October 25, 2024 • 24 mins
Writer/Director Devin Thomas discusses his new film, "Peninsula Nights," which is available to rent or buy on Amazon Prime Video!
In Carmel-by-the-Sea, realtor Tom (Stephen Ray Thomas), a Manhattan artist, meets Bella (Christine VonRobarie). Their chance encounter sparks a romance, leading them to confront their desires and decide what they want in life and each other.
In Carmel-by-the-Sea, realtor Tom (Stephen Ray Thomas), a Manhattan artist, meets Bella (Christine VonRobarie). Their chance encounter sparks a romance, leading them to confront their desires and decide what they want in life and each other.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Jam Rice Show, All about Movies. You're listening to
The Jam Price Show, All about Movies, and today my
guest is screenwriter, director, producer, men of many, many, many
many trades, Devin Thomas, and we're going to be talking
about a really cute love story entitled Peninsula Night.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Welcome to the show, Devin, so much for having me,
Jan I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Oh, it's my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
This was filmed to my own stopping grounds. I lived
in Carmel by the Sea for over sixteen years before
I moved to Santa Barbara a little over two years ago,
and it was so nice to see so many familiar
places when I was watching this film. So I'm looking
forward to talking about it in more detail with you.
So our audience knows. Why don't you tell our audience
(00:47):
what Peninsula Night is all about?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So yeah, I mean, I'll give the elevator pitch pensul Nights.
It's a love story where a realtor Tom happens to
meet Ella and artist from Manhattan. Kind of just a
serendipitous meeting in Carmel by the Sea and it kind
of sparks a romance between the two and I don't
want to ruin anything. You've obviously seen the movie now,
but it goes in a direction you're not really sure
where it's going to go. It's kind of a twisty,
turney romance. It takes place over about the course of
(01:10):
a year or so, so that's a little, you know,
basic pitch, but at the heart of it, it's a romance.
And it's a bit of a love letter to the
peninsula as well, because you as you mentioned, we really
get to see a lot of Carmel by the c
monter A Carmel Valley, So it's kind of me showing everybody, hey, like,
I love this area, I love this story that we've
had created, so let's put it all together.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
But beautiful, beautiful, Yeah, it is a love letter to
Crimea by the Sea and the Moneray Peninsula for sure,
no questions about it.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Your story is.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Kind of fascinating, and I hope when people listen to
this it really is an education for filmmakers your background
and what you did and how you did this film.
I really hope that people will learn a lot from
the conversation we're about to have about how you created
this and your vision and your passion because That's what
it's all about, is your passion.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
So let's talk a.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Little bit because we can talk about the logistics of
the film that are all ties in to your story
and how you decided to make this movie you basically
because it's a real interesting story.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah. God, there's a lot of spots I could jump off,
but like as you mentioned, I actually I really appreciate
you bringing that up because it is educational to some extent,
because I am still a student of just life in
general and filmmaking.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
You will be till the day, oh we all will
be in till the day we die.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah, and I'm humble enough to know that. You know,
I don't know at all. I mean, god, I don't
think any of us do. But yeah, Peninsul Nights is interesting.
I've been doing film for a long time, even before
I ended up moving to LA the first time I
went down there, which was twenty fourteen. I ended up
going to Los Angeles Film School. But to back it
up just a little, I started out like anybody else.
I love film, I love movies, I love going. I
got a camera in my teens. I started filming music
(02:44):
videos and that was like a huge just just you
really cut your teeth on that. You learn how to edit,
You learn how to do everything. Oh I need a location,
I need to do this, or that. You learn the
basics of it, producing, editing, cinematography. When I went to
film school in twenty fourteen, I really went off the
recommendation of a lot of people. But a big fan
or I'm an artist, I'm a big fan of is
Kevin Smith, and he and a podcast said Hey, this
(03:05):
Los Angeles Film School. He's like, look, if I was
twenty years old and this was available, I would go.
That was enough of an endorsement for me to be like, hey,
you know what, I already like what he's doing, may
as well just go down there. So my roommate and
I we moved to LA and did the whole film
school thing. It was a great experience Los Angeles Film School.
I'd highly recommend if you're trying to just meet other
people network, just get down to Los Angeles. That was
such an important thing for me. I think, if anything,
(03:25):
film school is great, but actually being in LA and
getting kind of just you know, knocked down by the town.
And I don't mean that in a darker, nasty way.
I just mean you get stars in your eyes when
you move to Hollywood and you're a Hollywood hopeful when
you get there and when you start learning like, oh,
this is going to take more than just like somebody's
not going to come tap me on the shoulder and
be like, hey, we want you to make a movie.
And I think that's kind of the impression you get,
you know what I mean. You think like it's just
(03:46):
going to happen, and it can, and some people do
get lucky and some people are extremely fortunate. But for me,
it was a truly like oh, like I'm gonna have
to do a lot more work than I thought to
get where I want to go. Fast forward to where
we are now. After school, I graduated, I worked on
tons of tons of stuff on other people's features, shorts.
I did it all. I wore many hats, produced, assistant
directed everything, I drive people around, whatever. And when COVID hit,
(04:08):
it was almost kind of as terrible as COVID was
for everyone. It was fortunate because I got a little
bit of a reset and I got time to write,
and I really started getting back into writing and like thinking, like,
you know, filmmaking is probably not that far away from me.
If I just stick with it. The attrition rates high
in this business. A lot of people are like, hey,
four years, I don't know if I can keep doing
the Hollywood thing. I'm I'm going to go home, back
to wherever we're from, right. And it was a little
serendipitous because my brother ended up dating the lead actress
(04:30):
in our film, Christine von Robbery, and to mention his
name as well, Stephen ray Thomas. I started dating, and
I was already kind of working on scripts. I was
writing more like Scorsese Tarantino stuff. Everybody wants to be
write the Act of Opus, you know what I mean.
And I really just started leaning into romance. I don't
know what it was. I was just watching a lot
of movies. I'm like, you know what, I just let
me try. And Peninsula Knights was probably the third or
(04:50):
fourth script I wrote out of that little batch of
romance scripts. But it just seemed right, and I was like,
you know what, this is shot locally, it's shot here.
Let's just go back up to Montere County and let's
just film. So I think last summer, what was that
June twenty three, we really just went out and started
shooting it one night It was a long, arduous shoot.
It took us eight months to complete the film. But
I'll delve into it more logistics and all that, but
(05:11):
it was really like a no budget film. We had
some of the gear we show on our red cinema camera.
We had nice equipment, but that was after maybe two
or three years of kind of like, Okay, if we
have this, this piece will fall into place, that'll fall
into place. And if anything, Janet was a result of
good timing and kind of meant to be.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
So what is that a question?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
You know that about my experience or whatever meets with time.
There's a wonderful expression. I can't remember it right now,
but it's exactly. That's like you've worked really hard and
then finding your moment comes and you can and the
timing is perfect for it. Romantic comedies are making a
huge comeback right now.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I thought they were dead, you know. After then we
had many.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Great romantic comedies in the nineties and some in the
two thousands, and then that was a genre that didn't
seem to be as popular in the box office.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
You know. That came all the Marvel and comic.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Book I film, and I think during the pandemic and
so many people were.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Like, I don't want to keep watching a lot of
this shoot him up, kill them kind of things.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
And we were already under enough stress just in general
with everything that was going on during twenty twenty, for sure,
and people just wanted to relax and just chill. A
nice romantic comedy was whoa that was perfect, you know,
it just picked you away and made it fun and
all of that. And as a result, now the romantic
comedies are doing.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Great at the box office this year in.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Particular, and so there's a whole nother movement back into
the rom coms, which I'm happy to see for sure, definitely.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
You know, it's interesting you say that. I've heard a
lot of filmmakers talk about how in the twenty tens,
maybe mid twenty tens, filmmaking went away from like, oh,
here's a situation to here's an IP. I heard Vince
Bonce this actually, I think it might have been on
Hot Ones. He was talking to the host Shawn Evans,
and he was saying how battleship became the platform for
a movie like the IP of Battleship. We're gonna make
a movie it's battleship. And then the story comes after
and it's like he personally said, I don't know if
(06:52):
that's the best way to make a movie. He's like,
I kind of like the breakup. Some Chicago guy is
in a breakup with his girlfriend and we see that
scenario play out. It's so simple, but it's so relatable.
We all have been in a breakup where we've all
been in X, Y and Z scenario. So romantic comedies
although they're simple and maybe an understated type of film,
there's no explosions in VAFX. It is the story that
is so relatable. And I started really noticing this when
(07:12):
I started revisiting. Like I mentioned Kevin Smith, but also
like Joe Swam or Mark Duplas, Sean Baker, all these
guys that are they truly are self made filmmakers. They
came kind of from the I don't know, from the
bottom up. They went out and made stuff with very
low budget materials, very just on their own outside the system.
And I'm not saying I don't like the Hollywood system
or anything. I would love to be a part of that,
but I know where I'm at right now career wise,
(07:32):
and those guys really spoke to me. I saw what
they were doing and it was like, you know what,
that's the path of least resistance for me right now.
So that's one I'm going to hit. And if I
could be educational to people in any way, it's like
I think other young filmmakers, because I'm thirty one, I'm
not a spring chicken, but I'm not one of these
in old hand per se of the game. I'm just
trying to figure it out myself as well, and this
seems like the path police resistance and like the right
(07:53):
path to be on. So other young filmmakers, if I
could like speak to them, it would be like, if
you really want to happen, you need to just go
out and do it on your own merit don't work.
Or if you have an r Alexa or Sony Vennis,
your iPhone could be a great camera. I mentioned Sean Baker.
I'm sure you're familiar with him. He's on top right now.
He just one can I mean ten years ago, this
guy is making a movie on an iPhone Tangerine. I
think he once dancer had some pretty you knows, big
(08:14):
success there. So don't be limited by what you have
because I used to think that. I used to be like, oh,
I can't do it because I don't have enough. I
don't have an actor. My actors were phenomenal. I love them.
I would use them again and again. I know they're
not name actors yet, but I think this is their
platform to get out there and actually grow off of that.
This is my platform to grow as a director or writer,
et cetera. So any move you make, even at this level,
I think it's just so impactful. The ripple effect goes
(08:35):
very far.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, it really does. And you know you're right.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Sean Baker was one of the first Stephen Soderberg is,
you know, making films on an iphill.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Help me come on with it? Crazy, you know it is.
I mean, anybody can go out and make a movie.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I was just watching something and they said that anybody
can go out and make a movie nowadays. Just go
do it, you know, if you want to do it,
and it's following your heart and your passion, and if
you're waiting for that big break, you have to make
your own break.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I think I was waiting for somebody to give me
permission at some point, and I kind of started looking around.
I'm like, it's just on you and my brother Steven.
He he's more than an actor. He helped at the film.
He's extremely involved. Honestly, he and I we talked about
it every night. We talked about it for ten years.
I was like, you know, like one day, we'll make
a movie one day, and then it kind of one
day came, I think, honestly, the existential turning thirty. I
was like, hey, it's thirty, like I thought twenty five,
(09:21):
you know, and now I'm thirty. I think I really
need to do this, So the existential clock was ticking
and that really motivated me. But yeah, just everything kind
of came together.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
On this, so sometimes you just have to do it.
Just do it. It really is.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
It's, you know, jumping off the clip and not being
worried about whether you're what's going to happen at the
end of jumping off that clip. And that's what makes
the people that we admire so much. That's what they
all had inside of them. They had a passion and
a dry and they weren't going to let anything stop
them from succeeding to do what they love to do.
And I think so many people start and then they
(09:55):
stop because you're a second you know, or lack of
money or whatever it may be, but you just believing
and trusting then you love.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah, we were able to take that leap of faith
because of I think who we were as people in
Christina and Stevie as well. I mean we all were
living together when we started making the film, so it
was just all three of us. I was the camera off.
I mean, I don't need to go through the whole
list of stuff, but it was little.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Well, you did everything. This was a family affair.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
This is definitely a family affair, There's no question about it.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
And you have wore many, many, many.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Hats through this and even Ray your brother Stephen Ray Thomas,
but the lead he did also.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
You know, when you watch the credits.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
It's that you were kind of like doing the credits.
I'm like, I don't know, I don't want I don't
want to be too self indulgent, but I'm like, as
indulgent as it may look on those credits, is the truth.
And yeah, it's a testament to just independent filmmaking. Like
I'm extremely proud to be able to be like just
be a part of the bigger American independent film scene.
I think Peninsul Knights is going to take time to
mature and be one of those movies that people maybe
come back to and revisit. Dick oh, that was his
(10:53):
first movie, but it's a tip of the iceberg for us.
And as a jumping off point, I couldn't be happier.
I mean, this movie was made with blood, sweat and tears.
It took a lot. There's a whole story behind that
just going into it. But yeah, it just it was
so rewarding to actually have it done and do it
with the right people, right mindset. It really is a
testament independent filmmaking if you really want to do it.
Like you said, I'm not being held back by money
or anything. That passion that artists heart in me like
(11:15):
it is burning bright and you know, I really just
chased it. And yeah, like I said, I couldn't be
happier with how it came out. And Peninsul Knights has
been doing pretty well just in our release. Ironically, it's
twenty twenty four. You'd think this movie would just go
straight to streaming. It's actually been quite an interesting journey.
I ended up deciding to bring it to a theater
in Pacific Grove White House Cinema, and we were like Okay,
the movie takes place here, Let's do it somewhere local regionally.
(11:35):
First night we had it was completely sold out. It's
only two hundred and fifty people, but for me, two
hundred and fifty people, I felt like we had one
sun dance. We felt the hover, the Q and A.
After I was so shy. I was like, I don't
even know if we should go up there and do it.
The theater owner grabbed me. He's like, get up there now,
credits are rolling. I'm like, are you serious. He's like,
people don't they They're expecting you up there. It was magical,
you know. It was probably one of the best nights
I've had ever just in my life. And just having
that fulfillment spiritually and seeing how people reacted, I mean,
(11:58):
people are saying comments. I'm like, I can't believe it,
almost like it's just surreal. You know. The movie worked,
and it worked more than just like oh, like my
family and friends got to see it. Was like people
are seeing this, and like people are coming up after
and be like I relate to this. Oh, I'm so
and so in the movie. I'm Tom, I have one
gentleman be like I have a very small cameo in
the film and I played the uber driver. But some
guys like I related to that so much. I'm like, wow,
you know, I was on screen for a minute, but
I'm like, it's cool that you still related to it
(12:19):
in some capacity. So I always tell everybody, especially during
Q and A's I'm searching for the universal truth of life,
and I think that maybe it's romantic comedies that provide
that for us. Maybe it's Marvel movies, but whatever it is,
if you can find the universal truth and art, I
think this was the most important to people. So I
know there's a bit of a tangent.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
But no, no, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I like, this universal truth is what I'm seeking in
anything we're making, so and hopefully that's what translates to people.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Well, here you are. You've made this film. It's a
true meaning of the word independent. There's no question about it,
no studios behind you. You just went off and did it,
and then you end up on Amazon Prime. So I
want to hear that story because that itself has got
to be pretty big. It's pretty amazing. So Kakudo's view
that you were able to get on Amazon time, I'm
(13:04):
sure it's not easy at all. I have your film
on Amazon and I, you know, so tell us that
start had did that come about?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Yeah, it's interesting. So we did our theatrical release, and
we were to do festivals, but festivals just for so
far out it was like a six or seven month wait,
and I just kind of like my brother and I
talked about, like I love film festivals, but I was like,
I really like, I don't want to wait six or
seven months to start working on the next thing because
I haven't had that closure on Peninsula Nights. So we
decided to do the theatrical release. I did really well.
We're actually continuing to do live tour dates. We're actually
(13:32):
booking a tour right now to try and just do
live events. And I'll get to the Amazon thing in
a second. But the reason why I mentioned this is
that we were able to actually make like a decent
amount of money doing the live screenings. That was not anticipated.
I was actually surprised, even during the Q and A,
I say, can you believe in twenty twenty four we
have a sold out theater for an independent film that
was like just made one day and now it's here.
It's very strange, because do you think, oh, like theaters are.
(13:53):
A lot of people say theaters are on their way out.
I actually think there's a huge renaissance in independent theaters.
The theaters that are willing to let young filmmakers in
are going to be the theaters at last I love Alamo,
Draft House, AMC. All these big guys, you can broker
deals with them directly, and that's something we're interested in
doing in the future. But for the little guys like
the Lighthouse Cinema or you know, Tarantino, He's got his
theater at the l Ray New Beverly. They're welcoming people
(14:14):
in that are just not a studio or not a name,
and that's like food for thought. It's just a very
easier not easier, but it's a profitable way for somebody
to go out and actually get some return on their
independent film. As far as Peninsula Nights goes, we're very happy.
We've broken even we're already preproduction on our next film.
Feel it all around, so it's feeling like things are
forward momentum. When it came to streaming, we ended up
(14:35):
brokering that deal with Amazon ourselves. American Art House is
a distribution company that we created and I kind of
told my brother. I was like, you know, in ten years,
if American Art House has twenty movies, thirty movies, one
hundred movies under it, because other filmmakers were willing to
help and put that out there, Hey do you want
to get on Amazon? I have built the relationship. I'm
an ethical, trustworthy person. I'm not some man behind the
screen on the internet. If you want to come to me,
(14:55):
we can make a fair, honest deal. And that's not
even really about money at this point for me, It's
really just I'm an ethical guy. I want to just
see other people succeed. And Amazon's was the best platform
one hundred percent right now for independent filmmakers. There's other
aggregators and stuff out there. I won't disparage any of them.
That's not what I'm here to do. I didn't get
a sense of trust with them, and I read a
lot of horror stories and I was like, you know
what I've been. I've been, you know, I've been what
(15:17):
you call it taken advantage of there's probably a better
word for it. I've been screwed in the business a
few times, and I've done other entertainment art and I
get it it's it is nature of the beast. It
doesn't have to be that way. I think when you're
young and you don't have the business acumen per se,
you tend to trust people because you're like, well, I
really want this. And I kind of got to that
point where I'm like, hunt the brakes. I'm not rushing it.
(15:37):
I want to Uh. I want to go into this
with as much information education as I have. So when
we started American Art House, that was a big reason.
I was like, you know what Amazon wants a distribute
her is like, I'll be the distributor. We'll put out
our own stuff. We're going to make the profit that
we want to make without giving up too much of
a percentage, and we own the rights in the end.
So I've heard a lot of other filmmakers say this
as well. We're in a place where, like building your
own catalog and becoming your own studio, you don't necessar
(16:00):
don't need the other people. And like I said, I'm
open to working with these other bigger entities, but right now,
may as well keep as much in our pocket and
keep as much ownership until that day comes and this
matures into something greater. But yeah, I think the Amazon deal.
On that note, it was a huge, huge win for us.
We felt it. I mean when they emailed us back
and we just started the dialogue, She's like, I can't
believe this. So because having it on Amazon is very
(16:20):
legitimizing and it's successful. Everyone's got Amazon. I mean your
controller for your TV probably as a button that's as Amazon.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
So yeah, that is so great.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I love how you created your own distribution company keeping
it all there. I think that's bad, as you know,
a group of Again, I wish I could remember the theater.
First of all, I've preached constantly and have for over
eight years since the show premiered, that movies need to
be seen in the movie theater, and you know, and
it has a whole different experience. I have watched films
at home and then I've gone to see them in
(16:52):
the theater because well, anyhow, I won't even usually because
they're screening the film.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
With a Q and A.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
We have a one wonderful independent film theater here and
they just just be a deal with another one. So
we're really excited that Sena Barba International Film Festival owns
the theater. They bought it and they renovated it, and
they bring in they bring in these fabulous films, but
they bring in a director or the actor or several
people from the film afterwards for Q and A. And
(17:21):
on this weekend they had Saturday Night with Jason Rightman,
and you know, so they bring in these.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
People all the time.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And now that the fall season's coming in, this is
you know, we'll be gearing up and seeing all kinds
of fabulous films and the Q and A and so
that that is just an amazing treasure that we have here.
But a group of directors and actors just purchased an
old theater in Ala that was that was you know,
was going into disrepair and they weren't showing screening and
(17:51):
they're all been renovating it.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
And I wish I could remember the name.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
But that shows you know how much filmmakers believe in
independent films and independent film theaters. You know that they're
so important and each town, if you have an independent
movie theater in your town, please go support it. They
don't make a lot of money, and say you really
should support them if you really love seeing different out
(18:16):
of the ordinary mainstream movies. I mean, you can only
see so many shoot them up kind of movies. After
a while, you know, it's just the same story, you know,
But there's always interesting, you know, real interesting films like
I just went to see Whitebird.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Well there's not much out there about Whitebird. I loved it.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
It was just this wonderful, wonderful movie and it's a
love story underneath all of thisics during World War Two.
But it's you know, it's a really well done film.
And so those films need to be seen, and your
film is one of those that needs to be seen too.
So if you are just tuning in, my guest today
is director, screenwriter, writer Devin Thomas, and we are talking
(18:58):
about Peninsula Night and we're having a really interesting discussion
about independent filmmaking. So you send us a backstory, and
I don't want to skip over that we have about
you know, five minutes or so, but you said there
was an interesting backstory to making this film, So do
you want to delve into that a little bit?
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Sure? Just on one note before we get into that,
I just want to say shout out to light House Cinema,
David Diaz and Pacific Row. He is doing cute things
like you were just saying for independent cinema if you
are a filmmaker and want to get a hold of
him to do a screening with A. Q and A.
Like Jan said, there is no other place better to
see a movie than the theater is an experience in
its own I remember every movie I've seen in theaters
is always be like I saw that one in theaters.
(19:36):
I remember it. One little quick note on that too.
When I was at LA Film School, I had the
chance to see two really great movies come out in
the same year. It was Birdman and Whiplash, both with
Q and A's with JK. Simmons Miles Cellar and then
with Birdman I got to see it with al Hunter
Gonzalez and A Raw too. And I think John Lesher,
the producer from Paramount Vantage, not one hundred percent sure
on the day, but those experiences they'll live in your mind,
(19:58):
rent free forever. Like you said, there's nothing like it.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
So that's why I love.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
One of the main reasons I moved to Santa Barbara
was because of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. I
had been coming down every year for fifteen years to
this film festival, and it's a movie town and people
love filmmare and there's a lot of very famous people
and people that are not so well known that live
in this community. Next week I'm interviewing Steve Starkey, who
(20:26):
was one of the producers on Forrestcump, and he wrote
a book about the making of Forrest Gump, and they
had a screening of that here again at another theater.
Over the summer, they did Robert the Metchis Films, and
they did for Saturday nights and each week they brought
somebody from the film. So they brought had Roger Grab,
(20:47):
they had Back to the Future and say it was
really interesting stories. And Steve was interviewed and oh my gosh,
I can't wait to interview next week because he was
full of really amazing stories about the making of that film.
Which is to me film at the Classic Except it's
good to see those films back in the movie theater.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Again. It is my point. It's that on the big screen.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
We've all, you know, got our head our DVDs of them,
I'm sure in our DVD library, but there's something different
about going to see the film in a big screen
with an audience that you hadn't you know. Again, films
that had come out, you know, twenty forty years ago.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
You know that are coming back.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
You know that they've showing and it was it was
just a wonderful, wonderful experience. And to the theater, I said,
are you're going to do that again next year? They
were doing for their hundredth anniversary. So but it's important
to see it. But having said that, love Amazon, you know,
and the streaming services because when you can't get it
with their not being seen in the theater, you know,
(21:44):
you have them right there.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
For yourself to see them. So it's you know, it's
it's great.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
And to talk about I'm gonna be no one more
thing right now on one of the rivals on Netflix,
I'll say Netflix. They they have a huge success with
Nobody Wants this one under pro romantic comedy with Kristin
Bell and Adrian Brody and everybody's talking about it and
with a ten part series and everybody's zipped through it,
(22:09):
you know how fast, and we're going, I hope there's
a second season.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
So they did it. Now it's the second season and
people are eating it up.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
But people are all over the internet talking about this,
you know, So yeah, romantic comedies are coming back.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Yeah, I don't know how much time we have left,
but you.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Probably have about a minute now that I've.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Committed sid, I agree with you. I think that romantic films,
ranic comedies, rantic dramas. I had somebody who told me
pens on Nights is a philosophical romance. So whatever you
want to take it as, it's a little bit of
like Richard linklater little Kevin Smith. I think it a measure.
Joe Swomberg's another influence that he truly is an American
pioneer of like zero budget indie filmmaking, and he has
(22:48):
all his peers have gone on from the new Plast
to Credit Gurwig, They've become super successful. He's very successful
as well. Those are the people that really opened my
eyes independent filmmaking. Maybe next time we'll dive deeper into
the backstory, but I think we've covered a lot of
ground here regardless, but they have. Yeah, I just on
that final note, I totally agree with you. I think
that independent filmmaking is alive and well. I think that
(23:09):
this is the time if you are an independent filmmaker,
go for it because there's so much resource, there's so
much ability. You could probably go to best buy and
finance a movie on a credit card. That's my honest opinion.
It all depends on how you think here and what
you see here.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
So right right right, you know, I agree with you,
you know, so yeah, it's uh yeah. And this is
what the show is about, is about focusing on independent
and documentary filmmakers because they don't always have a place
of our platform to talk about the films that they've made.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
So it was a pleasure to have you on the show.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I really do wish you much success with Peninsula and Knights,
and those of you who have Amazon Prime please go
seek it out.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
You'll enjoy it. Thank you, Devin Grank thanking you, Jim,
Thank you. Have a great day.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Bye bye to all my wonderful loyal listeners. Your love
of film allows me to do what I do. If
you want to support me, the best way to do
that is to hit the subscribe button on the Iheartpodcast Network,
Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to
your favorite podcast, and of course on YouTube. Subscribing matters.
(24:16):
If you are feeling really compelled, I want to hear
from you. Have a burning question, comment or review, Drop
me an email at The Jamprice Show dot com Thank
you for listening.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
The Jan Price Show All about Movies,
The Jam Rice Show, All about Movies. You're listening to
The Jam Price Show, All about Movies, and today my
guest is screenwriter, director, producer, men of many, many, many
many trades, Devin Thomas, and we're going to be talking
about a really cute love story entitled Peninsula Night.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
Welcome to the show, Devin, so much for having me,
Jan I appreciate it.
Speaker 3 (00:23):
Oh, it's my pleasure.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
This was filmed to my own stopping grounds. I lived
in Carmel by the Sea for over sixteen years before
I moved to Santa Barbara a little over two years ago,
and it was so nice to see so many familiar
places when I was watching this film. So I'm looking
forward to talking about it in more detail with you.
So our audience knows. Why don't you tell our audience
(00:47):
what Peninsula Night is all about?
Speaker 2 (00:49):
So yeah, I mean, I'll give the elevator pitch pensul Nights.
It's a love story where a realtor Tom happens to
meet Ella and artist from Manhattan. Kind of just a
serendipitous meeting in Carmel by the Sea and it kind
of sparks a romance between the two and I don't
want to ruin anything. You've obviously seen the movie now,
but it goes in a direction you're not really sure
where it's going to go. It's kind of a twisty,
turney romance. It takes place over about the course of
(01:10):
a year or so, so that's a little, you know,
basic pitch, but at the heart of it, it's a romance.
And it's a bit of a love letter to the
peninsula as well, because you as you mentioned, we really
get to see a lot of Carmel by the c
monter A Carmel Valley, So it's kind of me showing everybody, hey, like,
I love this area, I love this story that we've
had created, so let's put it all together.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
But beautiful, beautiful, Yeah, it is a love letter to
Crimea by the Sea and the Moneray Peninsula for sure,
no questions about it.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Your story is.
Speaker 1 (01:35):
Kind of fascinating, and I hope when people listen to
this it really is an education for filmmakers your background
and what you did and how you did this film.
I really hope that people will learn a lot from
the conversation we're about to have about how you created
this and your vision and your passion because That's what
it's all about, is your passion.
Speaker 3 (01:57):
So let's talk a.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Little bit because we can talk about the logistics of
the film that are all ties in to your story
and how you decided to make this movie you basically
because it's a real interesting story.
Speaker 2 (02:10):
Yeah. God, there's a lot of spots I could jump off,
but like as you mentioned, I actually I really appreciate
you bringing that up because it is educational to some extent,
because I am still a student of just life in
general and filmmaking.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
You will be till the day, oh we all will
be in till the day we die.
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah, and I'm humble enough to know that. You know,
I don't know at all. I mean, god, I don't
think any of us do. But yeah, Peninsul Nights is interesting.
I've been doing film for a long time, even before
I ended up moving to LA the first time I
went down there, which was twenty fourteen. I ended up
going to Los Angeles Film School. But to back it
up just a little, I started out like anybody else.
I love film, I love movies, I love going. I
got a camera in my teens. I started filming music
(02:44):
videos and that was like a huge just just you
really cut your teeth on that. You learn how to edit,
You learn how to do everything. Oh I need a location,
I need to do this, or that. You learn the
basics of it, producing, editing, cinematography. When I went to
film school in twenty fourteen, I really went off the
recommendation of a lot of people. But a big fan
or I'm an artist, I'm a big fan of is
Kevin Smith, and he and a podcast said Hey, this
(03:05):
Los Angeles Film School. He's like, look, if I was
twenty years old and this was available, I would go.
That was enough of an endorsement for me to be like, hey,
you know what, I already like what he's doing, may
as well just go down there. So my roommate and
I we moved to LA and did the whole film
school thing. It was a great experience Los Angeles Film School.
I'd highly recommend if you're trying to just meet other
people network, just get down to Los Angeles. That was
such an important thing for me. I think, if anything,
(03:25):
film school is great, but actually being in LA and
getting kind of just you know, knocked down by the town.
And I don't mean that in a darker, nasty way.
I just mean you get stars in your eyes when
you move to Hollywood and you're a Hollywood hopeful when
you get there and when you start learning like, oh,
this is going to take more than just like somebody's
not going to come tap me on the shoulder and
be like, hey, we want you to make a movie.
And I think that's kind of the impression you get,
you know what I mean. You think like it's just
(03:46):
going to happen, and it can, and some people do
get lucky and some people are extremely fortunate. But for me,
it was a truly like oh, like I'm gonna have
to do a lot more work than I thought to
get where I want to go. Fast forward to where
we are now. After school, I graduated, I worked on
tons of tons of stuff on other people's features, shorts.
I did it all. I wore many hats, produced, assistant
directed everything, I drive people around, whatever. And when COVID hit,
(04:08):
it was almost kind of as terrible as COVID was
for everyone. It was fortunate because I got a little
bit of a reset and I got time to write,
and I really started getting back into writing and like thinking, like,
you know, filmmaking is probably not that far away from me.
If I just stick with it. The attrition rates high
in this business. A lot of people are like, hey,
four years, I don't know if I can keep doing
the Hollywood thing. I'm I'm going to go home, back
to wherever we're from, right. And it was a little
serendipitous because my brother ended up dating the lead actress
(04:30):
in our film, Christine von Robbery, and to mention his
name as well, Stephen ray Thomas. I started dating, and
I was already kind of working on scripts. I was
writing more like Scorsese Tarantino stuff. Everybody wants to be
write the Act of Opus, you know what I mean.
And I really just started leaning into romance. I don't
know what it was. I was just watching a lot
of movies. I'm like, you know what, I just let
me try. And Peninsula Knights was probably the third or
(04:50):
fourth script I wrote out of that little batch of
romance scripts. But it just seemed right, and I was like,
you know what, this is shot locally, it's shot here.
Let's just go back up to Montere County and let's
just film. So I think last summer, what was that
June twenty three, we really just went out and started
shooting it one night It was a long, arduous shoot.
It took us eight months to complete the film. But
I'll delve into it more logistics and all that, but
(05:11):
it was really like a no budget film. We had
some of the gear we show on our red cinema camera.
We had nice equipment, but that was after maybe two
or three years of kind of like, Okay, if we
have this, this piece will fall into place, that'll fall
into place. And if anything, Janet was a result of
good timing and kind of meant to be.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
So what is that a question?
Speaker 1 (05:26):
You know that about my experience or whatever meets with time.
There's a wonderful expression. I can't remember it right now,
but it's exactly. That's like you've worked really hard and
then finding your moment comes and you can and the
timing is perfect for it. Romantic comedies are making a
huge comeback right now.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
I thought they were dead, you know. After then we
had many.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Great romantic comedies in the nineties and some in the
two thousands, and then that was a genre that didn't
seem to be as popular in the box office.
Speaker 3 (05:52):
You know. That came all the Marvel and comic.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Book I film, and I think during the pandemic and
so many people were.
Speaker 3 (05:58):
Like, I don't want to keep watching a lot of
this shoot him up, kill them kind of things.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
And we were already under enough stress just in general
with everything that was going on during twenty twenty, for sure,
and people just wanted to relax and just chill. A
nice romantic comedy was whoa that was perfect, you know,
it just picked you away and made it fun and
all of that. And as a result, now the romantic
comedies are doing.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
Great at the box office this year in.
Speaker 1 (06:24):
Particular, and so there's a whole nother movement back into
the rom coms, which I'm happy to see for sure, definitely.
Speaker 2 (06:30):
You know, it's interesting you say that. I've heard a
lot of filmmakers talk about how in the twenty tens,
maybe mid twenty tens, filmmaking went away from like, oh,
here's a situation to here's an IP. I heard Vince
Bonce this actually, I think it might have been on
Hot Ones. He was talking to the host Shawn Evans,
and he was saying how battleship became the platform for
a movie like the IP of Battleship. We're gonna make
a movie it's battleship. And then the story comes after
and it's like he personally said, I don't know if
(06:52):
that's the best way to make a movie. He's like,
I kind of like the breakup. Some Chicago guy is
in a breakup with his girlfriend and we see that
scenario play out. It's so simple, but it's so relatable.
We all have been in a breakup where we've all
been in X, Y and Z scenario. So romantic comedies
although they're simple and maybe an understated type of film,
there's no explosions in VAFX. It is the story that
is so relatable. And I started really noticing this when
(07:12):
I started revisiting. Like I mentioned Kevin Smith, but also
like Joe Swam or Mark Duplas, Sean Baker, all these
guys that are they truly are self made filmmakers. They
came kind of from the I don't know, from the
bottom up. They went out and made stuff with very
low budget materials, very just on their own outside the system.
And I'm not saying I don't like the Hollywood system
or anything. I would love to be a part of that,
but I know where I'm at right now career wise,
(07:32):
and those guys really spoke to me. I saw what
they were doing and it was like, you know what,
that's the path of least resistance for me right now.
So that's one I'm going to hit. And if I
could be educational to people in any way, it's like
I think other young filmmakers, because I'm thirty one, I'm
not a spring chicken, but I'm not one of these
in old hand per se of the game. I'm just
trying to figure it out myself as well, and this
seems like the path police resistance and like the right
(07:53):
path to be on. So other young filmmakers, if I
could like speak to them, it would be like, if
you really want to happen, you need to just go
out and do it on your own merit don't work.
Or if you have an r Alexa or Sony Vennis,
your iPhone could be a great camera. I mentioned Sean Baker.
I'm sure you're familiar with him. He's on top right now.
He just one can I mean ten years ago, this
guy is making a movie on an iPhone Tangerine. I
think he once dancer had some pretty you knows, big
(08:14):
success there. So don't be limited by what you have
because I used to think that. I used to be like, oh,
I can't do it because I don't have enough. I
don't have an actor. My actors were phenomenal. I love them.
I would use them again and again. I know they're
not name actors yet, but I think this is their
platform to get out there and actually grow off of that.
This is my platform to grow as a director or writer,
et cetera. So any move you make, even at this level,
I think it's just so impactful. The ripple effect goes
(08:35):
very far.
Speaker 3 (08:36):
Yeah, it really does. And you know you're right.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Sean Baker was one of the first Stephen Soderberg is,
you know, making films on an iphill.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
Help me come on with it? Crazy, you know it is.
I mean, anybody can go out and make a movie.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
I was just watching something and they said that anybody
can go out and make a movie nowadays. Just go
do it, you know, if you want to do it,
and it's following your heart and your passion, and if
you're waiting for that big break, you have to make
your own break.
Speaker 2 (09:00):
I think I was waiting for somebody to give me
permission at some point, and I kind of started looking around.
I'm like, it's just on you and my brother Steven.
He he's more than an actor. He helped at the film.
He's extremely involved. Honestly, he and I we talked about
it every night. We talked about it for ten years.
I was like, you know, like one day, we'll make
a movie one day, and then it kind of one
day came, I think, honestly, the existential turning thirty. I
was like, hey, it's thirty, like I thought twenty five,
(09:21):
you know, and now I'm thirty. I think I really
need to do this, So the existential clock was ticking
and that really motivated me. But yeah, just everything kind
of came together.
Speaker 3 (09:28):
On this, so sometimes you just have to do it.
Just do it. It really is.
Speaker 1 (09:34):
It's, you know, jumping off the clip and not being
worried about whether you're what's going to happen at the
end of jumping off that clip. And that's what makes
the people that we admire so much. That's what they
all had inside of them. They had a passion and
a dry and they weren't going to let anything stop
them from succeeding to do what they love to do.
And I think so many people start and then they
(09:55):
stop because you're a second you know, or lack of
money or whatever it may be, but you just believing
and trusting then you love.
Speaker 2 (10:03):
Yeah, we were able to take that leap of faith
because of I think who we were as people in
Christina and Stevie as well. I mean we all were
living together when we started making the film, so it
was just all three of us. I was the camera off.
I mean, I don't need to go through the whole
list of stuff, but it was little.
Speaker 3 (10:16):
Well, you did everything. This was a family affair.
Speaker 1 (10:19):
This is definitely a family affair, There's no question about it.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
And you have wore many, many, many.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Hats through this and even Ray your brother Stephen Ray Thomas,
but the lead he did also.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
You know, when you watch the credits.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
It's that you were kind of like doing the credits.
I'm like, I don't know, I don't want I don't
want to be too self indulgent, but I'm like, as
indulgent as it may look on those credits, is the truth.
And yeah, it's a testament to just independent filmmaking. Like
I'm extremely proud to be able to be like just
be a part of the bigger American independent film scene.
I think Peninsul Knights is going to take time to
mature and be one of those movies that people maybe
come back to and revisit. Dick oh, that was his
(10:53):
first movie, but it's a tip of the iceberg for us.
And as a jumping off point, I couldn't be happier.
I mean, this movie was made with blood, sweat and tears.
It took a lot. There's a whole story behind that
just going into it. But yeah, it just it was
so rewarding to actually have it done and do it
with the right people, right mindset. It really is a
testament independent filmmaking if you really want to do it.
Like you said, I'm not being held back by money
or anything. That passion that artists heart in me like
(11:15):
it is burning bright and you know, I really just
chased it. And yeah, like I said, I couldn't be
happier with how it came out. And Peninsul Knights has
been doing pretty well just in our release. Ironically, it's
twenty twenty four. You'd think this movie would just go
straight to streaming. It's actually been quite an interesting journey.
I ended up deciding to bring it to a theater
in Pacific Grove White House Cinema, and we were like Okay,
the movie takes place here, Let's do it somewhere local regionally.
(11:35):
First night we had it was completely sold out. It's
only two hundred and fifty people, but for me, two
hundred and fifty people, I felt like we had one
sun dance. We felt the hover, the Q and A.
After I was so shy. I was like, I don't
even know if we should go up there and do it.
The theater owner grabbed me. He's like, get up there now,
credits are rolling. I'm like, are you serious. He's like,
people don't they They're expecting you up there. It was magical,
you know. It was probably one of the best nights
I've had ever just in my life. And just having
that fulfillment spiritually and seeing how people reacted, I mean,
(11:58):
people are saying comments. I'm like, I can't believe it,
almost like it's just surreal. You know. The movie worked,
and it worked more than just like oh, like my
family and friends got to see it. Was like people
are seeing this, and like people are coming up after
and be like I relate to this. Oh, I'm so
and so in the movie. I'm Tom, I have one
gentleman be like I have a very small cameo in
the film and I played the uber driver. But some
guys like I related to that so much. I'm like, wow,
you know, I was on screen for a minute, but
I'm like, it's cool that you still related to it
(12:19):
in some capacity. So I always tell everybody, especially during
Q and A's I'm searching for the universal truth of life,
and I think that maybe it's romantic comedies that provide
that for us. Maybe it's Marvel movies, but whatever it is,
if you can find the universal truth and art, I
think this was the most important to people. So I
know there's a bit of a tangent.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
But no, no, that's beautiful.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
I like, this universal truth is what I'm seeking in
anything we're making, so and hopefully that's what translates to people.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Well, here you are. You've made this film. It's a
true meaning of the word independent. There's no question about it,
no studios behind you. You just went off and did it,
and then you end up on Amazon Prime. So I
want to hear that story because that itself has got
to be pretty big. It's pretty amazing. So Kakudo's view
that you were able to get on Amazon time, I'm
(13:04):
sure it's not easy at all. I have your film
on Amazon and I, you know, so tell us that
start had did that come about?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
Yeah, it's interesting. So we did our theatrical release, and
we were to do festivals, but festivals just for so
far out it was like a six or seven month wait,
and I just kind of like my brother and I
talked about, like I love film festivals, but I was like,
I really like, I don't want to wait six or
seven months to start working on the next thing because
I haven't had that closure on Peninsula Nights. So we
decided to do the theatrical release. I did really well.
We're actually continuing to do live tour dates. We're actually
(13:32):
booking a tour right now to try and just do
live events. And I'll get to the Amazon thing in
a second. But the reason why I mentioned this is
that we were able to actually make like a decent
amount of money doing the live screenings. That was not anticipated.
I was actually surprised, even during the Q and A,
I say, can you believe in twenty twenty four we
have a sold out theater for an independent film that
was like just made one day and now it's here.
It's very strange, because do you think, oh, like theaters are.
(13:53):
A lot of people say theaters are on their way out.
I actually think there's a huge renaissance in independent theaters.
The theaters that are willing to let young filmmakers in
are going to be the theaters at last I love Alamo,
Draft House, AMC. All these big guys, you can broker
deals with them directly, and that's something we're interested in
doing in the future. But for the little guys like
the Lighthouse Cinema or you know, Tarantino, He's got his
theater at the l Ray New Beverly. They're welcoming people
(14:14):
in that are just not a studio or not a name,
and that's like food for thought. It's just a very
easier not easier, but it's a profitable way for somebody
to go out and actually get some return on their
independent film. As far as Peninsula Nights goes, we're very happy.
We've broken even we're already preproduction on our next film.
Feel it all around, so it's feeling like things are
forward momentum. When it came to streaming, we ended up
(14:35):
brokering that deal with Amazon ourselves. American Art House is
a distribution company that we created and I kind of
told my brother. I was like, you know, in ten years,
if American Art House has twenty movies, thirty movies, one
hundred movies under it, because other filmmakers were willing to
help and put that out there, Hey do you want
to get on Amazon? I have built the relationship. I'm
an ethical, trustworthy person. I'm not some man behind the
screen on the internet. If you want to come to me,
(14:55):
we can make a fair, honest deal. And that's not
even really about money at this point for me, It's
really just I'm an ethical guy. I want to just
see other people succeed. And Amazon's was the best platform
one hundred percent right now for independent filmmakers. There's other
aggregators and stuff out there. I won't disparage any of them.
That's not what I'm here to do. I didn't get
a sense of trust with them, and I read a
lot of horror stories and I was like, you know
what I've been. I've been, you know, I've been what
(15:17):
you call it taken advantage of there's probably a better
word for it. I've been screwed in the business a
few times, and I've done other entertainment art and I
get it it's it is nature of the beast. It
doesn't have to be that way. I think when you're
young and you don't have the business acumen per se,
you tend to trust people because you're like, well, I
really want this. And I kind of got to that
point where I'm like, hunt the brakes. I'm not rushing it.
(15:37):
I want to Uh. I want to go into this
with as much information education as I have. So when
we started American Art House, that was a big reason.
I was like, you know what Amazon wants a distribute
her is like, I'll be the distributor. We'll put out
our own stuff. We're going to make the profit that
we want to make without giving up too much of
a percentage, and we own the rights in the end.
So I've heard a lot of other filmmakers say this
as well. We're in a place where, like building your
own catalog and becoming your own studio, you don't necessar
(16:00):
don't need the other people. And like I said, I'm
open to working with these other bigger entities, but right now,
may as well keep as much in our pocket and
keep as much ownership until that day comes and this
matures into something greater. But yeah, I think the Amazon deal.
On that note, it was a huge, huge win for us.
We felt it. I mean when they emailed us back
and we just started the dialogue, She's like, I can't
believe this. So because having it on Amazon is very
(16:20):
legitimizing and it's successful. Everyone's got Amazon. I mean your
controller for your TV probably as a button that's as Amazon.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
So yeah, that is so great.
Speaker 3 (16:30):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (16:30):
I love how you created your own distribution company keeping
it all there. I think that's bad, as you know,
a group of Again, I wish I could remember the theater.
First of all, I've preached constantly and have for over
eight years since the show premiered, that movies need to
be seen in the movie theater, and you know, and
it has a whole different experience. I have watched films
at home and then I've gone to see them in
(16:52):
the theater because well, anyhow, I won't even usually because
they're screening the film.
Speaker 3 (16:58):
With a Q and A.
Speaker 1 (16:59):
We have a one wonderful independent film theater here and
they just just be a deal with another one. So
we're really excited that Sena Barba International Film Festival owns
the theater. They bought it and they renovated it, and
they bring in they bring in these fabulous films, but
they bring in a director or the actor or several
people from the film afterwards for Q and A. And
(17:21):
on this weekend they had Saturday Night with Jason Rightman,
and you know, so they bring in these.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
People all the time.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
And now that the fall season's coming in, this is
you know, we'll be gearing up and seeing all kinds
of fabulous films and the Q and A and so
that that is just an amazing treasure that we have here.
But a group of directors and actors just purchased an
old theater in Ala that was that was you know,
was going into disrepair and they weren't showing screening and
(17:51):
they're all been renovating it.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
And I wish I could remember the name.
Speaker 1 (17:54):
But that shows you know how much filmmakers believe in
independent films and independent film theaters. You know that they're
so important and each town, if you have an independent
movie theater in your town, please go support it. They
don't make a lot of money, and say you really
should support them if you really love seeing different out
(18:16):
of the ordinary mainstream movies. I mean, you can only
see so many shoot them up kind of movies. After
a while, you know, it's just the same story, you know,
But there's always interesting, you know, real interesting films like
I just went to see Whitebird.
Speaker 3 (18:33):
Well there's not much out there about Whitebird. I loved it.
Speaker 1 (18:36):
It was just this wonderful, wonderful movie and it's a
love story underneath all of thisics during World War Two.
But it's you know, it's a really well done film.
And so those films need to be seen, and your
film is one of those that needs to be seen too.
So if you are just tuning in, my guest today
is director, screenwriter, writer Devin Thomas, and we are talking
(18:58):
about Peninsula Night and we're having a really interesting discussion
about independent filmmaking. So you send us a backstory, and
I don't want to skip over that we have about
you know, five minutes or so, but you said there
was an interesting backstory to making this film, So do
you want to delve into that a little bit?
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Sure? Just on one note before we get into that,
I just want to say shout out to light House Cinema,
David Diaz and Pacific Row. He is doing cute things
like you were just saying for independent cinema if you
are a filmmaker and want to get a hold of
him to do a screening with A. Q and A.
Like Jan said, there is no other place better to
see a movie than the theater is an experience in
its own I remember every movie I've seen in theaters
is always be like I saw that one in theaters.
(19:36):
I remember it. One little quick note on that too.
When I was at LA Film School, I had the
chance to see two really great movies come out in
the same year. It was Birdman and Whiplash, both with
Q and A's with JK. Simmons Miles Cellar and then
with Birdman I got to see it with al Hunter
Gonzalez and A Raw too. And I think John Lesher,
the producer from Paramount Vantage, not one hundred percent sure
on the day, but those experiences they'll live in your mind,
(19:58):
rent free forever. Like you said, there's nothing like it.
Speaker 3 (20:01):
So that's why I love.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
One of the main reasons I moved to Santa Barbara
was because of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. I
had been coming down every year for fifteen years to
this film festival, and it's a movie town and people
love filmmare and there's a lot of very famous people
and people that are not so well known that live
in this community. Next week I'm interviewing Steve Starkey, who
(20:26):
was one of the producers on Forrestcump, and he wrote
a book about the making of Forrest Gump, and they
had a screening of that here again at another theater.
Over the summer, they did Robert the Metchis Films, and
they did for Saturday nights and each week they brought
somebody from the film. So they brought had Roger Grab,
(20:47):
they had Back to the Future and say it was
really interesting stories. And Steve was interviewed and oh my gosh,
I can't wait to interview next week because he was
full of really amazing stories about the making of that film.
Which is to me film at the Classic Except it's
good to see those films back in the movie theater.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
Again. It is my point. It's that on the big screen.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
We've all, you know, got our head our DVDs of them,
I'm sure in our DVD library, but there's something different
about going to see the film in a big screen
with an audience that you hadn't you know. Again, films
that had come out, you know, twenty forty years ago.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
You know that are coming back.
Speaker 1 (21:23):
You know that they've showing and it was it was
just a wonderful, wonderful experience. And to the theater, I said,
are you're going to do that again next year? They
were doing for their hundredth anniversary. So but it's important
to see it. But having said that, love Amazon, you know,
and the streaming services because when you can't get it
with their not being seen in the theater, you know,
(21:44):
you have them right there.
Speaker 3 (21:45):
For yourself to see them. So it's you know, it's
it's great.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
And to talk about I'm gonna be no one more
thing right now on one of the rivals on Netflix,
I'll say Netflix. They they have a huge success with
Nobody Wants this one under pro romantic comedy with Kristin
Bell and Adrian Brody and everybody's talking about it and
with a ten part series and everybody's zipped through it,
(22:09):
you know how fast, and we're going, I hope there's
a second season.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
So they did it. Now it's the second season and
people are eating it up.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
But people are all over the internet talking about this,
you know, So yeah, romantic comedies are coming back.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
Yeah, I don't know how much time we have left,
but you.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
Probably have about a minute now that I've.
Speaker 2 (22:27):
Committed sid, I agree with you. I think that romantic films,
ranic comedies, rantic dramas. I had somebody who told me
pens on Nights is a philosophical romance. So whatever you
want to take it as, it's a little bit of
like Richard linklater little Kevin Smith. I think it a measure.
Joe Swomberg's another influence that he truly is an American
pioneer of like zero budget indie filmmaking, and he has
(22:48):
all his peers have gone on from the new Plast
to Credit Gurwig, They've become super successful. He's very successful
as well. Those are the people that really opened my
eyes independent filmmaking. Maybe next time we'll dive deeper into
the backstory, but I think we've covered a lot of
ground here regardless, but they have. Yeah, I just on
that final note, I totally agree with you. I think
that independent filmmaking is alive and well. I think that
(23:09):
this is the time if you are an independent filmmaker,
go for it because there's so much resource, there's so
much ability. You could probably go to best buy and
finance a movie on a credit card. That's my honest opinion.
It all depends on how you think here and what
you see here.
Speaker 1 (23:22):
So right right right, you know, I agree with you,
you know, so yeah, it's uh yeah. And this is
what the show is about, is about focusing on independent
and documentary filmmakers because they don't always have a place
of our platform to talk about the films that they've made.
Speaker 3 (23:39):
So it was a pleasure to have you on the show.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
I really do wish you much success with Peninsula and Knights,
and those of you who have Amazon Prime please go
seek it out.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
You'll enjoy it. Thank you, Devin Grank thanking you, Jim,
Thank you. Have a great day.
Speaker 4 (23:53):
Bye bye to all my wonderful loyal listeners. Your love
of film allows me to do what I do. If
you want to support me, the best way to do
that is to hit the subscribe button on the Iheartpodcast Network,
Apple Podcast, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to
your favorite podcast, and of course on YouTube. Subscribing matters.
(24:16):
If you are feeling really compelled, I want to hear
from you. Have a burning question, comment or review, Drop
me an email at The Jamprice Show dot com Thank
you for listening.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
The Jan Price Show All about Movies,
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