
feel that way. But something that you've worked on as
well is really touching people is as well. That must
(45:16):
be I suppose that's what you kind of live for
as a filmmaker and a collaborator.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
Definitely, definitely, one hundred percent. And I've been reading a
lot of the reviews too, both like you know, the
professional ones, but just on letterbox, and it's been so
moving and touching to hear people responding, you know, saying
I've never felt so seen or never felt so like
emotionally in a movie before. So yeah, I mean I
(45:44):
was very It makes me very happy to be a
small part of that, you know, and to see the
success that Jane has had, and you know, very excited
to just see what they keep making. And you know,
if they asked me to be you know, wear a
mask and the next one, I'll have to say yes,
and you know, yeah, excited to kind of see.
Speaker 3 (46:03):
There're gonna be this third part of this kind of trilogy,
the screen trilogy, so so that you know, you've been
in the two, the first two in some form or another,
so hopefully hopefully the third time.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
Looking Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (46:15):
And finally, where can kind of people ce you up
to day with any of these kind of projects that
you're working on, or what's kind of out there for
people to follow.
Speaker 4 (46:22):
Yeah, I mean the kind of the the landing place.
It's just my website, which is just a Bernie b
r n e y a Bernie dot com and that's
kind of a list of all the films I've done
and I think links to find them online. You know,
I've got shorts on there and all the old music videos,
and you know, it's got links to the Twitter and
(46:43):
the Instagram and all that, so if they head over
to my website, they'll be able to.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
To find more.
Speaker 4 (46:48):
But yeah, I think most of the movies are online
if you do a little searching, and if they're not,
you can probably bootleg them somewhere too, which you know,
at the end of the day, it's like just wanting
people to see the movie. Any way people can see
them is okay by me.
Speaker 3 (47:03):
Perfect Well, thank you so much, Albert for sharing your
stories and insights and experiences with us. I really really
appreciate it. It's been a pleasure to talk with you.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
Yeah, I been a great talk. Thanks Lee,
Welcome to the Nerd Party.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Hello, and welcome to the A twenty four project Here
in the Nerd Party Network, my name is Lee Hutchinson
and Dallas King and I make a way through the
A twenty fourth momography and along the way bring you
interviews with the talent involved in front of and behind
the camera. In this episode, we're really thrilled to welcome
Albert Bernie, the man behind the unforgettable Mister Sprinkley and
I Saw the TV Glow. Albert is also a prolific
(00:34):
filmmaker and shares with us his story in the film industry,
including how he became involved in I Saw the TV
Glow and his experience working on the film, where he
also took on the unique role of a talking ice cream.
A big thanks to Albert for joining us, and be
sure to tune in next week for a special guest
as we celebrate our two hundredth episode. Thanks for listening
and enjoy the show.
Speaker 1 (00:55):
Us to me and directing elect.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
You are a director, writer, editor, producer, and actor, probably
just to name but a few. What was the beginning
of your creative journey?
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Oh that's yeah, that's a that's a tough one. I
you know, ever since I was a kid, I've always
been drawing, you know, just really loved drawing, and then
that led to like painting, and that led to music.
I used to record a lot of songs in the
basement with my brothers. And then at some point, you know,
(01:34):
film kind of became the thing. I think around high school,
when you start watching more movies and thinking, wow, that's
something that maybe I could do, and you know, you
borrow someone's dad's camcorder and you start making videos. This
is you know, this is back before it was digital,
and it was you know, many DV tapes, so it
(01:55):
was like you had just hundreds of these little MiniDV
tapes filled with you know, the very At the time
you thought they were really huge films, but then, you know,
looking back on there just kind of a lot of
them were riffing on you know, Scorsese or gangster movies
that I was into at the time. You're you know,
(02:16):
a version of those with your friends, your seventeen year
old friends. But yeah, so then you know, I went
to school for film and then really about halfway through
school really got into animation and took an animation class
and was interested in kind of like trying to figure
out how to combine live action filmmaking with animation. So
(02:41):
I saw my one of my film professors showed me
Alice by John Spankmeyer, the Czech surrealist animator, and that
really kind of blew my mind and opened up my
brain to a whole new type of filmmaking that could
be you know, kind of half live action, high animation,
very surreal, very tactile. I've always been a fan of
(03:05):
like the films that really feel like they've been touched
by somebody, like they're you can feel like the filmmaker's
fingerprint in the movie, whether that's like a literal fingerprint
in clay or just like their style coming through. So yeah,
and then you know, just through school I kept doing that,
and then after school I started making music videos for
(03:25):
my friends who were in bands. It was a great
way to like make a three minute film and you
didn't have to worry about the sound because it was
just the music of the band. So I did that
for a few years, which then kind of just led
to making my first feature film with my friend John
called The Beast Pageant, which was you know, it was
(03:46):
like three and a half years of shooting on sixty
milimeter film on a bolex, just a great time and
you know each then that kind of led to the
next film, which I did, the next film, which you know,
here I am many years later, still kind of on
that journey making things with my friends.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
Have you always wanted to be that kind of broad
kind of creative, you know? Or is there a field
that you feel more attached to perhaps than another.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (04:10):
Yeah, you know, for me, it's always I jump around
to different roles, I think because ultimately different projects kind
of scratch different itches that you have, and you know,
whether it's helping friends make a project, or animating by
myself into the night, or working as part of a
bigger team. Yeah, I don't really, you know, I like story.
(04:36):
I like telling stories, so a lot of time it's
just like an idea that I have, that kind of
you share with friends, and some friends align with it
and then you all kind of go on this journey together.
The last two films I've made have been with my
dear friend and collaborator Kentucker, oddly, and we're working on
our hopefully our third one now, which it's it's been
(04:58):
a journey, but it's a it's I really love collaborating
and making things with with Kentucker and with friends, just
because you know, filmmaking is it's very and it's root.
It feels like it's very kind of insane undertaking, like
you're you're trying to literally like stop time or go
(05:18):
against like the natural kind of flow of the universe,
you know, by like making imaginary worlds and making people fly,
or you know, making mice dance or you know, just
different things that shouldn't happen. So it's nice to have
a buddy, nice to have a friend to go through
it with who you can kind of at the end
(05:40):
of the day look at it, look at each other
and just say like, okay, we made it, we made
it together. Let's just do it another day. You know,
let's keep going.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
And I suppose we've seen in the past few years,
like relying on the studios Hollywood to fund these things
to turn up for the kind of smaller films, the
personal projects is it's hard to come by, but you
can rely on friends and like that community that you've
you've clearly established, that's that's always a constant.
Speaker 4 (06:05):
It feels like, yeah, you know, and that's exactly it it's
as it gets harder and harder to kind of fund movies,
and you know, you just keep hearing people say, how
what a what a hard time, what a strange time
it is in the industry, you know, with all the
strikes and all these Yeah, just just uncertainty about the future.
(06:27):
At the end of the day, you can still just
kind of like grab a camera and go make a
movie with a friend. And I taught film for a
few years here in Baltimore, and that was my the
thing I always would tell the students. It's like, look,
you know, they all have these big dreams of you know,
Hollywood and explosions and multimillion dollar budgets, and you know,
(06:48):
I get it. I have those dreams too. But while
you're waiting for those dreams that happen, you should be
doing something. You know, like what do you have around
you right now? Who are the friends, the actors, the
crew that are willing just to go out into a
field and have fun with you, you know, at midnight
on a Wednesday night or something like make those movies?
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Why you can?
Speaker 4 (07:09):
And you know, in my own slow career, if you
want to call that our journey, it's like starting out
just making movies with my friends has grown into bigger things,
you know, And I think that's the key is just
like why are you in it in the first place?
Why are you making films? Is it to like be
rich and famous that you know, that's not a good
(07:31):
reason you should do it, just because what else do
you want to do on this earth with your time?
But like have fun with your friends and make something
special from your soul, you know. And I think if
you're doing that, then maybe, if you're lucky, other things
might happen afterwards. But if they don't, that's okay, because
you still had a heck of a time with your buds.
Speaker 3 (07:51):
You know. We've always asked these whe wherever we take off,
like a new locations over guests to call in from
of like you're a first one from Baltimore. What's like
the community like there for film? Like whether it's like
watching it or like the community for making it? What? Like?
Is there something that makes Baltimore quite special?
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (08:11):
I think the first thing that comes to mind is
just that it's it's a place where it's still somewhat
affordable or easy to live, you know. So I've lived
in New York I've lived in other places where the
rent is a lot higher, the cost of living is
much higher. It's it's just more difficult to like kind
of be a struggling artist, you know, whereas in Baltimore
(08:34):
it's still I feel like you can still do that.
You can you can just film kind of on the
street and no one's going to stop you. You can,
you know, call up a supermarket and ask if you
can film there, and they're gonna just let you do
it for free, whereas like New York or LA maybe
some places know that they can charge you a lot
of money. So yeah, for me, I grew up here too,
(08:54):
so it's nice to have, you know, my family here
and those those roots that I grew up with. But yeah,
I think also, you know, John Waters is from here,
and he's a great you know, he's still around. You
still see him going out to movies and shows, and
but you know his films will very much do it
yourself with your friends, be weird, don't conform to any
(09:19):
you know, idea of what a movie should be. And
I think that still is in the water a little bit,
no pun intended, but yeah, I don't know, and it's
a you know, it's a relatively small city compared to
the bigger cities, and yeah, it is a pretty small
film scene. Everybody kind of knows everybody, you know what
(09:40):
people are up to, you know what projects people are
working on. And for many years there was the Maryland
Film Festival here, which was a great yearly festival every
May where a lot of people would come from out
of town and it was I think that happening every
year for many years kind of made Baltimore feel like
(10:01):
this little point, this little place where you know, good,
good movies were being made and people wanted to come
and share them their movies every year.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
So yeah, I think that's that's what Baltimore is.
Speaker 3 (10:15):
You've obviously got quite a kind of big filmography so far.
Like where can you recommend like people seeking out these
kind of films And is there anyone that you're particularly
fond of? If people were, this was their first instruction too,
that they should check in.
Speaker 4 (10:29):
Yeah, you know, honestly, probably the last live action feature
that Kentucker and I made together Strawberry Mansion, which is
it's a very surreal, fantastic kind of dream movie. But
it Yeah, I think just that one captured you know,
a little bit about me and who Kentucky and I
(10:50):
are and yeah, that's I think it's most places online.
I don't know if it's especially in Scotland or the
UK or where it it is, but over here in
the States it's on. It recently went on to be
Do you have to b?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
Yeah, I think we recently got to be and so on.
There was a real buzz about it within a very
certain type of film fan here in the UK. Yeah,
finally came along years after all the jokes about it,
and then it became a different kind of platform and
so definitely behind the curve here.
Speaker 4 (11:21):
To Be is cool and people if you watch Starry
Mansion on two B, I think there's an extra layer
of irony or jokes in there because Strawberry Mansion has
this idea of advertising and to Be has ads. So
you'll be watching this movie that's kind of like, you know,
has its own ads, and then like this this machinape
(11:44):
on your head that blocks ads and then boom, you'll
be interrupted by an actual ad. So I've been told
that it adds like another layer to the film. So
if you've got to be, check it out there and
then the other film that I feel very proud of
is an animated feature that I did called Hucks and
Fanny and it's on YouTube for free, and that was
(12:07):
just I just did that by myself. And yeah, it's
very different from Shari Mansion. Maybe it's got some overlap,
but it's it's probably something that's like talking a little
bit earlier about like how hard it is to get
films made. This was one that I just started because
I needed to do something. I was going crazy in
(12:29):
the time between films and so I just animated started
animating it myself and the end product is eighty two
minutes and I'm very proud of it. And there's a
sequel to which if you make it through the first one,
then the second Tux and Fanny is out there waiting
for you. I have dreams of doing the third one,
which I'm kind of writing now, but you know, there's
(12:49):
a lot of other projects started, so I have to
kind of figure out where I'm putting my energy.
Speaker 3 (12:55):
Excellent, I'll definitely be be seeking that was And obviously
people might be be very familiar with you now from
you know, you're in UK cinemas at the moment. When
did you sort of first hear about the opportunity to
be part of I saw the TV Glow.
Speaker 1 (13:10):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
So Jane is an old friend and we have just
kept in touch over the years, and then in twenty
twenty we were in a film group together, which was
I think there were about eight or nine of us
where we would watch two movies every week and then
(13:32):
get on zoom and talk about them. And it was
one of those things that it kind of happened for
a year. So it was like April twenty twenty to
maybe April or May of twenty twenty one when it
was just like, you know, we were all locked down,
we didn't have anything, and it was it was just
like the most wonderful, beautiful club.
Speaker 1 (13:52):
So we got closer.
Speaker 4 (13:53):
I got closer with Jane over that year as we're
you know, sharing movies, and half the calls we would
all just be talking about the movies. The other hat
we're just kind of you know, checking in and seeing
everyone's doing. And then Jane's first film, We're All Going
to the World's Fair, premiered at Sundance with Strawberry Mansion,
the film I just mentioned Pucker in my film, So
(14:15):
we were both in the next category at Sundance, which
was really exciting because we'd been, you know, in our
film club talking about these projects and the post production
on them and whatnot. And that was the first year
Sundance was all virtual. It was all online, so I
got to, you know, see the movie. Everyone else online
through a movie. And then I think pretty soon after that,
(14:40):
they emailed a few of us in the film group,
the ones that were interested in reading. I saw a
TV glow of the script and I was very excited
to read after seeing their first film. I also, I
should mention, I forgot that I did some animation and
we're all going to the World's Fair. There's a section. Yeah,
there's a section where it's like a typing out like
(15:02):
an old eight bit video game. I animated that, and
I think Jane they were like an executive producer on
Tucks and Fanny, and they knew I did this kind
of pixel animation, so that was fun to do. You know,
it's like twenty seconds in the movie. Anyway, So I
read the script in I guess twenty twenty one for
TV glow and just yeah, it was very hit me,
(15:25):
very hard, very emotional script. It was all there on
the page. It just kind of like, you know, everything
that made it into the movie. So yeah, I just
told them I loved it and how it resonated with
kind of my own high school experience a little bit
of just kind of feeling like an outsider for me.
The show was X Files that I really.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Yeah, I was. I was an X Files kid as
well BBC two Sunday Night and so on. Yeah, I
was an element where I was thinking about that recently
where I was a ten year old when the film
came out, and like I went to the cinema on
two pairs of socks so that it would look like
fifteen years old to get into the film. Like that
was a huge moment for me as like a nineties kid.
Speaker 1 (16:06):
Amazing.
Speaker 4 (16:06):
Yeah, so yeah, you get you know these shows especially
of that era, you know, maybe still today, but they
felt this is kind of like it was like early Internet,
you know, and there were like message boards and so yeah,
just responded to it. And then actually Jane came here
to Baltimore for three or four days, and I think
(16:30):
this would have been early twenty twenty two. January twenty
twenty two. We still had our Christmas tree up. That's
how I remember it. Was like post Christmas, but it
was early January, and we drew I think I drew
about fifteen or twenty different scenes in the movie. They
weren't storyboards, they were more just like, here's this moment
when you know Owen is laying in the basement and
(16:55):
electricity or something's happening with their head, and I think
Jane just wanted to kind of like start visualizing certain
key moments and we were doing a lot of but
like the lighting and the shadow and the colors and
just kind of figuring that out. And then they took
those two the cinematographer and was kind of like, here's
you know, these these scenes and this is kind of
(17:16):
how I want them to look. So that was that
I had never done that before, even for my own films.
I'd never really like dove into that. But it was
fun to do and it was exciting to see Jane
kind of like had the vision already formed, you know.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
So then that, yeah, that would.
Speaker 4 (17:31):
Have been January, and then they were off in pre
production mode and didn't hear anything until that summer. I
guess when they asked myself and Graham Mason, who's a
friend and filmmaker who made an amazing film called inspector Ike,
(17:54):
which is also on two be and you should watch.
But Graham was also in our film club. So Jane
knew the two of us and asked us if we
would film some elements that would appear on the TV
in in throughout the movie at TV Glow and so
that was that was a really fun kind of assignment,
and we did a couple of commercials. We did an
(18:16):
animated section which is is Tucs and Fanny, my Tuxs
and Fanny creation, but like as imagined if it was
on you know, TV at nine point thirty, right before
the pink Opake. And then yeah, they they had Jane
had the script for that scene, which is like the alternate,
like the true version of what the pink Opake was
(18:38):
for Owen as an adult looking back. And it was,
you know, very fun to make his paper mache ice
cream mask in my basement and we found a suburb
here in Baltimore and filmed it, you know, found some
local children actors and yeah, so that that kind of happened.
(18:58):
And then all throughout this I knew that Jane was
casting like the actual TV Glow and at some point
I think I was kind of working with them still
because I had done some of these design drawings, and
some of the design drawings were of character, so I
was like, they had hired a VFX house in California
(19:20):
to make the big mister Sprinkley, like the really scary
one that appears first time in the movie. So I
was working, I was on all these email chains with
this amazing mass kind of going back and forth with
the designs, and they were kind of basing it off
our original drawings and then basing part of it off
of like the paper mache version I'd made, and I
(19:41):
think someone from that company was going to wear it
like in the movie because it's very big and bulky,
and I forget what happened, but something either fell through
or the person got sick or couldn't do it, and
at that point I think, you know, I kind of
nudged and said, hey, I would love to put it on.
(20:05):
The first film that Kentucker and I made together, called Silvio,
I wore a latex mask for the entire film, so
I had a little bit of you know, had I
had worn a mask before, So I figured, you know,
I'm probably as qualified as anybody, and also because I
wore the paper mache one. Maybe it'll be fun to
have like both mister Sprinkley's be the same person. And yeah,
(20:26):
Jane said, Okay, let's do it. That sounds great, And.
Speaker 1 (20:31):
Yeah it was.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
I think this was August of twenty twenty two. They
were filming in New Jersey, so I took I took
the train up where I drove up to New York.
I stayed at my sister's apartment and yeah, headed to
the set early one morning. I think it was a Sunday.
It was like a Sunday morning maybe, And yeah, it
(20:51):
was just one day of filming with this this mask,
and it was very fun. Arriving on the set. There
was like a trailer and it just said mister Sprinkley
on the door. It was like, that's pretty cool. First
time I ever had a trailer and it's for this
ice cream character. But yeah, it was.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
All in all, it was.
Speaker 4 (21:10):
You know, it was it was fun to be a
part of the film for many years, from reading the
script and doing the drawings and working on these inserts,
these you know, things that appeared on the screens in
the movie, and then to finally like get to go
to the set and see Jane in action. See like
when I came, I think it was like the last week.
(21:30):
It was one of the last few days, so it
had a little bit of that feeling of everybody has
been doing this for like a month and it's very
hot and everyone's doing great work. But it just I
felt like all excited and like, yeah, this is so cool.
I'm on this film set, and I think some people
were just like, here we go. We got to just
get through this last week.
Speaker 3 (21:51):
And when you were kind of designing the mask at
the kind of this paper mache mask, what kind of
inspirations were you drawing from, because did you have an
idea what like these this terrifying version was and it's like,
what's the complete opposite to that? Or kind of thinking
back what would be on Nickelodeon or you know, all
those kind of networks and so on at the time
and just designing from there, what was your kind of
(22:13):
thought process.
Speaker 4 (22:14):
Definitely, it was definitely those Nickelodeon shows. Pete and Pete
was a big one. The adventures is it The Adventures
of Pete and Pete? They have an episode with an
ice cream character, and I know that that was definitely.
Jane and I talked about that, and yeah, just like
(22:36):
the flip side of a terrifying creature should feel very
you know, playful and cartoony. And it's also kind of
the limits of what I could do with paper mache.
I'm not like, I'm not doing like a mold or
I'm not like a mass or mask maker. So it's
kind of like it fit perfectly into what I was
(22:58):
able to do. And yeah, we the mask had a
velcrow mouth and eyebrows, so it could be it's kind
of mean, angry, and yeah, those are just like belcode
on and then I would kind of stay still and
Graham or Ema producer that day would run in and
change them, you know, velcro them the happy face and
(23:21):
the happy eyebrows. When the young girl says, let's have
a soup party, you know. Yeah so and then yeah,
looking like I was looking back through small emails and
it's like the the VFX house, the mask makers in
LA they had their own in house artists who was
(23:42):
just doing like these amazing drawings, which I think were like,
I don't know what the inspiration was, probably just like
the simple version just made very realistic and actually what
how horrifying it would be if there was you know,
like ice cream spilling out of the mouth and like
the eyes kind of claud and just like these really
cool drawings that then they did a pretty i think,
(24:04):
pretty close job to actualizing them in the final version.
But yeah, I don't know, I don't know. I know
that Jane is a big fan of like Buffy the
Vampire Slayer, and I think that was a big inspiration
for pink Opake, So I'm sure some of those monsters,
you know, the different monsters of the week, would would
have informed kind of the design too.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
I can kind of see now, having speaking by the
XL I could see him older with like a gun
in the face of like the more horrifying version of
Scully being a bit dismissive, Like I can picture that
and that.
Speaker 1 (24:36):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (24:36):
Yeah, and I'm I think I'm sure Jane watch X
Files too.
Speaker 1 (24:42):
I think we've talked about that before.
Speaker 4 (24:43):
So yeah, you know, all these shows of that era,
they all were I think big inspirations too to filmmakers
now our age, and it's exciting to kind of see
how that shows up. You know, you can see like
the different both like both those old TV shows and
also video games. I think there's like a crop of
(25:03):
filmmakers now who you can feel like, oh, they grew
up playing Zelda, you know, or are they played Mario
the same way?
Speaker 3 (25:12):
You think we're getting to that stage where what was
like maybe about a decade ago that we got the
late seventies eighties kids that had Star Wars and we
saw like, you know, you're kind of JJA when Ryan
Johnson's etcetera coming through that that was their grounding. And
then it's going to be interesting as the years go on,
like he got the nineties when TV became a little
bit more you know, better quality in terms of the IPUO,
(25:34):
and we're going to get into the HBO eras as
well that you know, how are people going to be
informed by kind of those those experiences that they had,
And I think we're we're definitely starting to see that.
I mean, you certainly see that with with Jane, Like
they clearly experienced like the Internet and sort of the
TV in a very unique way, and you've seen that
in their two films so far.
Speaker 4 (25:55):
Yeah, yeah, definitely, Yeah, it's it's it's only two. When
Jane came here and we were drawing, we would finish
a drawing and then to reward ourselves, we would play
Mario on the Switch in super Ma Brothers three.
Speaker 1 (26:10):
You can do that first.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
Once you beat the first level, you can go back
and play it and it's a battle mode when if
you ever say that, But we would just battle for
you know, ten to fifteen minutes and then kind of
reset and do another drawing. And yeah, it's just so
yeah fun to feel the TV in the video games influence.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
And it sounds like you're you know, you're you know,
people might just see it first, so if this was
the guy that was the ice cream mem But talking
from you, you have your involvement throughout the kind of
film and it sounds like, based on your career so far,
that you're someone that likes to do all these different
parts of films as well, and there must be something
so rewarding about that of not just being a day
player or you know, oh, I'm just considered for one job,
(26:52):
but something where you can have a kind of say
an impact and be a real creative, kind of contributor.
Speaker 1 (26:58):
Oh yeah, definitely.
Speaker 4 (26:59):
And I think that's the fun of you know, having
friends who are also their own filmmakers and you know,
kind of this big working situation where can help out
on Jane's film. And I showed Jane an early cut
of you know, one of my films for feedback and Graham,
who I did the the little TV bits with. You know,
(27:22):
that was the first time the two of us had
really worked on a project together, so that was exciting.
And yeah, you know, it's like like I said, it's
like filmmaking is such a collaborative you know, art form,
and the more you can kind of like find the
right people, your people that are like on the same
wavelength or maybe even on different wavelengths, but like when
(27:44):
you put each other to you know, put your brain together,
these exciting things happen. And you know, I think Jane's
very smart in that they were like, let me get
Graham and Albert to do these other things because it's
supposed to feel a little bit different than the rest
of the movies. So you know, Jane had a very
clear vision of what those should be on the script.
But then it was kind of like, I'm getting YouTube
(28:05):
to do this because I you know, trust you and
I like your styles and just have fun with it,
you know.
Speaker 3 (28:11):
And was that a challenge to go back to the
nineties and that visual esthetic back into those boxed in
TV kind of screens and you know even just like
how people are set aside the kind of the acting
and these sorts of things. Was it a challenge or
was it quite easy to.
Speaker 4 (28:29):
Yeah, it was quite easy, and actually it was quite fun.
Especially there's the one ad which you can see a
little bit of for the Young Adult Network, which is
what the pink opake is on. They have a magazine
called Young Adult Party by AP and it's very much
inspired by the like Nickelodeon magazine, you know, with like
(28:52):
the bright orange colors and the green loop.
Speaker 1 (28:55):
And so we.
Speaker 4 (28:56):
Watched, you know, Graham and I watched a bunch of
those old commercials, and you know, they were on TV
all the time, so they're just kind of like buried
deep inside of us. And so it was fun to like,
let's make our own version of that and you know,
rip off some shots, but also have you know, try
some new ideas and then knowing that it's going to
be played on you know, I think they even did
(29:18):
some like they put it through a VCR first maybe
or then they put it on the TV. But just
it's always fun knowing that like it's going to be
removed a little bit and it's just going to be
this kind of like background thing.
Speaker 1 (29:30):
So yeah, it was.
Speaker 4 (29:30):
It was actually like working on all those were very
fun and Graham and I had just a blast. And
one little side story, the day we were filming the
ice Cream Mister Sprinkley in the Suburbs, we got in
the car to drive there, Graham and I did loaded
the big head in the back of my car, turn
(29:52):
on the radio and ice Cream Man by Tom Waits
started playing and we were just like what it was
just on the radio randomly, couldn't believe it. And as
we were driving, then that song ended, and then the
next song came on and it was another ice cream song,
and we were like, this is insane, what's going on here.
It happened like three times, and finally the radio DJ
(30:13):
came on and said it's National ice Cream Day. And
you know, we had no idea, but it just felt
like one of those things like, Okay, this is this
is a sign, this is the right day to film,
this is this is all happening for a reason.
Speaker 3 (30:26):
It's amazing, and you know, one of the things that
was the highlight I experienced it my screaming and the
person they do this podcast with. And there's as well
that the line that in the winter time, instead of
selling ice cream, you can sell soup got one of
the biggest bally laughs and I saying it to my
to my mate. The other day I went to see
TV Go obviously came out here in the UK, and
(30:48):
it was like the story of how it's come around
into the cinema so quickly here, like it was maybe
coming here, but then there was no official day and
I think Jane got a campaign sort of going up
on twere like just about a month ago, like let's
get it into cinema, so how can we get it here?
And Sony put it in this week and it was
kind of like kind of the counter programming to Deadpool
(31:10):
and Wolverine. There's a really great stat the other day
where you know, all relative and so on, where it
was like, oh, TV Glow we got like oney four
hundred per screen in the UK, and you know, there
was a really great turnout to these screenings, like people
are like I could see the other Marvel movie or
I could see this, but you know, being the completion
stide was I saw both and that got a bigger
(31:31):
belly left than any anything in Deadpol Wolverine, which is
mentally a little bar for a movie like that, but
it was one of those ones you're just like, there's
this brilliant independent film, what a brilliant payoff that line was.
And then you just watch this film where it's like
the worst jokes, just constant crap and stuff, But that
one was just a real, real highlight for me. I
think that could be one of the moments of the
(31:52):
year for me.
Speaker 4 (31:53):
Oh, that's that's so great to hear. And yeah, I
think you know, Jane is so smart. That was one
of the lines that they written. But I think in
that scene especially, you know the movie, it's kind of
been building and there's you know, it's it's an emotional film,
and then that scene when Owen goes back and watches it,
it's kind of a lighter moment where it's a little
(32:15):
bit silly or like it's still very sad, because it's
kind of that idea of like, look, how things are
different when you're older looking back. You know, this thing
you remember being very scary is actually very silly and goofy,
and it almost like the film gives you that moment
to kind of like have a have a laugh or
have just kind of like a release a little bit,
(32:35):
even though it's still kind of beneath the surface to me,
very poignant and sad, but you know, just yeah, so
that's cool to hear that, that that's hitting. I've seen
the film. I've seen it twice. I saw an early
cut with just Jane and a few friends and that
it was unfinished, that you know, it had unfinished vffects
and music and all that. And then I saw it
(32:56):
recently the New York premiere and that was that was wonderful.
But I'm still I want to try to see it,
ah in a theater where I can kind of feel
that that release and that.
Speaker 3 (33:10):
It was definitely a real tree And it was great
to just see like it was, you know, Sunday, Sunday afternoon,
like it's gett a couple of showings a day here
and everywhere. It was just like, oh, there are people
here to see this and so on. Sometimes you think
about these films and you hear about them in your
own bubble, and you're like, oh, there is a wider
community that wants to see these original films and so on,
and feel probably either underserved or desperate to sport film
(33:33):
like this, especially when that's kind of come out of
nowhere after a few months of buzz kind of stateside.
Speaker 4 (33:39):
Definitely, Yeah, I think it's it's so nice when just
new new films and new voices and you know, mentioning
like the Deadpool of Wolverine.
Speaker 1 (33:49):
It's like, yeah, there.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
There's there's those movies, but there's there's a whole other
world in universe the movies that that can be out there,
and so it's nice when one kind of breaks through
and and you know, cross over the ocean and find
a bigger audience hopefully.
Speaker 3 (34:06):
It was a great tweet I saw earlier this week
where it was like some stills from Deadpool, like you know,
crazy budget, and then it was like above it and
it's like thousands of shares. Was like I saw the
TV Glow as a budget of zero point zero three
three percent of Deadpool, and I had some of those
beautiful kind of purple shots and images and so on,
and just reminding people like there's such great independent movies
(34:29):
that you know, artists like yourself and involved in where
you go, Oh, this is clearly a passion project brought
to life by people that are that are interested in
think about the craft as opposed to kind of churning
stuff out. And it was just I saw that tweet
multiple times before I went into the cinema, which just
kind of hyped me up even more of like I
need to finally see this and what and what's Jane
(34:52):
like as a as a director? Obviously a kind of
very much a new voice, but I think for some
of us we're getting to know them a little bit
better from some of these brilliant inner and so on.
What are they like? Because as a director, it's obviously
signs that you have a good working relationship, But what
was that even like to be directed by them?
Speaker 4 (35:09):
Yeah, I'm trying to remember, you know, it was such
a quick kind of scene and I mostly just remember
how hot it was under the mask. But I think
I think what I just remember is that they had
a very you know, very clear vision of what they wanted.
And yeah, I think it was like a well oiled machine.
(35:30):
Like I said, it was the end of the shoot,
so when I came in there, it was kind of
like everybody was knew what to do and how to
do it. Yeah, very I just remember a very gentle direction,
just kind of telling me to do the ice cream
take again, or you know, lean forward a little bit
more on this take and lift your hand up a
(35:50):
little higher. You know, nothing too crazy, you know. I wish,
having seen it been on set. Just one day after
I took off the ice cream helmet, they were shooting
a couple more scenes, so I just kind of hung
around on the on the edge and watched. But yeah,
they just seemed like they they had a you know,
they were working really closely with Eric, the DP, and
(36:12):
you know, just kind of lining up the shots and
getting everything that they needed to get that day. So yeah,
I can't say much more than that other than yeah,
they have a they.
Speaker 1 (36:23):
Had a vision.
Speaker 4 (36:23):
They had a clear vision, and it's I think it's
nice when you feel like somebody in charge knows what
they want.
Speaker 3 (36:31):
You know.
Speaker 4 (36:31):
I've been on some film sets where maybe you don't
feel that, maybe you feel that the director is a
little bit unsure, and it can it can definitely be
a little bit tougher in that situation because you're looking
for someone to kind of be.
Speaker 1 (36:47):
Like in charge.
Speaker 4 (36:48):
I think all that there's a lot of crew and
a lot of people who are just basically want someone
to make the decisions. And so from what I saw,
I think they they were making the right decision. They
knew the decisions they wanted maybe, you.
Speaker 3 (37:02):
Know, And that feels like it translates tests as a
viewer and so on, Like you watch TV glow World's
Fair and you go, that's someone's vision and so on,
brought to it to life. It doesn't feel like by
committee and so on. It feels like you look at
that and go, oh, I get that as a person
that's made this and so on, and you know, there's
(37:23):
you feel like you really want to dive into their brain.
Speaker 4 (37:27):
And exactly. I think with some of these bigger movies
there's maybe because there's so much more money involved, there's
so much more of like a committee feeling behind it,
where it's been stripped of that kind of feeling of
this comes from one person and it's more of like
this is just a Marvel movie or whatever, and it's
just going to have it's going to take all the
(37:47):
little boxes here, but at the end you're gonna it's
you're gonna leave kind of empty. And I mean no
disrespect to any of those movies, but I remember I
think I saw the first Avengers and I.
Speaker 1 (37:59):
I was like, it was like a roller coaster ride.
I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa.
Speaker 4 (38:03):
And then you leave the theater and I kind of
had an empty feeling a little bit. And and again,
I mean, I mean nothing against these films, but I
think usually what I relate to more, or what I
find I'm interested in, is films that feel like they
are coming from some somebody's like soul or some something
(38:27):
pure and real inside. And that comes in all different type.
You know, there's all different types of movies and filmmakers
that can do that. It's not just like I'm not
talking about just like an indie film. I'm talking about
you know, like the Coen Brothers for example, like David Lynch.
You know, I watched their films and as they've gotten bigger,
it still feels you still feel them in the movie.
(38:47):
You never feel like they're like making decisions to please
the studio or to please the money people. And you know,
so yeah, I think that's personally what I what I
love about filmmaking myself, and what I react to and
respond to in others films.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
I'm curious, where's the paper mache hat head.
Speaker 4 (39:08):
Now it's in the basement still, it's just down there.
And yeah, my nieces and nephew were visiting or recently
and I showed it to them, And yeah, I still
have dreams of putting it in a future film project,
kind of like in the background a little easter egg.
If Jane will give the okay, I.
Speaker 3 (39:28):
Look forward to seeing that. Like it feels like it's
destined for like the Hollywood Museum or something like. I
know they added like the Midsummer Dress and wherever there
a couple of years ago. I feel like that's the
next stage, is getting mister Sprinkley in there.
Speaker 4 (39:41):
Yeah, I guess I have to keep it together then.
Right now it's on the ground and every once in
a while, I like, I hope it doesn't flo down
here or anything. Maybe I'll put it on a table
so that it can stay in good shape.
Speaker 3 (39:52):
And it's obviously immortalized in a T shirt that sold
out it quite instantly on online as well. If you go,
did you manage to blag one or.
Speaker 4 (40:00):
You know, I didn't. I think I saw that shirt
after it was already out. Maybe they'll do another pressing
and all I'll be able to grab one. But I
did just see that the Blu Ray was announced or yeah.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
I saw that it looks like a beautiful set.
Speaker 4 (40:15):
Yeah, and it comes with little polaroids and one of
the polaroids is mister Sprinkley. And it was actually so
after I filmed the scene and I took the head
off and had a break, we went over to like
a school where they've been filming and we did a
whole photo shoot with Sprinkley. So I put it back on,
and I don't know if it exists anywhere, if it
(40:35):
should exist, but there's like a twenty minute interview maybe
with me wearing the Sprinkley doing like a voice, and
they're just asking me questions, and I was kind of
like just joking around. Maybe it's on the Blu Ray
or maybe a bit of it a peer somewhere on
the feature ed on there.
Speaker 3 (40:50):
But it's the best promotional technique for ever getting anyone
to listen to get the twenty minute, I asked, mister
Sprinkley cup.
Speaker 4 (40:57):
Yeah, but yeah, I was happy to see that one
of the picture is in the Blu Ray at least.
Speaker 3 (41:02):
So one day you'll be a comic con signing it
for a young fan. Right, Yeah, So what's kind of
coming next for yourself, Albert? I imagine there's probably a
lot of exciting projects on the r. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (41:15):
You know, it's this third film with Kentucker that we're
working on. We've been writing it for a few years,
and yeah, we're just getting closer, I think, to hopefully
going into production.
Speaker 1 (41:26):
We've been.
Speaker 4 (41:28):
You know, I'm hesitant to talk too much about that
because things fall through and fall apart, but we're getting
closer to the place where it might be happening, which
you know, it's been so Strawberry Mansion premiered at Sundance
in twenty twenty one, and here we are in August
of twenty twenty four, and you know that whole time
(41:50):
we've been working on it, writing and developing. So it's
been a been a long couple of years. But you know,
this is kind of like the end of this aficial
trilogy that the two of us have been working on.
So yeah, it's just a bigger, bigger, stranger, more surreal
movie than Shawbury mentioned.
Speaker 3 (42:08):
So amazing.
Speaker 4 (42:09):
Yeah, the next year or so, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:11):
It feels like there's a lot for me to dive
into a bite to begin a nice week off work,
so I have to check these, and obviously we mentioned
it like TV Glow was kind of, you know, an
a twenty four release as well. Are there any films
of their filmography that stand out for you as well? Oh?
Speaker 4 (42:26):
Yeah, I mean the first one, it's definitely Marcel the
Shell with Shoes On. That one really hit me hard.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Last year.
Speaker 4 (42:36):
I saw it kind of opening weekend here in Baltimore,
had a beautiful screening with some friends, and then I
watched it a few months later on a plane, thinking, oh,
surely this isn't going.
Speaker 1 (42:47):
To be as good as I remember.
Speaker 4 (42:49):
That must have been a magical night, and it was
even better, and both times had me crying, you know,
And yeah, I think that's just a really magical film.
And I I had a grandmother who was very dear
to me and kind of got me into film and art,
and so the grandmother's storyline in Marcel really really resonated.
(43:11):
And yeah, just a beautiful film with a lot of
emotion and heart. So that first comes to the mind.
And then the other one from last year it was
last year was it was Past Live.
Speaker 3 (43:25):
Yeah, beautiful film. Beautiful film was another one that I
never cried, but I felt like I was on the
cusp with it the whole time. Just maybe it was
just like the stress of the anxiety about it was
like just on that kind of cusp the whole time.
It was. It was intense.
Speaker 1 (43:39):
It's it's beautiful film.
Speaker 4 (43:40):
And my friend Taylor, who was one of the producers
on Strawberry Mansions, she worked on that film, so she
was telling me all about it during the shoot. And
then I happened to be at Sundance with a film
that I edited, a short that I had edited, and
so I got to go to the premiere at Sundance,
which was I think the world premiere. It was this
huge theater and yeah, you know, I was crying there
(44:02):
and definitely just a I guess as I get older,
I'm just drawn to movies that are had these like
really beautiful emotional centers to them, that are that feel
very much like rooted in and like being alive and
the strangeness of being alive and you know, relationships and
that kind of thing. So, you know, I could list
(44:24):
a ton more films, but I think those two are
the ones that, you know, even looking back to their
whole the A twenty four Cannon or whatever, I think
those two still rise to the top from me.
Speaker 3 (44:35):
And I must feel nice as well, like you know,
what's been been amazing. I kept myself in a bubble
with TV globe like until I finally got to see
a week ago. Like I knew it was purple. I
knew that there was some buffets sort of connections in
the trans allegory, and he was involved behind the camera
like I wanted. That's all I wanted to know until
I saw it, like and it you know, obviously been
(44:56):
reading up on it since and just you know, reading
some of the beautiful articles from sort of the trans
queer and your divergent communities and how much that's most
emotionally resonated with so many audience members as well. It
must feel nice as well that films are making you
feel that way. But something that you've worked on as
well is really touching people is as well. That must
(45:16):
be I suppose that's what you kind of live for
as a filmmaker and a collaborator.
Speaker 4 (45:21):
Definitely, definitely, one hundred percent. And I've been reading a
lot of the reviews too, both like you know, the
professional ones, but just on letterbox, and it's been so
moving and touching to hear people responding, you know, saying
I've never felt so seen or never felt so like
emotionally in a movie before. So yeah, I mean I
(45:44):
was very It makes me very happy to be a
small part of that, you know, and to see the
success that Jane has had, and you know, very excited
to just see what they keep making. And you know,
if they asked me to be you know, wear a
mask and the next one, I'll have to say yes,
and you know, yeah, excited to kind of see.
Speaker 3 (46:03):
There're gonna be this third part of this kind of trilogy,
the screen trilogy, so so that you know, you've been
in the two, the first two in some form or another,
so hopefully hopefully the third time.
Speaker 1 (46:12):
Looking Yeah, definitely.
Speaker 3 (46:15):
And finally, where can kind of people ce you up
to day with any of these kind of projects that
you're working on, or what's kind of out there for
people to follow.
Speaker 4 (46:22):
Yeah, I mean the kind of the the landing place.
It's just my website, which is just a Bernie b
r n e y a Bernie dot com and that's
kind of a list of all the films I've done
and I think links to find them online. You know,
I've got shorts on there and all the old music videos,
and you know, it's got links to the Twitter and
(46:43):
the Instagram and all that, so if they head over
to my website, they'll be able to.
Speaker 1 (46:47):
To find more.
Speaker 4 (46:48):
But yeah, I think most of the movies are online
if you do a little searching, and if they're not,
you can probably bootleg them somewhere too, which you know,
at the end of the day, it's like just wanting
people to see the movie. Any way people can see
them is okay by me.
Speaker 3 (47:03):
Perfect Well, thank you so much, Albert for sharing your
stories and insights and experiences with us. I really really
appreciate it. It's been a pleasure to talk with you.
Speaker 1 (47:11):
Yeah, I been a great talk. Thanks Lee,
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