October 3, 2025 • 20 mins
The Sounds of Film will spotlight Ari Selinger, the writer-director of On The End, as the film makes its world premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival on October 4th.
The feature debut is a moving love story and a powerful David vs. Goliath tale, inspired by the real-life struggles of Montauk mechanic Tom, who fought to keep his home and repair shop from being taken by the town of East Hampton.
Starring Tim Blake Nelson (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Mireille Enos (World War Z), James Badge Dale (The Departed), Lois Smith (Lady Bird), and Anna Chlumsky (Veep), the film captures the spirit of resilience, love, and community in the face of greed and displacement.
Following its Hamptons premiere, On The End will continue on the festival circuit with screenings at the Woodstock Film Festival on October 19th and the Newport Beach Film Festival on October 20th and 23rd.
Director Ari Selinger, a Brooklyn-based filmmaker and NYU Tisch graduate, has long been drawn to telling stories about outsiders and overlooked voices. After years of making shorts and festival films on Long Island’s East End, he found inspiration in the true-life story of Tom and Freckles. With On The End, Selinger channels both his personal connection to Montauk and his passion for deeply human stories into his first feature film.
About The Sounds of Film
The Sounds of Film is America’s longest running film and music radio show. For over 35 years, host Tom Needham has delivered an eclectic mix of music and interviews to audiences across Long Island, parts of Connecticut, and streaming worldwide on WUSB. The program has featured a wide range of celebrated guests, including Alec Baldwin, Billy Joel, William H. Macy, Dionne Warwick, Chuck D, Ernest Dickerson, Hal Hartley, Peter Fonda, and Rory Kennedy.
The Sounds of Film Podcast is also available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Amazon Music.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hi, this is Tom Needham and you are listening to the sounds of
film and boy, I'm so excited. Today we're joined by Ari
Selinger, the writer and director of On the End.
The film is inspired by true events in Montauk and tells the
story of Tom, a mechanic whose love story turns into a David
(00:21):
versus Goliath battle against greed and power in East Hampton.
On the End will make its world premiere at the Hamptons
International Film Festival on October 4th before screenings at
the Woodstock Film Festival and also at the Newport Beach Film
Festival. All right.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday on The Sounds of Film.
(00:43):
Thank you. It's, it's great to be here,
Tom. So this is based on a true
story. Tell us about how you learned
about the story and why you wanted to make it into a movie.
Well, I'll tell you, I've never told a true story before.
I've made a documentary or two. But I was AI was AI, was a
(01:05):
junior at NYU watching a lot of films that were shot, you know,
down by Bleeker in the Village. And I wanted to start shooting
things in more rural or just kind of areas that you could
fake for different places in America.
And back in the day, I was trying to shoot this movie
called Deuce and 1/4, which was about two guys whose car broke
(01:27):
down or their radio stopped working on a road trip.
And one of the guys freaks out and needs to get it fixed.
And I was looking for a kind of AI, was looking for a repair
shop that also kind of looked like a clam shack.
And I found it at the end of Montauk at this guy Tom's house.
And I was about 20 years old. We shot this movie in his
(01:50):
backyard. And as I was shooting it, he was
always whispering in my ear, oh,you got to tell my story.
The town is screwing me. He's he's stamped screwing me,
man. And I, I as a 20 year old, I
really was not interested in small town politics, but I
really liked him and I thought he was a character.
(02:10):
And we remained friends after I shot that movie.
And he kind of remained a resource because every time I
would shoot a movie, I'd, I'd ask, hey, you got any funky
clothes or any strange tools I could just throw into the
production design? But all the while, for about 10
years straight, he told me aboutthis case that he was going
(02:32):
through. And then in 2016, The New York
Times did a piece on him. And it finally went from being
this guy's probably screwed around and got himself in
trouble to, oh, this guy's got areal story and he's a friend.
And I might have a unique take on it because it's not only a
true story, it's someone that I,strangely enough, call a dear
(02:54):
friend. And, you know, I'd written some
other screenplays, but this was the one that for whatever
reason, I just was like, I kind of took it upon myself to be
like, no one's going to tell this story.
Nobody knows where this guy is. And maybe there's a real
narrative here. And mixed that with a, with a
(03:14):
love story that put me over and I, I spent a, a, a winter with
him just writing it all down. And I had 300 pages be a little
more of just the breakdown of his whole, all the twists and
turns of his legal battle. That was kind of, you know, when
(03:35):
I really boiled it down, it was such it it was, it was
nefarious, but it was such a portrait of, you know, of a
conflict that I thought was larger and, and spoke more to to
not just Montauk that I started really falling in love with the
narrative and, and the specificsjust felt like set dressing, you
(03:57):
know, that just made it exciting.
And, you know, I called it on the end because I thought that
calling it the end felt felt like very Once Upon a time and
just the setting, you know, justit, it really reminded me of
like if I were an alien looking down at Earth, I would spot
Montauk and see these two littlepeople trying to get by on this
(04:19):
little planetary slice of Earth.I just fell in love with with
the story. And the fact that he was a
friend made it feel like, you know, this isn't just a ripped
from the headline story. It's like it's I know the guy,
that's pretty. Cool.
So I mean, I just know him from your film.
And as. You said he he did seem like a
(04:42):
character. It's amazing to me that if you
approached him earlier when you were young, that he would
embrace you and form a friendship.
Can you tell us a little bit about this relationship that you
had? Absolutely.
Well, he let us shoot in his backyard and I didn't realize it
at the time. He was extremely open.
(05:02):
I, it's, I'm glad you noted that'cause we went all around
Montauk looking for a place to shoot.
You know, my, my folks live out in Sag Harbor, so I knew as a 20
year old I could, I could put upmy small crew in the nearby
area. So that was a perk.
But, you know, there were all these articles about him
basically just trashing him and I, I don't, I thought it was
(05:28):
funky that he came up to me and was so welcoming.
Little did I realize he was sortof getting a little bit out of
me too, because he then invited a reporter from the East Ham to
start to come in and do an article on these little NYU kids
that were shooting him a little movie in his backyard.
It was part of his effort to kind of repair his reputation.
Be like, look at, look at me. I'm I'm I'm nice to college kids
(05:52):
and you know, I'm I'm not I'm not this mean old man at the I'm
not, you know, I'm no Grinch, but the the truth of it, it was
he he was a really sweet fella. And I remember when that article
came out, I got a little I didn't get any flak, but I
(06:13):
remember hearing, you know, you shot a movie at Tom's like
almost disbelief from people in the area.
Why would you do that? He yell at you?
Because he was very protective of his stuff.
He was certainly a hoarder and alot of his problems came from
being protective of his stuff. But you know, he was a man in
(06:35):
love that that was the key. I think he was in love with this
woman that lived with him and itbrought out the best in him.
So everything was like, you know, everything was, you know,
everything was sweet for him at that time.
And some of those qualities thatlater that the town had with
(06:55):
him, he was, he kind of was invincible at this time when I
saw him, because he was, he was smitten with someone.
And you, you know what that can do when you can get in trouble,
when you fall in love, it's, it's, it's life is sweet.
And so I met him at a good time and, and I really, you know,
(07:16):
it's, it's, it's pretty trippy to to, to be talking to you
about this ten years later and being like, you know, got Tim
Blake Nelson playing him. It's, it's, it's a little
bizarre and, and a real treat for me actually.
So after he had some success andand obviously your movie is out
(07:38):
there now, do you have any sensein terms of how locals now feel
about the story all these years later?
You know what it reminds me of? It's like, this is going to
sound like a non sequitur, but this just popped into my head.
It's like back in the 60s when when Bob Dylan went electric,
you know, everybody, everybody hated it and you they would let
(08:00):
you know. But then in the 70s when he
played a game and everybody was like, we always liked it.
And, and now when I tell this story, it's like Tom, we always
loved Tom. Tom's a great guy.
But I remember back in the day, it was like, it was like, it,
it, it felt like he was the mosthated man in town.
And why are you getting togetherwith with someone that's that's
(08:22):
ruining our community? But now people see him.
It's like amnesia or something. And I actually really appreciate
it 'cause I feel like we were able to sort of shift the
narrative just by virtue of being like making a movie about
this guy. It's not, you know, it's not
about The Rolling Stones in their time in Montauk.
It's, it's literally about the most hated man in Montauk.
(08:42):
And, and now people seem to be taking it up as if he's a folk
hero. But back in the day he was, I
don't think he was seen that way, but we were greeted with
open arms in, in East Hampton. They were.
I think part of it was that, youknow, when you think about the
Hamptons or, or whatever you call it, I think you think of
these parties and, and the glitzand glamour and he's anything
(09:05):
but. And I think there was a little
bit of a hunger for me and maybefrom the town recognizing this
as well that, you know, this washe was the first symptom back in
2008 of a changing of the guard and and the tide turning against
some of the smaller folks out there.
And I think now with 2020 vision, he's that story
(09:25):
represents something we don't see as much out there anymore.
It's like from a bygone era. And so it we were really
welcomed and, and it was, it wasquite a magical experience to
shoot out there felt like a cocoon.
Well, it, it, it's sort of a local story, but it does, as you
say, have implications for people all over the world.
(09:49):
Really. Oh, yeah.
Montauk for for people that knowMontauk, they have certain
images, but but try to paint a picture a little bit for our
listeners who, who maybe don't know the area so well.
It it's a special place. And why is it such a perfect
place for the setting of a film?Well, what first attracted me
(10:11):
there is probably the same thingthat attracted the guys that did
stranger things. It feels, you know, Stranger
Things was used to be called Montauk and it has this kind of
eerie when it's the middle of winter, it it feels like you are
you are on Mars. You know, it's hard to get out
there. The wind whips down.
It's it's just it, it, it feels like you're in the desert a
(10:33):
little bit and by the same clockwhen it comes to, you know, the
summer, it fills up like it balloons, you know, thousands of
people come out there and suddenly this kind of Mars like
planetary colony feels like it'sbursting with money and power.
(10:55):
But in all actual in in actuality, it was kind of this
blue collar town that saw what we basically see as
gentrification. And it was very nefarious
because, you know, all these houses on the beach are people.
People saw an opportunity to build it up.
And what's the big deal? You know, we build it up and
(11:17):
then folks will be able to work at the restaurant next door.
But it displaced a lot of folks.And suddenly people that had
lived there their whole life were being out priced by people
who were only there for two months of the year.
And that felt like, you know, itstarts on the coast, but then it
kind of seeps its way into everypocket of of America.
(11:39):
And not just America, but all all around, just these beautiful
areas that that get recognized and suddenly what people fall in
love with their pristine qualities get taken advantage
of. And the people of the land are
kind of unable to sustain that life.
And sometimes in even in this case, get bullied out of it
(12:02):
almost meant to feel like they're the outsiders when you
know that they're, they're the ones that have been there since
the beginning. So it's, it's a real David and
Goliath kind of struggle. You know, it's, it's hard to
argue with money when people aresaying to you about a leisure
Rama house that probably cost you quite little to get your,
(12:23):
your grandfather got it in the 40s.
Now someone's offering you $2,000,000 and you're going to
lose your neighbor. But how can you turn that down?
And it was, it was Montauk being, it's called the end
because it's literally at the end of Long Island, at the end
of the Earth. Everything else, the next place
(12:44):
you get to is, is Europe if you keep going.
So it, it felt like it's also the, it's the end, that that's
the place, but it's also the beginning.
This is where it starts. And I liked that about it.
It felt very ragtag. And in a way, my favorite
stories always take place in themiddle of this country.
(13:06):
But somehow I was able to subvert that into thinking,
well, what if it's at the end ofLong Island?
What if we're what if I try to make Paris, TX over in Montauk?
How would that be? And somehow I really felt that
was the key to, to really locking, you know, locking in
there. I, I really liked that about it.
And I I felt it hadn't been toldthat many times.
(13:28):
You really nailed it and he got incredible performances from the
actors. Tell us a little bit about this
cast, 'cause they're, they're fantastic.
Oh, I remember the day Tim, Tim,Blake, Tim, Tim and I became
friends, and he was like, what? The day Tim started taking me
seriously was the day the doors burst open and suddenly it was,
(13:50):
well, let's get Lois Smith to play his aunt.
You know, she's 94. Her first movie was with James
Dean in East of Eden. Suddenly he was saying, well,
you know, let's let's get her and she'll be great.
And I was thinking, man, I at the time, I was like, I was
thinking I was going to need to get my grandma to play it.
And, and then so when Lois came in and she, you know, she, she's
(14:14):
when she came out to Montauk to play her part and knew all these
funky lines that I had written based on my bubby, you know, and
her strange sense of humor. It was like, it just felt like
being on Cloud 9. And then we got Murray Enos, who
I'd always loved from The Killing, and I'd seen her in a
small movie called The Devil's Not by a Tony Goyan, and I saw
(14:39):
it was a small performance of her.
And she was really, you know, itwas she, she played a very
backwater character and I and she had an abundance of
freckles. So for a character named
Freckles, it made sense. And I, once she signed on and
she came out to New York to see me and, and we've just kind of
(15:00):
walked around the area of Brooklyn, Sheepshead Bay, where
Freckles is from, and she started picking up the dialects.
It was it, it was magical. I'd never thought I was going to
be working with an ensemble likethat.
I mean, this is my first rodeo. And, you know, this is something
I wrote on a napkin when I was, you know, an assistant editor at
(15:20):
the same time to, to go from thenapkin to, to having Anna
Chlumsky fighting with Tim BlakeNelson on a beach in Montauk.
It it was stunning. And living in that world, I, it
was hard to see it end. I, I was, I just wanted to, I
just wanted to hang with them all the time.
And, you know, that type of opportunity is, is just magical.
(15:43):
Working with actors has become the thing I now love the most.
And you asked me this a year ago, a year and a half ago,
before we started filming, I would have told you it was the
thing that most terrified me. But now it's once once you do
it, Lois is is incredible. She gave this, she gives that
monologue at the end of the movie and you know, you're just
(16:07):
like, damn, when I was writing this, I thought it was going to,
I thought it was going to just get deleted from a drive or
something. So it it was incredible.
I loved working with everybody. Well, it sounds like you had a
great time and the cast really, you know, took to you as well.
Film making can be challenging though.
What was the toughest thing about making this movie?
(16:30):
Well, I'll forgo the obvious answer of getting the money as
being the toughest, but I remember there was one day where
it all just started working. I would say that's around the
time Tim signed on. The doors just burst open.
But I would say the actual toughest part was losing our
location just before filming. And that's because the location
(16:51):
was the actual Tom's house on Navy Beach.
And when he realized this movie's actually happening,
besides the fact that Tim had lived with him and studied his
character, when he realized a bunch of film people were going
to come in and need to use the breaker in his house, he kind
of, he, he like a turtle. He just disappeared inside his
(17:13):
shell and he wouldn't talk to me.
And I had to, I panicked. I was, I really didn't feel like
shooting the movie anywhere besides Montauk, even though it
Once Upon a time we had considered Belgium, but that's
another story. But we ended up luckily 2 doors
down, there was a house that wasbought by the town set to be
(17:34):
knocked down just before we started filming.
And I basically begged the town,please, this is like, this is
like an empty canvas. If, if I can use this house, I,
I, I will do justice not only tothis story, but but to the town
and, and what it represents. And they, God bless them, they,
they gave us this house and we did with it whatever the heck we
(17:56):
wanted to it. We painted it upside down, you
know, and it was, it was free reign to, to, to get what we
wanted to, to dirty it up. But I would say losing that
location was probably the the the Dark Night of Soul.
If we're talking about save the Cat, well.
It sounds like it it worked out in the end.
(18:16):
You alluded to it earlier. We we only have time for one
more question. But it is kind of ironic that
you're showing this film at the Hamptons International Film
Festival. And it's a very entertaining
movie. But as you said earlier, it
really does raise some importantissues.
What do you hope people at this festival most take away, besides
(18:37):
having a great time in terms of some of the ideas in the film?
You know, personally, I think I just it's a little bit of a,
without giving away to me, I want it.
It's a bait and switch. You come in, it's a movie about
issues and and, you know, housing inequality.
(18:58):
But at the end of the day, I want you to just be, fall in
love with their love, their lovestory.
And it's this little bit of a sneak attack, you know, it's
just, I want you to fall in lovewith those two main characters,
Tom and Freckles. I, I, I want to honor this guy
who is just a guy. I know.
I know a lot of people who deserve movies about them, but I
(19:19):
wanted someone who is so, so unnoticed.
I wanted people to fall in love with this person that you, you
would never a notice hear of. But somehow he becomes a little
bit of this folk legend. And it's a blessing to be
playing in at, at this festival.I, I always, I was, I've been
anticipating it playing at the festival.
(19:40):
And I was hoping we would, they would welcome us.
And they, they really did. And we showed it at Toronto
about a month ago. And that's a city.
But I, you know, I, I heard the sniffles at the end of the
movie. And I hate to say I want people
crying, but you know, I've, I'vemade a lot of movies where I'm
going for the laugh. And for this one, I'm trying to
(20:00):
go for the heart. I'm trying to get the tears.
So if you leave holding, you know, a box of Kleenex, I'll be
happy. Well, the film is playing at the
Hamptons International Film Festival on October 4th.
And is there any place on the line that you want to direct
people to, to learn more about your work and and this movie?
(20:23):
Oh, you can just type in Ari Sellinger, watch, watch my
previous movies. They're they're, they're on
Amazon and they're on Vimeo. Moon Dog Airways, everything's
been shot out out east. And I just hope I I hope this
gets this. I hope this kick off leads to a
(20:44):
whole wave of, of, of ways to get it seen.
So yeah. Well, I wish you the best of
luck. Thank you so much, Ari from
coming on for coming on the program.
We really appreciate. It it's been the utmost
pleasure. I appreciate it.
Hi, this is Tom Needham and you are listening to the sounds of
film and boy, I'm so excited. Today we're joined by Ari
Selinger, the writer and director of On the End.
The film is inspired by true events in Montauk and tells the
story of Tom, a mechanic whose love story turns into a David
(00:21):
versus Goliath battle against greed and power in East Hampton.
On the End will make its world premiere at the Hamptons
International Film Festival on October 4th before screenings at
the Woodstock Film Festival and also at the Newport Beach Film
Festival. All right.
Thank you so much for joining ustoday on The Sounds of Film.
(00:43):
Thank you. It's, it's great to be here,
Tom. So this is based on a true
story. Tell us about how you learned
about the story and why you wanted to make it into a movie.
Well, I'll tell you, I've never told a true story before.
I've made a documentary or two. But I was AI was AI, was a
(01:05):
junior at NYU watching a lot of films that were shot, you know,
down by Bleeker in the Village. And I wanted to start shooting
things in more rural or just kind of areas that you could
fake for different places in America.
And back in the day, I was trying to shoot this movie
called Deuce and 1/4, which was about two guys whose car broke
(01:27):
down or their radio stopped working on a road trip.
And one of the guys freaks out and needs to get it fixed.
And I was looking for a kind of AI, was looking for a repair
shop that also kind of looked like a clam shack.
And I found it at the end of Montauk at this guy Tom's house.
And I was about 20 years old. We shot this movie in his
(01:50):
backyard. And as I was shooting it, he was
always whispering in my ear, oh,you got to tell my story.
The town is screwing me. He's he's stamped screwing me,
man. And I, I as a 20 year old, I
really was not interested in small town politics, but I
really liked him and I thought he was a character.
(02:10):
And we remained friends after I shot that movie.
And he kind of remained a resource because every time I
would shoot a movie, I'd, I'd ask, hey, you got any funky
clothes or any strange tools I could just throw into the
production design? But all the while, for about 10
years straight, he told me aboutthis case that he was going
(02:32):
through. And then in 2016, The New York
Times did a piece on him. And it finally went from being
this guy's probably screwed around and got himself in
trouble to, oh, this guy's got areal story and he's a friend.
And I might have a unique take on it because it's not only a
true story, it's someone that I,strangely enough, call a dear
(02:54):
friend. And, you know, I'd written some
other screenplays, but this was the one that for whatever
reason, I just was like, I kind of took it upon myself to be
like, no one's going to tell this story.
Nobody knows where this guy is. And maybe there's a real
narrative here. And mixed that with a, with a
(03:14):
love story that put me over and I, I spent a, a, a winter with
him just writing it all down. And I had 300 pages be a little
more of just the breakdown of his whole, all the twists and
turns of his legal battle. That was kind of, you know, when
(03:35):
I really boiled it down, it was such it it was, it was
nefarious, but it was such a portrait of, you know, of a
conflict that I thought was larger and, and spoke more to to
not just Montauk that I started really falling in love with the
narrative and, and the specificsjust felt like set dressing, you
(03:57):
know, that just made it exciting.
And, you know, I called it on the end because I thought that
calling it the end felt felt like very Once Upon a time and
just the setting, you know, justit, it really reminded me of
like if I were an alien looking down at Earth, I would spot
Montauk and see these two littlepeople trying to get by on this
(04:19):
little planetary slice of Earth.I just fell in love with with
the story. And the fact that he was a
friend made it feel like, you know, this isn't just a ripped
from the headline story. It's like it's I know the guy,
that's pretty. Cool.
So I mean, I just know him from your film.
And as. You said he he did seem like a
(04:42):
character. It's amazing to me that if you
approached him earlier when you were young, that he would
embrace you and form a friendship.
Can you tell us a little bit about this relationship that you
had? Absolutely.
Well, he let us shoot in his backyard and I didn't realize it
at the time. He was extremely open.
(05:02):
I, it's, I'm glad you noted that'cause we went all around
Montauk looking for a place to shoot.
You know, my, my folks live out in Sag Harbor, so I knew as a 20
year old I could, I could put upmy small crew in the nearby
area. So that was a perk.
But, you know, there were all these articles about him
basically just trashing him and I, I don't, I thought it was
(05:28):
funky that he came up to me and was so welcoming.
Little did I realize he was sortof getting a little bit out of
me too, because he then invited a reporter from the East Ham to
start to come in and do an article on these little NYU kids
that were shooting him a little movie in his backyard.
It was part of his effort to kind of repair his reputation.
Be like, look at, look at me. I'm I'm I'm nice to college kids
(05:52):
and you know, I'm I'm not I'm not this mean old man at the I'm
not, you know, I'm no Grinch, but the the truth of it, it was
he he was a really sweet fella. And I remember when that article
came out, I got a little I didn't get any flak, but I
(06:13):
remember hearing, you know, you shot a movie at Tom's like
almost disbelief from people in the area.
Why would you do that? He yell at you?
Because he was very protective of his stuff.
He was certainly a hoarder and alot of his problems came from
being protective of his stuff. But you know, he was a man in
(06:35):
love that that was the key. I think he was in love with this
woman that lived with him and itbrought out the best in him.
So everything was like, you know, everything was, you know,
everything was sweet for him at that time.
And some of those qualities thatlater that the town had with
(06:55):
him, he was, he kind of was invincible at this time when I
saw him, because he was, he was smitten with someone.
And you, you know what that can do when you can get in trouble,
when you fall in love, it's, it's, it's life is sweet.
And so I met him at a good time and, and I really, you know,
(07:16):
it's, it's, it's pretty trippy to to, to be talking to you
about this ten years later and being like, you know, got Tim
Blake Nelson playing him. It's, it's, it's a little
bizarre and, and a real treat for me actually.
So after he had some success andand obviously your movie is out
(07:38):
there now, do you have any sensein terms of how locals now feel
about the story all these years later?
You know what it reminds me of? It's like, this is going to
sound like a non sequitur, but this just popped into my head.
It's like back in the 60s when when Bob Dylan went electric,
you know, everybody, everybody hated it and you they would let
(08:00):
you know. But then in the 70s when he
played a game and everybody was like, we always liked it.
And, and now when I tell this story, it's like Tom, we always
loved Tom. Tom's a great guy.
But I remember back in the day, it was like, it was like, it,
it, it felt like he was the mosthated man in town.
And why are you getting togetherwith with someone that's that's
(08:22):
ruining our community? But now people see him.
It's like amnesia or something. And I actually really appreciate
it 'cause I feel like we were able to sort of shift the
narrative just by virtue of being like making a movie about
this guy. It's not, you know, it's not
about The Rolling Stones in their time in Montauk.
It's, it's literally about the most hated man in Montauk.
(08:42):
And, and now people seem to be taking it up as if he's a folk
hero. But back in the day he was, I
don't think he was seen that way, but we were greeted with
open arms in, in East Hampton. They were.
I think part of it was that, youknow, when you think about the
Hamptons or, or whatever you call it, I think you think of
these parties and, and the glitzand glamour and he's anything
(09:05):
but. And I think there was a little
bit of a hunger for me and maybefrom the town recognizing this
as well that, you know, this washe was the first symptom back in
2008 of a changing of the guard and and the tide turning against
some of the smaller folks out there.
And I think now with 2020 vision, he's that story
(09:25):
represents something we don't see as much out there anymore.
It's like from a bygone era. And so it we were really
welcomed and, and it was, it wasquite a magical experience to
shoot out there felt like a cocoon.
Well, it, it, it's sort of a local story, but it does, as you
say, have implications for people all over the world.
(09:49):
Really. Oh, yeah.
Montauk for for people that knowMontauk, they have certain
images, but but try to paint a picture a little bit for our
listeners who, who maybe don't know the area so well.
It it's a special place. And why is it such a perfect
place for the setting of a film?Well, what first attracted me
(10:11):
there is probably the same thingthat attracted the guys that did
stranger things. It feels, you know, Stranger
Things was used to be called Montauk and it has this kind of
eerie when it's the middle of winter, it it feels like you are
you are on Mars. You know, it's hard to get out
there. The wind whips down.
It's it's just it, it, it feels like you're in the desert a
(10:33):
little bit and by the same clockwhen it comes to, you know, the
summer, it fills up like it balloons, you know, thousands of
people come out there and suddenly this kind of Mars like
planetary colony feels like it'sbursting with money and power.
(10:55):
But in all actual in in actuality, it was kind of this
blue collar town that saw what we basically see as
gentrification. And it was very nefarious
because, you know, all these houses on the beach are people.
People saw an opportunity to build it up.
And what's the big deal? You know, we build it up and
(11:17):
then folks will be able to work at the restaurant next door.
But it displaced a lot of folks.And suddenly people that had
lived there their whole life were being out priced by people
who were only there for two months of the year.
And that felt like, you know, itstarts on the coast, but then it
kind of seeps its way into everypocket of of America.
(11:39):
And not just America, but all all around, just these beautiful
areas that that get recognized and suddenly what people fall in
love with their pristine qualities get taken advantage
of. And the people of the land are
kind of unable to sustain that life.
And sometimes in even in this case, get bullied out of it
(12:02):
almost meant to feel like they're the outsiders when you
know that they're, they're the ones that have been there since
the beginning. So it's, it's a real David and
Goliath kind of struggle. You know, it's, it's hard to
argue with money when people aresaying to you about a leisure
Rama house that probably cost you quite little to get your,
(12:23):
your grandfather got it in the 40s.
Now someone's offering you $2,000,000 and you're going to
lose your neighbor. But how can you turn that down?
And it was, it was Montauk being, it's called the end
because it's literally at the end of Long Island, at the end
of the Earth. Everything else, the next place
(12:44):
you get to is, is Europe if you keep going.
So it, it felt like it's also the, it's the end, that that's
the place, but it's also the beginning.
This is where it starts. And I liked that about it.
It felt very ragtag. And in a way, my favorite
stories always take place in themiddle of this country.
(13:06):
But somehow I was able to subvert that into thinking,
well, what if it's at the end ofLong Island?
What if we're what if I try to make Paris, TX over in Montauk?
How would that be? And somehow I really felt that
was the key to, to really locking, you know, locking in
there. I, I really liked that about it.
And I I felt it hadn't been toldthat many times.
(13:28):
You really nailed it and he got incredible performances from the
actors. Tell us a little bit about this
cast, 'cause they're, they're fantastic.
Oh, I remember the day Tim, Tim,Blake, Tim, Tim and I became
friends, and he was like, what? The day Tim started taking me
seriously was the day the doors burst open and suddenly it was,
(13:50):
well, let's get Lois Smith to play his aunt.
You know, she's 94. Her first movie was with James
Dean in East of Eden. Suddenly he was saying, well,
you know, let's let's get her and she'll be great.
And I was thinking, man, I at the time, I was like, I was
thinking I was going to need to get my grandma to play it.
And, and then so when Lois came in and she, you know, she, she's
(14:14):
when she came out to Montauk to play her part and knew all these
funky lines that I had written based on my bubby, you know, and
her strange sense of humor. It was like, it just felt like
being on Cloud 9. And then we got Murray Enos, who
I'd always loved from The Killing, and I'd seen her in a
small movie called The Devil's Not by a Tony Goyan, and I saw
(14:39):
it was a small performance of her.
And she was really, you know, itwas she, she played a very
backwater character and I and she had an abundance of
freckles. So for a character named
Freckles, it made sense. And I, once she signed on and
she came out to New York to see me and, and we've just kind of
(15:00):
walked around the area of Brooklyn, Sheepshead Bay, where
Freckles is from, and she started picking up the dialects.
It was it, it was magical. I'd never thought I was going to
be working with an ensemble likethat.
I mean, this is my first rodeo. And, you know, this is something
I wrote on a napkin when I was, you know, an assistant editor at
(15:20):
the same time to, to go from thenapkin to, to having Anna
Chlumsky fighting with Tim BlakeNelson on a beach in Montauk.
It it was stunning. And living in that world, I, it
was hard to see it end. I, I was, I just wanted to, I
just wanted to hang with them all the time.
And, you know, that type of opportunity is, is just magical.
(15:43):
Working with actors has become the thing I now love the most.
And you asked me this a year ago, a year and a half ago,
before we started filming, I would have told you it was the
thing that most terrified me. But now it's once once you do
it, Lois is is incredible. She gave this, she gives that
monologue at the end of the movie and you know, you're just
(16:07):
like, damn, when I was writing this, I thought it was going to,
I thought it was going to just get deleted from a drive or
something. So it it was incredible.
I loved working with everybody. Well, it sounds like you had a
great time and the cast really, you know, took to you as well.
Film making can be challenging though.
What was the toughest thing about making this movie?
(16:30):
Well, I'll forgo the obvious answer of getting the money as
being the toughest, but I remember there was one day where
it all just started working. I would say that's around the
time Tim signed on. The doors just burst open.
But I would say the actual toughest part was losing our
location just before filming. And that's because the location
(16:51):
was the actual Tom's house on Navy Beach.
And when he realized this movie's actually happening,
besides the fact that Tim had lived with him and studied his
character, when he realized a bunch of film people were going
to come in and need to use the breaker in his house, he kind
of, he, he like a turtle. He just disappeared inside his
(17:13):
shell and he wouldn't talk to me.
And I had to, I panicked. I was, I really didn't feel like
shooting the movie anywhere besides Montauk, even though it
Once Upon a time we had considered Belgium, but that's
another story. But we ended up luckily 2 doors
down, there was a house that wasbought by the town set to be
(17:34):
knocked down just before we started filming.
And I basically begged the town,please, this is like, this is
like an empty canvas. If, if I can use this house, I,
I, I will do justice not only tothis story, but but to the town
and, and what it represents. And they, God bless them, they,
they gave us this house and we did with it whatever the heck we
(17:56):
wanted to it. We painted it upside down, you
know, and it was, it was free reign to, to, to get what we
wanted to, to dirty it up. But I would say losing that
location was probably the the the Dark Night of Soul.
If we're talking about save the Cat, well.
It sounds like it it worked out in the end.
(18:16):
You alluded to it earlier. We we only have time for one
more question. But it is kind of ironic that
you're showing this film at the Hamptons International Film
Festival. And it's a very entertaining
movie. But as you said earlier, it
really does raise some importantissues.
What do you hope people at this festival most take away, besides
(18:37):
having a great time in terms of some of the ideas in the film?
You know, personally, I think I just it's a little bit of a,
without giving away to me, I want it.
It's a bait and switch. You come in, it's a movie about
issues and and, you know, housing inequality.
(18:58):
But at the end of the day, I want you to just be, fall in
love with their love, their lovestory.
And it's this little bit of a sneak attack, you know, it's
just, I want you to fall in lovewith those two main characters,
Tom and Freckles. I, I, I want to honor this guy
who is just a guy. I know.
I know a lot of people who deserve movies about them, but I
(19:19):
wanted someone who is so, so unnoticed.
I wanted people to fall in love with this person that you, you
would never a notice hear of. But somehow he becomes a little
bit of this folk legend. And it's a blessing to be
playing in at, at this festival.I, I always, I was, I've been
anticipating it playing at the festival.
(19:40):
And I was hoping we would, they would welcome us.
And they, they really did. And we showed it at Toronto
about a month ago. And that's a city.
But I, you know, I, I heard the sniffles at the end of the
movie. And I hate to say I want people
crying, but you know, I've, I'vemade a lot of movies where I'm
going for the laugh. And for this one, I'm trying to
(20:00):
go for the heart. I'm trying to get the tears.
So if you leave holding, you know, a box of Kleenex, I'll be
happy. Well, the film is playing at the
Hamptons International Film Festival on October 4th.
And is there any place on the line that you want to direct
people to, to learn more about your work and and this movie?
(20:23):
Oh, you can just type in Ari Sellinger, watch, watch my
previous movies. They're they're, they're on
Amazon and they're on Vimeo. Moon Dog Airways, everything's
been shot out out east. And I just hope I I hope this
gets this. I hope this kick off leads to a
(20:44):
whole wave of, of, of ways to get it seen.
So yeah. Well, I wish you the best of
luck. Thank you so much, Ari from
coming on for coming on the program.
We really appreciate. It it's been the utmost
pleasure. I appreciate it.
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