180: This Movie is our Baby

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The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place. And I don't care how tough you are. It will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me or nobody is going to hit as hard as life.

But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. What's up and welcome to Movie Meltdown. I'm Brian and this week we have three special guest co-hosts.

I'll let you guys introduce yourselves. I'm Amy Simons and I'm the director of Sun Don't Shine. I'm Caitlin Shiel, and I acted in Sun Don't Shine. I'm Kit Tucker-Odley, and I acted in Sun Don't Shine. All right.

So obviously you guys are here to show your film, Sun Don't Shine. I guess we can start with that, with the movie as a whole. I like that in the rundown on the film, it's got you, Amy, listed as an indie film veteran. Which I only then pictured celluloid shrapnel and some sort of battle scars. I mean, I guess you want to go into any of that.

How much of that has gone into what led you to make this movie? Working in many indie films over the years now. I like the indie film veteran because it makes it feel like I'm retired. So now there's no pressure to do anything else. Already I'm a veteran.

So that's kind of nice. I like that wording. But no, I write, act, produce, direct. So I guess that's why I would be a veteran. It's a, yeah.

It's a big term for not really much work. She's just going. Oh, let's see. So I guess, just getting into this movie, is it you had been doing other movies and were having issues with trying to direct other people's films? Is that what sort of planted the seed to get this one rolling?

I started out as writing and directing, and then eventually... I would put myself in my stuff and then eventually started acting for other people. And so, but yes, when I was, I knew I needed to make another movie again when I was telling the director what would be better. So, um, but we do, I mean, like, like at this, by the same, the same token, we've got, we've got another guest in the background. Um, by that same token, we all work in very collaborative, uh, in a very collaborative way. with filmmakers or, you know, not all the time, but with filmmakers who are open to suggestions.

So it's easy to find yourself in a situation where you feel like your opinion is going to be considered. But for some directors, they don't really want the actors to be doing that. But yeah, I knew that I needed to do something. Plus, it's nice to have something that's like, you know... It's nice to have something that's your own and you have control over each aspect and you're kind of running the ship, I guess.

Yeah, yeah. At that point you knew you needed to make something. Had this idea already been sort of rolling around up there or did it just make you want to come up with a story? I knew that I wanted to work with... Kentucky and Kate and that was it and Kentucky and I were trying to come up with ideas and we were discussing sort of like I really wanted to make something that was really entertaining and thrillery and I think early on Kentucky and I were talking about we wanted to make something that audiences would really get excited or would enjoy watching outside of film festivals something that's exciting and and works within some genre elements whether it's a comedy or a thriller or a horror it's like you know with film with independent film um you sometimes are making films for festival audiences and we wanted to make something that could transcend it and so we had been tossing around a lot of ideas and and then i had had this reoccurring nightmare for a really long time and i told him that and then we decided that that was better than whatever we could come up.

With so those usually work it's it's those deep-seated thoughts that yeah they kind of usually play really well with everybody they fears that everybody has probably so yeah i guess just um i mean getting into this with you guys how how collaborative was it as far as just piecing the you know did you have the overall story or did you start sort of working with it as you went along or Amy. Would send us emails for probably, what, six months before we actually went to Florida and started filming, so she was sort of working out the plot on her own and then keeping us abreast of the developments. But in terms of, I mean, we talked a lot about the character, but the script was, at least by my estimation, entirely created by Amy and then delivered to me at various increments. there was some minimal improvisation on set.

I think probably more on Kentucky's part than mine. Yeah. I mean, I wasn't like a stickler for dialogue and that's always like the, everyone wants to know if it's improvised. We, we've all worked in improvised settings, so there's benefits to that. And then there's, there's downsides to that.

And we were shooting on film, so it couldn't, I didn't, I didn't want it to be completely improvised dialogue because we needed to it's very plot oriented. And so there's certain things that need to be revealed. So there's certain things that need to be said. So, um, I sent it in prose to them as it was developing. I mean, the idea in an, in a nutshell, um, I hate when I say nutshell, but I use it all the time.

Um, is, was, is based, is basically, is basically, is basically what, um, my, my nightmare was, which is these lovers on the run. And, And then I translated it for them because I wrote it for them, the characters for Kate and Kentucky. And because I did that, it was easier for us to be looser on the dialogue because I wrote it, I catered it to them and I knew that they both are, he's a filmmaker and she's a writer and actress and so I knew that they would be able to come up with ideas that could, improvising or ideas we could work out before we started shooting that would be a part of the script. Did you, again, going into any, any film, once you get it done, that's, you know, probably less trouble than getting it out there to people.

Did you already have sort of a plan on how you were going to get it out to people or was it planned out as Film Fest or, you know, now there's so many other options as far as ways that you can find your audience as far as, you know, streaming or internet or. Yeah, I'll talk a little bit about that, but then Tucker should talk about what he's doing with that specifically because it's really exciting. We just planned on doing the festival route just because I knew we could get it into festivals. And if it turned out good, that sounds serious, but if it turned out good, we can get it in somewhere. There's a lot of festivals.

Yeah, and I think that we're at a point where we're straddling... um, whether we need festival, the festival structure, or if you just release it yourself. And if you don't have it built in from the beginning, it's almost like you kind of have to try for the festivals. If you don't have like a plan for exactly what you're going to do with it, self distribution wise. Cause I really think that the films benefit if you plan on doing self distribution, I think they really benefit when you have that idea in your brain from the get go and that you're going to do it yourself. Um, But again, no one really knows because it's like a turning point for everything.

Definitely. But Kentucky's doing these no-budget screenings online. You should talk about that. Yeah, I'm, of course, in the dark equally, probably even more so than everybody else that's trying to figure out the transition. To more.

Of a. digital VOD relationship with seeing our work and not expecting to have a theatrical or DVD life necessarily so it's it's a very strange time but yeah what I'm doing with I started a website called No Buds that is just online cinema tech basically that has special screenings and live. Q & A' s with independent films But that doesn't really make sense for. Films other than really, really personal, no-budget movies, because there's no money involved, and there's really not a huge audience for people who are interested in watching movies online, and that being the only way they're available. So I'm very interested to see how this film will play out, because I think it's very, very accessible.

I think it should be in theaters. And it's a fun, visceral, exciting movie to see in theaters and with a good sound and a good big projection. I don't know where we stand with that, but I don't think that online or even DVD is sufficient for a film like this. Yeah. I mean, in one way, it's opening up so many new doors that you can get the film out to people.

But yeah, it is sort of... robbing that basic element of, of, you know, showing movies the way they were meant to be seen. Yeah. But that, and that's why I think it's interesting. Like what I was saying before is like, I think that the, the films we're going to see that are going to do really well are films that know that they're not going to have a theatrical and they know that like maybe they'll, they'll do a theatrical in like New York or LA just to get, um, reviewed, which is basically why you really need theatrical anyways these days, which is sad because no one's going to movies. But, um, But I think when people have that knowledge, you'll see a shift in the way stories are told.

And they'll probably be much shorter. I don't know. I see it in film festivals anyways. Movies are getting shorter and shorter and shorter. The cutoff for a feature, even like five years ago, I think it was 80 minutes.

And it was really hard to get these in-between numbers, like 50 minutes, 60 minutes, 70 minutes into festivals as a feature. And now I think the cutoff is 60, and in some festivals, 50 minutes for a feature. And I think it's because of the attention span and how movies are being viewed now, which is online. And I think people just have a shorter attention span. Yeah.

Well, I just was going to go into sort of the whole scene more or less. I mean, you've all worked in a lot of movies and have worked together in a lot of different movies. Is it just the indie film scene and sort of the family that it's built in all the filmmakers and the actors? I don't know. How do you see that versus working in like the big studio system?

And is it something that, Because I've asked this from people before. Is it something that you specifically try to keep on that path so that you don't have to deal with a lot of the problems that the bigger studios come up with? Well, that's a complicated question. Because I think that when I was 20 or 18, 19, 20, when I decided to do films in general, I think that even though I was making these really strange, strange, strange movies early on, I thought that a, that I could be just as big and make as much money as Steven Spielberg. But like, it was like, like I was like, and I'm glad I was that delusional.

Cause I was just like making these movies that I just wanted to make and like had no concept of how they fit in the world. And I think that that's like, I think, I mean, obviously I can't tell people they have to find their own path, but I think that people lose that, um, that idea of just making movies that you want to see and being like slightly delusional. Cause I think you do have to be delusional in order to go into it. And like you, I always go back to like what, what I was making when I was 18, which is like, well, what, what do I want to see? Cause like anytime I sit down the right to like, be like, this is going to be, this is, yeah, she's upset by this too.

What, what are people gonna, what are people gonna like? You know, she like, it's, I can't, I get frozen. I have no idea how to do that. And so, so like, I don't know. I, I always feel like you have to start with, with what you, what you want or be a little delusional and think that you actually can fit in to like the, like not see the distinctions between experimental or Hollywood or all this stuff and just be making stuff.

And then later after getting rejected, you realize. Where you fit in. Um, should we explain that this is our, um, Amy and Kate. And I's baby. We made this baby on set.

Aside from having a beautiful film, we now have a 10-month-old baby. Yeah, so we had a baby. Where were we? Oh, but the... I don't even know where we are.

Well, about the scene. I'm just of the opinion that... Well, not of the opinion. I just feel like the people that I'm most excited about working with just happen to be making movies on their own. And I certainly don't feel in a rush to make movies in a different style or with more money involved just because the people...

The most exciting artists are really doing it in a maverick way and doing it on their own. And I. I don't want to hurry to get away from that. So it just happens. It's not that I'm particularly trying to avoid making movies for studios or being involved in that world.

It's just I don't see the. I'm not as excited about those films because, you know, for whatever reason, I guess primarily because of this financial situation and them having to make money and not being able to take artistic risk. There's that, and it's also like when you, there's so, there's so many routes to go about it, to go about making films. And the, the most frustrating and depressing is to do the traditional Hollywood route because you, because it's just like, I don't, it's, I don't know. It's just really, it's filled with rejection.

And, and I'm not saying that like, it doesn't work, you know, for some people, but you can sit around for years and years and years and keep trying and trying and trying for that thing and not generate any work and keep calling yourself a filmmaker or keep calling yourself an actor. And I don't mean that as a condescending thing because I've done it before. I tried it and then I just realized I just always go back to making my own stuff because one, all of my favorite films from years past are all independent films and they become iconic and classic in a way that some like pop or a lot of hollywood films don't they don't stick yeah for me personally. I think i mean the way that you were describing you making your early films i think any good filmmaker like even people who end up making huge mainstream movies you really i mean to make something good you kind of have to go into it with that selfish idea of you know what you want to make right i would i would think otherwise it is going to be one of those you doing nothing but worrying about what other people like, and it gets to be this weird watered down thing.

So yeah, I don't know. I would hope, you know, even the few, the few filmmakers that have sort of broken through and become like big filmmakers in the, in the studio system still seem like they kind of have that, that same idea that they'll, they're still fighting for that idea of what they. Want to make. Yeah. Yeah.

Um, other stuff I know, you know, you've mentioned some of the stuff you've done. You've done a lot of other jobs. Like, on the movies that you've done in the past, you end up doing several jobs. Is that just how you operate? Is it just your work ethic is being an actress and producer, you know?

And a writer. Is it, I don't know, just how you work as far as a basic work ethic? I think that... Yeah. That's such a weird...

I mean, the thing is, is I. Like kate and kentucky can talk about this too is like on this on on smaller movies but even on like bigger movies too if you're if because you generate your own work and because you're because you're making your own stuff or because you're collaborating with so many people like a lot of a lot of times i always just initially when i would um a lot of stuff that i would produce that i didn't wouldn't get credit for i refused to get credit for was because i was just being a conduit for people and just be like oh this guy's great and it's all about connecting people yeah Whereas the concept, and this is later when people would bring me into these larger companies to try to produce for them, I realized that they were trying to exploit those resources, and I didn't realize they were resources.

I just wanted to connect artists to people that were good at something and wanted to be working and wanted to do this and that. So it's it's a little amorphous to me, but I guess it's, it's the same thing in Hollywood, in Hollywood of what producing is. I didn't know that that was producing. And I guess that's how I ended up producing. Yeah.

Like again, naive and sort of, and sort of like delusional about it being like, Oh, I'm not a producer and I just will help you do whatever you want. And, um, and obviously it gets time consuming if that becomes your, your goal. But I, I guess I, I started getting producer credits just because I would be doing it, and then later was like, even with people now, I'll help them with casting or help them with locations or whatever, and I don't need to build up my resume so that I can get a giant job in the studio system. And again, when we did Silver Bullets, Kate and I, there were scenes that I was in, and it was just me, Joe, and Kate shooting this movie And so there were times when it was just Joe and Kate in a scene and I'd be operating camera and holding a boom.

And then sometimes it'd be me and Joe in a scene and Kate would be operating camera and holding a boom. And so you just, I feel like the group of people that we like working with are people that know how to do everything or are not offended when they're asked to do another job, I guess. Yeah. I think that's, yeah, kind of important. I guess, yeah.

I guess. I guess they are. There's exceptions. There's real assholes, too, so. Here's the list.

That's why I didn't include Kit Tucker in this conversation. Wow. That reminded me of her a second. I can't handle it. Well, I don't care if the sun don't shine I get my lovin' in the evening time when I'm With my baby Well, it ain't no fun with the sun around I get going when the sun goes down And I'm with my baby Well, that's when we're.

Gonna kiss and kiss and kiss and kiss. And we're gonna kiss some more Who cares how many times we kiss? Cause at a time like this, who keeps going? Well, I don't care. If the sun don't shine I get my lovin' in the evening time When I meet my baby.

It's intermission time. So how about taking a break? Get out and stretch a little and relax before the show begins again. And why not make it refreshment time, too? We have lots of tasty, delicious treats waiting for you at the refreshment center.

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So why not visit the refreshment center now? Our courteous attendants are ready and waiting to serve you with a wide and wonderful variety of good things to eat and drink. So step right up and make yourself at home. Don, let me put it to you straight. We're not here to get you.

But you've got to understand, you're in junior high now. This goes in the computer, on your record. Hey, Lena, what are you looking at? Nothing. You didn't come in here to wash your hands.

Yes, I did. Hi, Dawn. We were just wondering, are you a lesbian? Brandon, I can't be your girlfriend. I'm in love with someone else.

Who? Steve Rogers in high school. Who's Steve Rogers? Well, Steve Rogers is only like one of the most popular guys in class. Steve, Steve, you will fall in love with me.

You will take me away from this place. Dawn, for you. I'm thinking of using this one for my first album cover. Oh, Steve, they're all so beautiful. You better get ready.

Steve! I have to talk to you. Well, Steve is horny. How horny. He'd go out with anyone as long as it was a girl and willing.

You mean, having a divorce? Duh. You're her older sister, and Missy loves you. I love you. You do not.

I do not. You are not leaving this table until you tell your sister that you love. Her. Do you think about girls? What, are you kidding?

I want to get into a good school. Will you play with my dolls? Tweet Audio, your source for high-performance, noise-reducing earbuds. Available in three styles and seven colors. Dribble and designed to sound great for both music and those chatty podcasts, like the one you're listening to now.

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Hey kids, it's time again for the Fright Night Horror Weekend. Coming June 29th through July 1st, at the Galthouse Hotel and Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. This year's guests include Bruce Campbell, Sean Astin, Corey Feldman, John Rhys-Davies, the fifth Doctor himself, Peter Davison, plus James Marsters and Nicholas Brendan, as well as Tyler Maine, Deborah Foreman, Andy Barclay, Christine Elise McCarthy, Sid Haig, Caroline Williams, and Luke Perry. Plus, as usual, this is not just one but two conventions So when you go to the Fandom Fest convention, you'll see a weird science reunion, as well as a Monster Squad reunion, and an Evil Dead 2 reunion. Plus a wide array of filmmakers, artists, and vendors will be on hand, including a special appearance by your friends at Movie Meltdown.

So remember, that's Fright Night Horror Weekend combined with Fandom Fest, two conventions combined to bring you all the pop culture action you can cram into one weekend. That's June 29th through July 1st at the Gold House Hotel and Convention Center in Louisville, Kentucky. So just go to FrightNightFilmFest.com for all the details. Two minutes till showtime. Talk to you about something very important today.

That's outside the cinema. I know a lot of you listening now enjoy the film world. Boy, outside the cinema covers all kinds of good films. If you're looking for the classics, perhaps you're looking for a good old Nazi film where the Nazis torture and rape everyone in sight. Or giant monsters crawl from the sea.

Or perhaps an Italian film where Edwidge Finch takes her clothes off for no apparent reason. Or renegade bikers just do whatever they damn well please. perhaps even occasionally turn into a werewolf, then Outside the Cinema is your place to go. That's www.outsidethecinema.com. Outside the Cinema, your source for cult movie discussion. Hi, this is Jess Wexler.

You're listening to Movie Meltdown. Our movie's The Lie. And hi, this is Joshua Leonard. You're listening to Movie Meltdown. Thanks for being with us today or tonight or whenever you happen to be listening to this.

It's part of your problem, you know. You haven't seen enough movies. All of life's riddles are answered in the movies. And now, on with the show. But I am here to say That I like vitamin love But I can't get vitamin love With that doggone sun.

Above I don't care if the sun don't shine I get my lovin' in the evening time When I'm with my baby It's no fun with the sun around But I get going when the sun goes down And I meet my baby That's when we kiss and kiss and kiss and then we kiss some more. It's kind of true. With filmmaking, especially even with Alison Bagnell, with producing her movie, my concept for all of that stuff, and even with Joe, is if you can just get people into a town and have a camera, then there will be a movie made. And even when it doesn't seem like it's going to happen, You just buy plane tickets and make sure there's a camera there. Yeah.

And then you just know that something's going to happen, whether or not it's whatever you intended. I guess that's all you need. That gets it going. Yeah. Oh, man.

Well, I usually like to go into you know sort of what what led you down this path um what was there a movie or like a series of movies that that sort of inspired you to not only you know be interested in movies but actually want to work in film. Were there movies that um I guess I grew up in Florida and I didn't grow up in in culture with like artist parents um or anything like that. And that's not to diss my parents, it's just they weren't into the arts. But my mom works in a hospital and my dad was a real estate broker. And so I wasn't in that world.

And so I came to a lot of things that people were exposed to earlier a lot later. And so I started out with just sort of the 90s, the typical 90s independent films. Yeah, the wave of indie films that hit. I loved, well, John Waters. I loved John Waters.

And mostly because I hadn't, my family, aside from having very normal jobs, they're really strange people. And I didn't ever feel like I saw them in movies until I started watching movies. weird off like people pink flamingos is closer to a family reunion than like um what is it the family stone or what's another good one see i don't even remember any john who huh john who john who yeah yeah yeah or um or or and then i also liked um Welcome to the Dollhouse. Oh, yeah. That was one of the reasons that I applied to NYU. Yeah.

That's what I was going to say, too. Yeah. Welcome to the Dollhouse was just, like, so... It just hit a tenor of humor and weirdness that I didn't know you could do. I didn't know it was allowed.

Yeah. And the same thing with John Waters is, like, these are people that were doing things that I didn't know was allowed on screen. And you. And it's funny because I still love them. I still think those films are fantastic.

And it's the same thing in writing, too. I went to school for literature and writing, and you learn all these rules, and then they keep telling you that you can break them later. And I'm like, I don't understand this concept. Why not just break them and make whatever you want right now, and you'll just learn along the way what works? Yeah, why give you the rules if they then turn around and tell you to break them?

Yeah, but yeah. Uh, when I was in eighth grade, I saw the MTV movie awards and on that, uh, there was a, one of the awards went to Wes Anderson for bottle rocket and I had never heard of it. And then when I, um, I went back and watched it based on that and just gradually became obsessed with it. Um, the author high school, I was obsessed with, with it and, uh, made a pilgrimage to meet Wes Anderson and Jason Schwartzman when they were on a Rushmore bus tour. And, um, talked with the guys for a bit, took some snapshots.

Eventually, I grew out of that, but I realized that before I ever wanted to make films, I had no idea I wanted to make films this entire period of being obsessed with this movie. And then I graduated, I thought, well, I'm not obsessed with anything else the way I'm obsessed with this movie. So that kind of led me into thinking, well, maybe that's where I should head. So that's... the initial film that got me into thinking about films, even though it was probably five years after seeing it that I even envisioned the possibility of doing it, because, like, Amy, my family is not artistically inclined to people, and no real connection to independent film or independent art in general. I grew up here in Kentucky.

Is this based in Kentucky? Yeah, the show is, yeah. Yeah, so I grew up in Lexington, and not a real haven for... Artistic, progressive art. Don't get me wrong, my family's great fodder for...

They're great fodder for film, but they're not. But you grew up close to the city. Kate grew up close to the city. Yeah, I grew up in Jersey City, but we didn't go into the city. We went to Broadway plays, musicals.

My dad is actually very interested in movies, but we. You know, I wasn't really, it was like whatever new movies were out, and he also liked old Hollywood stuff, so I did watch quite a bit of that when I was younger, but I mean, yeah, I remember watching Welcome to the Dollhouse with him, and that was kind of a seminal moment, and he was very silent, and then the scene where Don gets fingered, my dad just got up and turned off So. I walked upstairs without saying anything. And then sometime later I finished the movie on my own. Which is probably for the best.

Yeah. That is, I mean, I remember seeing that in the theater, that first release when it came out. And it is one of those that kind of hits you. Like you don't expect it to, I guess. You don't know what you're getting yourself into.

And it's such a weird... connect with people that kind of grew up like. That more or less. I think it is one of those that hit you in a weird personal way. So it's interesting that everybody sort of had that response. Because it just hits a tone and it hits like and she's so likable and relatable and you have so much like empathy and sympathy for her but it doesn't lose its weirdness.

It never goes out of the way to like give you these moments that where it's like It's like now we can see that all she wants is to be a ballerina and she's trying really hard to... Or whatever. It just allowed it to just be this girl that's having a hard time in life as opposed to overly telling you it. I don't know. That movie's great for me.

I mean, that sort of leads to... We like to do a lot of... you know, things that you have geeky obsessions with. So we, uh, I was going to throw that out there too. Uh, what, what you're into, it can be, you know, more movie type stuff or just in general, I throw it out there. And, uh, I should mention if, you know, I talked to you about this, but yeah, we, Amy, you at least have worked with, uh, with Jess Wexler, who we unofficially adopted into the family of our show or the cult that we are, whatever it is.

And, um, Yeah, I posed this to her, and this is when she veered off into weird areas. So if you want to make fun of her for it later, this is the point where she went on a tangent of talking about how to make cheese for like 15 or 20 minutes. She knows how to make cheese? This is a surprise to me. Nut cheese.

Oh, nut cheese. Yeah, she said that she's obsessed with cashew cheese. Yeah, she's very specific. You use miso and, like, yeah. This is exactly...

She did it for me when I went to her house last day. That doesn't surprise me. Yeah, she's really obsessed with cashew cheese. And she's, like, obsessed with the fact that it really tastes like cheese and it does not taste like cheese. It's really good.

And I was vegan for a long time, but I was having dreams about ripping apart cows, and I decided that I needed a hamburger. So. I can't be a vegan, but she does it really well, but she insists that it tastes like cheddar, and it does not. It tastes like cashew cheese, and it's great. It's really good, whatever it is, but it's not.

Cheese, Jess. She's threatened to come and make it next time she comes, so I'm looking forward to her nut cheese nachos, or whatever she's going to call these things she makes. She is, isn't she? But, yeah, if you want to go down that terrible road that she went down. Making, I don't know.

I mean, I like, I think, did I make us key lime pies? And I made us key lime pies, Berry, Florida, and granola for our shoot. And I like, like, cooking and baking calms me down. Cooking, baking, and sewing, as, like, aggressive as my movie is... the like the things that calm me down are very like domestic like I'm like I need to sew something if I feel really crazy and out of sorts I think it's because it's constructive and I can see the results and no one like no one can talk to me when I'm sewing like because the if they start talking to me I can just turn the machine on and then it shuts them up so it's like this very focused mathematical thing and so is baking like it's all mathematical and it just accesses this other part of your brain that you don't have to, like, I will overanalyze everything to the point where it's just, I don't even know what it is anymore.

Like, where it's like, oh, my boyfriend broke up with me and by that point, like, I don't even know that it happened because I've overanalyzed it Like to the point where it's like, did it really happen or didn't it? Am I dreaming or not dreaming? I don't know. I'll just bake because then I'll know if it's real or not. And you come to and you have 4,000 brownies.

Yeah. Brownies, key lime pies. Yeah. Yeah. Well, I like that you, yeah, you use that.

It could just be there's a grandmother hiding inside of you, but no, you've taken the scientific route. I like that. Yeah. It's really nice. It's really nice to do something constructive while you're, being crazy.

I once, wait, did I ever tell you guys this? When I was when I lived in San Francisco I don't know what I was going through I moved there when I was like 20 and I I was so I don't know what now looking back at it after having real problems I don't know what I was so anxious and depressed about but for whatever reason I had just like life and anxiety and and I was having it, and I upholstered my entire floor. I upholstered. I took couch fabric. I bought scraps of couch fabric.

So it's a patchwork as well as being upholstered? It looks like this real, it was like, I'm messy anyways, but, like, by that point, it was just, like, all this upholstery, different pieces of upholstery fabric all over the floor, and it was, like, the most confusing and, like, anxiety invoking room that you could possibly walk into. It looked like a gypsy circus tent on the floor, but I like pillowed it. So I carpet and I took the upholstery fabric and like would like pillow the floor. So people would walk in and it felt like I was like almost patting myself.

Into this room. Well, that says a lot. But I, because I was like, I don't know what to do. I'll post upholster the floor. Which is just wildly insane.

And things that you do when you have time when you're 20. Like, I don't have time to do that anymore. You would. I would. I would.

If I had time, I'd totally do it. It's like it's time to get back to that poster board. But I'm only in a city, like, you know, two days at a time, so I don't have enough time. Once you get this filmmaking out of the way, you focus on that. Now that I'm a veteran.

Yeah, you've retired, so you can get into that floor upholstering business. Yeah. I want to hear what they're obsessed with. Because now I'm embarrassed. Well, I wish I had an alternative, constructive obsession other than films or internet.

Yeah, I just watch movies all day. That's all I'm obsessed with. And then I go to the computer and figure out how to program or figure out. How to social medias. Gosh.

Gosh. I'm a real lame person these days. I really. I. Worry every day how lame I'm becoming.

And I wish that I knew something better to do with my time. I think it's just temporary. I think I'm going to get away from movies and internet within a couple years. And then I'll have a proper obsession. At this point, those are my two ones.

I'm probably equally. boring but that doesn't sound boring to me it sounds nice i watch movies i guess quite a bit and i also like to cook um. And bake i guess. Accomplishable tasks are pretty pretty nice when acting is what i do primarily and that's sort of you never know there's no real like check that went well you know so like something that you can do like a math problem is really exciting to me like that worked. Yeah equations are great equations are you guys get it though i'm really i was used to me i was like that was what my family like i'm a failure to my family because like i was supposed to be like the math rock star and like i i applied to all these i got into a bunch of schools for math And I got a scholarship for math.

And then I'm like, I'm going to do film. But equations are great to me because there's an answer. And that's why. You still have the. The attraction to it?

Yeah. Yeah, because there's an answer. It always has to equal equations. It always has to equal zero. Like algebraically, if there's always...

There is nothing else it can be but zero. And, like, that is probably the only thing in the world that's that perfect, is, like, an equation. There's nothing else. You know that's all bullshit, right? That stuff doesn't make sense.

Okay, now I need to bake, because now you're, like, rocking my world. You're making it explode. The only thing that felt safe was an equation. Simple math and equation-based math does not equate to the real world. See, like, this 1 plus 1 doesn't add up.

That's not an equation. I said simple math plus equation. One plus one equals two. Are you sure? Wait a minute.

You need the equals for equations. I'm not big on this fancy math. It's dumb. Were you officially a mathlete? I think that's my favorite.

I was a mathlete. Oh, wow. That's my favorite nerdy term. I was straight up Reese Witherspoon in high school where I did every Flick for mathly president. Yeah, I was senior class president.

And like, yeah. Embarrassing. Not really but you know again achievement is very embarrassing achievement. Is so embarrassing like i was friends with bad girls and i got made fun of for like i love all my all my friends outside of school were bad girls you should. Have done what i did when i was when i was that age i made sure that i was not smart but i didn't try and i skyrocketed popularity and and to this day that's That was a very fundamental decision I made in my life, that I was not going to be smart or cool.

I mean, I was going to be cool and not smart. That didn't work for me at all. Because I didn't claim to be smart, and I wasn't. And I still wasn't cool. There was no upside for me.

As usual, I've been doing something wrong. If you ever go back, I'll be right there with you. Well, they let me back in grade school. I think they asked me not to hang around the parking lot now. No, they don't.

It's a shame. Oh well everybody sort of mentioned you know the the love of watching movies there there's a a term that one of the the guys on the show used recently and i hadn't really used it before that but now i'm i'm wondering how people take to it he he was discussing comfort movies does anybody in you know essence you know the same as a comfort food that you you go back to is does anybody have something that that sort of fits that bill that you return to. I watch um One of the other movies that is an influence on Sundown Shine is, there's hints of it, is Urban Cowboy with John Travolta. And that, it's not a nice movie. I don't know why my mother let me watch that when I was like three or four or five.

Because it's 1981, I was born that year. Because it was on cable nonstop. Oh, yeah, and I just would watch it. My sister and I loved Urban Cowboy. Because that's when I saw it many times.

Well, because they're dancing, they're riding bulls, and then, like, there's other stuff, like, other really traumatic, awful things that little girls should not be watching. You go back now and watch it and see some of the weird abuse going on and then alcoholism. Oh, my God. Yeah. But I also liked that it was, it wasn't, they were poor people, you know?

Yeah. And I did. You're poor. Huh? I like how you're poor.

I like that you guys are poor. It's fun. That and another John Travolta movie, Saturday Night Fever, is another comfort movie. That movie's so dark and so good, and it's known for its dancing. Yeah, yeah.

And I love dance movies. Even new ones? Even Step Up 2? Oh, yes. Step Up 3D?

For sure. Dancers are amazing. I can watch dancers... I don't care what the plot's like. It's like, oh God, I'm about to sit.

It's like, I don't care what the plot's like. It's similar to the way that people who love porn don't care what the plots are. I love watching dancing. Dance porn. Some people watch people get naked and have sex.

Dance porn. Foot in your mouth, foot in your mouth. I can't think of any comfort movies other than, I love watching all the country music movies, any of them. And I don't even, I make sure not to look at their titles because I just, I don't even care. I just love country music.

They're all very similar. It'll come up to, even country songs. I'm like, any country music movie I love. What's the one with Robert Duvall? Tender Mercy.

Tender Mercy. That started it all. So it's like, that's a real comfort movie I'll go back and watch that every once in a while but anything there's country music songs I don't know I just started to love country music in the last two years but that's another. That's a comfort yeah I like watching Gregory's Girl because basically nothing happens. And it's really nice it's.

Just such a nice movie to watch I just fall asleep to that sometimes And for, like, thrillers from the 80s and up to the mid-90s are, like, they just feel so great to me when I watch them. Poison Ivy. Yeah. I love Poison Ivy. Like, basic instincts, jagged edge type movies.

They're just so much fun for me. Fatal Attraction. Anything with Michael Douglas. Yeah, yeah. I was just watching Disclosure the other night.

Ooh. Um that sounds real fun was that that's a million one million dollars okay that made me so upset i never saw the plot is what it sounds like. Million i'll give you a million dollars for what for one night with you and your wife. One night? Yeah.

Robert Redford. Shit. One night, huh? One night. Contemplating this.

What happens? What happens? Do you guys? I keep wanting to go. To Sundance and have that happen, everyone.

I keep thinking I'll show up at Sundance and Robert Redford will be like, one million dollars. With you. One night. And I'm like, this is awesome. For one night with Tucker.

There is no conflict. That's the thing, it wouldn't be you. No. It's one night with Kentucky. Oh, it's one night with, yeah.

What? You're like, well, let me think. Okay, shit. That would be awesome, because it would be like Sundance Kid. It would be like, because he rents me a phone.

Paul Newman. I want to do Gigolo movies. That's what that reminds me of. And I got one coming up, so stay tuned. We're not even going to title it.

This is one of those going straight to the internet. I don't know. Well, I guess in general, have you been watching anything recently? That's new. Three movies a day.

Either one, I guess, if you've seen anything recent. But yeah, just sort of stuff you've been watching lately. Festival stuff. I've just seen a lot of festival movies recently. And then.

Let's see. What do we watch? My favorite TV show. Can I talk about that? Yeah.

That's better. The only TV show I watch is TMZ. What does that stand for? Does anybody know? Oh, TMZ.

No, I don't know. Too much.... I don't know i don't know do you guys watch that it's it's on constantly um yeah do i set out to watch it no but every time i turn around i'm like wait who do they have now it doesn't matter who they're getting the dynamic in that office is incredible. That's that's what became fascinating not the footage but yeah the fact that we're supposed to care and then after a while. You like you do know the characters oh i know you know they're the best people on tv because they don't i mean no they don't really care either you know like they don't care about celebrities or at least they have a really interesting um uh they're they're really they're like normal all the they're normal people they're like the most normal people you can ever imagine and they're basically just making fun of those people and it's really there's a lot of different um social sociologies going on there i think it's really fascinating.

I guess it is at this point. I think it's almost as fascinating, us watching it, as we need some sort of psychological study being done on everybody involved. Yeah, I love the whole celebrity thing. I'm Still Here was one of my favorite movies of the last ten. Years, probably.

I love that movie. It's one of the funniest movies. Yeah, that's one that. When they first came out with Netflix on the computer, on the TV, probably when I first got it, I would just keep that movie on in my house all day. And I've watched that movie more than any movie I know, I think.

Anything, I know you're sort of working the circuit on that one. Do you have new stuff that's already kind of in the works that you need to put the work out, or just stuff that you've got already planning ahead on? Yeah, I have stuff, but I don't like talking about it until it's done. That's kind of the fun thing that we do. We didn't say that we even shot a movie until it was completely done, which was great for me.

Or there's other stuff out there that people should look for. You've all got a lot of good stuff that's been in the last few years, more or less. If you want to put the word out on any of that. Feel free to. I'd like to say first that I would. that I want Amy to let me be the first to know about your new projects.

I don't think so. She'll let you know what she's done with it. Give me some parts. The work for an actor never ends. This is the right time to talk about it.

Non-private. If Amy doesn't give me parts in movies, I will be a complete failure for the rest of my life. And I would have been if she hadn't put me in this movie. I'm only half joking. But, yeah, I think we're all working on a lot of other stuff.

Kate's in, like, 18 movies this year. She also worked with Jess Weissel and somebody. And she's in the comedy that's playing here. It's playing tomorrow night. Comedy.

There's a movie called Empire Builder directed by Chris Swanberg, that's playing around at festivals now that people should definitely check out because Chris is super talented. And there's a movie called First Winter that's also playing at festivals now that. Was directed by Ben Dickinson. There's a lot of good stuff that I was lucky enough to be a part of. Yeah, I think this is an amazing year for American independent films and Kate's been in most of them.

I see. No hyperbole. It's true. It's a really special, I think, year that's going on. There's a lot of good stuff out there.

Yeah, I mean, there's always the backlog of stuff that I. Could talk about. I don't know if I can talk about stuff. I don't like talking about it until it's out, I guess. You know what I mean?

Yeah, I agree. It's such a hard game to. to play. I don't, yeah. And I don't know if those people want me talking about it. No.

But, yeah. When I, last year, the off hours, I think you can, you can still buy a DVD for that. Yeah. And, um, it's on Netflix. And, um, Tiny Furniture's on Instant Now on Netflix.

But, Lena, Lena Dunham's doing well for herself, so, um, I really like that movie. It's really funny. And then, um, Silver Bullets. You can still buy DVDs through Factory 25. That's how Kate and I met.

And you can buy Open 5, which is how Kentucky and I met as well. Do you want to play that one? I make smaller movies, and that's one of them. Amy acted in a part in, and then I'm making a sequel to that, Open 5 2, which is not a true sequel. It's sort of a playing with the idea of a sequel and.

That's about that's about done I've been working on that for the last three years and that'll that'll be rounded out by a third close the trilogy of a tiny movie no one cared to see in the first place but alright I wanted. To go ahead and make three of those that's the way to do it I mean finish what you want to do back to that you know don't worry about what. Anybody else Like, no, I'm just going to put it out of prediction. I've got, like, at least, excuse you, I'm calling at least 200 people will see this series 10 years from now. Once it finds that fan base.

There's 200 people out there 10 years from now. They're going to be really, like, like, like, avid fans. Maybe not. Almost rabid. No, I think at that point they'll just be like, it won't even be that.

It'll just be like, they like it all right. I'll get 200 people to watch it. It'll be like this. Have you heard of that guy, Kentucky? Yeah, I've heard of him.

You've seen his movies? Uh-huh. And somewhere you'll sense that and. You'll be like, yes! It's a weird thing that's happening because a couple of acting jobs I've done is completely different than my personal films.

And people will see my acting and they're like, I like that guy. Those are some good roles. And then they'll watch my movies and they're like, that's not what I expected. It happens all the time. They're really inaccessible.

I mean, they're hard to be excited about. I'm excited about them. Well, there you go. See, that was one. I'm one of two.

199 more to go. Petition. All right, well, if nothing else, you've pushed a few of the movies that people need to go find, and I agree. So is there places for them to go look for you online? Do you want people to come find you online?

Are you worried about cyber stalking? It's up to you, but if you'd like to... promote any, uh, websites or, uh, anything for the current movie or just your, your individual project? No, we have a. Facebook page for Sun Don't Shine. And, um, and I honestly only use my Facebook page for, to just post screenings so anyone can friend me.

Um, that's all, that's the honest truth. I don't really think about cyber stalking, which is probably gotta stop. But that's really, that's really, but isn't that like self-involved? Like, I'm really afraid of cyber-stalking. If you're self-involved, say, um, uh, be my friend so I can promote myself to you.

Yeah, be my friend to promote myself. Um, I'm not really thinking about cyber-stalking. Or should I? There's no happy medium, is there? There's no middle ground.

I will not field your messages. This is a one-sided interaction. I will push accept. This is a monologue. Yeah.

Um, I have a, uh, website, kentuckarodley.com, and I, like I said, I run a, uh, a blog that showcases, uh, no budget films. That's called no budge. That's no budge films.com. That's my presence. Uh, I don't have a website.

I, I am on Facebook and I also at this point just post screenings that people should check out. Yeah, so that's my only online presence. I guess. Cool. We will tell everybody to find you if they're interested in screenings and make use of your website maybe.

I'm sure there's some filmmakers out there, so yeah, definitely. Well, otherwise, I guess tonight you'll have your showing of your movie. So I guess we will go ahead to that and leave it at that. Thanks. Thank you so much.

So, yeah, thanks for being on the show this week. And otherwise, that about does it. We will return next week. Same geek time, same geek feed. Thanks for listening.

I just want to tell you. I always feel like I'm going to record ambient sounds or just something cool. You would bring it with you, like Bjork? I have it all the time, yeah. All right.

I did bring it. She has her flute, so I thought maybe I would record her playing flute, but it didn't work out. Nothing ever happens. Nothing ever happens for me. You've never made anything.

This is how I'm going to start the interview. Nice. Nothing ever works out for me. I've never accomplished any of my goals. We didn't even make a movie.

I have so many goals. I fail at every single one. This is an uplifting motivation. It'd be better if we were trying to make a movie. We were just trying to record him.

This episode is a production of Movie Meltdown, produced and edited by the Audity Studios, with opening music performed by the Empires. For more on how to sponsor or support the show, email producer at moviemeltdown.com. Talk hard!