July 27, 2025 • 27 mins
Okay ANDers, we need a moment to fawn. Today's guest, Nick Houy, is a Hollywood film editing badass with movie credits like Barbie, Little Women, Mid90s and Lady Bird. Full transparency, these are some of our team's faves, and we couldn't believe our luck when Nick agreed to come on our show. When we discovered he is not only brilliant but incredibly kind and thoughtful, we lost it ... quietly, but we lost it. On today's episode, Nick discusses his career, his sculptor's approach to editing and why he looks for small moments among found footage.
Read more from Nick in his interview with Film Supply.
To craft a Houy movie marathon, check out Nick's IMDb page.
Nick Houy, ACE BFE, is a multi-award-winning film editor known for LADY BIRD, LITTLE WOMEN, BARBIE, and the HBO miniseries THE NIGHT OF. Houy is also known for editing MID90s, and the highly acclaimed documentary STUTZ.
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Original music composed by Nelson Walker.
Recorded at Interplay Recording and Multimedia.
Written and produced by Erika Randall and Tim Grassley.
The Ampersand is a production of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Colorado Boulder.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
[AUDIO LOGO]
ERIKA RANDALL (00:03):
A and S.
[CHATTER]
AUDIENCE (00:13):
Guys, I need to go and get Jones.
ERIKA RANDALL (00:16):
I imagine Nick Houy running around Boulder
with his ragtag group offlannelled filmmaker friends,
heading to JonesDrug on the hill
to get the latest footage fromhis Super 8 camera developed.
The place smells of processingchemicals, popcorn, and home--
a nostalgic alchemythat returns to Nick
with just a shutterclose of his eyes.
(00:42):
I can't imagine what it waslike to be among the first
to see the script thathad little girls smashing
baby dolls against the rocksas a life-sized Barbie emerges
at the dawn of woman; how itfelt to be in those rooms that
would shape amoment in cinematic
her story in freshand radical ways.
Action.
But this is exactlywhat Nick Houy
(01:03):
did, with theopposite of kenergy,
and not one whiff of hubris.
Nick, now a badass filmeditor in New York,
is living this childhooddream for real.
And I am lucky tocall him friend,
even if he doesn't knowyet that we're besties!
[THEME MUSIC]
Ted, did that sound stalkery?
[THEME MUSIC]
(01:24):
On the Ampersand, we callthis bringing together
of the impossible thealchemy of anding.
Together, we'll hear stories ofhumans who imagine and create
by colliding their interests.
Rather than thinking ofand as a simple conjunction
in that conjunctionjunction kind of way,
we will hear stories ofpeople who see and as a verb,
a way to speak the beautifulwhen you intentionally
(01:45):
let the soft animal of yourbody love what it loves.
As St. Mary Oliverasks, what is it you
plan to do with your onewild and precious life?
Oh, I love this question.
When I'm mothering,creating and collaborating,
it reminds me toreplace a singular
idea of what I think I shouldbecome with a full sensory verb
about experiencing.
(02:07):
I'm Erika Randall.
And this is Nick Hueyon The Ampersand.
[THEME MUSIC]
NICK HOUY (02:19):
You know it's an interesting one
is when I met Lois Smithbecause she was in ladybird.
She was the nun.
ERIKA RANDALL (02:28):
Ha, yeah.
[GIGGLES]
NICK HOUY (02:30):
And was like, wait.
ERIKA RANDALL (02:31):
That is who set you back?
NICK HOUY (02:32):
Well, yeah, you're were in East
of Eden with James Dean.
You kissed James Deanand hung out with him.
And she was just like,yeah, he's the coolest.
What can I say?
ERIKA RANDALL (02:42):
Yeah, he was the coolest.
OK.
Did you go like thistowards her mouth.
Can I--
NICK HOUY (02:47):
Kind of, yeah.
Or you're just like,that seems unreal.
When you watch thatmovie, you're just like,
I can't believeI met that woman.
Those are those momentwhere you're just
like, that's totally surreal.
Yeah, it's cool.
ERIKA RANDALL (03:00):
Especially when you've been a fan of film
for so long, and you literallygrew up with these people.
Wallace Shawn askedme for directions
on the streets of New York--
[LAUGHTER]
--and when I was at Juilliard.
And he said, do you know wherethe Walter Reade Theater is?
NICK HOUY (03:18):
Why would he need to know?
I would ask him.
That's weird.
ERIKA RANDALL (03:22):
Well, and I looked at him
and I said, me from my glass?
You from yours.
And his wife was cracking up.
And it was right behindus was the funny part.
We were standing in front of it.
So I felt like he justwanted to meet me.
I don't think he actuallyneeded directions.
NICK HOUY (03:35):
That's sweet.
ERIKA RANDALL (03:36):
It was super sweet.
But I'm such a PrincessBride fan that I couldn't--
and I don't getstarstruck a lot.
I just think you're goingto meet movie people.
They're human people, andthey live in the world.
NICK HOUY (03:52):
Yeah, it's not inconceivable.
ERIKA RANDALL (03:54):
[LAUGHS] I see what you did there.
I see what you did there.
I see what you did there.
NICK HOUY (03:59):
My kids watch that movie all the time.
They love it.
ERIKA RANDALL (04:01):
They love it.
Do they hate that one--
Or do you, as an editor,hate inconsistencies in film?
Like, that momentwhen his hair--
when he's dunkinghim in the water,
and his hair's in front ofhis face, and the next scene--
it's not-- you know what I mean?
Does that make you cra--
I found an incons--
NICK HOUY (04:13):
Not at it, no.
ERIKA RANDALL (04:14):
It doesn't make you crazy?
NICK HOUY (04:15):
No, I don't care at all about that stuff--
ERIKA RANDALL (04:17):
You don't?
NICK HOUY (04:18):
--because I always think of it as it's a--
it's all fake.
It doesn't have topretend to be real.
The famous thing is Marty andThelma are all about that.
And a lot of peoplejust aren't about that.
And so it's just you'relike, which side are you on?
ERIKA RANDALL (04:36):
So you're not a perfectionist in that way?
NICK HOUY (04:38):
No, and who cares about continuity?
99% of people don'tnotice it unless they
watch the movie 100 times.
And then that meansyou've already won them.
ERIKA RANDALL (04:46):
Yeah, and then you're welcome.
NICK HOUY (04:47):
So obviously, it didn't deter them.
Yes.
ERIKA RANDALL (04:48):
That's right.
NICK HOUY (04:49):
And then it's a fun little bonus.
ERIKA RANDALL (04:50):
That's right.
Yeah, and then itbecomes an Easter egg.
And then it becomessomething that we--
ooh, I found that moment when--
I love that idea, too.
And it probablymakes your cut maybe
feel a little more freebecause you're actually--
you're not just stuckon the continuity.
You're looking for the rightmotion, the right shot.
NICK HOUY (05:07):
Exactly.
Yeah, Walter Murchlists the reasons
for a cut, which is really nice.
And number one is emotion.
And way furtherdown is continuity.
ERIKA RANDALL (05:16):
Way further down.
How does it go?
It goes emotion.
NICK HOUY (05:19):
I can't remember off the top of my head.
ERIKA RANDALL (05:21):
Even number two, make it up, in Nick Houy's list.
What are you cutting for?
NICK HOUY (05:24):
Character, story, but emotion is number one.
ERIKA RANDALL (05:29):
And that comes down to that thing about
you're only as goodas your editor--
that old adage thatactors actually are just--
they could look terribleif you made them.
You cut away.
Do you feel that?
You're working in partnership.
NICK HOUY (05:46):
Yeah.
Well, and you're alwayscutting terrible versions
of their performances--
your first pass becauseyou're just buried in dailies,
and you're trying toget on to the next pass.
So you know very well howbad you can make them look.
ERIKA RANDALL (06:01):
[LAUGHS] So you could blackmail Ryan.
NICK HOUY (06:06):
Sure.
Well, there's some actorswhere everything they do,
even just watchingtheir dailies,
is like, I could just getpopcorn and just sit and watch
their dailies becauseit's so entertaining.
You could have people pay.
I always say that.
You should justrelease these dailies.
You would make a killing.
You don't have toedit them at all.
And no one ever listens to me.
ERIKA RANDALL (06:26):
Who's dailies?
If you had a showcalled The Daily Show,
and you didn't get introuble with other people
for that title,what would it be?
Who would you start with?
NICK HOUY (06:36):
I mean, everything on this movie
I've been working on now, allthe dailies were hilarious.
It's like, MattBomer is amazing.
Keanu Reeves doesamazing, funny stuff.
ERIKA RANDALL (06:48):
Keanu Reeves is actually hilarious.
He was terrible inDangerous Liaisons, though.
I'm sorry, Keeanu.
That wasn't your best work,But, I love you, always.
NICK HOUY (06:57):
I'm sure the dailies were really fun to watch though.
ERIKA RANDALL (07:00):
Yeah, I'm sure they're really fun to watch.
That's amazing.
Do you suffer things that youhave to cut that you love,
though?
You talked about thebear scene in Barbie
that had to get cut with Ken.
Do you have a flip book of thosemoments that end up on the floor
that were good, butthey just slowed down
the pace of the film?
NICK HOUY (07:19):
Of course.
ERIKA RANDALL (07:20):
You do.
NICK HOUY (07:21):
I mean, that's constantly what you're doing.
And it's even little looks,little words, let alone,
whole scenes or parts ofscenes, huge chunks of sometimes
a whole storyline in a movie.
On this one, I was just workingon we ditched 40% of the movie
and reshot 30% of it.
ERIKA RANDALL (07:40):
Was that the Jonah Hill film
that you were working on?
NICK HOUY (07:43):
Yeah.
Some movies, youdrastically change.
It's almost just likewriting multiple drafts.
It's that fluid.
ERIKA RANDALL (07:51):
Whoa.
The final montage you write, oryou talk a lot about in Barbie,
in tons of interviews.
And I don't need to regurgitateother interviews about what
it was like to watch people'shome movies and all the things,
but you said thisreally powerful thing
where you said you nevercould have shot something that
beautiful, cutting to the coreof what it is to be a person
(08:13):
and have a family and have lostand just exist in the world.
And you were talkingabout found footage
and how it holds a thingness.
Are you always kindof chasing that?
Yeah, just talk to me about thenhow do you live in the world
without a camera in your hand.
It was such abeautiful statement,
what you said, but it alsomade me feel a little--
(08:37):
well, it made me feelmanic because that's
the direction I tend to go whenI feel something heightened.
What does that do for whenyou realize that resonance in
found footage versus that ofthe artificial or the created,
you were talking about earlier?
NICK HOUY (08:50):
Well, I think two things--
It's one is that, even if you'reworking in non-found footage,
let's say dramatizedacting and things,
you're still always lookingfor that real thing.
I'm cutting a scene yesterday.
You have the eyes tiltdown, tilt back up.
(09:14):
It's not scripted, never donein any other of the takes.
And it's just you can seethe character realizing
that something'sdying inside of him.
And you're like,I got to use that.
And you got to figureout how to use it.
And so that's amoment that's pure.
It's a great actor,obviously, but it's also
just feels very natural.
And so finding all thosemoments are super important.
(09:37):
So I'm always doingthat, I think,
is trying to find the thing thatfeels real because a lot of it
does.
But the things thatfeel most real--
ERIKA RANDALL (09:44):
So it's still found footage.
It's just found footagein dramatized scenes.
NICK HOUY (09:48):
Yeah, that's a perfect way to put it.
I've never thoughtabout it that way.
And then the second thing I'llsay is the way that you can go
about life withoutalways having a camera,
which I try not to do--when I travel and stuff,
I try not to be lookingthrough a camera--
is the thing thatmakes it difficult
is if you haven't seen thatmovie Saturday Night-- have
(10:09):
you seen that yet?
It's a Jason Reitmanmovie that just came out.
It's really good.
It's about SaturdayNight Live's first night,
and it's really great.
And Gilda Radner is agreat character in it.
And she says, at onepoint, sitting at the ice
rink in Rockefeller Center--
she says something like,I feel like I already
missed this moment.
(10:29):
I already feel nostalgicfor this moment.
And you're like-- andso that is a problem,
obviously, thatsome people have.
And I've definitelyhad that problem.
And I think whatyou have to learn
to do is just make yourmind a camera for a moment
and just take it in,really be present for it,
(10:49):
and then try to remember it--and I have a terrible memory--
but really just try to lockthat one away because there
is something removed when itis a video or a photograph,
I think.
There is somethingremoved from that.
ERIKA RANDALL (11:02):
It's reigned.
NICK HOUY (11:03):
There's something special
about it keeping it inyour perspective that
obviously will shift over time,but it's still just yours.
And I think that'sinteresting to try to--
that's how I can walk aroundwithout using a camera all
the time.
But I do do it toomuch, probably.
ERIKA RANDALL (11:17):
And those shifts, those shifts of memory
are actually some of myfavorites, the way we--
NICK HOUY (11:22):
Yeah, it can be dangerous, but yes.
ERIKA RANDALL (11:24):
It can be dangerous,
especially if you're married,and you're in an argument.
But the 13-year-oldsaid last summer, Mom,
this is the last summer ofmy childhood and was already
in the movie of the lastsummer of his childhood.
And I was like, oh,buddy, it's a heavy thing.
(11:48):
But then there's these thatthing of missing something
already while it's happening.
But that can also act as areally heavy book to your heart
and press it in evendeeper sometimes.
So it's the joys and theglories of being deep feelers
and seers of things.
And as a little rascalin Boulder, Colorado,
(12:12):
you were running aroundand creating these worlds.
Did you wanted to be in film?
Or was it really just a way tobe in the world at that time?
Did you see it as a career?
NICK HOUY (12:23):
Yeah, I don't think I thought about it like that,
really.
It was more justlike, oh, it's fun.
It feels like amagic trick, sort of.
I think that's whatit felt like It.
Was like, oh, I can justmake myself laugh and make
my friends laugh.
And yeah, we would justwrite little scripts
(12:45):
and act them out or just shootlike stop motion animations
and also just shootingeverything that we were doing,
climbing up MountSanitas and all that.
Yeah, it felt natural.
I don't think I wasthinking about, oh, this
is what I want to do.
(13:05):
And then eventually,because I went to--
ERIKA RANDALL (13:09):
You went to school for it, yeah.
NICK HOUY (13:11):
--middle school in Boulder, yeah.
And it's such agreat school there,
and worked at IFSand everything.
And it just felt likea New York sensibility.
So I was like, well,I'll just go to New York
and see if I can keep doingthis kind of stuff in New York.
ERIKA RANDALL (13:22):
And then you ran into Greta Gerwig on the street.
She was dancing down the street.
She tripped andfell into your arms.
NICK HOUY (13:28):
Yeah, New York is full of that kind of thing.
Wallace Sean justwandering around.
ERIKA RANDALL (13:32):
Yeah, I know.
It's just thekismet of Manhattan.
But did you trip intothat relationship?
Or was that fall like?
NICK HOUY (13:41):
That was very--
I think it's a great lesson foranyone who is trying to have
the ability to do the kinds ofthings you want to do is I had
coworkers that we all startedfrom the bottom when we were
in our early 20s in New York.
ERIKA RANDALL (13:57):
Wait, what is the bottom look, when you
say started from the bottom?
NICK HOUY (14:01):
It's like you're a PA,
or you're working at a facilityjust moving furniture and making
coffee and stuff like that--
ERIKA RANDALL (14:08):
You mean you didn't just walk--
NICK HOUY (14:10):
--which is how you mean editors and stuff.
ERIKA RANDALL (14:10):
Yeah.
You didn't just walkonto a set and be famous.
This is what we haveto tell our students.
This is like, youhave to show up first.
You keep showing up.
NICK HOUY (14:18):
You got to do all the stuff.
I mean, some people canjust step right into editing
if they're very luckyto just meet, or be
directing their ownstuff that hits really.
It's just you never knowwhat's going to hit.
And you continue to do it.
So most people have towork their way up and learn
on the job, which, Ithink, is actually useful.
But yeah, so just knowingall of those people.
(14:40):
And we got each otherjobs or interviews.
And so that I feellucky that I was just
able to get the interviewand then go from there.
And that's the same with allthe directors I've worked with.
You're just lucky toget the interview.
And then if you guys see thingsin an interesting way together,
then you'll work togetherand give each other space
(15:02):
to be creative and be yourown person, hopefully.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:06):
That sounds like you just
go on a lot of first dates.
NICK HOUY (15:10):
[CHUCKLES] Well, maybe, like, once a year,
maybe twice a year.
That's no bad.
ERIKA RANDALL: That's pretty hot. (15:14):
undefined
That's pretty hot.
But your first date withJonah, was it like, rar?
Did you just--
NICK HOUY (15:21):
Oh, yeah, we just hugged the whole time.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:23):
The whole time you were talking and telling
stories and just all in there?
Just in your hoodies, just uh!
NICK HOUY (15:29):
Exactly.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:30):
Oh, I love that.
NICK HOUY (15:32):
No, but I do remember him giving me a big high five
as we were leaving,which was fun.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:35):
With a good smack sound, a really solid--
NICK HOUY (15:37):
Yeah, like a real high five, yeah.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:39):
Yeah, that's amazing.
You have stories that you wantto tell, Nick, that are yours,
that are-- no?
NO?
NICK HOUY (15:48):
No, not really.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:49):
No, you got nothing in there.
There's just nothing youwant to say to the world,
no letter you want to penEmily Dickinson style, no?
NICK HOUY (15:56):
I'd much rather be the person, like,
you hand me the block, and I'llstart sculpting it, but I don't.
I don't want to be outthere getting the block.
I don't know what it is.
I just really likejust doing the work
and finding the emotionin it and finding
what's special about it.
(16:17):
I like doing that.
Whereas, writing, I feel likeit's almost too wide open.
It's really hard to write for mebecause you could do anything.
I like to havesomething in front of me
that I can then do anything to.
ERIKA RANDALL (16:30):
Which makes you--
NICK HOUY (16:31):
I don't why.
ERIKA RANDALL: Well, that probably (16:32):
undefined
makes you an amazingcollaborator for the human who
wants to be startingwith the nothing,
and then they buildthe something,
and then you cut into it.
If you had too muchof the other ambition,
it could maybe makeyou go ram to ram.
And in this way, itmakes you, I would
imagine, a pretty incredible--
NICK HOUY (16:53):
Hey, the right puzzle piece.
ERIKA RANDALL (16:54):
--human to collaborate-- yeah.
NICK HOUY (16:55):
That makes sense.
Yeah, I can see that.
ERIKA RANDALL (16:59):
Do you see yourself a time traveler?
Is time totally fuckedfor you as an editor?
Do you believe in linear time?
How does time exist foryou as a human or in film?
Or has editing film warped yoursense of chronological time?
NICK HOUY (17:14):
That's a good question.
I don't know.
I always feel I never haveenough time for anything,
but that's just part ofbeing a busy dad, I think.
No, I mean, I've alwaysthought about it the same way.
So it's like music orphotography or editing movies
or shooting movies.
You're always playingwith time, so it
(17:36):
hasn't changed the way I thinkof things because it's just
always been built in, I think.
ERIKA RANDALL (17:40):
And as a kid, you had a miraculous inner life that
allowed you to not feel lonely.
Is that what I can inferfrom my research and your--
no, just looking atsome of the material.
NICK HOUY (17:53):
You're going psychoanalyze an only child.
ERIKA RANDALL (17:56):
Grew up with a single mom in a hippie house
and watched French film.
I'm not going to do it.
You're going to do it.
That's what you do.
And I get quiet, and I justsit back and twirl my pencil.
And Nick, you just-- what wasit like in your imagination?
Did you always know that youhad a backdrop behind you,
or that the things in yourroom were props and part
of a mise en scene?
(18:16):
Or did you--
NICK HOUY (18:17):
[LAUGHS] Yeah, I guess, yeah.
It's just whenyou're really little,
and you have access to a camera,which I feel lucky to have had,
and super 8 cameras and stuff,I could just shoot super 8
and go to Jones Drug on thehill or process it and then
(18:39):
put it in a projector andproject it on my wall.
I didn't need anything else.
So it was I wouldfeel lucky to have
been able to livein that way as a kid
and be in a band and play drums.
And just it all just feltlike an amalgamation.
It felt very natural.
Yeah, it wasn't like Iwas thinking about it.
It was fun just to messaround, and it still is.
ERIKA RANDALL (19:01):
I Love that.
That is the mostnonchalant, awesome way
of just living into your life.
We're like, yeah, I justwent to Jones on the Hill,
processed my films in a band,played drums, created the scores
for my film, mademusic videos, just
projected it on theback of the garage.
That's just what I do-- no.
That's just kind of not asnormal as you think, my friend,
is the thing.
NICK HOUY (19:19):
I didn't have a garage.
We were just in a littleone bedroom apartment,
but we would projectonto the wall.
And it was coolbecause you really
could find old guys who hadold projectors and cameras
and stuff that would just sellthem to you at King Soopers.
ERIKA RANDALL (19:35):
I love it.
And when I thinkabout Jones, RIP,
I danced outside theday they closed it down.
And we brought our danceclass out with drums.
And the owners cameout and just cried.
[LAUGHTER]
It was so beautiful.
It was one of those thingsthat if you'd shown up
with a Super 8, it wouldhave been a great documentary
about Jones and--
NICK HOUY (19:56):
Oh, yeah.
ERIKA RANDALL (19:57):
--the popcorn machine.
We'd all run to get the popcornthat they just-- a place that
develops film and has popcorn.
It's made for movies.
NICK HOUY (20:04):
Yeah, definitely.
The smell, you just remindedme that combination of smells.
And I worked in theenvironmental design building
in the dark room, too.
So that whole area, it's reallya small little pocket there.
It just smells like fixer to me.
ERIKA RANDALL: Yeah, like deep ink. (20:20):
undefined
[LAUGHTER]
And now it's a Starbucks.
NICK HOUY (20:24):
[SCOFFS]
ERIKA RANDALL (20:25):
I know, I'm sorry, but we did try to resist.
I did bring theresistance because--
and we still call it Jones.
You want to meet at Jones?
And knowing very well thatwe're meeting at a Starbucks.
NICK HOUY (20:36):
[LAUGHS]
ERIKA RANDALL (20:38):
When you were a kitten,
you were watchingfilm with your mom.
She was your first kindof gateway to cinema?
NICK HOUY (20:46):
Yeah, my dad, too.
ERIKA RANDALL (20:48):
Your dad also?
NICK HOUY (20:48):
I remember him showing me Kubrick movies
when I was way too youngto be watching them.
ERIKA RANDALL (20:53):
Do you remember your first film?
I remember mine.
In the theater, do you rememberthe first thing you went to see?
NICK HOUY (20:58):
Well, the one that I always
say stick with me is theDouble Life of Veronique
because I was waytoo little to--
ERIKA RANDALL (21:05):
[SPEAKING FRENCH] It's like, so fucking good!
NICK HOUY (21:08):
But it's weird to remember it
from a four-year-old'spoint of view.
I shouldn't havebeen watching that.
ERIKA RANDALL (21:15):
No.
[LAUGHTER]
Tell me you didn't seeBetty Blue at four.
I was 14, at least whenI watched that one.
NICK HOUY (21:20):
No, I don't remember when I saw that.
ERIKA RANDALL: Talk about a score. (21:22):
undefined
Oh, my god.
NICK HOUY (21:24):
Yeah, it's beautiful.
ERIKA RANDALL: It's so beautiful. (21:26):
undefined
Thanks for beingthe fourth person
I've ever talkedto in my life who
understands the beauty of that.
Yeah, it's funny,I remember being
too young to watchFlashdance in the theater.
NICK HOUY (21:38):
[CHUCKLES] Oh, yeah, I
would sneak into movies all thetime and, obviously, in Boulder,
and I remember sneaking intoshows at the Boulder theater,
too.
And I was trying to reel--
because I have a distinct memoryof seeing Outkast in the Boulder
Theater when I was a kid.
ERIKA RANDALL (21:58):
Yep, they played there
because I don'tknow if you listened
to one of our episodes where--
NICK HOUY (22:03):
Yeah, that's made me think about it.
ERIKA RANDALL (22:04):
--with Francois.
NICK HOUY (22:04):
BUT I was like-- but I looked it up,
and I couldn't findwhat year that was.
ERIKA RANDALL (22:08):
I'm sure Francois knows.
We'll find out, and then we'll--
NICK HOUY (22:11):
I trying to figure it out, and it didn't make sense.
The timeline didn't make sense.
ERIKA RANDALL (22:14):
Because you would have been six or something
like that.
NICK HOUY (22:17):
It didn't align with my memory.
No, I was older than that.
ERIKA RANDALL (22:20):
In '91, or '90.
NICK HOUY (22:23):
Yeah, so I was nine.
ERIKA RANDALL (22:24):
Sneaking into the Boulder.
How do you sneak intothe Boulder Theater?
Let's pretend you're 11.
Let's pretend you'rea scrappy, redheaded,
bespeckled 11-year-old,and your buddies.
And do you sneak in the back?
Do you sneak in delivering?
What's your move?
What's the movieof Nick sneaking
into the Boulder Theater?
NICK HOUY (22:41):
Yeah, even into all age-- not in ages shows.
So here's my trick-- and I thinkI'm allowed to say this now
because it's been so long--
ERIKA RANDALL (22:47):
100%.
NICK HOUY (22:49):
--is if real Boulder diehards remember The Bolder
Planet, which was aweekly newspaper that
had an office that was basicallyin the Boulder Theater.
And my mom was a copy editorthere at the newspaper.
So we would justgo visit my mom.
And there was literally just adoor into the Boulder Theater.
And we would just say, hey,we're going to go in here
(23:11):
while you're working.
ERIKA RANDALL (23:12):
And she didn't even know?
NICK HOUY (23:14):
And sometimes maybe she turned her head.
And I'm not going tocollude her in this.
It was definitely our doing.
And we would do--and also at Munsinger
when we were kids,too, we always
sneak in to Munsingerand watch IFS films.
But then I ended up workingfor them later, so it's OK.
ERIKA RANDALL (23:32):
It's OK.
NICK HOUY (23:33):
But I do feel bad about that.
But it's also like, if kids wantto have to sneak into things
to have cultural experiences,I think that should be allowed.
ERIKA RANDALL (23:39):
I think it 100% should be allowed.
NICK HOUY (23:42):
It was just a more innocent time.
ERIKA RANDALL (23:43):
It was a more innocent time.
I remember the movie I snuckinto at the Ohio theater turned
out to be-- you can'tget more innocent--
The American in Paris.
NICK HOUY (23:50):
Aw, that's sweet.
ERIKA RANDALL (23:52):
It was so sweet.
And I sat in thebalcony, and it was
in this huge, gorgeous theater.
And it's like, the memoryfrom behind of my head
watching the movie inthis amazing theater.
And then years later,being in a dressing room
next to Leslie Caron and beinglike, oh my god, this is it.
Either I have died,or this is it.
(24:12):
OK, so but now it is timeto play the Quick and Dirty,
where you really dohave to try to win.
In the Quick and Dirty, youhave to say and, meaning, like,
I'm going to say thisand that, or you have
to say a word with and in it.
So if I was going to saysongs to fall asleep to--
Mr. Sandman.
And sand has sand in it.
OK, so like that.
All right, so a movie about atoy or toys from your childhood.
NICK HOUY (24:32):
should it have the and in it?
ERIKA RANDALL (24:34):
Yeah, mm-hmm.
NICK HOUY (24:36):
That's tough.
ERIKA RANDALL (24:37):
I know.
NICK HOUY (24:40):
Yeah, I don't have this kind of brain,
but I'll try.
[LAUGHS]
ERIKA RANDALL (24:46):
For me, it would be like, Teddy and Rosie,
who I gave the haircut to.
So it would be like, TheAdventures of Teddy and Rosie.
That would be my move.
NICK HOUY (24:54):
Oh, so you can just make it up.
It doesn't haveto be a real move.
ERIKA RANDALL (24:56):
100%.
This is your made-up.
I want toys from yourchildhood put into a movie,
and you title it.
Go.
NICK HOUY (25:02):
He-Man and The Sand Trap.
Hey, it had and in.
ERIKA RANDALL (25:06):
Double.
You totally won!
And we edited out your answerto make it sound faster already.
OK, while you're editing, whatare your food and beverage
requirements?
NICK HOUY (25:16):
Seltzer and almonds.
ERIKA RANDALL (25:20):
OK.
Articles of clothingthat you wear that
scream Coloradan in New York.
NICK HOUY (25:29):
My REI backpack, I guess with the CU keychain.
[LAUGHTER]
ERIKA RANDALL (25:36):
That's perfect.
I love that.
What are some of your--
I mean, I don't even know ifthis is going to be possible,
but favorite movies thathave and in the title?
NICK HOUY (25:47):
Hmm.
Antoine and Colette?
ERIKA RANDALL (25:50):
Ooh.
NICK HOUY (25:52):
Lovely.
ERIKA RANDALL (25:52):
Lovely.
Lovely, lovely.
[LAUGHTER]
NICK HOUY (25:57):
Wallace and Gromit.
ERIKA RANDALL: Wallace and Gromit. (25:59):
undefined
Did you listen tothe Ampersand episode
where we talked to anastrophysics student who
got to name tertiarycraters on the moon
and named themWallace and Gromit--
NICK HOUY (26:10):
That's great.
ERIKA RANDALL: Because of cheese? (26:11):
undefined
NICK HOUY (26:11):
Oh, the moon is made of cheese also.
ERIKA RANDALL (26:13):
Yes!
See?
NICK HOUY (26:13):
Yes, mm-hmm.
ERIKA RANDALL (26:14):
It's perfect.
OK, this is the time onthe show where you're going
to give a Nick Houy send off.
It could be to yourkids on an adventure.
It could be to agraduating class at CU.
And you'll say, M may your cutsbe swift and your-- like that.
(26:36):
And it starts with and as ifit's the last line of the thing,
and it's going toring out for eternity.
No pressure.
Go.
NICK HOUY (26:45):
And may you be true to yourself as you go forward
and listen to whatyou really want
and what you thinkis important, and not
be deterred by allthe other crap.
[THEME MUSIC]
ERIKA RANDALL (27:03):
That was Nick Houy on The Ampersand.
For more about Nickand his creative work,
see our show notes.
The Ampersand is aproduction of the College
of Arts and Sciences at theUniversity of Colorado Boulder.
It is written and producedby me, Erika Randall,
and Tim Graslie.
If there are peopleyou'd like us
to interview on TheAmpersand, do please email
(27:23):
us at asinfo@colorado.edu.
Our theme music was composedand performed by Nelson Walker,
and the episodes are recorded atInterplay Recording in Boulder,
Colorado.
I'm Erika Randall, andthis is The Ampersand.
[THEME MUSIC]
[AUDIO LOGO]
ERIKA RANDALL (00:03):
A and S.
[CHATTER]
AUDIENCE (00:13):
Guys, I need to go and get Jones.
ERIKA RANDALL (00:16):
I imagine Nick Houy running around Boulder
with his ragtag group offlannelled filmmaker friends,
heading to JonesDrug on the hill
to get the latest footage fromhis Super 8 camera developed.
The place smells of processingchemicals, popcorn, and home--
a nostalgic alchemythat returns to Nick
with just a shutterclose of his eyes.
(00:42):
I can't imagine what it waslike to be among the first
to see the script thathad little girls smashing
baby dolls against the rocksas a life-sized Barbie emerges
at the dawn of woman; how itfelt to be in those rooms that
would shape amoment in cinematic
her story in freshand radical ways.
Action.
But this is exactlywhat Nick Houy
(01:03):
did, with theopposite of kenergy,
and not one whiff of hubris.
Nick, now a badass filmeditor in New York,
is living this childhooddream for real.
And I am lucky tocall him friend,
even if he doesn't knowyet that we're besties!
[THEME MUSIC]
Ted, did that sound stalkery?
[THEME MUSIC]
(01:24):
On the Ampersand, we callthis bringing together
of the impossible thealchemy of anding.
Together, we'll hear stories ofhumans who imagine and create
by colliding their interests.
Rather than thinking ofand as a simple conjunction
in that conjunctionjunction kind of way,
we will hear stories ofpeople who see and as a verb,
a way to speak the beautifulwhen you intentionally
(01:45):
let the soft animal of yourbody love what it loves.
As St. Mary Oliverasks, what is it you
plan to do with your onewild and precious life?
Oh, I love this question.
When I'm mothering,creating and collaborating,
it reminds me toreplace a singular
idea of what I think I shouldbecome with a full sensory verb
about experiencing.
(02:07):
I'm Erika Randall.
And this is Nick Hueyon The Ampersand.
[THEME MUSIC]
NICK HOUY (02:19):
You know it's an interesting one
is when I met Lois Smithbecause she was in ladybird.
She was the nun.
ERIKA RANDALL (02:28):
Ha, yeah.
[GIGGLES]
NICK HOUY (02:30):
And was like, wait.
ERIKA RANDALL (02:31):
That is who set you back?
NICK HOUY (02:32):
Well, yeah, you're were in East
of Eden with James Dean.
You kissed James Deanand hung out with him.
And she was just like,yeah, he's the coolest.
What can I say?
ERIKA RANDALL (02:42):
Yeah, he was the coolest.
OK.
Did you go like thistowards her mouth.
Can I--
NICK HOUY (02:47):
Kind of, yeah.
Or you're just like,that seems unreal.
When you watch thatmovie, you're just like,
I can't believeI met that woman.
Those are those momentwhere you're just
like, that's totally surreal.
Yeah, it's cool.
ERIKA RANDALL (03:00):
Especially when you've been a fan of film
for so long, and you literallygrew up with these people.
Wallace Shawn askedme for directions
on the streets of New York--
[LAUGHTER]
--and when I was at Juilliard.
And he said, do you know wherethe Walter Reade Theater is?
NICK HOUY (03:18):
Why would he need to know?
I would ask him.
That's weird.
ERIKA RANDALL (03:22):
Well, and I looked at him
and I said, me from my glass?
You from yours.
And his wife was cracking up.
And it was right behindus was the funny part.
We were standing in front of it.
So I felt like he justwanted to meet me.
I don't think he actuallyneeded directions.
NICK HOUY (03:35):
That's sweet.
ERIKA RANDALL (03:36):
It was super sweet.
But I'm such a PrincessBride fan that I couldn't--
and I don't getstarstruck a lot.
I just think you're goingto meet movie people.
They're human people, andthey live in the world.
NICK HOUY (03:52):
Yeah, it's not inconceivable.
ERIKA RANDALL (03:54):
[LAUGHS] I see what you did there.
I see what you did there.
I see what you did there.
NICK HOUY (03:59):
My kids watch that movie all the time.
They love it.
ERIKA RANDALL (04:01):
They love it.
Do they hate that one--
Or do you, as an editor,hate inconsistencies in film?
Like, that momentwhen his hair--
when he's dunkinghim in the water,
and his hair's in front ofhis face, and the next scene--
it's not-- you know what I mean?
Does that make you cra--
I found an incons--
NICK HOUY (04:13):
Not at it, no.
ERIKA RANDALL (04:14):
It doesn't make you crazy?
NICK HOUY (04:15):
No, I don't care at all about that stuff--
ERIKA RANDALL (04:17):
You don't?
NICK HOUY (04:18):
--because I always think of it as it's a--
it's all fake.
It doesn't have topretend to be real.
The famous thing is Marty andThelma are all about that.
And a lot of peoplejust aren't about that.
And so it's just you'relike, which side are you on?
ERIKA RANDALL (04:36):
So you're not a perfectionist in that way?
NICK HOUY (04:38):
No, and who cares about continuity?
99% of people don'tnotice it unless they
watch the movie 100 times.
And then that meansyou've already won them.
ERIKA RANDALL (04:46):
Yeah, and then you're welcome.
NICK HOUY (04:47):
So obviously, it didn't deter them.
Yes.
ERIKA RANDALL (04:48):
That's right.
NICK HOUY (04:49):
And then it's a fun little bonus.
ERIKA RANDALL (04:50):
That's right.
Yeah, and then itbecomes an Easter egg.
And then it becomessomething that we--
ooh, I found that moment when--
I love that idea, too.
And it probablymakes your cut maybe
feel a little more freebecause you're actually--
you're not just stuckon the continuity.
You're looking for the rightmotion, the right shot.
NICK HOUY (05:07):
Exactly.
Yeah, Walter Murchlists the reasons
for a cut, which is really nice.
And number one is emotion.
And way furtherdown is continuity.
ERIKA RANDALL (05:16):
Way further down.
How does it go?
It goes emotion.
NICK HOUY (05:19):
I can't remember off the top of my head.
ERIKA RANDALL (05:21):
Even number two, make it up, in Nick Houy's list.
What are you cutting for?
NICK HOUY (05:24):
Character, story, but emotion is number one.
ERIKA RANDALL (05:29):
And that comes down to that thing about
you're only as goodas your editor--
that old adage thatactors actually are just--
they could look terribleif you made them.
You cut away.
Do you feel that?
You're working in partnership.
NICK HOUY (05:46):
Yeah.
Well, and you're alwayscutting terrible versions
of their performances--
your first pass becauseyou're just buried in dailies,
and you're trying toget on to the next pass.
So you know very well howbad you can make them look.
ERIKA RANDALL (06:01):
[LAUGHS] So you could blackmail Ryan.
NICK HOUY (06:06):
Sure.
Well, there's some actorswhere everything they do,
even just watchingtheir dailies,
is like, I could just getpopcorn and just sit and watch
their dailies becauseit's so entertaining.
You could have people pay.
I always say that.
You should justrelease these dailies.
You would make a killing.
You don't have toedit them at all.
And no one ever listens to me.
ERIKA RANDALL (06:26):
Who's dailies?
If you had a showcalled The Daily Show,
and you didn't get introuble with other people
for that title,what would it be?
Who would you start with?
NICK HOUY (06:36):
I mean, everything on this movie
I've been working on now, allthe dailies were hilarious.
It's like, MattBomer is amazing.
Keanu Reeves doesamazing, funny stuff.
ERIKA RANDALL (06:48):
Keanu Reeves is actually hilarious.
He was terrible inDangerous Liaisons, though.
I'm sorry, Keeanu.
That wasn't your best work,But, I love you, always.
NICK HOUY (06:57):
I'm sure the dailies were really fun to watch though.
ERIKA RANDALL (07:00):
Yeah, I'm sure they're really fun to watch.
That's amazing.
Do you suffer things that youhave to cut that you love,
though?
You talked about thebear scene in Barbie
that had to get cut with Ken.
Do you have a flip book of thosemoments that end up on the floor
that were good, butthey just slowed down
the pace of the film?
NICK HOUY (07:19):
Of course.
ERIKA RANDALL (07:20):
You do.
NICK HOUY (07:21):
I mean, that's constantly what you're doing.
And it's even little looks,little words, let alone,
whole scenes or parts ofscenes, huge chunks of sometimes
a whole storyline in a movie.
On this one, I was just workingon we ditched 40% of the movie
and reshot 30% of it.
ERIKA RANDALL (07:40):
Was that the Jonah Hill film
that you were working on?
NICK HOUY (07:43):
Yeah.
Some movies, youdrastically change.
It's almost just likewriting multiple drafts.
It's that fluid.
ERIKA RANDALL (07:51):
Whoa.
The final montage you write, oryou talk a lot about in Barbie,
in tons of interviews.
And I don't need to regurgitateother interviews about what
it was like to watch people'shome movies and all the things,
but you said thisreally powerful thing
where you said you nevercould have shot something that
beautiful, cutting to the coreof what it is to be a person
(08:13):
and have a family and have lostand just exist in the world.
And you were talkingabout found footage
and how it holds a thingness.
Are you always kindof chasing that?
Yeah, just talk to me about thenhow do you live in the world
without a camera in your hand.
It was such abeautiful statement,
what you said, but it alsomade me feel a little--
(08:37):
well, it made me feelmanic because that's
the direction I tend to go whenI feel something heightened.
What does that do for whenyou realize that resonance in
found footage versus that ofthe artificial or the created,
you were talking about earlier?
NICK HOUY (08:50):
Well, I think two things--
It's one is that, even if you'reworking in non-found footage,
let's say dramatizedacting and things,
you're still always lookingfor that real thing.
I'm cutting a scene yesterday.
You have the eyes tiltdown, tilt back up.
(09:14):
It's not scripted, never donein any other of the takes.
And it's just you can seethe character realizing
that something'sdying inside of him.
And you're like,I got to use that.
And you got to figureout how to use it.
And so that's amoment that's pure.
It's a great actor,obviously, but it's also
just feels very natural.
And so finding all thosemoments are super important.
(09:37):
So I'm always doingthat, I think,
is trying to find the thing thatfeels real because a lot of it
does.
But the things thatfeel most real--
ERIKA RANDALL (09:44):
So it's still found footage.
It's just found footagein dramatized scenes.
NICK HOUY (09:48):
Yeah, that's a perfect way to put it.
I've never thoughtabout it that way.
And then the second thing I'llsay is the way that you can go
about life withoutalways having a camera,
which I try not to do--when I travel and stuff,
I try not to be lookingthrough a camera--
is the thing thatmakes it difficult
is if you haven't seen thatmovie Saturday Night-- have
(10:09):
you seen that yet?
It's a Jason Reitmanmovie that just came out.
It's really good.
It's about SaturdayNight Live's first night,
and it's really great.
And Gilda Radner is agreat character in it.
And she says, at onepoint, sitting at the ice
rink in Rockefeller Center--
she says something like,I feel like I already
missed this moment.
(10:29):
I already feel nostalgicfor this moment.
And you're like-- andso that is a problem,
obviously, thatsome people have.
And I've definitelyhad that problem.
And I think whatyou have to learn
to do is just make yourmind a camera for a moment
and just take it in,really be present for it,
(10:49):
and then try to remember it--and I have a terrible memory--
but really just try to lockthat one away because there
is something removed when itis a video or a photograph,
I think.
There is somethingremoved from that.
ERIKA RANDALL (11:02):
It's reigned.
NICK HOUY (11:03):
There's something special
about it keeping it inyour perspective that
obviously will shift over time,but it's still just yours.
And I think that'sinteresting to try to--
that's how I can walk aroundwithout using a camera all
the time.
But I do do it toomuch, probably.
ERIKA RANDALL (11:17):
And those shifts, those shifts of memory
are actually some of myfavorites, the way we--
NICK HOUY (11:22):
Yeah, it can be dangerous, but yes.
ERIKA RANDALL (11:24):
It can be dangerous,
especially if you're married,and you're in an argument.
But the 13-year-oldsaid last summer, Mom,
this is the last summer ofmy childhood and was already
in the movie of the lastsummer of his childhood.
And I was like, oh,buddy, it's a heavy thing.
(11:48):
But then there's these thatthing of missing something
already while it's happening.
But that can also act as areally heavy book to your heart
and press it in evendeeper sometimes.
So it's the joys and theglories of being deep feelers
and seers of things.
And as a little rascalin Boulder, Colorado,
(12:12):
you were running aroundand creating these worlds.
Did you wanted to be in film?
Or was it really just a way tobe in the world at that time?
Did you see it as a career?
NICK HOUY (12:23):
Yeah, I don't think I thought about it like that,
really.
It was more justlike, oh, it's fun.
It feels like amagic trick, sort of.
I think that's whatit felt like It.
Was like, oh, I can justmake myself laugh and make
my friends laugh.
And yeah, we would justwrite little scripts
(12:45):
and act them out or just shootlike stop motion animations
and also just shootingeverything that we were doing,
climbing up MountSanitas and all that.
Yeah, it felt natural.
I don't think I wasthinking about, oh, this
is what I want to do.
(13:05):
And then eventually,because I went to--
ERIKA RANDALL (13:09):
You went to school for it, yeah.
NICK HOUY (13:11):
--middle school in Boulder, yeah.
And it's such agreat school there,
and worked at IFSand everything.
And it just felt likea New York sensibility.
So I was like, well,I'll just go to New York
and see if I can keep doingthis kind of stuff in New York.
ERIKA RANDALL (13:22):
And then you ran into Greta Gerwig on the street.
She was dancing down the street.
She tripped andfell into your arms.
NICK HOUY (13:28):
Yeah, New York is full of that kind of thing.
Wallace Sean justwandering around.
ERIKA RANDALL (13:32):
Yeah, I know.
It's just thekismet of Manhattan.
But did you trip intothat relationship?
Or was that fall like?
NICK HOUY (13:41):
That was very--
I think it's a great lesson foranyone who is trying to have
the ability to do the kinds ofthings you want to do is I had
coworkers that we all startedfrom the bottom when we were
in our early 20s in New York.
ERIKA RANDALL (13:57):
Wait, what is the bottom look, when you
say started from the bottom?
NICK HOUY (14:01):
It's like you're a PA,
or you're working at a facilityjust moving furniture and making
coffee and stuff like that--
ERIKA RANDALL (14:08):
You mean you didn't just walk--
NICK HOUY (14:10):
--which is how you mean editors and stuff.
ERIKA RANDALL (14:10):
Yeah.
You didn't just walkonto a set and be famous.
This is what we haveto tell our students.
This is like, youhave to show up first.
You keep showing up.
NICK HOUY (14:18):
You got to do all the stuff.
I mean, some people canjust step right into editing
if they're very luckyto just meet, or be
directing their ownstuff that hits really.
It's just you never knowwhat's going to hit.
And you continue to do it.
So most people have towork their way up and learn
on the job, which, Ithink, is actually useful.
But yeah, so just knowingall of those people.
(14:40):
And we got each otherjobs or interviews.
And so that I feellucky that I was just
able to get the interviewand then go from there.
And that's the same with allthe directors I've worked with.
You're just lucky toget the interview.
And then if you guys see thingsin an interesting way together,
then you'll work togetherand give each other space
(15:02):
to be creative and be yourown person, hopefully.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:06):
That sounds like you just
go on a lot of first dates.
NICK HOUY (15:10):
[CHUCKLES] Well, maybe, like, once a year,
maybe twice a year.
That's no bad.
ERIKA RANDALL: That's pretty hot. (15:14):
undefined
That's pretty hot.
But your first date withJonah, was it like, rar?
Did you just--
NICK HOUY (15:21):
Oh, yeah, we just hugged the whole time.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:23):
The whole time you were talking and telling
stories and just all in there?
Just in your hoodies, just uh!
NICK HOUY (15:29):
Exactly.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:30):
Oh, I love that.
NICK HOUY (15:32):
No, but I do remember him giving me a big high five
as we were leaving,which was fun.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:35):
With a good smack sound, a really solid--
NICK HOUY (15:37):
Yeah, like a real high five, yeah.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:39):
Yeah, that's amazing.
You have stories that you wantto tell, Nick, that are yours,
that are-- no?
NO?
NICK HOUY (15:48):
No, not really.
ERIKA RANDALL (15:49):
No, you got nothing in there.
There's just nothing youwant to say to the world,
no letter you want to penEmily Dickinson style, no?
NICK HOUY (15:56):
I'd much rather be the person, like,
you hand me the block, and I'llstart sculpting it, but I don't.
I don't want to be outthere getting the block.
I don't know what it is.
I just really likejust doing the work
and finding the emotionin it and finding
what's special about it.
(16:17):
I like doing that.
Whereas, writing, I feel likeit's almost too wide open.
It's really hard to write for mebecause you could do anything.
I like to havesomething in front of me
that I can then do anything to.
ERIKA RANDALL (16:30):
Which makes you--
NICK HOUY (16:31):
I don't why.
ERIKA RANDALL: Well, that probably (16:32):
undefined
makes you an amazingcollaborator for the human who
wants to be startingwith the nothing,
and then they buildthe something,
and then you cut into it.
If you had too muchof the other ambition,
it could maybe makeyou go ram to ram.
And in this way, itmakes you, I would
imagine, a pretty incredible--
NICK HOUY (16:53):
Hey, the right puzzle piece.
ERIKA RANDALL (16:54):
--human to collaborate-- yeah.
NICK HOUY (16:55):
That makes sense.
Yeah, I can see that.
ERIKA RANDALL (16:59):
Do you see yourself a time traveler?
Is time totally fuckedfor you as an editor?
Do you believe in linear time?
How does time exist foryou as a human or in film?
Or has editing film warped yoursense of chronological time?
NICK HOUY (17:14):
That's a good question.
I don't know.
I always feel I never haveenough time for anything,
but that's just part ofbeing a busy dad, I think.
No, I mean, I've alwaysthought about it the same way.
So it's like music orphotography or editing movies
or shooting movies.
You're always playingwith time, so it
(17:36):
hasn't changed the way I thinkof things because it's just
always been built in, I think.
ERIKA RANDALL (17:40):
And as a kid, you had a miraculous inner life that
allowed you to not feel lonely.
Is that what I can inferfrom my research and your--
no, just looking atsome of the material.
NICK HOUY (17:53):
You're going psychoanalyze an only child.
ERIKA RANDALL (17:56):
Grew up with a single mom in a hippie house
and watched French film.
I'm not going to do it.
You're going to do it.
That's what you do.
And I get quiet, and I justsit back and twirl my pencil.
And Nick, you just-- what wasit like in your imagination?
Did you always know that youhad a backdrop behind you,
or that the things in yourroom were props and part
of a mise en scene?
(18:16):
Or did you--
NICK HOUY (18:17):
[LAUGHS] Yeah, I guess, yeah.
It's just whenyou're really little,
and you have access to a camera,which I feel lucky to have had,
and super 8 cameras and stuff,I could just shoot super 8
and go to Jones Drug on thehill or process it and then
(18:39):
put it in a projector andproject it on my wall.
I didn't need anything else.
So it was I wouldfeel lucky to have
been able to livein that way as a kid
and be in a band and play drums.
And just it all just feltlike an amalgamation.
It felt very natural.
Yeah, it wasn't like Iwas thinking about it.
It was fun just to messaround, and it still is.
ERIKA RANDALL (19:01):
I Love that.
That is the mostnonchalant, awesome way
of just living into your life.
We're like, yeah, I justwent to Jones on the Hill,
processed my films in a band,played drums, created the scores
for my film, mademusic videos, just
projected it on theback of the garage.
That's just what I do-- no.
That's just kind of not asnormal as you think, my friend,
is the thing.
NICK HOUY (19:19):
I didn't have a garage.
We were just in a littleone bedroom apartment,
but we would projectonto the wall.
And it was coolbecause you really
could find old guys who hadold projectors and cameras
and stuff that would just sellthem to you at King Soopers.
ERIKA RANDALL (19:35):
I love it.
And when I thinkabout Jones, RIP,
I danced outside theday they closed it down.
And we brought our danceclass out with drums.
And the owners cameout and just cried.
[LAUGHTER]
It was so beautiful.
It was one of those thingsthat if you'd shown up
with a Super 8, it wouldhave been a great documentary
about Jones and--
NICK HOUY (19:56):
Oh, yeah.
ERIKA RANDALL (19:57):
--the popcorn machine.
We'd all run to get the popcornthat they just-- a place that
develops film and has popcorn.
It's made for movies.
NICK HOUY (20:04):
Yeah, definitely.
The smell, you just remindedme that combination of smells.
And I worked in theenvironmental design building
in the dark room, too.
So that whole area, it's reallya small little pocket there.
It just smells like fixer to me.
ERIKA RANDALL: Yeah, like deep ink. (20:20):
undefined
[LAUGHTER]
And now it's a Starbucks.
NICK HOUY (20:24):
[SCOFFS]
ERIKA RANDALL (20:25):
I know, I'm sorry, but we did try to resist.
I did bring theresistance because--
and we still call it Jones.
You want to meet at Jones?
And knowing very well thatwe're meeting at a Starbucks.
NICK HOUY (20:36):
[LAUGHS]
ERIKA RANDALL (20:38):
When you were a kitten,
you were watchingfilm with your mom.
She was your first kindof gateway to cinema?
NICK HOUY (20:46):
Yeah, my dad, too.
ERIKA RANDALL (20:48):
Your dad also?
NICK HOUY (20:48):
I remember him showing me Kubrick movies
when I was way too youngto be watching them.
ERIKA RANDALL (20:53):
Do you remember your first film?
I remember mine.
In the theater, do you rememberthe first thing you went to see?
NICK HOUY (20:58):
Well, the one that I always
say stick with me is theDouble Life of Veronique
because I was waytoo little to--
ERIKA RANDALL (21:05):
[SPEAKING FRENCH] It's like, so fucking good!
NICK HOUY (21:08):
But it's weird to remember it
from a four-year-old'spoint of view.
I shouldn't havebeen watching that.
ERIKA RANDALL (21:15):
No.
[LAUGHTER]
Tell me you didn't seeBetty Blue at four.
I was 14, at least whenI watched that one.
NICK HOUY (21:20):
No, I don't remember when I saw that.
ERIKA RANDALL: Talk about a score. (21:22):
undefined
Oh, my god.
NICK HOUY (21:24):
Yeah, it's beautiful.
ERIKA RANDALL: It's so beautiful. (21:26):
undefined
Thanks for beingthe fourth person
I've ever talkedto in my life who
understands the beauty of that.
Yeah, it's funny,I remember being
too young to watchFlashdance in the theater.
NICK HOUY (21:38):
[CHUCKLES] Oh, yeah, I
would sneak into movies all thetime and, obviously, in Boulder,
and I remember sneaking intoshows at the Boulder theater,
too.
And I was trying to reel--
because I have a distinct memoryof seeing Outkast in the Boulder
Theater when I was a kid.
ERIKA RANDALL (21:58):
Yep, they played there
because I don'tknow if you listened
to one of our episodes where--
NICK HOUY (22:03):
Yeah, that's made me think about it.
ERIKA RANDALL (22:04):
--with Francois.
NICK HOUY (22:04):
BUT I was like-- but I looked it up,
and I couldn't findwhat year that was.
ERIKA RANDALL (22:08):
I'm sure Francois knows.
We'll find out, and then we'll--
NICK HOUY (22:11):
I trying to figure it out, and it didn't make sense.
The timeline didn't make sense.
ERIKA RANDALL (22:14):
Because you would have been six or something
like that.
NICK HOUY (22:17):
It didn't align with my memory.
No, I was older than that.
ERIKA RANDALL (22:20):
In '91, or '90.
NICK HOUY (22:23):
Yeah, so I was nine.
ERIKA RANDALL (22:24):
Sneaking into the Boulder.
How do you sneak intothe Boulder Theater?
Let's pretend you're 11.
Let's pretend you'rea scrappy, redheaded,
bespeckled 11-year-old,and your buddies.
And do you sneak in the back?
Do you sneak in delivering?
What's your move?
What's the movieof Nick sneaking
into the Boulder Theater?
NICK HOUY (22:41):
Yeah, even into all age-- not in ages shows.
So here's my trick-- and I thinkI'm allowed to say this now
because it's been so long--
ERIKA RANDALL (22:47):
100%.
NICK HOUY (22:49):
--is if real Boulder diehards remember The Bolder
Planet, which was aweekly newspaper that
had an office that was basicallyin the Boulder Theater.
And my mom was a copy editorthere at the newspaper.
So we would justgo visit my mom.
And there was literally just adoor into the Boulder Theater.
And we would just say, hey,we're going to go in here
(23:11):
while you're working.
ERIKA RANDALL (23:12):
And she didn't even know?
NICK HOUY (23:14):
And sometimes maybe she turned her head.
And I'm not going tocollude her in this.
It was definitely our doing.
And we would do--and also at Munsinger
when we were kids,too, we always
sneak in to Munsingerand watch IFS films.
But then I ended up workingfor them later, so it's OK.
ERIKA RANDALL (23:32):
It's OK.
NICK HOUY (23:33):
But I do feel bad about that.
But it's also like, if kids wantto have to sneak into things
to have cultural experiences,I think that should be allowed.
ERIKA RANDALL (23:39):
I think it 100% should be allowed.
NICK HOUY (23:42):
It was just a more innocent time.
ERIKA RANDALL (23:43):
It was a more innocent time.
I remember the movie I snuckinto at the Ohio theater turned
out to be-- you can'tget more innocent--
The American in Paris.
NICK HOUY (23:50):
Aw, that's sweet.
ERIKA RANDALL (23:52):
It was so sweet.
And I sat in thebalcony, and it was
in this huge, gorgeous theater.
And it's like, the memoryfrom behind of my head
watching the movie inthis amazing theater.
And then years later,being in a dressing room
next to Leslie Caron and beinglike, oh my god, this is it.
Either I have died,or this is it.
(24:12):
OK, so but now it is timeto play the Quick and Dirty,
where you really dohave to try to win.
In the Quick and Dirty, youhave to say and, meaning, like,
I'm going to say thisand that, or you have
to say a word with and in it.
So if I was going to saysongs to fall asleep to--
Mr. Sandman.
And sand has sand in it.
OK, so like that.
All right, so a movie about atoy or toys from your childhood.
NICK HOUY (24:32):
should it have the and in it?
ERIKA RANDALL (24:34):
Yeah, mm-hmm.
NICK HOUY (24:36):
That's tough.
ERIKA RANDALL (24:37):
I know.
NICK HOUY (24:40):
Yeah, I don't have this kind of brain,
but I'll try.
[LAUGHS]
ERIKA RANDALL (24:46):
For me, it would be like, Teddy and Rosie,
who I gave the haircut to.
So it would be like, TheAdventures of Teddy and Rosie.
That would be my move.
NICK HOUY (24:54):
Oh, so you can just make it up.
It doesn't haveto be a real move.
ERIKA RANDALL (24:56):
100%.
This is your made-up.
I want toys from yourchildhood put into a movie,
and you title it.
Go.
NICK HOUY (25:02):
He-Man and The Sand Trap.
Hey, it had and in.
ERIKA RANDALL (25:06):
Double.
You totally won!
And we edited out your answerto make it sound faster already.
OK, while you're editing, whatare your food and beverage
requirements?
NICK HOUY (25:16):
Seltzer and almonds.
ERIKA RANDALL (25:20):
OK.
Articles of clothingthat you wear that
scream Coloradan in New York.
NICK HOUY (25:29):
My REI backpack, I guess with the CU keychain.
[LAUGHTER]
ERIKA RANDALL (25:36):
That's perfect.
I love that.
What are some of your--
I mean, I don't even know ifthis is going to be possible,
but favorite movies thathave and in the title?
NICK HOUY (25:47):
Hmm.
Antoine and Colette?
ERIKA RANDALL (25:50):
Ooh.
NICK HOUY (25:52):
Lovely.
ERIKA RANDALL (25:52):
Lovely.
Lovely, lovely.
[LAUGHTER]
NICK HOUY (25:57):
Wallace and Gromit.
ERIKA RANDALL: Wallace and Gromit. (25:59):
undefined
Did you listen tothe Ampersand episode
where we talked to anastrophysics student who
got to name tertiarycraters on the moon
and named themWallace and Gromit--
NICK HOUY (26:10):
That's great.
ERIKA RANDALL: Because of cheese? (26:11):
undefined
NICK HOUY (26:11):
Oh, the moon is made of cheese also.
ERIKA RANDALL (26:13):
Yes!
See?
NICK HOUY (26:13):
Yes, mm-hmm.
ERIKA RANDALL (26:14):
It's perfect.
OK, this is the time onthe show where you're going
to give a Nick Houy send off.
It could be to yourkids on an adventure.
It could be to agraduating class at CU.
And you'll say, M may your cutsbe swift and your-- like that.
(26:36):
And it starts with and as ifit's the last line of the thing,
and it's going toring out for eternity.
No pressure.
Go.
NICK HOUY (26:45):
And may you be true to yourself as you go forward
and listen to whatyou really want
and what you thinkis important, and not
be deterred by allthe other crap.
[THEME MUSIC]
ERIKA RANDALL (27:03):
That was Nick Houy on The Ampersand.
For more about Nickand his creative work,
see our show notes.
The Ampersand is aproduction of the College
of Arts and Sciences at theUniversity of Colorado Boulder.
It is written and producedby me, Erika Randall,
and Tim Graslie.
If there are peopleyou'd like us
to interview on TheAmpersand, do please email
(27:23):
us at asinfo@colorado.edu.
Our theme music was composedand performed by Nelson Walker,
and the episodes are recorded atInterplay Recording in Boulder,
Colorado.
I'm Erika Randall, andthis is The Ampersand.
[THEME MUSIC]
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