Season 5 Episode 24: OLD MAN SLAUGHTER director R. S. Trashley

🎙️ This Week on Low-Budget Rebels

My good pal and co-conspirator, Sean Ashley, aka R. S. Trashley, joined me to talk about his latest films, Old Man Slaughter and El Ron.

We also talked about what's happened since our first conversation way back in July of 2019, how to get your movie in a theater, the challenges of pulling together a community, and the process of working collaboratively with your peers on a set.

Check out Sean's Homicide McLeod at https://www.homicidemcleod.com/ and follow Sean at @rstrashley on Instagram!

From the bottom of my heart, thank you to everyone who has supported this show in season 5! Talking to so many filmmakers was incredible, and I learned so much from hearing about their experiences. I look forward to diving into Season 6 after a little break. If you have any specific topics you'd like me to discuss with the indie filmmaking community, let me know!

Cheers,
Josh

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
You are listening to the IFH podcast Network. For more
amazing filmmaking and screenwriting podcasts, just go to ifhpodcastnetwork dot com.
There are some questions I'd like to ask you.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Low Budget Rebels on pocast. I don't tell me you're
taking all this seriously. All right, Welcome to another episode
of the Low Budget Rebels podcast. I'm your host, Josh Stifter.

(00:39):
I'm here to talk about independent films with independent filmmakers.
And today I'm super excited because I was able to
sit down with one of my close friends, Rs. trAshley
aka Sean Ashley to discuss his filmmaking process since the
last time I had him on many many moons ago
five years or something like that.

Speaker 3 (01:00):
Ago.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Sean came on the show and it's how we became friends.
It's how I got to know Sean more than just
you know, as someone who had seen his movies online
and whatnot. Through trauma, Sean and I became actual friends
and continue to be friends and continue to make stuff.
And in fact, if you head over to the Flush
Studios Patreon page Patreon dot com slash Flush Studios, you

(01:23):
can see something that Sean and I worked on together.
A short film called El Ron that was part of
the Buried Alive Film Festival, their Cinema challenge sin like
SI N I'm a challenge, And in this challenge, we
had thirteen days to make the movie and a short film,

(01:44):
which is better than the forty eight hour festival where
you only have forty eight hours. This gave us, excuse me,
a little more time to actually do it the way
we wanted to instead of just completely rushing it out.
Now it's still as both of us being dads, both
of us working full time jobs. It was not one
of those things where we could spend thirteen days straight

(02:05):
working on it. We fucking did it all in like
basically three days. So we essentially treated it like a
forty eight hour film festival project once we went into production.
But you know, Sean had a couple more days to
sit down and decide on what project he wanted to do,
buy the stuff in order to play the character of
Rondo Ronaldson. And I'm really proud of how it came out.

(02:28):
It's so silly and so fun and it played at
the festival. We saw it on the big screen and
I talk about it in this episode. But I learned
so much, and I've learned so much since starting the show,
and a lot of it is thanks to you, the
listeners and the guests who have come on the show
and taught me. And as I wrap up season five
and start to figure out what season six is going

(02:50):
to look like, there's gonna be a little break through
the end of the year. But go back. There are
hundreds of episodes of this podcast at this point, so
go back and re listen to stuff, or listen the
episodes you liked, or if you haven't checked them out,
you can go back in time and hear little baby
Sean and me discussing our first movies and where we
were at in twenty nineteen, and it's incredibly exciting. So yeah,

(03:13):
with that, you know, I want to recommend that you
head over to the Patreon and watch l Ron. It's
releasing publicly in the next couple weeks as well for free,
but I really would love it if you'd subscribe to
the Patreon. It helps me keep this going. And you know,
with season five coming to a close, I've had these

(03:34):
moments of trying to figure out what is the direction
of the Patreon, my filmmaking, what do I show, what
can I do, And the more people I have supporting
through Patreon, the more I'm able to do, the more
I'm able to hire other people to help with the
process of getting these done, and the more I can
I can continue with this stuff. And it isn't easy,

(03:57):
I'll be honest. It's getting more and more challenged the
more I have, you know, the more I progress at
my career, it becomes harder to continue these side projects
and stuff. So the more support I can I can
get through Patreon, like literally financial support I can get,
the more I'm able to do in this moment. And
Sean and I talked about that a little bit in

(04:17):
this episode, not the Patreon element, but just where the
money comes from, how you want to progress and stuff,
And it's a conversation Sean and I have had a lot,
and I cannot wait to have him back on the
show already with next season and how I'm doing that
because I think he'll have some incredible insight into four
walling movies and into growing as a filmmaker and changing

(04:39):
up your style. So and he'll be working on his
new feature in the coming or our new feature in
the coming year. Get that, Dick. He is playing bugs
in the initial role. So I'm really excited about what's
happening with Sean and I in this moment. All right,
without further ado, here is my conversation with Sean Ashley. Dude,

(05:03):
I had you. I looked back and I was blown
away that it was back in July twenty nineteen that
I had a roup on the show the first time.

Speaker 3 (05:16):
So just over five years.

Speaker 2 (05:18):
Just over five years, isn't that crazy? Like, it's so
hard to think that that was like the first time
we really talked.

Speaker 3 (05:25):
Dahn Man, It's wild. And then we have thrown down
since in quite a few times a lot.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Man, and like both of us have made a bunch
of shit, and it's like, it's crazy to think that
I listened back to part of the episode and I
was just like, oh, listen to those two little babies.

Speaker 3 (05:42):
Na.

Speaker 2 (05:43):
It's only five years ago, but you could tear the
difference in who we were and what we were talking
about and the kind of filmmakers we wanted to be.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
What.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
So, to be clear, you were in production on Homicide two,
I believe that point, or maybe you had wrap production,
but you were in the edit. But so, what's happened since.

Speaker 3 (06:06):
Then so we made Homicide too, and that ended up
being a COVID project and you were so awesome and
threw down on a scene that we couldn't grab because
of the pandemic and we got this awesome Stiffer animation
to throw in there.

Speaker 2 (06:24):
And was that the first time? Was that podcast the
first time we actually talked at all, or the first
time we even met?

Speaker 3 (06:30):
I think so okay out outside of you know, maybe
brief conversations on Twitter, Instagram or something, but yeah, that
was the introduction. And it's crazy. It's crazy how shit works,
like almost magic, where it's like now we're both throwing

(06:52):
down in Atlanta and on the heels of the Buried
Live Film Festival.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
Yeah. Man, we went from working on projects just like
you know, little bits here and there together to like
now writing scripts together, putting things together from scratch. It's
sort of like cold.

Speaker 3 (07:13):
Yeah, I fucking dig it. And I think the coolest
the coolest thing is that back in twenty nineteen where
you know, I feel like even now, you know, you're
reaching for whatever the hell you can grab and see
where it takes you. As dude, Thank you again for
just being open to hearing a dude who had a

(07:35):
movie on Truman Now and wanted to talk about Bacon movie. So,
I mean it was inspiring to talk to you then
and then think about where we are now. It's crazy.

Speaker 2 (07:48):
Yeah, you're a few more movies deep at this point.
You've done so Homicide had hit Trouman now, and then
you finished Homicide two right around like during the pandemic,
and then did some screenings of that had some fun,
and then you went pretty quickly into the hole side. Yeah,

(08:14):
the Homicide spinoff universe movie Old Man Slaughter, and then
from there we've done. We did a short film recently
called l Ron Together that played at the Buried Alive Film.
Is it Buried a Live film Festival?

Speaker 3 (08:28):
It's the Buried a Live film Festival. Yea.

Speaker 2 (08:31):
And yeah, man, that's pretty crazy. It's crazy to think
that you went from one movie you were hopping on
to talk about to a whole universe.

Speaker 3 (08:40):
Yeah, the universe is fun. I still want to dabble
in that universe. But even the short film l Ron
I feel like it is just an extension of that
universe where it is. You know, if you're playing to
your strengths as a creator or filmmaker, I feel like
l Ron is just another character I could easily stand

(09:01):
in the Homicide universe or something like that, where it's
larger than it should be and it's just as much
fun as you want it to be and we have
fun making it, which is the best part.

Speaker 2 (09:14):
Yeah, I mean there's a certain sense of letting the
audience in on the craft and the characters and being
very self aware. Like I always struggle to not call
your movies like spoofs or satires, you know, because they
do feel like they're very much they're in line with it.

(09:34):
Because we'll talk about this a little bit more, but
you did like a four walling of the two Homicide movies,
and I remember watching them on the big screen and
just going like, this is what I remember feeling that,
this is what it felt like watching Naked Gun for
the first time. Like it's that same kind of like
it's has a pure love for it. It's not necessarily

(09:55):
you know, Naked Gun is obviously more of a spoof
or satire, but it still feels like you're referencing genre
in a way that is tongue in cheek and fun.

Speaker 3 (10:07):
It is, and it totally is to the point where
you know, like where it's I am completely self aware
in the sense of like we're making movies and a
digital age where if you want to make something then
you have to pick up a camera and go fucking
make it. But all of our idols were young guys

(10:30):
who were in a studio system that we all hear
this legend or tale about of like, oh, yeah, you
could just get in as this indie darling in the
late eighties and nineties and you and your friends could
make this project and maybe it was going to be
the thing. And it's like that is not the landscape now,
Like you have to you literally have to become fucking

(10:50):
Miramax yourself and go out there and supply all of it,
the producing team, the directing, all all the way to
the final product. And that knowing that in the age
that we're in right now is where I feel personally
that my strengths as a producer are kind of getting

(11:17):
recognized in the in the not necessarily like the scene,
but just by other filmmakers and by the community of
people who are actually doing this. And because of that,
it's the reason why Chris Dale's making our music. It's
the reason why Josh s Difter's coming over and we're

(11:38):
shooting a movie together and it looks fucking awesome, you know,
So it's it's I feel like at this point, I
am proud to be standing with people who are so
fucking talented that my projects now are starting to feel
the way that I knew they could be the whole time,
where like, you know, and that goes from learnlearning, like Okay,

(12:01):
well you've got to get your foot in the door.
You've got to do this. I know that I have
weaknesses and as a filmmaker, but my strengths I feel
like now are getting recognized because of the strengths of
the people around which is it's awesome.

Speaker 2 (12:18):
No, man, it's really cool seeing because like I know,
I'm you know, we're in the same trajectory. Basically, we
both made some pictures. We both had some fun at it.
We did our silly projects that you know, we kind
of just put together with shoestring budgets and buy ourselves,
buying our own equipment, putting it together as best we could,

(12:38):
and learning, you know, on the way, and it's made us.
You know, they're the classic jack of all trades, master
of none. But you get to you get to a
certain point where like, fuck that I'm I'm I am
proficient at everything. Now at least I can have a
conversation about everything and explain what I want and know

(13:00):
that it's possible, know when I can say we're doing this,
we got to try something, We're going to do something else,
and then surrounding yourself with people who are like, yeah,
fucking well, let's try that. Like instead of the you know,
classic hiring director hires people who don't who are really
they're profess they're awesome at one thing, but they don't

(13:21):
have the fucking knowledge about the edit, or they don't
have the fucking knowledge about how people are going to
react to something. Because you've done it all, you can
look at it and be like, let's do this, or
you know, even just like when we were working l round,
there's moments where we're like you and I would talk
and be like, let's just shoot it. I don't know
if it's going to work, but let's let's try it
because there's no reason to not and figure it out.

(13:42):
We'll find it in the edit if we have it,
but we won't find it in the edit if we don't.

Speaker 3 (13:46):
If we don't shoot it, Yeah, totally. And I think
that that was a hard lesson learned over the years
of making these movies. Is every time that you, as
an independent filmmaker say, and I'm sure any filmmaker, but
when you say fuck it, we don't need it, Yeah,
but then you don't. You don't fucking have it, Like
you don't have it if that's the mentality, So like

(14:06):
shoot fast and you know, work against your money or
your time, whatever you're working against, and use that to
your strengths. But yeah, man, like the talking about l Ron,
like that was the most efficient project I've been a
part of where I think, like the because it was
a thirteen day challenge to get it done, the time

(14:32):
constraints and knowing the personnel involved, knowing that we were
going to do a limited cast, you know, I mean
between you and me, Like we got four little dudes
that are getting taken care of, you know what I mean.
And so like there's family involved, there's work involved. It's
not you know, pick up any day of the week
and fucking go. Like we had months of advance, knowing

(14:54):
that we were going to go and draw those cards
on September tenth, and we had thirteen days after had
to make it, and I credit us for being smart
enough to breathe and do it the way that we did,
because I think that it allowed us to have fun
on set and not get stressed out, and it was

(15:15):
It's something that I would like to achieve in the
future because I always have fun making movies, but I
do you wear yourself thin, and I think that that's
part of after doing a few projects, is something that
I want to work towards getting better at. Is not
just being proficient with time, but being like efficient and

(15:38):
in the way that you're making sure that you're not
drained to the point where you would say something like
I don't need that fucking shot. I'll just go It's like, dude,
don't do that. Man, take a fucking day off and
rally again two days later after you sat on it,
and maybe you do another pickup, maybe you switch the
shot or whatever, because that was It's just something I'm

(16:02):
learning how to do because I'm impatient as fuck and
I know that like, if we don't do it, then
it's not done. And so there it becomes the you're
wrestling with yourself and the creative realm when you're working
against time, and money and just making it happen. It's crazy.

Speaker 2 (16:21):
Yeah, for sure, I think you're you like hit the
nail on the head. But you know in the sense
of yeah, you have to. You still have to make
compromises every now and again and say like, we don't
need that shot, we don't need this because we're running
your time. But if you plan properly, you're not doing
it out of pure necessity. You're not going like, we
can't do that, we don't have time, don't have any

(16:41):
good ideas, don't try. There's a shot in l Ron
where it's it's l Ron walking in front of the moon,
and it was this moment that we just got, like
on a whim, And had we not got it, the
movie would have moved at an odd pace. That one
shot ties the two sequens together in such a brilliant way,

(17:03):
and it's a beautiful shot, and we wouldn't have been
able to get you and I wouldn't have been able
to get that. I wouldn't have even thought about it
to be like, hey man, let's get back together and
do this one shot. I would have just fucking found
a way to make it edit together properly.

Speaker 3 (17:17):
But we and we had the full moon that night too.
It was like extra rag because I just remember six
was out there with the lights and he's like, hey, guys,
I'm just gonna say it, there is a full moon tonight.
It's like, okay, we have to do this.

Speaker 2 (17:30):
Yeah, And I mean we had time to do a
little bit more on the sound. But like, the really
beautiful thing about this project was like it was not
stressful for me, like at all. We took our sweet time.
We had thirteen days, like it was pretty short. We
didn't really have to we didn't have to stress, and
there were no stakes. We knew it was playing at

(17:51):
a theater, so there was no like what are we
going to get into? Who's our audience? Where we're like,
fuck it, let's just do something fun for ourselves. And
because of that, you know, is there shit I would
change if I had more time. Fuck, of course, that's
every project. But I felt I personally felt very comfortable
with where we got to and never felt like I
was being rushed or being pushed. We were able to

(18:12):
have conversations of like what if we tried this, what
if we tried that. I think that's the weird thing though,
Like if you think back to the amount of hours
we put into it. We basically did a forty eight
hour film festival, like we so we could have filmed
the whole thing in a day. I could have edited
it that night. We could have done the visual effects
and sound the next day. Chris could have sent over score.
He didn't spend more than a day on it, you

(18:33):
know what I mean, or like an incredible amount of time, right,
all right, but we we could have done it in
a forty eight but it would have been stressful. It
would have been you know, we wouldn't have been happy.

Speaker 3 (18:43):
It would have sun Yeah. Yeah, back to the idea
of you know, learning from past projects, because I mean,
the truth of the matter is the last feature Old
Man Slaughter, I don't even think we had thirteen shooting
days like we did that, and I think nine or
ten like spread across you know, January, and then that

(19:05):
huge delay to doing the green screen stuff in May,
which at the time pissed me the fuck off. I
felt so defeated. I was like, dude, I'm supposed to
be done with shooting this in January. This movie's supposed
to come out, and that whole just running out of time,
and you know, Randall had flown in from Vegas and

(19:26):
it was like that it was just shrinking and I
felt like the world was collapsing down around me. But
then coming out of that, you realized that and you
gave me really good advice where it was just like, dude,
the only person that cares about this time is you,
like you know, and so that I I am getting
better at being open to other philosophy and so like

(19:48):
that idea of you know what, You're right because I'm
going to shoot this green screen shit in May and
then I'll have a budget to where I don't have
to do it in my living room. I can go
rent that big green screen studio that we went to.
And then I ended up completely altering a scene and
changing my screenplay because they had the court set. I

(20:11):
was like, dude, we don't even have to do this
because we didn't get it. I can do the court
scene now. And rewrote some pages and it got a
huge laugh when we did the screening, and I was
just again, it's sometimes just taking a breather, even though
you're working on a small budget, is so beneficial to everyone.

Speaker 2 (20:33):
Yeah, dude, and I think I mean it's you. We're
living through it right now where you're dealing with you
had to deal with me being like what I fucking
want to make this thing? It's all like, yeah, we
we do have that in us where we want to
see the thing come out. We don't you know, we
don't want to wait, we don't want to sit on it.
But it's true, like to take my own advice. No
one gives a fuck me but you, but the person

(20:57):
when something is coming out. And I really I heard this.
I don't remember the exact quote, but the dude who
directed American Fiction coor Jefferson, I think his name is Okay,
you know that movie, the Jeffrey Wright American Fiction. Yeah, yeah,
he's he's an older dude. He's like forty two years
old and American Fiction was his first older meaning like

(21:20):
for your first movie. Most people think of the first
time director being twenty two and fucking right, you know whatever,
This dude was forty two when he directed his first movie.

Speaker 3 (21:30):
And that's even like the Ridley Scott thing. Yeah, he
had done commercials, but Alien he was like forty something
when he directed.

Speaker 2 (21:37):
That or yeah, I think he was forty and he uh,
he had done some random stuff, but was I think
he was an engineer or some shit before that.

Speaker 3 (21:45):
Like he was a brilliant man.

Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, he was something else. It was just like, you know,
what time to go make movies. I'm making Alien. But
the best part about that was Alien wasn't even like
I didn't learn this until recently that Alien wasn't like
a passion project for him. It was a fucking hired
gig that twenty other directors had turned down Alien and
it had fallen through. Like there you read the names

(22:07):
of people who are attached to Alien and it's wild
where you're like, holy shit, that would have been an
incredibly different movie, right. But Fox was like up against
Star Wars that they wanted to put out the R
rated science fiction movie because they were like, this will
make us money. We know how to sell this right now,
we know the audience. So they hired him on as

(22:27):
like just a random dude. And I'm like, now you
can't even think, you're like what what if anyone else
had directed that movie, it would have been completely different
and we would not have the Ridley Scott that we
have now, you know. So it's like that sort of thing.
But Corey Jefferson said something i'mnna butcher the quote, but
it was basically like they asked him why he didn't

(22:48):
direct his first movie till he was in his forties,
and he was like, I needed life to have something
to say, Like I had nothing to say without the
life lived. It wasn't gil I was forty that I
had something that meant something to me. I really take
that to heart, because I'm like, I'm the biggest Pokowski
fan on the planet. I love the old writers who

(23:09):
just got like old and decrepit and then you just
read their shitty lives on it out man due and
I'm like, that's that's what I want to be. I
want to be the crotchy old writer someday who's like
eighty five, reading his book on stage with a bottle
of whiskey and so like to think to think that,
like we have to get this shit done. It's just

(23:29):
that's so arbitrary and.

Speaker 3 (23:32):
So it is, and it's a waste of pun intended.
It is a waste of time because the even right now,
like a movie I have no interest in seeing, but
Gladiator two is coming out that's twenty four fucking years later,
So that's a sek like That's my point is like
who cares like you're getting a twenty four year later sequel.

(23:52):
Like we're talking about two dudes who are making movies
on their own fucking dime, and we've both you know,
been seriously active at it since twenty seventeen. Like you're
still a decade under, You've still got multiple projects. It's like, dude,
the time thing is where I'm really just trying to
put that in the back of my mind and really

(24:14):
focus on, you know, how to do it right, how
to do it right, and do it in a way
where I walk away from it feeling on cloud nine,
not because of anybody else, but because of what I'm
participating in with my friends and or the people who
I'm choosing to do these projects with, which is like,

(24:34):
it's so sick because that is what is happening. I
can feel it. And like even our boy John Devlin,
who played the Dragon Devil and Old Manslaughter and he
was our auditor in l Ron, he got acknowledged at
this past film festival just for dedication and all that stuff.
So like the community itself, and he had two movies

(24:56):
he directed himself play on Saturday Night, but the the
idea that the community isn't open to that shit is bullshit.
It's like, dude, if you're out there doing it, people
are watching this stuff and they are paying attention. I'm
excited to have anybody's attention right now, which I feel
like for the first time. Maybe I do in a way.

Speaker 2 (25:21):
No, I mean I think I think you definitely do.
And you said, I don't know, maybe I think it
was Lucy. At the screening, your wife said, this is
your third time watching your movie at the Plaza Theater.
For those who don't know, Plaza Theater is sort of
a icon of Atlanta. It's an old like it's beautiful screens,

(25:43):
they've really improved the.

Speaker 3 (25:45):
Yeah, it's the Atlanta New Beverly Like it's the classy
joint where you go to watch a movie.

Speaker 2 (25:50):
It's classy, but it's also kind of like in your theater,
it's like like haunt to it or you're just like
these walls could talk sort of shit, and like you
walk in and you just sit down in the old
school seats. It's just like it's so fun and like,

(26:11):
but I've now seen all of your movies there, all
of your all three of your features, and right all
three of your feature Yeah, yeah, you a double feature screening.
That's the first time I came out and super fun,
like crazy fun. So this is one of the things
I wanted to ask you about. Is number one, explaining

(26:31):
to our audience how you went about securing the theater,
like literally the logistics of figuring that shit out, and
then also what the benefits are and what with the
negatives were, because to me that was incredibly inspi truly,
like seeing your movies the first time I went, I'm like,
that's cool. I guess I could screen my movies there.

(26:52):
Like I dig it, you know, like, good on him
for going out and doing the thing. Then we watched
Old Man Slaughter on the big screen IM and I
was just like, this is what we fucking live for,
Like this is the reason why we do this. And
then and I think part of it was, like, you know,
I hadn't gone to the theater as much the theater, especially

(27:12):
like post COVID, even going to the theater was kind
of weird for me for a long while. And now
and and like I had my projection screen at home,
so it's kind of like why I go to the
theater when I could just sit at home and have
the same basic experience. TV's gotten so big sound systems
are so great at home. But then I got then
when I was at Old Man Slaughter, and to be clear,

(27:34):
when I walked out of the Homicide movies, I was like,
that's the fucking way to watch them, because everyone was laughing.
My visceral style of watching movies was appreciated at the
screening because I laugh out loud like a lunatic.

Speaker 3 (27:48):
I can't help myself.

Speaker 2 (27:49):
But sometimes at movies I could tell people that are like,
shut the fuck up, and you know, like when you're
at like I'm at a Tarantino movie and I just
burst out laughing.

Speaker 3 (28:00):
He one's in on it.

Speaker 2 (28:02):
Sometimes when I saw Django, there's that scene where he
kicks open the door to the like the what do
you call him scumbags and hookers or whatever. I don't
remember exactly what's going on, but he bursts in and
blows the guy's dick off in the bathtub, like.

Speaker 3 (28:23):
He makes his way back dynamite.

Speaker 2 (28:27):
So when he when he shoots the guy's dick off,
I just like explosive laughed like it was like the
most guttural, unexpected thing, and the woman next to me
looked at me like I had kicked her kid like
she was she seriously because no one else laughed, like
there was a few like oh like that. But I

(28:48):
was like, I see the filmmaking in it. I see
how fucking silly and brilliant it is like and uh
so something.

Speaker 3 (28:55):
A firecracker like that dick went off and it it's.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
Obviously like a practical dick they made. But so, but
that's at your screen It was great. I came home
with the biggest smile on my face. But then seeing
old Man Slaughter, I think part was because I helped
work on it, But even more I think it was
just like you had pulled together your people, Like at
the first screening there was there was enough people there.

(29:22):
It was super fun, but it was a lot of
like friends and friends of friends and stuff. This was
like the people who have seen everything already. They were
ready for it, they knew what they were in for,
they were excited, they had worked on the project or
they had they were real tight and really ready to
watch it. And it was just like such an amazing

(29:44):
feeling to be in an iconic theater like that and
see it. So how so what was it like pulling
those together, doing those projects.

Speaker 3 (29:53):
So the double feature was it wasn't as fun. It
was literally just like renting a venue, even though it
was the Plaza. I just wanted Homicide Never Dies to
have gotten shown on screen. So I told myself I
was gonna do that. And so I was like, well,
if I'm gonna do it, because my features are only
an hour anyway, I was like, I can I can

(30:15):
afford to do the double feature. Well, just show the
first one and then if anybody that was in the
second one wants to show up and see it on
the screen, here it is. We're presenting it. The Old
Man Slaughter thing that was like, and I keep or
I was talking about this the other night where I
feel like I'm the guy who throws himself the baseball

(30:38):
and then runs to home plate and hits it, and
so Old Man Slaughter was that where I was just
like we got delayed because of COVID and making that movie,
and then the production got so big and it was
still very small, but it was so much bigger than
I anticipated, and in all the right ways. That when

(31:01):
we did the Plaza premiere, because the double feature was
in the small screen, and when and even when I rented,
like when I rented the double feature for Homicide, it
wasn't even an option to be in the big theater,
the Lafonte, that was not even discussed, and I was like, yeah,
that probably makes sense. We're not going to have a
huge turnout for that. As soon as I hit the hey,

(31:23):
we're going to do Old Man Slaughter Lafont was what
they were renting us. Like, it wasn't even like an option, like, Okay,
you guys did the Homicide screening. We know that you
guys are going to do this, and so it felt
I don't know, like I felt like vindicated, Like it
felt good to make a movie in Atlanta. And then,
like you said, like the people who were in the

(31:44):
movie showed up. The step and repeat was active and
then the biggest thing, and we just did it with
l Ron because Chris did the score. The thing that
I just think it enhanced everything was the score of
that movie was so much fun that when we were

(32:05):
all watching it in the plaza, it felt as real
as it could possibly be, Like I felt like we
were watching and I mean, we won we recently won
an award. We were the Grindhouse film winner for the
Grindhouse Filmfest in New Jersey, and I don't know, like

(32:26):
everything we were doing just felt awesome. But the Plaza
screening for a Old Manslaughter felt like my first real
night in Atlanta as a filmmaker. And it was awesome,
and so many people showed up to support it, and
they had seen Homicide and Homicide Never Dies and this

(32:47):
is a spin off, Homicide's not in it. I didn't
have to be in front of the camera. I'm not
except for a couple times where it just made sense
and the production for me to just throw on a
costume and be in front of the camera. But the
Old Manslaughter thing, man, that was that was the Rodriguez

(33:10):
advice where it's just like, no, fuck that make your
business card. You are a filmmaker, like you are doing
this shit. Like everything that happened with Old Manslaughter, from
the production and renting helicopters, renting studio space, all these
things that I had no intention of doing doing and
then did at the last minute, and it made everything

(33:32):
better and made me look at making movies in a
whole new way. All the way up to that Plaza screening,
I just felt in some weird way without everybody being
in the know that we had made a movie that
was worth playing at the plaza that I had too,
So that that was awesome.

Speaker 2 (33:51):
I think. So here's my perspective A little bit was
what So it was incredibly Your entire Old Man Slaughter
production was incredibly inspiring. It made me right, get that dick,
because I wanted to do something like what you did,
Am and the reason are the things that inspired me,

(34:15):
Like the more I thought about it were the things
like renting the locations, figuring out where you can go. Shit,
I forgot. We even did a fucking we did my
Super eight movie together. We've worked on a load of
stuff together.

Speaker 3 (34:28):
And that screened at the Old Manslaughter premiere, which was
fucking awesome.

Speaker 2 (34:32):
That's right, that is right. I compelled. It did such
a different vibe, but like people watched it just like
like I could see people being enthralled by it. And
then as soon as it was over and they were
like asking me questions, I was like, yeah, shot, we
shot it, shot and I shot it on an actual
Super eight in in afternoon. We rented the location. They

(34:54):
were like, what the fuck is wrong with you guys?
Like literally the reaction was just like you guys psychopaths, right, can't.

Speaker 3 (35:02):
Stop, won't stop.

Speaker 2 (35:03):
Yeah, we just don't give a shit, Like, we don't
give a shit. And I think that there's something inspiring
about the fact that we both don't give a shit
and we get to work together all stuff. But seeing
that in the day you rented the helicopter and invited
me out to work on it, I was just like
I was sitting there both like inspired, but more just

(35:23):
fucking angry jealous at you, just like the fuck do
you get to rent a helicopter for? And then when
you broke it down you talked about the cost, where
like how you put it together? I'm like, fucking anyone,
anyone can do that, Like, and that's the thing, man, Like,
I feel like that's the change in the culture thing
that we're talking about.

Speaker 3 (35:41):
It's like if you if you get outside of what
you could do, which that initial concept was I'm gonna
build a frame of a helicopter and put a green
screen behind it, and it's gonna look shitty, And then
that I took the extra step further away and it's like,
what if we just wrint hit a helicopter? Like how

(36:01):
much does that cost? And then you google and all
of a sudden there's people posing with their spouse, Like
I took a picture for my wedding in front of
the helicopter and flew around Atlanta, and I was like, well,
you're not better than me, motherfuckers, Like I'm shooting my
movie in that helicopter.

Speaker 2 (36:18):
See I love it. And that was That's been like
a total inspiration for a lot of the projects I've
been doing now where I'm just and also the fact
that we rented out that location for Tip Tap, where
it was just like, oh, I can I get That
was the first time where I was just like I
don't have to use what I have, which goes against

(36:39):
my indie filmmaking spirit completely, which is good, like it
is like a sign of growth and trying things. And
the other thing that I watched as we were going
through the entire process was just like how people how
you invited people in into your world, into your adventure

(37:01):
in small ways and in but in ways that they
can contribute as much as they wanted, so like which
you know, I think I've always been good at the
same concept, except for the fact that like I have
the whatever imposter syndrome or whatever you want to call
it in me, Yeah doesn't really bad. Yeah, it doesn't

(37:22):
really want it doesn't want you to invite people because
your movie isn't good enough for them. Like that's the
way my mind works most of the time. Yeah, And
watching you, watching you get over a lot of that
with this project and be like you guys fucking saw homicide.
You know what we're doing. If you want to be in,
come in, if you don't get out. And the people
that you brought in were fucking I mean see them now,

(37:43):
Like they walk up to you like you're the fucking
boss man, even when you guys aren't doing works out there. Yeah,
they're just like they walk up to you and stand
next to you because it's cool, and stand by the
fucking filmmaker.

Speaker 3 (37:54):
Who I'm cool because I get to stand next to them.
It's just but it's a speed.

Speaker 2 (37:58):
Thing between everywhere, you know what I'm saying, And so
like you.

Speaker 3 (38:02):
Gotta give respect to give respect.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
PODi Tang exactly. But like so going back to l
Ron Quick when we were filming, there was a lot
of things where you were just like, let's fucking try it,
let's see and so working with like Ben Ben six
and who else was at the fucking shoot?

Speaker 3 (38:23):
Cody acted Cody O Hey, I acted it, and he
ended up jumping on jumped on audio and that was
fucking amazing.

Speaker 2 (38:31):
So I didn't have to do something so I could
focus more on the visuals, which then led me to
be thinking more about the edit. So we got shots
that like, I mean, there were moment there was a
couple of moments where you were like, I don't I
don't really know if we should, like I don't know
if we need to do that, And I was like,
let's just splash the blood one more time, and it
fucking really it fixed the edit for me. I would
have been fucked if.

Speaker 3 (38:50):
I had to work with that one shot, so like,
brilliant move because it looked so good.

Speaker 2 (38:54):
Yeah, and I'm fucking a genius, like no I've been.
But it just you know what I.

Speaker 3 (38:58):
Mean, like, and that's what I do. That's why called me.

Speaker 2 (39:01):
Yeah, but I knew I was gonna be doing the edit.
I knew how I edit and how I could put
my stamp on it the same way Ben. There was
multiple times we were like, man, you don't have to
fucking put lights back there. It's not gonna do any
good and then we see it, we're like, holy shit,
I'm glad you put the lights back there.

Speaker 3 (39:15):
Fuck yeah, exactly. And that goes back to but even
the l RON thing, so I always, you know, direct,
and because of the homicide stuff, somebody's always had their
hands on the camera when I'm in front of it,
which is a lot of time with the first two movies,
but this one, it was a fun project doing l
Ron and surrendering to your talents as far as Okay,

(39:39):
Josh's on camera, Ben's on lights. I'm just gonna make
sure that we're capturing what I wrote on page in
a visual way that I think makes sense. And then
it just and it was what you said where you
you did one of the shots and I had I
think we were referencing snap and we ended up changing

(40:01):
it a little bit, but then it was well in
the edit and you said that to me, and in
my head, I was just like, oh, dude, if you're
already thinking about that, then we're in good shape because
then I'm gonna just trust you know what you're doing
in every action you're doing like at that point, and
I think that doing that, you're eliminating your ego from

(40:26):
it and surrendering to the talent that you're that hope,
not that you have to be friends with everybody. I'm
just fortunate enough that the people who I hang out
with are dope as fuck, and I feel like they
are my friends, and they come over them and want
to set yeah, and so then it becomes the and

(40:47):
I mean, we keep saying it, we're getting the band together,
like it feels like there are just people in this
pulpit of hey, do you guys want to make shit?
And people show up and they even as goofy as
the shit that especially what I'm doing, is they still deliver.
Like that was the reason Old Manslaughter worked like random

(41:10):
and I got done shooting day one and there's just
the scene and I wrote it and it was supposed
to be Old Manslaughter calling homicide and just you know,
he has to accept before he picks up the phone
that he might not have lunch with his son. And
it's stupid, but I was like, bro, this is serious

(41:32):
as fuck. And when we got home and we watched it,
we both like had tears in our eyes because we
were just like the drama, dude, the fucking drama, Like
this this is what we're doing. And I told him
after we walked out of the apartment set for Old Manslaughter,
and that goes back to renting studio time and putting

(41:54):
yourselves in those constraints. But then they really make you
way more creative in my opinion, when you're working with
people that can just run and gun like that. We
walked out of that fucking shoot that night and I
looked at him. I was like, we fucked up, dude,
and he's like, what are you talking about? And he
got a little concern, and I was just like, I
want to make movies like for real now, but this

(42:15):
is like the thing now, Like I want to make time,
to be on set, to be you know, held accountable
to other people's time and energy and all that shit.
Like it doesn't it's it's it's fun, but at the
same time, it's like, you know, it's like fucking hunting
or anything else. It's just like, dude, you're fucking we're

(42:36):
doing with this right now, Like this is happening. So
it's not that I hunt. I don't know why I
said that, Like let me let me reference something that
I never do. I just I know the face of
hunters I know what the hell they're doing.

Speaker 2 (42:53):
Yeah, you get it, get so Yeah, But I see,
here's the thing. I think. I think the analogy of
hunting is actually really good because of the fact that
it is this thing where it's a fucking hobby. No
one you or I know or anyone listening to this
podcast knows hunts for survival, like that doesn't fucking exist
in the modern world at all. So if you're doing it,

(43:15):
you're doing it for fun, but you're spending money, you're
taking care of your tools, you're going out with people
that you want to spend time with. You're doing it,
I mean or not. Yes, cut to Sean inviting me
on a hunting trip right after.

Speaker 3 (43:32):
That, check out that decad.

Speaker 2 (43:38):
But I've also, like I've had a few people on
the podcast where we've compared it and you say it
here getting the band together, and it is that same
thing where it's like, you love music, you so you
get together with some guys and you jam and the
first day you're like, fuck, this is really fucking cool.
And then you hit the spot where you're just like,
we're we have songs, we're really good at this, And

(44:00):
there are those moments where you're like, I fucking hate
this band. Well, they were playing the same goddamn three
songs over and over again, and I'm bored of them
and they suck, and then you.

Speaker 3 (44:09):
Have to Kiss and play it for sixty years.

Speaker 2 (44:12):
Yeah, and then there's and then there's that moment where yeah,
but doesn't I mean I don't. I don't know Kiss
well enough to know if they're playing the songs they
recorded on their first.

Speaker 3 (44:22):
Holing love it that's why Kiss. Oh yeah, they do.
I fucking hear legends of like they'll be on stage
and they would do those rockers as and Ship and motherfuckers.
They're just on stage like call out a song, and
you know, Kiss discography is stupid fuer so like obscure
song this, and Paul's just like here we go, all

(44:43):
right and the rest is kisstory and I'm like, god damn,
that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (44:47):
I love it. I love that shit. But but then,
like you hit, We've hit a point where like we've
played venues, we've done the thing, we've we've this band
has been for ten years and we've played every bar
in town enough times that we have this vibe of like, well,

(45:08):
what how do we get how do we go on tour?
Like what do we do next? And the reality just
becomes like do people want to hear our band anywhere else?
Do people give a shit? Like what happens? So we're
at this really funky spot that's kind of awesome, but
it is very much like how do we grow? What
do we do? And then we've we can see it now,

(45:29):
We've hit a point where you can look back over
our batch of films and listen to our demos and
be like, oh, these guys have some good shit right there,
Like we can see it, we can hear it. We
know that song is good, that song's good, that song's good.
If we can get in the studio, get up, you know,
someone to give a shit, I think we can put

(45:51):
something together. And at the end of the day, in
the modern era, it's got to be us who gives
a shit enough to put it together totally.

Speaker 3 (45:57):
And I think that the big thing for me, and
going back to like the imposter syndrome thing, is you know,
the it's not that you need the recognition to keep going,
but it does help. It does help when you put
something out and somebody who you have no affiliation, with

(46:22):
no connection to what's so fucking ever at one of
these film festivals says oh, yeah, this is as good,
if not better than all the other shit that got
thrown in here, yea, And.

Speaker 2 (46:36):
Or just just seeing excitement, like honestly just coming out
of a screening and having you know, like I would say,
I really want to do like a five episode l
ron web series. I think it'd be so fucking funny
and so fun. And we could do them and like
shoot them in two days a piece. We can base
them around shit we can buy for cheap, shit we

(46:58):
can find, and like just how they grow as we grow.
And I would I would say that, and yeah, yeah,
I mean really, I said, it's like it's like an
R rated earnest, and everyone was like, holy fuck, it
is like an R rated earnest. And so I like

(47:18):
to me, yeah, to me, that's where it would be fun.
It would be super fun to do it like that,
do it as a web series. But every time I
said that, when I said I want to do it
like like five minutes apiece, five to ten minutes each
five episode web series, that's like an R rated earnest,
seeing people fucking light up at the concept where they

(47:38):
were like I hadn't even fucking thought about that while
I watched it, and they instantly were just like, that's
the way I can be on more adventures with him.
I'm in that validation is massive totally, especially as someone
like me who I know that my love language. I
read this fucking stupid book on love life languages. So

(48:00):
no talk about this ship all the time, but my
love like is yeah, is like words of validation, Like
that's what I I need, like to continue on, I
need people to tell me I'm good, Like I just
know that about myself. I don't. I don't. I don't
need people to stroke my ego, but I just it.

(48:22):
It's so it means so much to me personally. I
don't need gifts. I don't need you to hug me.
I just all I need is someone to say, like,
that's awesome you're doing that, and that makes that like
fucking fills me with love, fills my body with joy,
and so like I.

Speaker 3 (48:39):
Wake up and I make my wife call me badman.

Speaker 2 (48:45):
It's so fun and like, and I talked to I
was just talking to Jenny and my wife about this
yesterday where I was or two days ago where I
was like I think the problem has become that when
I when you start out, everyone is so fucking shocked
that you actually did something. You constantly are getting people
going like, dude, you fucking made a movie. You're the best. Yeah,

(49:06):
and shit, you're awesome. Then you make a second one,
they're like, you did really good. That's great, you moved
on to the second one. Then you do the third
thing and they're like you're still doing it, Like that's
just it's always like a diminishing returns, so you don't
get that same like surprise. Instead, instead people aren't surprised.
They're like, yeah, this one was better. I knew it
would be. I love this fucking movie.

Speaker 3 (49:26):
But like, which is a win? Yeah?

Speaker 2 (49:28):
Right, and it's but it's one of those things that
I've learned over time. So when I see people at
like the l ron thing say like, it's one thing
for me to watch it and be like this is awesome.
I love it. But when someone says like, dude, that
edit was great, it fucking means the world to me.
Or when people you know, the music gets the credit
it deserves, you feel good about.

Speaker 3 (49:47):
It totally and even the and I mean like that's
going back to the people you surround yourself with, like
I feel like, and you know, I'll say his name again,
Chris fucking Dale, like Chris Day. Being a part of
the outfit gives us a ground floor of sound that

(50:09):
all of the shit that I love, like all of
my favorite stuff, it has amazing music, like you know,
like I don't shy away from. My favorite movies are Alien,
Raiders of the Lost Art, every fucking James Bond movie
like the When you watch these things, you remember the music,

(50:30):
Fucking Dirty Harry, like Bullet. All of these things have
an amazing soundtrack that you're that not everybody's going for.
And a lot of the people that we you know,
would be peers with and or would be a couple
of RUMs up higher on this ladder, like they're fortunate
if they get to work with somebody who can make

(50:51):
good music. And I don't necessarily think that that is
something that is in the forefront of everybody's mind. And
maybe it is, but I think that with the last
feature I did, Old Man Slaughter, I was like, dude,
I know the vibe I'm going for, and if we
can nail like that seventies no war vibe, it's gonna

(51:14):
sell everything that we're putting in front of people. It
will make it funnier. Like if the music's actually good,
then the stupidity on top of it is gonna be
so much funnier, so much more sincere. And then the
spoof element comes out without it having to be a spoof.
And I was inspired as a kid, like my favorite

(51:36):
one of my favorite movies is Wayne's World, and it's
not a it's it is a spoof, but it's its
own thing. And then my dude goes on to make
Austin Powers and you either know that's a James Bond spoof,
and if you don't, it doesn't matter. It's still funny.
And the music is so fucking good that he has

(51:59):
fun fucking Burt Bacharack on the fucking bus, like he
takes time in the movies just to be like, hey,
and here we go with some awesome music by this motherfucker,
you know, like the whole thing is amazing. So I
think that we're in a different group of people where

(52:22):
it is. You know, I feel like, you know, you
can call it artsy, fartsy or like a visual just
because of the musical background that I know you and
I both share. I feel like there's a punk rock
element in our movies and a very like di y,
I don't give a fuck element to it. That when
you have somebody like Chris Dale doing your music and

(52:44):
the music feels very elevated, everything just gets lifted up.
It's like, you know, you can fucking sit there and
think about Star Wars. It's like, dude, if you're not
thinking about the music when you're thinking about Star Wars,
you don't like Star Wars, right, you're thinking about man

(53:05):
Like it's the like it's just so stupid, how ingrained
that shit is and how yeah, I mean for me,
it's James Bond, Like that's what's always in the back
of my head, Like if something badass is happening in
my life, that Dan like it's there.

Speaker 2 (53:23):
So I think that that's that's a really important topic.
And I think, like, I mean, people say it all
the time that you can have shitty visuals, but if
you have shitty sound, people notice, now you have been
a fucking genius at how you've used your sound, because
it adds to the spoofiness, Like it adds to the
fun of the movies, especially the first one, and like,

(53:48):
but that was one thing that when I was working
on l Ron I really wanted to try to do,
was like level up the sound because I've put a
lot of work into learning how to do sound, because
I worked with so many terror sound people. Because here's
the thing, if you're good at sound, no one notices you,
you are fucking forgettable in the movie because you don't

(54:10):
want to be thinking about the sound at all. And
so like so many sound people, I'll get back, I'll
get back the actual stems and look at it. And
I'm like, even in big Hollywood movies, every fucking footstep
you can hear it, and they want you to hear it.
They want you to know that feet are walking. But
if you fucking walk through your house, you don't hear footsteps.

(54:31):
It's not something you should be thinking about at all
unless it's something that is like crucial, Like if you
hear it in your day, it's because you're like do
you have to walk around the house in flip flops
like that sort of thing. Like we've joked about it.
You don't notice how loud your house is until you
put on a boom mic and headphones and go like,

(54:53):
holy fuck, this place is so loud and it happened short.

Speaker 3 (55:00):
Yeah, I was gonna say that was even the uh
you know for the listeners. So like if you hand
me a microphone, I go by Rs. Trashy and I
typically kind of talk like somewhere between the Macho Man
and Beetlejuice and they but they asked me that question,
and they said, you know what was the the thing
that was like the I guess, like the the most

(55:21):
problematic calendars, the challenge that you face, and that was it.
It was the joke of yeah, we were trying to
keep the kids quiet upstairs and kids dog the true Yeah, exactly, dude,
And so uh that's and this was the first time
I used real audio on a project that yeah, there

(55:42):
was no ADR and it was awesome. And I didn't
know how we were going to do that, because had
you not been a part of it, I would have
totally dr the thing. I would have just like that
would have been my default. I would have hammed it
up and just played into the at And because we didn't,

(56:03):
and because of how this project ended up turning out
and the response that we got and the way that
I feel about it and our our team, the things
that we have on the horizon. I'm like, I'm not
scared and I'm excited because the audio part of it.
You know, it's not just the music. It is just

(56:26):
the idea that we can capture on screen audio and
be proud of it and know that our dialogue is
going to be heard the way that we want it
to be heard. All that shit.

Speaker 2 (56:36):
Yeah, I think it's This project was really interesting because
I did some experimentation with visuals as well. And I
think one of the biggest issues I've always had in
the past is I want my I want every project
to be as good as it can be. So and
I don't really do shorts all that much. So I

(56:58):
haven't really. I mean I say that I've done like
a hundred of them. I don't know why I say
I don't do shorts, because I probably have more shorts
than anyone. But I don't do shorts.

Speaker 3 (57:07):
I don't strictly Remember you have a couple, G and
T's the other. Yeah, what do you mean you don't
drink Scott.

Speaker 2 (57:18):
I yeah, But I on this one, I was able
to experiment and not have to be I mean. The
other thing is I'm usually like in front of the camera,
behind the camera, running sound, thinking about the edit, all
these things. With this one, I was able to just
kind of like get behind the camera and try some
shit out and see and watching it on the big screen,
I was just like, I know what I did there,

(57:40):
and I know why it looks better than everything else.
And I know what I did hear and why it
looks better than everything else. I know how I could
make this better if I had thought it through more
or whatever time.

Speaker 3 (57:54):
You know.

Speaker 2 (57:54):
Yeah, but I mean I think that was a big
That was a big moment of going like, okay, I
almost have my visuals aisle down and I can't. You know,
it's shocking that it took me twenty years to find it,
But it's also having kids, having a family, the money
that goes into it. You can't just go throw cash
at you know, the best Alexa camera and the best lenses,

(58:15):
which is what a lot of people do. Like you
can look at someone short and be like, god, damn,
this is gorgeous, and they might find out like, oh yeah,
that's because they have They didn't actually do anything interesting.
They just had the money to like throw an Alexa
at it and these fancy lenses and.

Speaker 3 (58:31):
Right, but that goes back to the old man shit,
like the Bakowski thing or whoever you idolize, whoever the
old man is that you idolized. I think that, and
I was self aware of it. Even when we made
Old Man Slaughter. I was like, I know I'm not old,
but I'm starting to feel old. I had had a kid. Yeah,

(58:55):
you realize at that moment going back to time, like
it's not your time anymore. And then you realize, oh shit,
it was never my time to begin with, and so
you're just like on this fucking you're just riding that
worm maybe, and it's fun to be able to talk
about this stuff with somebody who's been doing it as

(59:17):
long as you have.

Speaker 2 (59:18):
I think that's the other song as I have.

Speaker 3 (59:20):
Because we're getting we're like seasoned, but we've still got
so much to do and so much to.

Speaker 2 (59:26):
I knows the biggest thing.

Speaker 3 (59:28):
I think really fucking stoked.

Speaker 2 (59:30):
We're at that spot where we're like ready to start,
even though that sounds crazy because we've done so much.
So then like it does it even.

Speaker 3 (59:39):
The eyes man, because like dead ass fucking twenty seventeen.
I made a movie and it was fun and some
people knew about it, and you know, some people were
as excited then as they are now. Not everybody. And
now when you go and you go to Buried Alive
and you make a short film and it gets recognized

(01:00:00):
and we're just playing to play. We're not there to
win or do anything like that, and you take the
step back and you're like, Okay, that shit matters to people,
like it doesn't matter to you or me. But then
when it comes to these projects that we're doing or
funding or any of that stuff, it becomes that's when
the business conversation becomes real and it turns instantly from

(01:00:25):
hobby to professional production immediately, just based on how much
money did you spend on it, how many people did
you have involved, Like did you write checks to people
like that?

Speaker 2 (01:00:41):
There's really an interesting thing too that you just brought
up that I think is fascining. I haven't thought about
this at all, but it's fascinating that I truly did
not even think this entire time, like up up until
we went to the screening about the reaction from the audience,
Like I just didn't. It never crossed my mind what
they were going to do. Sayings like you know, when

(01:01:03):
you're editing you're hoping for some laughs when someone does
something funny on set, you want to get the right thing.
So you're thinking about like I'm thinking about you as
the audience more than I'm actually thinking about the audience
who's watching it. And so if someone had asked me before,
like what did you make? I don't think my reaction
would have been like, like, I was excited about it,

(01:01:23):
but I don't think it wasn't our masterpiece. Like I
didn't go into it ten. I went into it makes
something fun and stupid, you know what I mean? And
then I then want it is fun and stupid. But
then I watched on the big screen and I was
just like, this was so this was so fucking easy,
Like not, of course, there's the challenges that come with
making anything, but like it was so stress free overall

(01:01:46):
and just so fun that it proves how far we've come.
That it played with the movie, It played as one
of the better movies, and at least it was. If
I had seen it, I would have been like that
was my fucking fait. That made me my answer It.

Speaker 3 (01:01:59):
Was good time. And that's where I'm I mean, like,
you know, people you talk about like why you're trying
to do this. It's like, dude, I'm tired of two
and a half hour movies, like I'm tired of television, Like, yeah,
the old shit I like is an hour long, Like
the fucking Universal Monster movies are funny hour in fifteen minutes.

Speaker 2 (01:02:22):
And like how fucking hard it is to go find
something that's funny anymore? Like if I just want to
sit down and be comforted with some goofy laughs, I
gotta go even or like not even goofy laughs, but
just something that you know has more than just horror
or more than just like on the nose.

Speaker 3 (01:02:40):
Or pop culture references non stop. Yeah, hey remember the
eighties when X, Y and Z was popular? Hey remember this?
And you're just like, no, I don't so I don't
think this is funny. Yeah, so what what the fuck
are you talking about?

Speaker 2 (01:02:57):
I literally like threw on uh over the top the
other day, fucking stallone PG still.

Speaker 3 (01:03:04):
Let me flip my hat backwards.

Speaker 2 (01:03:06):
Yeah, yeah, fucking stupid as hell. But I just needed
something like dumb.

Speaker 3 (01:03:12):
And funny, and like that's just plus.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
Plus I've been watching a lot of movies because I'm
doing bogs. Yeah, I know that.

Speaker 3 (01:03:21):
When you go over to.

Speaker 2 (01:03:23):
My favorite is when he's like he's talking to his son.
He's like, you know, I don't know the exact line
of it. I have. I watched it like randomly with
some drinks the other night. I can't quote it, but
he's that there's a scene where his kid doesn't like
the kid doesn't respect him or whatever, and he goes
to the kids like, you can wrestle. Your gonna un

(01:03:43):
wrestle this punk at the pizza place that we're stopping at,
and the kids like, I can't do it, Dan, I
don't want to do it. And then he's like, you're
gonna do it. You're gonna give a shot, you take
him down. You know he's than you, but you're gonna
do it. And he the kid does it and loses
the first round and runs out crying. He's like, the
reason you lost this because you didn't put your heart

(01:04:04):
completely into it. And then he goes back in and wins.
I'm just like, this is the stupidest fucking shit.

Speaker 3 (01:04:10):
Did he go over the top? I can't remember it?

Speaker 4 (01:04:12):
And he goes he does I think to make sure
you grab and like fucking he does, and I'm just
it's so stupid, but also like if that movie came
out now, it would just be like obliterated, like no one.

Speaker 2 (01:04:27):
You wouldn't remember it five days later. And that makes
me sad that that's the way it is, because I
want more of those movies. I want to make over
the top.

Speaker 3 (01:04:35):
I feel like that's what we're doing. I feel like
that's what we do to a movie, is just we
go over the time.

Speaker 2 (01:04:41):
Yeah, seriously, it's so good, dude. The best so that
the movie opens with him picking up his kid at
like boot or at like a military school, and all
he does is pull up in his truck and get out,
and everyone in the thing is like, who's this guy?
Who's this scumbag? And I'm just.

Speaker 3 (01:05:02):
I'm just a dirty truck driver. But I arm wrestled professionally.

Speaker 2 (01:05:07):
Yeah, the whole arm wrestling thing just like randomly comes
together where he's like taking his kid out to dinner.
He's like, your hawk is that usually me? I guess
thatst you? Like some big guy comes up and he's like,
it's so fucking good.

Speaker 3 (01:05:23):
I feel like there was an eagle on that artwork
for the poster where it's just like stallone his fucking
truck and a hawk.

Speaker 2 (01:05:32):
So my guess is that's what it was.

Speaker 3 (01:05:33):
A hawk?

Speaker 2 (01:05:34):
Yeah, yeah, because yeah, and it ends with him putting
like a hawk on the front of his truck and
it says like hawk and sons.

Speaker 3 (01:05:43):
Sons shody. Yeah, it is so good.

Speaker 2 (01:05:47):
It is awesome, and well, yeah, I can talk about
that movie all now. But that's the thing is like,
that's the kind of stupid fun that I'm I enjoy
I can get into and like I I can't tell
you it's how rare it is to get to the
theater and actually walk out of a movie go like
that was so fucking dumb. I had the best fucking
time time. And that's when, like, when I wrote Bugs

(01:06:08):
for You, I was just like, so, just before we
wrap up, so people people know, like we're working this movie,
get that dick, we're kind of going better than we expected,
kind of getting But I wrote it just going like
what would be fucking I want what scenes could happen
that as people were going out, they'd be like, remember
when he fucking threw the turtle over the bridge. That

(01:06:29):
was some fucking good shit.

Speaker 3 (01:06:31):
It's gonna be awesome and it's gonna be fun because
we're gonna make another fucking movie totally.

Speaker 2 (01:06:38):
And and that's I think that's the validation of all
of these projects is just like anytime we bring them
up to people, they're just like, I'm in. I want
to be a part of it. And that's I think,
like it goes for me with anything you work on.
I'm like, I don't care when it is, I want
to be there, and like you didn't have to fucking

(01:06:58):
twist my nipples to get me set and work on,
but if you ever want twis so I'm stoked, man,
I'm really excited about what's coming next. And you know,
we before we started this, we talked about your next
project or an upcoming project and hinting at the potential

(01:07:19):
of l Ron. I'm excited. I think the future holds
some good ship for the two of us.

Speaker 3 (01:07:23):
I one agree. And I just being here in Atlanta.
I just got a shout out Atlanta just because I
feel like it really is the wild West of if
you want to be creative, like you know, adult swims here.
There's just weird people in town doing fucked up ship
and if you can find them, they are more than supportive.

(01:07:48):
Like it's it's really, really, really fucking cool. So I'm
just happy to be in the mix, my dude, and
I'm glad you're there with me because we're riding that worm.

Speaker 2 (01:07:57):
We are riding that worm. So where could people We'll
see the movies you have out there? Where can people
check out things happening.

Speaker 3 (01:08:04):
Homosi McCloud dot com. All three movies are streaming there
right now. And we got the accolades with the laurels
on there for Old Manslaughter, which is pretty fucking sweet.
It was the most attention I've gotten for a feature,
So it was, you know, as far as success is concerned,

(01:08:24):
twenty twenty four was a very eyes on, RS trashy
kind of year.

Speaker 2 (01:08:30):
So I think when did we film that?

Speaker 3 (01:08:31):
We did it in twenty twenty three, right at the end,
right right, It was the beginning of twenty twenty three.
We shocked it's January, and then I released it to
everybody in Thanksgiving. We need the premiere this year in February,
so it took us, you know, like just over a year,

(01:08:53):
but I we could have put it out earlier. But
I did the premiere for Randall's birthday as like a
big celebration for that, which was fun.

Speaker 2 (01:09:00):
That yeah, that's right. I had seen it like a
long time before we actually were right.

Speaker 3 (01:09:03):
And I tightened it up too, so like there was
the thanksgiving cut I sent to everybody who worked on it,
and then again back to time. Give yourself, like anybody
out there who's about to make a movie, watch your movie.
Don't put it out just because you feel like it's done.
Like wait, like at least a week, I would say,
way longer than that, but give yourself some time to

(01:09:24):
like watch it enough, like you would watch your favorite movies,
and then be like, which part of this sucks?

Speaker 2 (01:09:32):
And again I think I think part of it is
also giving it time. And that's the thing I hate
about the Good Exercist. It still irks me is the
fact that like I didn't have that because I had
to have it edited in two months, So like the
entire edit, there was fucking hundreds of visual effects in
that movie, and I just didn't I had to rush
through it and I never had the time to really

(01:09:54):
movie sit with it and things. But I never had
the time to sit with it. And one of the
things I've earned is take how long you have to
fucking live with the project. It's worth taking your time
to do it the way you feel that movie should
be done. Justice it is, and it's something that you know,
we kind of talked about with Bugs as well. We'll

(01:10:15):
get that. Dick is just giving it the justice it deserves,
finding the time for it.

Speaker 3 (01:10:20):
Yeah, and you and everybody who's working on it deserve
that shit too. And I had Jonathan Cook when he
was working on Old Manslaughters said that shit while we
were shooting. I was trying to go fast and he
played pup and he's does amazing things in Augusta and
does his own screen stuff as well. But he h
he looked at me, He's like, man, we're just trying
to make a good movie, dude. And it was so

(01:10:41):
sincere and I was just like humbled by it, where
I was just like, you know what, dude, they showed up.
Just believe that they also want to make this good.
You know, it's not just about you trying to get
it done. So when you ask people to come out,
you know want you to be the best version of

(01:11:01):
you too. So I try to reach that happy media
because there's gonna be shit you're gonna cut. There's shit
that's just gonna happen you're gonna have to be fluid,
but anything you can control you should try.

Speaker 2 (01:11:15):
Hell yeah, man, Well thanks for coming on the last
episode of season five of Low Budget Rebels.

Speaker 3 (01:11:20):
Hell, yes, there could be. I'll tame on.

Speaker 2 (01:11:27):
All right. That wraps it up. Season five comes to
a close. It has been an incredible season with some
just absolutely wonderful guests, and I am so thankful that
you all have come on this journey, this independent film
adventure with me. Thank you to Indie Film Hustle for
hosting this podcast. It saves me the money that would

(01:11:48):
I would have to put into it. So Indie Film Hustle,
thank you so much. And I can't wait to continue
on with season six and to change things up a
little bit, get some different conversations going, have some people
back that you've enjoyed and that I enjoyed talking to
who can get specific on a topic and help with
the insight into very very specific details of filmmaking. And

(01:12:11):
this is where I'm just gonna say, if you have
something that you would like to hear discussed on the show,
please please please fucking reach out, tweet at me, message
me on or if people are still using Twitter in
the coming week, I know most people are moving away
from that. That'll be a topic for future episodes. Social Media.
We'll talk about how you can promote your filmmaking and

(01:12:32):
social media. But if you have topics you want to
talk about, reach out to me on Facebook, Instagram, Josh
Stifter dot com, wherever, email me Flush Studios at gmail
dot com. Holy fuck, I realize I haven't checked that email
though in like weeks. Ooh god, I gotta do that.
There's too much, guys, there's too much to keep up on.
All right, thank you so much everyone. I've appreciated all

(01:12:55):
of the contact I've got, all the people who've reached
out and said they've been listening. I've seen the numbers grow.
I've seen you know, we had a weird transition when
I moved into over to indie film Hustle, and it
seems like it didn't hook up to the subscriptions I had.
So if you're not hearing the show, that sucks. I
hope you do. And I cannot wait to start promoting

(01:13:15):
these episodes more and start on the next batch. So,
if you have anything you would like me to talk
about specifically, whether that's editing, finance, how you work your
financial elements in independent filmmaking, how directing actors. If you'd
like me to talk to actors about how they work
with independent scripts, that would be another really fun one. Anyway,

(01:13:38):
until next time, Season six right around the corner. It'll
be a little bit. I'm taking a little break, but
when I come back with season six, I think it's
gonna be really exciting. All right, Keep kicking ass, keep
being creative, don't let your meat loaf, and as always,
stay rebellious. Low Budget Rebels is brought to you by

(01:13:59):
the indie film Hustle Network, recorded at Flush Studios headquarters
in tropical Atlanta, Produced by the film daddy Josh Stifter,
Babba Baboo