October 20, 2023 • 31 mins
For our Halloween special Matt and Rob interview writer, producer, director, best-selling author, and host of the Cynema podcast Harrison Smith! This episode promises an insightful conversation with Harrison as he gives a peak into his upcoming projects and shares the origins of his passion for horror films.
As we delve deeper into the convolutions of the entertainment industry, we explore the potential seismic shift AI could inflict on Hollywood. Harrison, armed with his wealth of knowledge, offers enlightening perspectives on the rapidly emerging technology; from its application in de-aging actors and generating film characters, to the challenges it presents to those in the industry.
Matt and Rob also present Harrison with a new cocktail they have specially crafted to pair with his movie, "The Special," which Matt and friends will watch and react to next week!
Visit www.mattandfriendsdtu.com for links listen, support the podcast, and more!
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Cheers, and thanks for listening!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Matt (00:00):
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 , 1.
We have liftoff.
Rob (00:17):
Welcome to Matt and Friends Drink the Universe!
Matt (00:25):
Alright, welcome back everyone to Matt and Friends
Drink the Universe.
I'm very excited about today'sepisode.
Today's episode theme is goingto be Lights Camera
So it's going to be lights,camera spirits.
(00:47):
Our Halloween special.
Joining me here today, outsideof our normal recording space,
is Hi guys, it's Rob Alright,and also with us today.
I'm very excited to introducewriter, producer, director,
best-selling author, host of theCinema Podcast and, if I
interpreted our family treecorrectly, my second cousin.
Welcome, harrison Smith.
(01:08):
Thank you so much for beingwith us on the podcast today.
It's nice to be here.
Thanks for having me.
So we're going to ask you somequestions now.
Bring them on.
The people need to know things,that's true.
So what are you working onright now?
What do you got going on?
Harrison Smith (01:22):
Well, the writer's strike is over, the
actor's strike is still going on, so I'm on hold on three
different projects.
I'm supposed to be heading toCalifornia anytime now to do a
horror film, a slasher film, inBig Bear I'm pretty excited
about that with the cast andeverything.
And then moving on to asupernatural horror called
(01:44):
Keepsake, and then also doingone that I just optioned the
rights to a serial killer truelife story called break, which
is based on the true story of abone breaker in Michigan and his
this.
He used to capture these kidsand he got off on the sound of
breaking bones.
Oh my God.
And this kid got away and so Iended up optioning the
(02:09):
survivor's story and we're goingto turn that into a film.
Wow, and we're really excited.
We want to get offers out to acouple you know, big name stars.
I have one in mind who's one ofmy favorite actors.
Rob (02:23):
I can't say who it is yet because he's not under contract.
Okay, all right.
No, I'm baseball today because,well, right, the only reason
why is it's all bullshit untilthey sign the contract.
Harrison Smith (02:34):
So there are no contracts to sign until the
strike is over, so I'm hoping Iget him.
He's a fan of my work.
Anyway, he's read a previousscript that I have one going on
a developing in Canada calledlittle green men, which is based
on the true story, or allegedtrue story, of an alien attack
on a Kentucky farm in 1954,which is where the name little
(02:56):
green men came from, where theterm came from.
The sheriff who investigatedwrote down on the police report.
You know farm came under attackfrom little green men.
So that's how that phrase arelexicon.
Rob (03:10):
That's really cool.
So, harrison, I'm going tostart off and just ask why,
whore, what, what draws you tothat medium?
What?
What drew you to that?
Based upon that, versus othertypes of cinema?
Harrison Smith (03:21):
Well, I love all kinds, but since a boy, my
grandmother and I used to watchhorror films all the time.
I spent an incredible amount oftime.
My grandmother, my mother andmy biological father had a
pretty rough relationship.
It was an ugly divorce.
So I spent a lot of time withmy grandmother, who was my
father's mother, and if youwatch the movie the fields with
(03:43):
chlorosleechman and Tara Reid,that's the true story, based on
my childhood and the events thathappened on their farm in the
summer of 73, which explains thehorror stuff.
I would just watch horrormovies either late night with
her or I'd watch them, you know,saturday afternoon creature
features.
By the time I was eight yearsold, I mean I knew Peter Cushing
(04:05):
, vincent Price, peter Laurieyou name them Boris, karla, bill
Lugosi I knew them all, so Ihad my grandmother to thank for
that.
I wrote a book about it calledthis Time it's Personal which is
a history of the horror genreand what I grew up loving, and
then seeing a lot of these filmsalso in theaters, and the
fantastic theatrical experiencesthese films gave, which we just
(04:27):
don't have anymore now.
The pandemic helped bring thatto an end.
You know, to be in a seat, youknow in a house with 350 seats
and people screaming their assesoff, that's a rush, that's a
lot of fun and we just don'thave that anymore.
We just really don't.
And so watching horror filmswith groups like I'm excited to
(04:50):
hear that you're having like agroup watch of the special,
somebody on TikTok did one withlike 25 people and they were all
like oh, this is fucked up, andI was like they posted that I'm
just enjoying, like I had tochime in on the comments and go,
just so you know that's mymovie.
And the one girl was like getthe hell out.
And then she started followingme.
But they just loved it becauseit achieved what I wanted.
(05:12):
We got to show it theatricallyin York for its premiere and I
was sitting in the back andnobody knew I was sitting in the
back and this woman camestorming with her husband in tow
and she walked right by.
She had no idea who I was andshe was just like I've had
enough of this shit and shewalked out and it was like
that's a rape right there.
(05:34):
That's shocking, all YepFantastic.
If you're walking out that is agood thing, and if you pissed
them off, it's a really goodthing.
So there we go.
So that's that's my answer.
I loved it since.
Matt (05:47):
I was a child.
Awesome, very cool Since, sinceyou mentioned her, I wanted to
ask.
I listened today to the episode.
I was trying to get caught upin your podcast a little bit and
I listened to the Tara Reidepisode and I thought it was
absolutely fantastic when Ilistened to a lot of information
that you know I wasn't aware of.
She uttered one of my favoritelines in cinema ever, which is
I'm Gwen Pearson, staff writerfor the liberator liberator in
(06:10):
Van Wilder, which I rememberthat movie when it, when it came
out, thoroughly enjoyed it.
So when I heard you work withher, I thought that was really,
really cool.
Harrison Smith (06:17):
Yeah, tara and I are still close friends.
We've stayed very close.
Matt (06:20):
Oh, very cool.
That's awesome, very cool.
I enjoyed the story about thethe dog as well.
Harrison Smith (06:25):
Oh, she was great with that.
She just she never missed abeat.
She was terrific.
Matt (06:29):
So I'm alluding to a story that Harrison tells on his
podcast, and I'd like you to golisten to that particular
episode, because it is fantasticand it's a wonderful story and
we'll teach you things youdidn't know about, something you
probably thought you knewsomething about, but you really
don't.
Harrison Smith (06:43):
Yeah, that's why I did it.
You know, people have just beenabsolutely horrible to Tara and
or, as I said the one time,terrible to her.
So it's like, yeah, I've alwaysstuck by her and I loved
working with her.
I would work with her again ina heartbeat and I so enjoyed her
(07:05):
.
So, and, like I said, we stayclose.
We're the, you know, wishingeach other happy birthdays and
Christmas and all that stuff,and she's just terrific.
Rob (07:14):
She plays my mother Very cool.
So before we get to our nextset of questions, I think we
should tell Harrison a littlebit about the cocktail we made
for today, and we're going tomake this for our friends in the
watch along as well.
We call it the special becausewe'll be watching the special
later.
And, matt, do you want toexplain what you did here?
Matt (07:36):
Sure, so inside this thing floating around and kind of
chunky and viscous at the top,there is some grape jello and
it's select grain vodka fromChristmas City Spirits here in
Bethlehem, pa.
So it's more or less a grapejello shot.
With that vodka has a veryvanilla flavor to it.
That tip it's actually asipping vodka, so it actually
(07:58):
you can sit and drink it and notfeel like you're going to die,
which is very rare for a vodkaand it is actually just floating
over sprite.
Rob (08:05):
Yeah, we wanted to get that kind of texture and look of the
poster of the special where youcan see some of the blob stuff
coming out of the box.
It is quite tasty it wassurprisingly tasty.
Matt (08:17):
If you listen to this podcast ever for anyone, you
will find out rapidly that thereare many things we try that
aren't all that great at all.
Rob (08:25):
You'll also find out that most of those things come from
him.
That's this this poor guy'sbeen hosting this podcast for so
long and he hasn't.
He hasn't won any of our gamesyet.
Matt (08:36):
That's very true.
I get to win, like one of ourtrivia episodes or any of the
other.
You know history based, likebooze battles or anything else
that we do, sure.
So I've mentioned to you beforethat I am an IT guy in real
life and I am fascinated with AIand how it's developing, and
I'm a company that I work for islooking for, like how
Microsoft's going to incorporateit and things like that, and I
(08:57):
understand that you wrote a 20page letter to the LA Times that
was never published andactually before the writer
strike started on the potentialimpact of AI and what it would
mean for writers in Hollywood.
Would you talk about that alittle bit please?
Harrison Smith (09:13):
Sure, yeah, and in fact after this I'll email
you something that I'm workingon with AI right now.
But in the meantime, yeah, Iwrote a 20 page letter to the
unions, to both SAG and the WGA,and I sent it to the LA Times,
I sent it to New York Times,rolling Stone, hollywood
Reporter.
Now they're all corporate owned.
That's one.
The other thing is I wroteabout that this strike is really
(09:37):
human's last stand, when, atleast when it comes to
entertainment, I've been sayingfor the last 20, 30 years that
if I were a major movie star,I'd be copywriting or
trademarking my image to preventanybody from, you know, just
doing it, taking it away.
Because we are now withinshooting range of, I'm going to
(10:00):
say, five years where you cansee Tom Hanks star with Marilyn
Monroe.
You can put James Bond, you canwatch any James Bond you want
and swap them into differentmovies.
So if you want Roger Moore andCasino Royale, you can do that.
Rob (10:16):
This is all coming.
Harrison Smith (10:17):
It's all a little stilted yet, especially
in the animation part, but ifyou saw the new Indiana Jones
film this summer, then you willknow what I'm talking about,
because when they pull that bagoff his head in the movie,
harrison Ford is 42 years oldagain and if you didn't know it
was AI, you'd never know.
It looks fantastic.
I don't care what any criticsays.
(10:37):
They look eff you.
It looked great.
So someone's winning an Oscarfor that.
Rob (10:43):
Yeah, there's been quite a few de-aging lately that have
really blown my mind.
The one that comes to mind themost is Samuel L Jackson in the
Captain Marvel movie.
I mean, it looked like he wasthe same age as he was when he
did Pulp Fiction, absolutely,and I was like this is crazy.
Harrison Smith (11:02):
So now we're going to just generate.
What we'll do is we'll justgenerate characters.
I've had my crew go to work onseveral.
My crew went on to work onShazam too, and Philly, and one
of them told me that they askedfor like 3000 extras and when
the 3000 extras showed up, theyonly chose like 300.
(11:22):
And when she asked, why did youdo that, they said, well, we'll
fill in the stadium with CGIpeople.
And then the extras that werechosen had to go to a special
trailer where they were allphotographed and T poses and all
that so their images can bereplicated in the future.
So this is here.
It's not changing.
(11:43):
I mean I'm not telling the ITguy anything that he doesn't
know.
This is not technology.
That is not changing.
Like, oh, you wait, in a coupleof years we're talking a couple
of months.
Like I have to stay on top ofall of this.
I'm very, I'm getting veryproficient in stable diffusion.
I'm understanding all of thiswith Control Net.
I'm understanding, you know,auto pose, all these things that
(12:07):
are that are going on, and I'mdoing it because I have to and
it won't be anything before youknow, scripts are being written.
I always have people going.
No, people always want humanwritten scripts.
Really, did you fucking see theflash?
Really that needed a humanbeing to write that?
It was nothing but one long CGIbullshit thing and really we
(12:29):
needed a human to write that.
We're coming to the point wheresomebody's just going to say
give me, die hard with jaws, andI want a little terminator
action.
And it's just that's why thesestudio heads, especially Bob
Iger of Disney, were soobnoxious in the beginning of
this strike, because Bob Igerwas not just speaking for
(12:51):
himself, but he was speakingwhat I always call the head of
the five families in the studioswas go ahead and strike and
when you lose your homes, you'llcome back to us.
That means, if you read betweenthe lines, we're getting
something better to replace you.
That's what it really means.
And eventually what's going tohappen is hey, you don't need to
(13:13):
pay writers anymore and youdon't have to send out residuals
and you don't have to do any ofthat stuff because the
algorithm is going to take careof it all.
So it's happening.
It's changing on a weekly, ifnot monthly, advance.
This stuff like I have to.
I watch tutorials every weekbecause if I don't, things
change, like in two, three weeks, it's all different again.
Matt (13:35):
Yeah.
Harrison Smith (13:36):
And that's what I wrote about in this 20 page
letter that Back in the 80s andI don't want to dwell on this,
but back in the 80s the studioshould have sat down before
everybody started dumping alltheir shit on the video and they
should have said we're going tohold back certain films like
the Library of Congress that areculturally relevant and we're
(13:58):
going to keep these films off ofvideo, then re-release them in
theaters, you know, every somany years, whatever.
And they didn't do that andthey just dumped their product
out on video, on substandardreleases, with bad transfers and
grainy, poor contrast letter,not even letterbox, all pan and
scan and it was terrible.
But they did it for the quickcatch and they never thought
(14:21):
about the implications of thiscoming up.
A lot of actors did look thelook.
The laws could not catch upwith the technology and we're in
the same situation now.
All the time.
So you know before you think,oh, that's never going to happen
.
You saw Rogue One.
Right, peter Cushing was notjust in the movie for 30 seconds
in some bullshit cameo, theguy's in a third of the movie.
(14:44):
He's been dead since 1994.
Matt (14:48):
That's pretty good for a dead guy.
Harrison Smith (14:49):
Look pretty damn good for a dead guy and sounded
pretty damn good.
Matt (14:52):
And I know they said well they had a real actor.
Harrison Smith (14:55):
It doesn't matter.
It is getting to the pointwhere we won't need real actors
to put on the mask.
And you know, with the dots andthe tracking it's coming and
this is changing.
You can now make AI video andinsert camera angles.
So all you cinematographers outthere, you better understand
that you're in college.
If you're starting out as afreshman this coming fall, you
(15:17):
might not have a position by thetime you graduate.
You may be obsolete in fouryears.
This is where it's going.
Rob (15:25):
Have a good friend that's starting to learn Unreal Engine
to try to understand you knowhow to build digital
environments and do it.
You know and do it and usedifferent.
You know techniques to get thecamera to make the same motion
in real life that it does insideyour virtual environment.
Harrison Smith (15:46):
Absolutely, and it's all here.
And for those that are going,you'll never replace real people
.
These are the same kind ofpeople that 100 years ago said
why would anybody want to dothat?
Why would anybody want to heara movie?
Why would anybody want talkingmotion pictures?
Why would anybody want color?
It's the same thing.
We are at a precipice wherewe're going to go over the edge
(16:07):
here.
So, these actors, you canstrike for your residuals, you
can do all you want and you'regoing to get a few scraps thrown
at you from the table.
But there was no bill of rightsdrawn up and SAG has not done
it yet, with the studio sayingAI can't be used for the
following things.
They didn't do it and thestudios did not get together.
Because they don't want to gettogether?
Because, in the end, they wantto develop this technology.
(16:29):
They want this technology tofinally make them independent,
and my prediction is, within thenext 10 to 12 years, film
studios will just becometechnology studios.
That's what they will becomeand product and people go.
Well, you know, people wantoriginal stories.
Don't give me that bullshit.
They're ready to reboot StarTrek again.
No, they don't want originalstories.
(16:50):
Really, we got Halloween kills.
We got Halloween ends.
We got the remake, or reboot,or reimagining, semi-sequel to
Halloween 2018.
Now we have another exorcistmovie.
This is what we've got.
This is originality.
This is creativity.
Get out of here.
We're making the same garbage.
That's what they're going to do, and they're going to recycle
(17:11):
the same goddamn movie plotsover and over and over.
You've got George Lucas nowsaying I want to buy back Star
Wars because Disney fucked itall up, which they did, okay,
and anybody who tells you theydidn't is wrong, because they
took it and they ran it into theground, because they had to get
that 4 billion back.
Matt (17:31):
That's what it?
Harrison Smith (17:32):
was.
They ruined Indiana Jones, theyruined Star Wars, they ruined
it all, and they did it.
And they've run Marvel into theground the same goddamn way,
and they're doing it all thetime, because this isn't about
creativity, this is aboutcontent and numbers.
Matt (17:48):
That's what this is about, I wanted to hop in.
I don't know if you've seen anyof the Disney series like the
Ahsoka series that's going onright now.
That, to me, was some of themost Star Wars content that's
been put out.
It very much had that originalvibe.
You didn't know what was coming.
It wasn't the formula.
Rob (18:04):
It wasn't the standard formula.
That's because Dave Filoni isGeorge Lucas's reincarnation,
even though George Lucas isstill here.
Well, if you guys on Twitter.
Harrison Smith (18:14):
You go look up a guy.
He has an account.
He's called Ruin Johnsoninstead of Ryan Johnson.
Look him up.
This guy's account is like deadon and in fact, ryan Johnson.
He pinned the tweet.
Ryan Johnson tweeted thisaccount and said I have come to
deeply respect the devotion ofthe owner of this account
(18:37):
because he calls himself BruinsJohnson and you just got to see
the account, you'll understand.
You'll totally get it.
Matt (18:46):
So why we got you going a little bit here.
I want to talk about Rob for asecond.
Rob (18:50):
Oh, why are we talking about?
Matt (18:51):
Oh, we're going to talk about you for a second.
But he's so much moreinteresting because I want his
take on a movie that you were in, where we in rock Is it porn?
Harrison Smith (19:03):
God no.
Matt (19:07):
One of those movies I couldn't get cast.
Rob (19:11):
Wow, you really want to go there, buddy, you really want to
go there.
Harrison Smith (19:16):
I dated a porn star, so what are you talking?
Rob (19:20):
about?
Are you talking about the filmsthat I made with my friends or
the actual film that I was in?
Matt (19:29):
No, I'm talking about the film that people will genuinely
know when you say what it isOkay.
Rob (19:35):
I did background work for the Ghostbusters reboot.
Harrison Smith (19:39):
My condolences.
Wait, which one?
The Melissa McCarthy one.
Rob (19:44):
Oh yes, oh yes, I went up to.
So, listen, I've been alifelong fan of Ghostbusters and
Same here.
Harrison Smith (19:54):
I've enjoyed it.
Rob (19:55):
A good friend of mine was working on set.
I don't know if I can say whathe was doing.
I mean I guess the project'sover, so at whatever, I won't
say.
He was working as an assistantfor somebody on set and he
called me up and he said hey,send me a picture of your face
(20:16):
and all of your measurements.
Said I'm not gonna guaranteeanything, but somebody will call
you.
He said I'll guarantee thatsomebody will give you a call.
So they they gave me a call,casting gave me a call and they
said hey, you know, we want youto come up and do some
background work.
You know, could you?
Could you come for two weeks?
And I just started a brand newjob and I was like no, I just
can't, they won't let me takeoff in two weeks, because they
(20:39):
originally wanted me to do thethe outro, like dance scene
where all the SWAT team and anarmy gets possessed.
It's like three dance scenes inthat movie, so they wanted me to
come for the first week tolearn the choreography and then
shoot it for the second week,which would have been in New
York.
I think they actually sat shotthat in New York, but the rest
(21:00):
they were shooting New York, inBoston in a giant warehouse.
Then they said oh well, youknow, can you come for one week?
Matt (21:07):
Can you come to New York in Boston?
Yeah?
Rob (21:09):
and then I.
Then I couldn't do that.
So eventually we set it on Icould come for a day.
So I came for a day and I woundup I'm in the movie twice as
two different backgroundcharacters and two different
costumes.
So it was fun, it was a coolexperience.
It's certainly Crazy to see thescale of like a real set.
(21:30):
You know, because we were injust a giant warehouse and they
built buildings, it's like they.
I was in a two-story hotelinside of a warehouse and I was
like this is wild, but but yeah,it was, it was a lot of fun.
So I actually I don't know if Ican Get in trouble for saying
this now but I had no idea, likewhat was kosher and like what,
(21:53):
what you're allowed to do on set.
So I'm waiting in the back lot,like waiting for to get called
it to go shoot and found thislittle tent that had delicious
like Margaritas and snacks andpizza, and I was eating and
somebody comes up and they'relike man, I feel so bad for like
all of like the regular Peoplehere who aren't allowed to have
(22:14):
this food, and I was like, yeah,me too.
And then come to find out itwas like a sag Tent and I'm not
sad.
So I just acted like I belongin the night, tilted out of
there, yep.
So yeah, that's that's my, mybrief cinema experience.
Matt (22:37):
So if you're ever looking for like two bloated corpses to
lay in the background in one ofyour movies, your guys are right
here.
Rob (22:45):
Yeah, harrison, I wanted to ask.
So you know, obviously you,you're a jack of all trades, you
know you write your produce,you direct.
Do you prefer Directingsomething that you've written or
directing something thatsomebody else has written?
Harrison Smith (22:59):
I mean you always prefer what you've
written because it's kind ofproduction shorthand.
You know what you have in yourhead and you know what you want
to do.
The special I did somepolishing on the script, but
that was someone else's script,that was two gentlemen, mark
Steensland and James Newman, andbut I enjoyed directing it.
I mean, if the script is great,it doesn't matter.
If the script is good, itdoesn't matter.
Rob (23:22):
If you had enjoyed this if you had to pick one thing to do
for the rest of your career,Would it be directing or writing
?
Not be right?
Writing right?
Matt (23:30):
okay.
So the one question I did wantto ask is, as we said earlier,
we are gonna group watch thespecial here in a little bit.
I have watched it before.
The three that are joining mehave not.
Is there anything you want themto know before we start
watching?
I know what to expect here?
Harrison Smith (23:47):
Yeah, you know what to expect.
I mean the cool thing I used totell audiences when we Debuted
out in San Francisco at a horrorsci-fi festival that we got
accepted into.
They wanted it, and I Told theaudience, you know, see, it was
someone you hate.
You know that's the best way toput it.
(24:08):
It's kind of like a midnighthorror chick flick Kind of thing
.
For any anybody that's everbeen cheated on, it's a great
film You'll want to give yourlover the special you know, and
that's that's what I enjoy aboutit.
So much that you know I, yeah,you really got to indulge
yourself a little bit in the thecreature feature, kind of weird
(24:32):
.
I just enjoy those kind of filmsso much so my my DP, matt
Matnease, really did a wonderfuljob, like the lighting of
Madame Zora's.
You know, whorehouse is just socool.
Like I wanted this Pastel kindof look and he gave it.
And so when you walk on thatset and you have this picture in
(24:54):
your head and you see that theygave you that picture in your
head, I guess, going into thefilm, the best thing I can tell
you is is, you know, just toenjoy it.
But it does have a kind ofcautionary Kind of thing to it.
But it's just a fun movie, likeit was meant to be.
A midnight movie for people toget drunk and yell back at the
(25:15):
screen and be like don't stickyour dick in there, and that's.
That's the whole point of themovie.
So I did tell people when weopened the the sci-fi fest in
San Francisco it's in.
Some of you are going to havesome very uncomfortable
conversations on the way home.
Rob (25:31):
Yeah, I think we just got the, the sound bite for the
trailer, right there.
Matt (25:34):
I think we did.
I think that was.
That was it too.
I wanted to ask also you workedwith Chloris Leachman, tara
Reeve, danny Trejo, tom Arnold,sean Patrick Flannery, patrick
Warburton If you could work withany of them again, or anyone
else that you've worked with whowould be like your top pick, or
a couple of picks that youwould absolutely want to work
(25:56):
with, oh wow.
Harrison Smith (25:56):
I mean I gotta tell you, almost every single
person I've worked with has beena delight.
I wish I could work withClarice again.
She's gone now, but she was somuch fun and we stayed friends
right up until she died and shewas just the definition of
living life.
I think I'd like to work withClarice the most because she
(26:17):
really was an inspiring personto work with, like I just you
could just sit and listen to her.
I mean she told the story ofhow she banged the living hell
out of Gene Hackman in a hoteland you know, and just stuff
like that.
She taught Marlon Brando's kidspiano and you know, she got
(26:38):
drunk with Jack Nicholson andlike just all these great
stories.
And you know she knew Paul Lindand I just loved all of that.
So I miss her and I miss whatshe gave.
You know she was always apleasure but I loved working
with, I'll tell you like well, dWallace is like my second mom
(26:58):
now.
So I love D and you know.
So it's just unfortunate tohave worked with a lot of really
nice great celebrities, andthat I say that the testament is
is I stay in touch with a lotof them.
Matt (27:13):
That's awesome, you know that's awesome.
That's a testament to you aswell, I think.
Harrison Smith (27:17):
I guess you know like I'm not out to I'm not a
prick director.
I'm not that.
I operate the same way as whenI taught, and that is.
You know, if you have to tellsomebody you're in charge, then
you're not.
I don't ever have to go on aset and say I'm the director, I.
Rob (27:33):
This is what this is my vision.
Harrison Smith (27:36):
I don't need to do that, you know.
It's just simply, I know whatI'm doing.
I'm not wasting anybody's time.
We're getting the shot, we'regoing to make our day and that's
how it's going to be.
And I respect the time of ourcelebrities and our talent and
everybody from the celebritiesall the way, you know, through
through the crew, it doesn'tmatter.
You're there to get the moviedone, that's it, and I think if
(27:58):
more people just had that kindof attitude, you just see things
run a lot smoother, I thinkacross the board, outside of
film as well too, but it doesn'talways work that way, but I
would say closely.
Matt (28:12):
Very awesome.
Well, we are very much lookingforward to watching the product
of your hard work here.
That's right In a little bit.
You said watch it with somebodyyou hate.
I'm watching it with three ofmy best friends on the planet.
So well, I mean by that isromantically.
Oh with your acts, you knowthat I don't want to do that,
but it was a good it was a goodtag line.
Harrison Smith (28:32):
See, it was someone you hate.
You know it's.
It's the love story Nobodywanted.
That's really what it is.
There you go and you'llunderstand by the end of the
movie.
Matt (28:40):
Oh, absolutely we're looking forward to it.
I will say at the bottom ofthis cocktail.
You do get a surprise, becauseyou're just like inhaling the
waterlogged sprite, log Jelloand it's just slimy and well, as
long as it's not semen, you'rein good shape.
Rob (28:55):
Well, I don't know, maybe that's the trailer.
Matt (29:00):
That those might both make sound bites for sure.
Rob (29:03):
Oh my.
Well yeah, I think we're goingto leave you to your evening.
Harrison, Thank you so much forjoining us.
Matt (29:10):
Thank you so very much.
Rob (29:12):
Yeah, Next next year.
Harrison Smith (29:13):
I mean that photo of the drink, like when I
set up, we'll get a set up foryou.
Matt (29:17):
We'll do We'll do next, next year, we might have to do
another Halloween episode.
Rob (29:21):
I could tell you about how I did amateur ghost hunting.
I got some weird, weird stories, man.
Harrison Smith (29:27):
Oh, I love that kind of stuff.
Rob (29:29):
I figured you'd be into it, but, but we'll save that for
the next time, yeah we'll haveto save that one for another
time.
Matt (29:35):
So thank you again, very much Thanks.
Rob (29:37):
Harrison, you're welcome.
Harrison Smith (29:39):
All right, gentlemen.
Matt (29:41):
Don't forget to join us next week for our watching
reactive Harrison's movie.
The special Today's boozy quotecomes from magician and
comedian Tommy Cooper, who saidI'm on a whiskey diet.
I've lost three days already.
On social media, please like,follow and push all the buttons
for us.
That's Matt and friends DTU atFacebook, instagram threads and
TikTok For more informationabout the podcast, as well as
(30:03):
links to our merch store, socialmedia and all the places you
can listen to us.
Visit our websitemattandfriendsdtucom.
That's mattandfriendsdtucom.
Thank you again for listeningto Matt and Friends Drink the
Universe.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 , 1.
We have liftoff.
Rob (00:17):
Welcome to Matt and Friends Drink the Universe!
Matt (00:25):
Alright, welcome back everyone to Matt and Friends
Drink the Universe.
I'm very excited about today'sepisode.
Today's episode theme is goingto be Lights Camera
So it's going to be lights,camera spirits.
(00:47):
Our Halloween special.
Joining me here today, outsideof our normal recording space,
is Hi guys, it's Rob Alright,and also with us today.
I'm very excited to introducewriter, producer, director,
best-selling author, host of theCinema Podcast and, if I
interpreted our family treecorrectly, my second cousin.
Welcome, harrison Smith.
(01:08):
Thank you so much for beingwith us on the podcast today.
It's nice to be here.
Thanks for having me.
So we're going to ask you somequestions now.
Bring them on.
The people need to know things,that's true.
So what are you working onright now?
What do you got going on?
Harrison Smith (01:22):
Well, the writer's strike is over, the
actor's strike is still going on, so I'm on hold on three
different projects.
I'm supposed to be heading toCalifornia anytime now to do a
horror film, a slasher film, inBig Bear I'm pretty excited
about that with the cast andeverything.
And then moving on to asupernatural horror called
(01:44):
Keepsake, and then also doingone that I just optioned the
rights to a serial killer truelife story called break, which
is based on the true story of abone breaker in Michigan and his
this.
He used to capture these kidsand he got off on the sound of
breaking bones.
Oh my God.
And this kid got away and so Iended up optioning the
(02:09):
survivor's story and we're goingto turn that into a film.
Wow, and we're really excited.
We want to get offers out to acouple you know, big name stars.
I have one in mind who's one ofmy favorite actors.
Rob (02:23):
I can't say who it is yet because he's not under contract.
Okay, all right.
No, I'm baseball today because,well, right, the only reason
why is it's all bullshit untilthey sign the contract.
Harrison Smith (02:34):
So there are no contracts to sign until the
strike is over, so I'm hoping Iget him.
He's a fan of my work.
Anyway, he's read a previousscript that I have one going on
a developing in Canada calledlittle green men, which is based
on the true story, or allegedtrue story, of an alien attack
on a Kentucky farm in 1954,which is where the name little
(02:56):
green men came from, where theterm came from.
The sheriff who investigatedwrote down on the police report.
You know farm came under attackfrom little green men.
So that's how that phrase arelexicon.
Rob (03:10):
That's really cool.
So, harrison, I'm going tostart off and just ask why,
whore, what, what draws you tothat medium?
What?
What drew you to that?
Based upon that, versus othertypes of cinema?
Harrison Smith (03:21):
Well, I love all kinds, but since a boy, my
grandmother and I used to watchhorror films all the time.
I spent an incredible amount oftime.
My grandmother, my mother andmy biological father had a
pretty rough relationship.
It was an ugly divorce.
So I spent a lot of time withmy grandmother, who was my
father's mother, and if youwatch the movie the fields with
(03:43):
chlorosleechman and Tara Reid,that's the true story, based on
my childhood and the events thathappened on their farm in the
summer of 73, which explains thehorror stuff.
I would just watch horrormovies either late night with
her or I'd watch them, you know,saturday afternoon creature
features.
By the time I was eight yearsold, I mean I knew Peter Cushing
(04:05):
, vincent Price, peter Laurieyou name them Boris, karla, bill
Lugosi I knew them all, so Ihad my grandmother to thank for
that.
I wrote a book about it calledthis Time it's Personal which is
a history of the horror genreand what I grew up loving, and
then seeing a lot of these filmsalso in theaters, and the
fantastic theatrical experiencesthese films gave, which we just
(04:27):
don't have anymore now.
The pandemic helped bring thatto an end.
You know, to be in a seat, youknow in a house with 350 seats
and people screaming their assesoff, that's a rush, that's a
lot of fun and we just don'thave that anymore.
We just really don't.
And so watching horror filmswith groups like I'm excited to
(04:50):
hear that you're having like agroup watch of the special,
somebody on TikTok did one withlike 25 people and they were all
like oh, this is fucked up, andI was like they posted that I'm
just enjoying, like I had tochime in on the comments and go,
just so you know that's mymovie.
And the one girl was like getthe hell out.
And then she started followingme.
But they just loved it becauseit achieved what I wanted.
(05:12):
We got to show it theatricallyin York for its premiere and I
was sitting in the back andnobody knew I was sitting in the
back and this woman camestorming with her husband in tow
and she walked right by.
She had no idea who I was andshe was just like I've had
enough of this shit and shewalked out and it was like
that's a rape right there.
(05:34):
That's shocking, all YepFantastic.
If you're walking out that is agood thing, and if you pissed
them off, it's a really goodthing.
So there we go.
So that's that's my answer.
I loved it since.
Matt (05:47):
I was a child.
Awesome, very cool Since, sinceyou mentioned her, I wanted to
ask.
I listened today to the episode.
I was trying to get caught upin your podcast a little bit and
I listened to the Tara Reidepisode and I thought it was
absolutely fantastic when Ilistened to a lot of information
that you know I wasn't aware of.
She uttered one of my favoritelines in cinema ever, which is
I'm Gwen Pearson, staff writerfor the liberator liberator in
(06:10):
Van Wilder, which I rememberthat movie when it, when it came
out, thoroughly enjoyed it.
So when I heard you work withher, I thought that was really,
really cool.
Harrison Smith (06:17):
Yeah, tara and I are still close friends.
We've stayed very close.
Matt (06:20):
Oh, very cool.
That's awesome, very cool.
I enjoyed the story about thethe dog as well.
Harrison Smith (06:25):
Oh, she was great with that.
She just she never missed abeat.
She was terrific.
Matt (06:29):
So I'm alluding to a story that Harrison tells on his
podcast, and I'd like you to golisten to that particular
episode, because it is fantasticand it's a wonderful story and
we'll teach you things youdidn't know about, something you
probably thought you knewsomething about, but you really
don't.
Harrison Smith (06:43):
Yeah, that's why I did it.
You know, people have just beenabsolutely horrible to Tara and
or, as I said the one time,terrible to her.
So it's like, yeah, I've alwaysstuck by her and I loved
working with her.
I would work with her again ina heartbeat and I so enjoyed her
(07:05):
.
So, and, like I said, we stayclose.
We're the, you know, wishingeach other happy birthdays and
Christmas and all that stuff,and she's just terrific.
Rob (07:14):
She plays my mother Very cool.
So before we get to our nextset of questions, I think we
should tell Harrison a littlebit about the cocktail we made
for today, and we're going tomake this for our friends in the
watch along as well.
We call it the special becausewe'll be watching the special
later.
And, matt, do you want toexplain what you did here?
Matt (07:36):
Sure, so inside this thing floating around and kind of
chunky and viscous at the top,there is some grape jello and
it's select grain vodka fromChristmas City Spirits here in
Bethlehem, pa.
So it's more or less a grapejello shot.
With that vodka has a veryvanilla flavor to it.
That tip it's actually asipping vodka, so it actually
(07:58):
you can sit and drink it and notfeel like you're going to die,
which is very rare for a vodkaand it is actually just floating
over sprite.
Rob (08:05):
Yeah, we wanted to get that kind of texture and look of the
poster of the special where youcan see some of the blob stuff
coming out of the box.
It is quite tasty it wassurprisingly tasty.
Matt (08:17):
If you listen to this podcast ever for anyone, you
will find out rapidly that thereare many things we try that
aren't all that great at all.
Rob (08:25):
You'll also find out that most of those things come from
him.
That's this this poor guy'sbeen hosting this podcast for so
long and he hasn't.
He hasn't won any of our gamesyet.
Matt (08:36):
That's very true.
I get to win, like one of ourtrivia episodes or any of the
other.
You know history based, likebooze battles or anything else
that we do, sure.
So I've mentioned to you beforethat I am an IT guy in real
life and I am fascinated with AIand how it's developing, and
I'm a company that I work for islooking for, like how
Microsoft's going to incorporateit and things like that, and I
(08:57):
understand that you wrote a 20page letter to the LA Times that
was never published andactually before the writer
strike started on the potentialimpact of AI and what it would
mean for writers in Hollywood.
Would you talk about that alittle bit please?
Harrison Smith (09:13):
Sure, yeah, and in fact after this I'll email
you something that I'm workingon with AI right now.
But in the meantime, yeah, Iwrote a 20 page letter to the
unions, to both SAG and the WGA,and I sent it to the LA Times,
I sent it to New York Times,rolling Stone, hollywood
Reporter.
Now they're all corporate owned.
That's one.
The other thing is I wroteabout that this strike is really
(09:37):
human's last stand, when, atleast when it comes to
entertainment, I've been sayingfor the last 20, 30 years that
if I were a major movie star,I'd be copywriting or
trademarking my image to preventanybody from, you know, just
doing it, taking it away.
Because we are now withinshooting range of, I'm going to
(10:00):
say, five years where you cansee Tom Hanks star with Marilyn
Monroe.
You can put James Bond, you canwatch any James Bond you want
and swap them into differentmovies.
So if you want Roger Moore andCasino Royale, you can do that.
Rob (10:16):
This is all coming.
Harrison Smith (10:17):
It's all a little stilted yet, especially
in the animation part, but ifyou saw the new Indiana Jones
film this summer, then you willknow what I'm talking about,
because when they pull that bagoff his head in the movie,
harrison Ford is 42 years oldagain and if you didn't know it
was AI, you'd never know.
It looks fantastic.
I don't care what any criticsays.
(10:37):
They look eff you.
It looked great.
So someone's winning an Oscarfor that.
Rob (10:43):
Yeah, there's been quite a few de-aging lately that have
really blown my mind.
The one that comes to mind themost is Samuel L Jackson in the
Captain Marvel movie.
I mean, it looked like he wasthe same age as he was when he
did Pulp Fiction, absolutely,and I was like this is crazy.
Harrison Smith (11:02):
So now we're going to just generate.
What we'll do is we'll justgenerate characters.
I've had my crew go to work onseveral.
My crew went on to work onShazam too, and Philly, and one
of them told me that they askedfor like 3000 extras and when
the 3000 extras showed up, theyonly chose like 300.
(11:22):
And when she asked, why did youdo that, they said, well, we'll
fill in the stadium with CGIpeople.
And then the extras that werechosen had to go to a special
trailer where they were allphotographed and T poses and all
that so their images can bereplicated in the future.
So this is here.
It's not changing.
(11:43):
I mean I'm not telling the ITguy anything that he doesn't
know.
This is not technology.
That is not changing.
Like, oh, you wait, in a coupleof years we're talking a couple
of months.
Like I have to stay on top ofall of this.
I'm very, I'm getting veryproficient in stable diffusion.
I'm understanding all of thiswith Control Net.
I'm understanding, you know,auto pose, all these things that
(12:07):
are that are going on, and I'mdoing it because I have to and
it won't be anything before youknow, scripts are being written.
I always have people going.
No, people always want humanwritten scripts.
Really, did you fucking see theflash?
Really that needed a humanbeing to write that?
It was nothing but one long CGIbullshit thing and really we
(12:29):
needed a human to write that.
We're coming to the point wheresomebody's just going to say
give me, die hard with jaws, andI want a little terminator
action.
And it's just that's why thesestudio heads, especially Bob
Iger of Disney, were soobnoxious in the beginning of
this strike, because Bob Igerwas not just speaking for
(12:51):
himself, but he was speakingwhat I always call the head of
the five families in the studioswas go ahead and strike and
when you lose your homes, you'llcome back to us.
That means, if you read betweenthe lines, we're getting
something better to replace you.
That's what it really means.
And eventually what's going tohappen is hey, you don't need to
(13:13):
pay writers anymore and youdon't have to send out residuals
and you don't have to do any ofthat stuff because the
algorithm is going to take careof it all.
So it's happening.
It's changing on a weekly, ifnot monthly, advance.
This stuff like I have to.
I watch tutorials every weekbecause if I don't, things
change, like in two, three weeks, it's all different again.
Matt (13:35):
Yeah.
Harrison Smith (13:36):
And that's what I wrote about in this 20 page
letter that Back in the 80s andI don't want to dwell on this,
but back in the 80s the studioshould have sat down before
everybody started dumping alltheir shit on the video and they
should have said we're going tohold back certain films like
the Library of Congress that areculturally relevant and we're
(13:58):
going to keep these films off ofvideo, then re-release them in
theaters, you know, every somany years, whatever.
And they didn't do that andthey just dumped their product
out on video, on substandardreleases, with bad transfers and
grainy, poor contrast letter,not even letterbox, all pan and
scan and it was terrible.
But they did it for the quickcatch and they never thought
(14:21):
about the implications of thiscoming up.
A lot of actors did look thelook.
The laws could not catch upwith the technology and we're in
the same situation now.
All the time.
So you know before you think,oh, that's never going to happen
.
You saw Rogue One.
Right, peter Cushing was notjust in the movie for 30 seconds
in some bullshit cameo, theguy's in a third of the movie.
(14:44):
He's been dead since 1994.
Matt (14:48):
That's pretty good for a dead guy.
Harrison Smith (14:49):
Look pretty damn good for a dead guy and sounded
pretty damn good.
Matt (14:52):
And I know they said well they had a real actor.
Harrison Smith (14:55):
It doesn't matter.
It is getting to the pointwhere we won't need real actors
to put on the mask.
And you know, with the dots andthe tracking it's coming and
this is changing.
You can now make AI video andinsert camera angles.
So all you cinematographers outthere, you better understand
that you're in college.
If you're starting out as afreshman this coming fall, you
(15:17):
might not have a position by thetime you graduate.
You may be obsolete in fouryears.
This is where it's going.
Rob (15:25):
Have a good friend that's starting to learn Unreal Engine
to try to understand you knowhow to build digital
environments and do it.
You know and do it and usedifferent.
You know techniques to get thecamera to make the same motion
in real life that it does insideyour virtual environment.
Harrison Smith (15:46):
Absolutely, and it's all here.
And for those that are going,you'll never replace real people
.
These are the same kind ofpeople that 100 years ago said
why would anybody want to dothat?
Why would anybody want to heara movie?
Why would anybody want talkingmotion pictures?
Why would anybody want color?
It's the same thing.
We are at a precipice wherewe're going to go over the edge
(16:07):
here.
So, these actors, you canstrike for your residuals, you
can do all you want and you'regoing to get a few scraps thrown
at you from the table.
But there was no bill of rightsdrawn up and SAG has not done
it yet, with the studio sayingAI can't be used for the
following things.
They didn't do it and thestudios did not get together.
Because they don't want to gettogether?
Because, in the end, they wantto develop this technology.
(16:29):
They want this technology tofinally make them independent,
and my prediction is, within thenext 10 to 12 years, film
studios will just becometechnology studios.
That's what they will becomeand product and people go.
Well, you know, people wantoriginal stories.
Don't give me that bullshit.
They're ready to reboot StarTrek again.
No, they don't want originalstories.
(16:50):
Really, we got Halloween kills.
We got Halloween ends.
We got the remake, or reboot,or reimagining, semi-sequel to
Halloween 2018.
Now we have another exorcistmovie.
This is what we've got.
This is originality.
This is creativity.
Get out of here.
We're making the same garbage.
That's what they're going to do, and they're going to recycle
(17:11):
the same goddamn movie plotsover and over and over.
You've got George Lucas nowsaying I want to buy back Star
Wars because Disney fucked itall up, which they did, okay,
and anybody who tells you theydidn't is wrong, because they
took it and they ran it into theground, because they had to get
that 4 billion back.
Matt (17:31):
That's what it?
Harrison Smith (17:32):
was.
They ruined Indiana Jones, theyruined Star Wars, they ruined
it all, and they did it.
And they've run Marvel into theground the same goddamn way,
and they're doing it all thetime, because this isn't about
creativity, this is aboutcontent and numbers.
Matt (17:48):
That's what this is about, I wanted to hop in.
I don't know if you've seen anyof the Disney series like the
Ahsoka series that's going onright now.
That, to me, was some of themost Star Wars content that's
been put out.
It very much had that originalvibe.
You didn't know what was coming.
It wasn't the formula.
Rob (18:04):
It wasn't the standard formula.
That's because Dave Filoni isGeorge Lucas's reincarnation,
even though George Lucas isstill here.
Well, if you guys on Twitter.
Harrison Smith (18:14):
You go look up a guy.
He has an account.
He's called Ruin Johnsoninstead of Ryan Johnson.
Look him up.
This guy's account is like deadon and in fact, ryan Johnson.
He pinned the tweet.
Ryan Johnson tweeted thisaccount and said I have come to
deeply respect the devotion ofthe owner of this account
(18:37):
because he calls himself BruinsJohnson and you just got to see
the account, you'll understand.
You'll totally get it.
Matt (18:46):
So why we got you going a little bit here.
I want to talk about Rob for asecond.
Rob (18:50):
Oh, why are we talking about?
Matt (18:51):
Oh, we're going to talk about you for a second.
But he's so much moreinteresting because I want his
take on a movie that you were in, where we in rock Is it porn?
Harrison Smith (19:03):
God no.
Matt (19:07):
One of those movies I couldn't get cast.
Rob (19:11):
Wow, you really want to go there, buddy, you really want to
go there.
Harrison Smith (19:16):
I dated a porn star, so what are you talking?
Rob (19:20):
about?
Are you talking about the filmsthat I made with my friends or
the actual film that I was in?
Matt (19:29):
No, I'm talking about the film that people will genuinely
know when you say what it isOkay.
Rob (19:35):
I did background work for the Ghostbusters reboot.
Harrison Smith (19:39):
My condolences.
Wait, which one?
The Melissa McCarthy one.
Rob (19:44):
Oh yes, oh yes, I went up to.
So, listen, I've been alifelong fan of Ghostbusters and
Same here.
Harrison Smith (19:54):
I've enjoyed it.
Rob (19:55):
A good friend of mine was working on set.
I don't know if I can say whathe was doing.
I mean I guess the project'sover, so at whatever, I won't
say.
He was working as an assistantfor somebody on set and he
called me up and he said hey,send me a picture of your face
(20:16):
and all of your measurements.
Said I'm not gonna guaranteeanything, but somebody will call
you.
He said I'll guarantee thatsomebody will give you a call.
So they they gave me a call,casting gave me a call and they
said hey, you know, we want youto come up and do some
background work.
You know, could you?
Could you come for two weeks?
And I just started a brand newjob and I was like no, I just
can't, they won't let me takeoff in two weeks, because they
(20:39):
originally wanted me to do thethe outro, like dance scene
where all the SWAT team and anarmy gets possessed.
It's like three dance scenes inthat movie, so they wanted me to
come for the first week tolearn the choreography and then
shoot it for the second week,which would have been in New
York.
I think they actually sat shotthat in New York, but the rest
(21:00):
they were shooting New York, inBoston in a giant warehouse.
Then they said oh well, youknow, can you come for one week?
Matt (21:07):
Can you come to New York in Boston?
Yeah?
Rob (21:09):
and then I.
Then I couldn't do that.
So eventually we set it on Icould come for a day.
So I came for a day and I woundup I'm in the movie twice as
two different backgroundcharacters and two different
costumes.
So it was fun, it was a coolexperience.
It's certainly Crazy to see thescale of like a real set.
(21:30):
You know, because we were injust a giant warehouse and they
built buildings, it's like they.
I was in a two-story hotelinside of a warehouse and I was
like this is wild, but but yeah,it was, it was a lot of fun.
So I actually I don't know if Ican Get in trouble for saying
this now but I had no idea, likewhat was kosher and like what,
(21:53):
what you're allowed to do on set.
So I'm waiting in the back lot,like waiting for to get called
it to go shoot and found thislittle tent that had delicious
like Margaritas and snacks andpizza, and I was eating and
somebody comes up and they'relike man, I feel so bad for like
all of like the regular Peoplehere who aren't allowed to have
(22:14):
this food, and I was like, yeah,me too.
And then come to find out itwas like a sag Tent and I'm not
sad.
So I just acted like I belongin the night, tilted out of
there, yep.
So yeah, that's that's my, mybrief cinema experience.
Matt (22:37):
So if you're ever looking for like two bloated corpses to
lay in the background in one ofyour movies, your guys are right
here.
Rob (22:45):
Yeah, harrison, I wanted to ask.
So you know, obviously you,you're a jack of all trades, you
know you write your produce,you direct.
Do you prefer Directingsomething that you've written or
directing something thatsomebody else has written?
Harrison Smith (22:59):
I mean you always prefer what you've
written because it's kind ofproduction shorthand.
You know what you have in yourhead and you know what you want
to do.
The special I did somepolishing on the script, but
that was someone else's script,that was two gentlemen, mark
Steensland and James Newman, andbut I enjoyed directing it.
I mean, if the script is great,it doesn't matter.
If the script is good, itdoesn't matter.
Rob (23:22):
If you had enjoyed this if you had to pick one thing to do
for the rest of your career,Would it be directing or writing
?
Not be right?
Writing right?
Matt (23:30):
okay.
So the one question I did wantto ask is, as we said earlier,
we are gonna group watch thespecial here in a little bit.
I have watched it before.
The three that are joining mehave not.
Is there anything you want themto know before we start
watching?
I know what to expect here?
Harrison Smith (23:47):
Yeah, you know what to expect.
I mean the cool thing I used totell audiences when we Debuted
out in San Francisco at a horrorsci-fi festival that we got
accepted into.
They wanted it, and I Told theaudience, you know, see, it was
someone you hate.
You know that's the best way toput it.
(24:08):
It's kind of like a midnighthorror chick flick Kind of thing
.
For any anybody that's everbeen cheated on, it's a great
film You'll want to give yourlover the special you know, and
that's that's what I enjoy aboutit.
So much that you know I, yeah,you really got to indulge
yourself a little bit in the thecreature feature, kind of weird
(24:32):
.
I just enjoy those kind of filmsso much so my my DP, matt
Matnease, really did a wonderfuljob, like the lighting of
Madame Zora's.
You know, whorehouse is just socool.
Like I wanted this Pastel kindof look and he gave it.
And so when you walk on thatset and you have this picture in
(24:54):
your head and you see that theygave you that picture in your
head, I guess, going into thefilm, the best thing I can tell
you is is, you know, just toenjoy it.
But it does have a kind ofcautionary Kind of thing to it.
But it's just a fun movie, likeit was meant to be.
A midnight movie for people toget drunk and yell back at the
(25:15):
screen and be like don't stickyour dick in there, and that's.
That's the whole point of themovie.
So I did tell people when weopened the the sci-fi fest in
San Francisco it's in.
Some of you are going to havesome very uncomfortable
conversations on the way home.
Rob (25:31):
Yeah, I think we just got the, the sound bite for the
trailer, right there.
Matt (25:34):
I think we did.
I think that was.
That was it too.
I wanted to ask also you workedwith Chloris Leachman, tara
Reeve, danny Trejo, tom Arnold,sean Patrick Flannery, patrick
Warburton If you could work withany of them again, or anyone
else that you've worked with whowould be like your top pick, or
a couple of picks that youwould absolutely want to work
(25:56):
with, oh wow.
Harrison Smith (25:56):
I mean I gotta tell you, almost every single
person I've worked with has beena delight.
I wish I could work withClarice again.
She's gone now, but she was somuch fun and we stayed friends
right up until she died and shewas just the definition of
living life.
I think I'd like to work withClarice the most because she
(26:17):
really was an inspiring personto work with, like I just you
could just sit and listen to her.
I mean she told the story ofhow she banged the living hell
out of Gene Hackman in a hoteland you know, and just stuff
like that.
She taught Marlon Brando's kidspiano and you know, she got
(26:38):
drunk with Jack Nicholson andlike just all these great
stories.
And you know she knew Paul Lindand I just loved all of that.
So I miss her and I miss whatshe gave.
You know she was always apleasure but I loved working
with, I'll tell you like well, dWallace is like my second mom
(26:58):
now.
So I love D and you know.
So it's just unfortunate tohave worked with a lot of really
nice great celebrities, andthat I say that the testament is
is I stay in touch with a lotof them.
Matt (27:13):
That's awesome, you know that's awesome.
That's a testament to you aswell, I think.
Harrison Smith (27:17):
I guess you know like I'm not out to I'm not a
prick director.
I'm not that.
I operate the same way as whenI taught, and that is.
You know, if you have to tellsomebody you're in charge, then
you're not.
I don't ever have to go on aset and say I'm the director, I.
Rob (27:33):
This is what this is my vision.
Harrison Smith (27:36):
I don't need to do that, you know.
It's just simply, I know whatI'm doing.
I'm not wasting anybody's time.
We're getting the shot, we'regoing to make our day and that's
how it's going to be.
And I respect the time of ourcelebrities and our talent and
everybody from the celebritiesall the way, you know, through
through the crew, it doesn'tmatter.
You're there to get the moviedone, that's it, and I think if
(27:58):
more people just had that kindof attitude, you just see things
run a lot smoother, I thinkacross the board, outside of
film as well too, but it doesn'talways work that way, but I
would say closely.
Matt (28:12):
Very awesome.
Well, we are very much lookingforward to watching the product
of your hard work here.
That's right In a little bit.
You said watch it with somebodyyou hate.
I'm watching it with three ofmy best friends on the planet.
So well, I mean by that isromantically.
Oh with your acts, you knowthat I don't want to do that,
but it was a good it was a goodtag line.
Harrison Smith (28:32):
See, it was someone you hate.
You know it's.
It's the love story Nobodywanted.
That's really what it is.
There you go and you'llunderstand by the end of the
movie.
Matt (28:40):
Oh, absolutely we're looking forward to it.
I will say at the bottom ofthis cocktail.
You do get a surprise, becauseyou're just like inhaling the
waterlogged sprite, log Jelloand it's just slimy and well, as
long as it's not semen, you'rein good shape.
Rob (28:55):
Well, I don't know, maybe that's the trailer.
Matt (29:00):
That those might both make sound bites for sure.
Rob (29:03):
Oh my.
Well yeah, I think we're goingto leave you to your evening.
Harrison, Thank you so much forjoining us.
Matt (29:10):
Thank you so very much.
Rob (29:12):
Yeah, Next next year.
Harrison Smith (29:13):
I mean that photo of the drink, like when I
set up, we'll get a set up foryou.
Matt (29:17):
We'll do We'll do next, next year, we might have to do
another Halloween episode.
Rob (29:21):
I could tell you about how I did amateur ghost hunting.
I got some weird, weird stories, man.
Harrison Smith (29:27):
Oh, I love that kind of stuff.
Rob (29:29):
I figured you'd be into it, but, but we'll save that for
the next time, yeah we'll haveto save that one for another
time.
Matt (29:35):
So thank you again, very much Thanks.
Rob (29:37):
Harrison, you're welcome.
Harrison Smith (29:39):
All right, gentlemen.
Matt (29:41):
Don't forget to join us next week for our watching
reactive Harrison's movie.
The special Today's boozy quotecomes from magician and
comedian Tommy Cooper, who saidI'm on a whiskey diet.
I've lost three days already.
On social media, please like,follow and push all the buttons
for us.
That's Matt and friends DTU atFacebook, instagram threads and
TikTok For more informationabout the podcast, as well as
(30:03):
links to our merch store, socialmedia and all the places you
can listen to us.
Visit our websitemattandfriendsdtucom.
That's mattandfriendsdtucom.
Thank you again for listeningto Matt and Friends Drink the
Universe.
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