Allison Anders at Harry Dean Stanton Fest

Because I've got to keep on searching for the dream that I've been seeking since I left my Oklahoma. Hi, this is Martha Stevens and you are listening to Movie Meltdown. Hey, this is Drifter. You're listening to... That'd be great.

Oh, I wish I could be called Drifter. It's not appropriate though. I'm a drifter and I've seen the rain. I'm a drifter And I felt the pain, the pain that comes with loneliness. So I drift from town to town, searching all around.

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What's up and welcome. To Movie Meltdown. I'm Brian and we're coming to you live via digital recording from the Kentucky Theater. We are inside right now. It's amazing.

And of course, because we're here for a very specific reason, I'm welcoming back.... Oh, is this where I say my name? You know your name. Lucy Jones. I mean, normally you just would rotate in like you're here every week, but that's the thing I was thinking today.

It's been a long time. I think it's actually literally been years since I've done anything with anyone, so that's a weird thing to think about. It is. That's why I was like, I guess we should bring you in like people don't know you every week, because it hasn't been an every week thing in a long damn time. Pretty heartbreaking. stupid don't forget me don't forget me people i'm still part of the movie meltdown family whether you like it or not i like it look here you are i don't want to be disowned.

Uh i think it goes the other way people are just like i don't i don't know that podcast I've never listened to that podcast. Well, you will always have a special place in my heart because among other things, you introduced me to the concept of podcasts. Way back when you approached, I don't even know how it all started, but I had no idea what a podcast was. Isn't that sad that I was the forefront of that and now everybody else in the free world has a podcast? And somehow they're all like making a living at it and I still like, here we are.

You have bragging rights. You're the OG. Yeah. Then I always find other people that have been doing it for like a year longer. I mean, if you're making money off stuff, then you're not, you know, the real deal anyway.

Exactly. I'm saying you have to die. And then we'll look back. He'll be like, shit, Brian invented that stuff. That's my plan.

Started a new photo series. And right now people just go crazy. Hell is this i don't i don't want you to die by the way i don't i didn't let me take that back we've had enough losses lately i don't. Really care okay it will make things easier at some point. Oh my god this is getting really dark i think we need to switch gears all.

Right then So, what brings us here to your fair city? Well, I'll tell you. And I don't get to say annual anymore. And I keep wanting to say annual, but I feel like COVID has kept us from being able to say annual. I mean, it still was.

It's just something. jerk came along COVID and screwed everything up. So we just have to like leapfrog a couple of years, but you know, you were still thinking about it at that time every year? Always. If were it not for COVID, this would be the 10th annual Harry Dean Stanton Fest. As it is, it's just the 10th Harry Dean Stanton Fest, but that's still a tremendous milestone.

I think. So we're really grateful and excited. And I, I always think it's my favorite year ever, but But I think this year has kind of, I mean, obviously we all love all of our guests and there's been some amazing moments, but I feel like bang for its buck, like, and also tears shed in a good way. There's been tears shed in a bad way before. There's been a lot of tears shed.

But there's tears shed in a good way. I feel like this Harry Dean Stanton Fest, you know, I feel like in the past it's sort of there's been more of a focus on his films because it's a film festival. But I feel like this year we've really had more of a focus on Harry Dean the man. And The myth, the legend. But also the human being.

And so I think that's been really lovely. We've had people very close to him. We had Harry's biographer talk about him and his research. We had Billy Swan last night, who was a lifetime friend, telling amazing stories. And he wrote a song for Harry that he performed.

And I did not expect to ball like a baby, but I balled like a baby. And then he started crying. And then everybody's crying because we miss him. And he was just so beloved. And I will be totally honest.

I'm saying this out loud and on the record. There was part of me that was thinking that maybe this would be the last Harry Dean Stanton Fest because it's the 10th anniversary of And I've been kind of wanting to transition it into something, like, a little, like, broader and a little more inclusive and something where we, still in his honor, have, like– In his spirit, we have a different honoree every year, a character, actor, actress. And so we're starting that festival next week with Cy Richardson. And there'll be great continuity because we'll start out with Repo Man. But in many ways, I was kind of thinking maybe this is the last one.

Maybe Ten's it and then it evolves into this other thing. And then Billy played that song and we're all crying. And I'm like, no, as long as there's like a single person in the world who remembers Harry and wants to share his story, we will do it. If there's five people in a room, we will do it. So there we go. anyway have i had too much coffee is that what's going on i feel like maybe that's what's going.

On that's what i was gonna say maybe that's why this is such a good year is up until that moment you've seemed pretty calm and things aren't currently on fire or anything so it's been yeah it's been it's been good so far so i'm glad you're having an easy ride yeah and maybe that was all just pent up because you're used to just like yelling at people all weekend. Oh yeah i just spent a lot of time screaming i'm really a task master i'm known for that. But now this this year you didn't have to do any of that so that was just pent up frustration waiting unleash it upon you guys so you got the you got the benefit. Of that sorry sorry for the monologue it's just a train. Of thought well yeah i was gonna i was gonna definitely get to uh the new not even handing the baton The Running Alongside Festival.

Yeah. We'll definitely be back for that in the near future. Yeah. Oh, is this in podcast time and not real time? Okay.

In the near future. Yes. Doesn't it come after this one? Yes, it does. In real time?

In one week. Well, I didn't know why. If there's like a reason you weren't saying in one week. Oh. It'll be next episode.

How about that? Cool. Perfect. Plan your life accordingly. Yes.

But Character Fest. Yes. And the first person we reached out to said yes. That's pretty good. Which is amazing.

I mean, that's how it all started, right? Wasn't that your first person? You were like, hey, I wonder if we could get him. And then lo and behold, there he was. Yeah, Hunter Carson showed up out of the blue.

As a full capping off with more Paris, Texas talk. Indeed. So it's all come full circle. It has indeed. Yeah.

So Character Fest will be honoring Cy Richardson. And because, unbeknownst to most people, but not people in Lexington, Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky is in fact the center of all things. So when we reached out to Cy Richardson and said, hi, we're doing this festival. It's a spinoff of Harry Dean Stanton Fest. Would you be interested?

He said, wait, in Lexington? That's weird. That's where my in-laws are. So his wife is a Lexingtonian. Hmm.

So it's going to be basically a family reunion. His guest list is 35 people. And that makes me so happy. There is like a weird connection a lot of times that I don't understand. Because I'll meet people that are at a thing that I'm at in some part of this area.

Of the country. And they have some weird connection. And I'm like, how? Why? So it's very strange.

I think there's actually a really good explanation for it, but I can't remember what it is. But it involves like placement on the planet and I don't know, like science. Nexus of time and space. Yeah, exactly. All funnels through this state.

Yep. All right. I'm buying it. So we can get back to that Harry Dean talk. Sure.

But it's been a long damn time. It has been a long time. How's it going? You know, it's going great. We won't talk about the C word, but yeah, it's been a wild ride, but we're getting, yeah.

I was just about to mix a bunch of metaphors. Yeah, I totally was about to turn this into a different kind of podcast at that point. I was like, well, all right then. There goes my plans for later. So, but yeah, that aside, I mean, normally we'll kick things off, so.

In the last several years, have you seen any movies? I mean, just a movie a day for like two solid days. Years. All right, let's list them. You want to do alphabetically or should we start chronologically?

Stupidly, I stopped taking a list somewhere around day like 600. I just stopped. But no, it was. A good run. You watched tons of movies.

I did. I'm lucky to work some in. I plan and do stuff for the show. And then other times anymore, I'm just like, if I can get a few in this week. Fair.

I've given up during the week. I'm trying to fight with editing this mess. So, like, the weekends, it's nice to just be like, okay, I'm going to watch some things. Like, what do I want? What do I need to watch?

What do I want? And then I end up watching something ridiculous most of the time. Fair. So, yeah. Fair.

Yeah, that's a pretty common trajectory. So are you asking me if I've seen anything good lately? I mean, you can do that if you want. Again, that's a normal episode thing, but if we've gone so far away from it. I mean, honestly, I've only been watching Cy Richardson movies because.

There's nothing wrong with that. While we already have the festival programs, you know, I... I assume I'm going to be the one doing the Q & A, so I want to kind of not sound like I don't know what I'm talking about. So I've done a deep dive and it's amazing. I mean, he's made some really interesting, fun, great.

I mean, I don't know if as a character actor you really make choices. Sometimes you kind of just get what's thrown at you. Take a job. But I think that. interesting directors are attracted to him because he's an interesting person. So, you know, I mean like the director lineup for this year's festival, it's like John Carp, we've got a John Carpenter film.

We've got a Jim Jarmusch movie. Obviously we had to like pull back and not make it an Alex Cox festival as well, as much as we would enjoy doing it because we love Alex Cox. He was great. He's so great. There's a Dennis Hopper movie.

There's a Mario Van Peebles movie that I think for me is the most overlooked movie in the festival. And I was shocked and appalled when I went back to Rotten Tomatoes and saw that. Is this the same one that I saw in the theater probably? If it was 1993 and you saw Posse. Is there a whole lot of Mario Van Peebles with a shirt on?

I mean, yeah. Because that's what I remember about him. Well, and that's a very memorable part. I'm not saying he doesn't have reason to brag and open his shirt. Yeah.

But. And cast a pretty lady. I'm like, aren't you also the director of this movie? Yes. But he was going for, well, I mean, look, I'm not complaining.

And nobody's going to complain. When we get to Mario Van Peebles year. Yeah. Oh, my God. That would be a dream.

Good lordy. But, you know, Melvin Van Peebles is in it as well. Yeah. He was known to cast himself a time or two. And it is just phenomenal watching it now.

I've not revisited it. I have a copy of it that I'm planning to watch in the next week. Honestly, do. I'll report back. And please do, because the cast is just, I mean, unparalleled.

Like, it's a huge cast. And it's a cast of, like, very known actors, but also, like, musicians, people in the hip-hop community who didn't have as much experience acting. But most interestingly, a lot, like, almost all black filmmakers... have a role in this film as actors. Like, the cast is just filmmakers who he's cast. Like, I guess friends of his dad, people his dad's worked with.

Also, like, directors who he feels like he just wants... Like, he put everybody in this movie. He's paying tribute, but in this Western that really nobody knew what to do with at the time. At the time. But now, I mean, I feel like the world's ready for it.

I blame Stephen Bald. Well. I mean, I'm not going to say anything on record about that. I mean, the Baldwins have endured a lot, so I don't think it'll be fine. Yeah.

They're easy to poke fun at. But also, the. Stephen Baldwin character is supposed to be Well, I don't want to say. I've said terrible things about people on this podcast. And I'm trying to be gentler and kinder.

Like, my theory was always that, like, oh, these people will never hear this or know. But I'm just putting it into the universe. That's not always true. I need to always put positive things into the universe. I will say that Stephen Baldwin sort of plays a buffoon in the movie.

And so it doesn't feel terrible. There you go. He's an actor. It's fine. He's acting.

Well, along those lines, I've done that. But again, I'm still catching up on Psy, so I've been deep diving into Allison. So I've watched a lot of her stuff. All those early movies, some of which I hadn't seen. So I went back and was like, okay, let's fill in the holes here.

Yeah, pretty much all those early movies I've seen now. And it's quite an impressive run, especially coming into it as she did and just sort of being thrown into it. I mean, she climbed her way there, but at the same time, not having a ton of professional experience as we'll find out in just a little while. Um, so yeah, it's interesting to see how polished they were and what great actors she had from the get go. And like, just, yeah, it's an amazing lineup.

So, That's what I've been watching for weeks now. That's the best way to spend a couple of weeks. Yeah. I mean, she is such a profound talent and such a wonderful person. It's just been a joy to have her here.

And her work is incredible. I mean, she's a pioneer. She is a very important figure in American independent cinema. And the fact that she had... Just the sheer chutzpah to reach, you know, to say, hey, these are the movies that I love.

These are the people making them. I'm going to reach out to them vendors and say, you know, I'm interested in what you're doing and create a video. relationship with him and then say hey I'm also going to come. Work on this movie that you're doing amazing she's amazing I mean that's just so punk rock and she's just so cool and then to have that experience and then for that I mean I won't jump ahead but because I know you're about to interview her and she's going to say all this herself. And I'm just going to fumble through it but. And I will also give her those props like I don't know how you pulled that off but more power to you.

Yeah she's awesome she's awesome so and I just love how she and Harry connected you know. Everybody again he's the new Kevin Bacon everybody's connected to Harry Dean just one move away he's. The unacknowledged Kevin Bacon he predated Kevin Bacon just for whatever reason everyone latched onto this Kevin Bacon idea but I think it's probably much easier to get from person to person with Harry Dean. Stanton especially going old Hollywood wise. Yeah I mean he worked with literally every director yeah From Hitchcock to, yeah.

It's funny. I don't know that people, A, reference that anymore. I would assume kids have no idea what the hell I'm talking about when the Kevin Bacon game and or the way to run your life at this point. Because it's funny that I still do that. Not even specifically Kevin Bacon.

But when I see, like, it's weird having, as you mentioned, done this show for a thousand years. Forever now. So I so often see people on TV and I'm like, oh, I talked to him and like not even just watching a TV show. Well, you know, not even thinking about it. I'm like, oh, wait, I know them.

But then like now I do everything else by that. I'm like. Well, they worked with this person, so I'm one move away from this. So, yeah, I gauge everything. I talk to this person and they work with them, so I'm one move away from that person.

So, really, it should be the movie meltdown show. As far as I'm concerned. Or the movie meltdown game. But I don't think anyone else cares. If you do, write your congressman.

I don't know how this works, but see if you can get it officially changed. Fair. Congressperson. That too. Yeah.

So. Other than that, what else is going on? I don't know. I don't know. We're about to kick things off and I'm going to sell some T-shirts.

Which are awesome. Yeah, David Kring is our artist this year and he is phenomenal. After the fact, if someone was interested, is there a post way to. That's a really good question. We always just create a limited number so we don't go broke.

I certainly understand that. There's a reason I quit making t-shirts for the show because no one cared and they cost a lot of money. Right. And more so every day. So we'll sell as many as we sell and then whatever's left over we've been taking to CD Central in the past.

So if you want to come to Lexington, CD Central is also a sponsor of the festival. You can come by and purchase one there. Just throw a lot of money at Lucy and maybe she'll find one of them. I will say a lot of people from like out of the festival have reached out and been like, I want a t-shirt and I love you and I want you to have a t-shirt. But I am very nervous about becoming a mail order business because that's something that I just don't have room for in my life.

Also, I have a lot of post office anxiety. It's literally my least favorite thing to do and I'll put it off until it becomes like the most giant chore of all time. I don't want to put either of us through that. So just come to the festival. If you want a t-shirt, just come to the festival.

That is the best plan. Yeah. And it's a lovely little area here. You can come hang out here. Yeah.

Go patron the local businesses. Yeah. Lexington's a delight. And the Kentucky Theater is a legitimate treasure. We're so fortunate to have it.

Also, about to celebrate its centennial. It will be 100 years old this October, and there's going to be a whole month of celebrations. It is kind of amazing. Yeah. No, truly.

And thankfully just reopened under new management because the old management left, and there was sort of a moment where we didn't really know what was happening. And that can go horribly wrong because there's a reason I don't have one of these theaters in my town. Right, right. Because management changed, and the new person screwed them over and bulldozed it. So, yeah.

Yeah. So if you have one in your town, be glad and go visit them. Yes. And at least once a year, come here to this festival. Yes, I like all of that.

And that might have to be the takeaway because now I'm getting text messages and realizing that I haven't taken the list out to the front gate. She has work to do. Look, you guys are distracting her. so we're gonna take our break here we might come back with a special guest and then we'll just come back and round things out how about. That hi this is monty helman i'm you're listening to movie meltdown. Alright, well you've already heard us discussing our special guest for this episode, so there's no need for me to list off her accomplishments and movie titles, but cause we're about to cover that right now.

So I say we go ahead and get into it, as we focus on director Allison Andrews. Well, this film festival in particular is very Kentucky-based, Kentucky-centric, since Harry Dean himself is Kentuckian. And definitely an extra crossover with you, because I remember being a kid from Kentucky that was interested in movies and thought it was impossible to do that. And from my end, I was right. But you found a way, like some sort of loophole to escape and make movies, and so...

Not that there's anything to escape from, but... Right. That's the other thing I was going to say. It was such a different world then, because I remember being interested in it, and there was no way to find out about it. Even if they were shooting in this area, which was rare, you didn't know anything about it until it was after the fact half the time.

So it's like, going all the way back, I guess when you were little, were you already interested in the arts in general, or was it just sort of a slow... Going up to get to the point where you were like, I think I want to get into this. Well, I remember, I mean, we had just a spectacular movie theater. We had several. But we had the Paramount Theater in Ashland, which is, of course, the performing arts theater now.

And it's even more beautiful now than it was when I was a child after they restored those frescoes, which I never saw as a kid. So, but the seating and everything and the glamour of that space and then seeing movies there was just, it was just insane. It was like so, I don't know how you could not be in love with movies. I think that all the time and I still meet people that are just, it's not even on their radar. Yeah, I know.

I don't understand that, but. Especially now when everybody sees everything on TV and they see it streaming and stuff and they're not seeing it. In a beautiful movie theater, which I'm going to totally take in tonight. Oh, yeah. Kentucky Theater.

Kentucky is gorgeous. Which I've never been to, so I'm super excited. It's nice. So, you know, I just really, I mean, I would go to Double Features and stay all day, you know, either at the Paramount or the Capitol, which wasn't as beautiful, but it was great. And, I mean, it would be totally great mid-century nowadays, you know, but...

But the Paramount was really special. And, of course, they made them, the studios made them special for movie palaces. And they really were, you know, the Paramount. Performing Arts still has all the, you know, the powder room, the ladies' powder room. Kentucky's still got a little of that layout.

Yes. It's a little more compact. Oh, that's great. Oh, I can't wait. But it's still got that, yeah.

Yeah, so it's just kind of, you know, so those were inspiring to me. And, of course, I loved movies. I loved movies and I loved records. Yeah. So I put them together somehow.

That's what I was going to ask. because I can cheat and go forward in time, and I know how involved in music you became through film. So it's like, were you tempted to go down that road? Were you already having skills that's like, I think I want to get into music? Or did you just not get into that and lean towards film? Yeah, so I thought about music.

I mean, I sang on a couple of records and stuff like that. I was in a folk rock band in high school, and But it was really not, I just didn't have it. You know, I wasn't special with music. But, you know, this is why we have children. And so I have a daughter who is a musician and has the most beautiful voice and can play anything.

This is why you have. Children, to force them to do things you didn't want to do. Yeah. I never got to do this. You're going to do it.

Maybe you have that talent. Yeah. Oh, my gosh. But then, so yeah, if you weren't leaning towards music, I guess at what point did movies become something that's like, I think I can do this? Because, I mean, you grow up watching them, but it's like it's, especially then, it was just miles and miles, you know?

It's like halfway across the world before you get to someplace that's making film from where you were. So it's like, how do you make that leap? I know there was a lot going on with you when you were younger. Well, I didn't really know... People made movies.

When you're watching movies as a kid, you don't understand that they're being made by somebody. And that it's actually a job you could do. That it's a job. And that you could do it. It's a regular job for a lot of people.

And it's a harsh job, which I found out later. Really what I took to most was writing. And then through writing, I started to find... Once I decided to go to film school, I realized, oh, if I'm just studying screenwriting, then some... asshole director's going to come along and ruin what I've written. So I thought, I better become a director too so that I can keep control of my script.

So it was really through writing. That's a good plan. Yeah, it's through writing. It's far-fetched for a lot of people, but you made it work. Good for you.

Yeah, so really, I think that really as a director, I'm writer and actor driven. So, you know, often this causes confusion on a tv set because they're writers who don't direct for the most part yeah and that's always they're they're expecting you to be standing looking thoughtfully at some angle and having your fingers up to show the frame that you're going to get to people and pointing. I don't know what that's all about, but there's a lot of pointing that directors apparently. Are expected to do. You obviously need to.

Do more pointing. So when I'm not doing those things, they're a little. Less than confident. Wait, who's directing? Nobody's pointing.

Nobody's yelling about things. What's going on? Exactly. So I went to UCLA film school and. Made my first film, and I just loved doing it.

So, you know, from day one. And then we're going to get to Paris tonight, Paris, Texas. So how did you end up in the middle of that? Because that's... I mean, if that's the only thing you did, that's got to be an amazing story.

So how did you end up being part of that? Well, I wrote Wim Wenders some letters because I really loved his film Lightning Over Water, which was a bizarre kind of half documentary, half not film that he made with Nicholas Ray and Ronnie Blakely. Yeah. I loved that movie, and so I wrote him a fan letter. And eventually, I got his phone number, and I called him on the phone.

So this whole relationship began, you know, where I started. He told me I could keep writing to him, and I did. And he says, maybe one day I'll write you back. And then one day he called me when I was already in film school and said he was coming to town, and if I wanted to show him my movie, I could. Because he had read my script for my very first movie.

And he came and saw it. And then meanwhile, I told him that I had actually won a grant to go study under him on Paris, Texas. Convenient that this all came together. I told them he had invited me. He knew nothing about it.

Whether he knew that or not, he invited you. Yeah. So then I went to study under him, basically, on Paris, Texas. I mean, that's where you go. Yeah.

Not only does he know what he's doing, but he has his own different way of doing it that you don't get with a lot of directors. That's right. Yeah. Well then I guess I definitely wanted to get to like kind of jump ahead to get to Border Radio because I feel like that's looking back at it now like watching it it's so ahead of the curve. Like what became those indie films of the 90s that everybody references you guys beat them to punch.

Like you were doing it years before them and it still kind of has that vibe that you get from those people that came after but yeah it was so ahead of the game. So like how did That come together, and then, again, how well, I guess you've done stuff at UCLA and done PA work, but how prepared were you to take on your own project? Well, and the thing is that I only ever worked on one movie that I didn't make. So that was, uh, that was Paris, Texas. I never worked on another movie again.

Yeah, exactly. So, um, so, uh, Dean Lent and Kurt Voss and I all went to UCLA film school together, and we had all made our movies kind of together. They were very, like we had done our first films, and then our second films, Dean. Shot all three of our films. So after that, we just decided, hey, well, no.

What happened was we had finished making our movies, and then people saw our movie screen, our second films, and they were like, oh, my God, this is like a new movement of movies here within our film school. And they really were different from everything else. They were black and white. They had a certain sensibility, you know, mine being very inspired by Vim, Kurt's being very inspired by Herzog. and Dean's being very inspired by Kubrick. So there were three.

No slouches in the bunch. Yeah, no, there were three real. You know, whereas some of our, you know, fellows were, you know, trying to be Hollywood directors and stuff, and we were adamantly not trying to be that. So, and we were also very involved in the punk scene, Kurt and I more than Dean, and so we, and that DIY culture, so. Yeah.

You know, so we... But there was a gem, a genius, a champion working in the tech office, and his name was Billy Woodbury, and he's an African-American, I must say, very handsome man, and quiet. And just.... And he came and watched the movies, and he said, you guys need to make a feature, and I'm going to help you. So we have a Bless Their Little Hearts poster in Border Radio that's Billy's film.

And so, I mean, it's just one of the most amazing movies ever made that Billy made. directed, and then Charles Burnett shot it. And it's just this gorgeous, now it's part of, you know, it's like this genius work of the L.A. Rebellion is what it's called now. But it was called nothing back then. You didn't know you were starting a rebellion.

Billy was really struggling. So, you know, so he helped us with the equipment, and he helped us, you know, more than I can begin to say. I mean, without him, we we couldn't have made a feature. So we just started. At first we tried to do a noir film, and then we realized, that shit is hard.

Especially if it's of era. If it's neo-noir, you can kind of escape by. But trying to do costumes and sets. Very hard. Yeah.

But just to pull off a noir storyline. Is really hard. So, yeah. So we then... It just took on a life of its own, basically.

And then we cast some local musicians, Christy and John Doe. Christy from The Flesh Eaters, John Doe from X. I was going to ask if there was a John Doe connection, because he's still, by that point, music-wise, he's a pretty huge name. Oh, yeah. To lure him into making this movie is impressive.

Yeah. Well, that came through Christy. We approached Christy first, and then Christy got John Doe and Dave Alvin in, and so we really kind of went from there. It was kind of amazing. And that sister.

Yeah. I don't know how you lured her. I kind of love her. I've got to say. She's so fun.

Cool, cool, cool. Thank you. But, yeah, that just has such a specific vibe to it. Again, it's of that era but ahead of the curve. So then as you get to, like, making something like Gas Food Lodging, like, was that a much bigger step?

You know, it's a much bigger budget. You've got more of an official, like, film shoot kind of going there. Were you prepared for that leap? You know, not really. I mean, I had never really worked with a crew.

So, I mean, I worked with a crew on Paris, Texas, but I didn't know that as a director what that would be like. So I really still didn't quite know what everybody did. So it was pretty heavy. But then it was just like I never had a frazzled day. Once we were shooting, I just loved it.

I just loved it from minute by minute. I just had a great time. And there was nobody being– There was just no ego stuff going on. I mean, it was just great. And lucked into this cast of up-and-coming.

I mean, Farooza Balk is so different than what you get to know her as. She makes other stuff. So this little innocent version of her. And then Ioni Skye is always kind of amazing. Oh, yeah.

And for Ioni, she was playing against type. as people knew her, you know, in Say Anything. You know, so she did this whole about face, and she's just wonderful. I mean, she's beautiful in Say Anything as well, you know. So, you know, she can just do so much. And then Brooke was fantastic.

And then to get James Brolin was my coup, you know, and to get him playing against type, you know, and not being a deadbeat dad, you know. um that was pretty cool well then. You must like Ione just to kind of jump ahead a little because I did want to get to four rooms and like that's again by that time all these other filmmakers sort of caught up to what you were doing and then there's this group of like how do you get in the middle of that like that is you know you've got some of the filmmakers that changed the industry at that point certainly by the time Tarantino was involved so It's like what all was involved in putting that together, and then were you there from the get-go, or did they see your work and be like, hey, come be part of this?

Oh, well. No, I was there from the start, and, you know, it's a long, it took a weird, it was fast, but it was a long road to how it all came together. Yeah. Basically, it was four friends trying to make a film together, and then it kind of got. That's hard to do.

Yeah, yeah. That's a lot of moving pieces and people. Yeah, it also kind of got Miramax was involved, so it became a different deal completely than what we had originally intended. But. But it was fun.

I mean, I got to work with Rodrigo Garcia again that I worked with on Mi Vida Loca. Yeah. And I loved working with all the actresses. So great. Oh, yeah.

So we had a good time. We did. It was a little intense. I would think it would have to be trying to juggle all of that. I mean, it's hard enough to do one shoot, let alone four that you're then shoving together.

For sure. For sure. Yeah. Well, there's a lot of others I'd like to hit, but I know we won't have time. So let me at least jump ahead because I know you mentioned doing TV.

And that's such a different world as far as directing. So I wanted to see what your take is. Because I feel like it's an entirely different job. As you said, they expect different things from you, but you also don't. Because you're almost coming in as a hired hand.

You don't have control over everything. Well, you have control over nothing. How is that dealing with somebody who's starting from the ground up making your own project to then just being put in the middle of somebody else's thing? You know, it's pretty terrible, I've got to tell you. I mean, I'm glad I did all of it because.

You know, I have a beautiful retirement, not from my films, but from TV. It's a great job. The job part of it is seemingly so much better than the filmmaking job. Well, yeah. But artistically speaking, it's not.

Oh, no, no. No, and it's a really hard job for not having any power whatsoever. So you're just always kind of like, okay, and you never are going to know until you get there. Yeah. Which job is going to allow you to have a brain or they just want a body there, or they just want somebody that points, you know, and, and, um, Talks about camera, lenses, and you just never know what's going to happen.

They really don't want you to bond with the actors for the most part. Because you're not there for long. Yeah, and they want the actors doing what they want. It's a showrunner's game now. So it's really a weird thing.

So the actors are all like, oh, a real director's coming. And then you're like, and then you can just see them crestfallen when they're not being directed. Yeah, because you can't direct them. So, you know, it's a weird thing. My best experiences, I have to say, were on, for some wild reason, were on cop shows.

And the wild reason is probably because on each of the cop shows, and I worked on the best of them. So I worked on Southland, and I worked on Murder in the First. So the showrunner on Southland was John Wells, just a marvelous, marvelous human being, and just such a classy filmmaker. And Chris Chulak, who was his directing producer... was just magnificent because he's a wonderful director. And then on Murder and the First, I had the great Stephen Bochco, the father of.

He kind of knows what he's doing in that department. The father of modern TV drama. And then the directing producer was his son Jesse, who was magnificent. So... So I.

Had tremendous freedom on those. I mean, to where, you know, and they were so respectful of directors and so respectful because they knew that I respected the scripts also. So it was just, those two shows were wonderful and I did a bunch of them on both of them. And then other shows, you know, I mean, there were, you get stuff out of each one. You know, you kind of, You know, Sex and the City taught me a ton.

I loved working with that whole team. And then, you know, other shows like I did Turn, Washington Spies, and, you know, I directed five characters based on my ancestors. So it was just crazy. You know, I was like, you're playing my ancestor. Yes.

Different than Riverdale. I was excited to see Riverdale. Oh, Riverdale was fun. That was fun, especially the first season. I had a great experience working with the writer of the episode.

And that's when it's really wonderful when you can have this working collaboration with a writer. And in that case, that was one of the best times that I had, working with a writer. Yeah, you get stuff that crosses over and lends itself. to new viewers and yeah a whole new generation i just i've been watching it since the beginning because i thought it seemed like such a cool idea and then now my my niece loves it so it's like now we sit around talking about it she's like she's like oh my god have you seen this new one and i was just so true it's good to bring in the new viewers that's right absolutely Thank you, Brian. Do you have anything to tell people to look for? Or do you have stuff that they...

I'm working on something. There's one that's been in the works for a long time that I saw in the listings. Oh, yeah. Does that come back? Or is that literally the same story that you started on decades ago?

Yes, 30 years ago. All right. It's called Paula's Dead. Yep, that's what I saw. I was like, I'm pretty sure that was like your big follow-up movie.

Yeah. 30 years ago? Exactly. And so, you know, finally, we're casting now, and, you know, hopefully we'll be shooting in October. That's a long road.

If all goes well. That's a long road. Yeah. Sure is. But, again, it all leads where it needs to go.

Yeah, that's right. Well, thank you for being with us. Looking forward to seeing the Kentucky tonight. Thank you. And I got to tell you, I love being in Kentucky.

Oh, yeah. You know, if you have to leave Kentucky to go become a filmmaker or whatever, come back. Because I'm coming back. Well, that's the thing. You don't have to now.

You really don't have to. It changed so much. You could definitely get into writing here. Oh, yes. I know several people that have started shooting based out of Louisville.

And they're all year long. They've got stuff lined up. And you've got a tax break now. Yeah. And the other thing is, listen, my little hometown, Ashland, Kentucky...

Three women directors out of Ashland, Kentucky. There you go. Martha Stevens. I've talked to her. Yeah.

She's great. So, you know, I mean, we're storytellers here. Definitely. We own it. There you go.

We own storytelling in Kentucky. And found a good way to get it out there. That's right. Definitely. Once again, thank you for being here.

Thank you. All right. I knew that he was making this movie, so. He called me from San Francisco working on the script with Sam Shepard and said, I'm coming to Los Angeles and I wonder if you can find time to show me your film. So this was an 8mm film, you guys.

8mm with 16 sounds. But he had read the script, given me notes. I mean, it's crazy when I think about my luck, you know. So he came to L.A. And I, meanwhile, had won this grant, which he said congratulations.

And I said, oh, thank you. It's to study under you on Paris, Texas. Because I lied and said that he had invited me. So I won the grant. And then he's like, oh, my God, well, I guess you have to come.

And so I said, well, these. Two guys also won the same grant. There were four of them, and we won three of them, all based on. A complete fabrication. So we went, all three of us, and they kind of worked.

Traditionally kind of PA work. Which I did not do because Vim kind of, I mean, I wasn't good with the walkie-talkies. I didn't know how to do it. I couldn't drive. I was just like a really bad production assistant.

So he had me moving around in different departments. And so one of the things that he, you know, which was invaluable because I learned how, you know. The props department worked and the wardrobe department and all of that. So then he had me, he said, I want you to run lines with Harry Deeney. and I had no idea what he was talking about, but I was like, oh, fantastic, you know, so I went in the trailer with Harry, and, you know, I'd run the lines with him, you know, read the other parts, and you would, you know, read his stuff, and it was amazing to see how he, I mean, I worked with actors that were, you know, student actors, you know, and so I hadn't ever seen a real actor work before. And it was just amazing.

You know, when Vim said. In that thing that he sent me about his lack of self-confidence, which is, it. Was very fragile, you know, and he was always questioning things. Like, when I'm watching the movie, I'm thinking about all these questions he constantly had about the character, you know, and I mean, I actually think the lack of self-confidence in art is great. Because I think too much confidence is really bad.

I think you're not discovering things then. And so he, and obviously Ben feels the same way about it. And so one day what had happened was that Dean Stockwell and Harry were running lines with me. So they were running their. Lines, and then I was participating, you know, probably reading Ann's lines or whatever, you know.

So, or the lady at the car rental place. That's the kind of thing that I was doing, you know, feeding those lines. And so Harry says, he was stomping around the trailer going. God damn it. Bim isn't telling me anything about this character.

Like, is he mute? I mean, what is he doing? You know, why is he not talking? He won't tell me anything. Sam won't tell me anything.

And he's like, I mean, is he catatonic? And I'm just like completely naive. And I'm like, you know, I was catatonic before when I was 16. And him and Dean just look at me. They just stop everything and they look at me.

And I was like, yeah, I was catonic. I said, I wrote a poem about it. And Dean looks at me and he goes, honey, would you happen to have that poem with you? And for some weird reason, I did. I actually had it with me in Texas.

So they just started grilling me. So it was hilarious because one of my buddies had to go back to the hotel and. Get my poem out of the, you know. So, but they just grilled me, and they were like, you know, what, Harry. Was like, could you hear people talking to you?

And I said, oh yeah, I could hear people talking to you. He goes, well, why didn't you talk? And I was like, it. Just felt like, you know, if I talked, I would just, as he always remembers me saying it, I said. I would just lose it.

Now, I had kind of already lost it, but I felt like, you know, that I would. Just never stop, you know, that I would just fall. To pieces kind of thing. So then he asked, you know, was your voice shaky or was it, I said, nope. I said, I just one day, I was sitting in group therapy in the mental hospital and I just like, blurted out.

Something. And they all kind of went, whoa, she just talked. And so when I see him say Tet. Paris, you know, when he finally talks, it's just exactly like I had told him that it was for me. And Dean also kind of having this reaction of like, oh my God, he just said something, you know.

So it's kind of what was amazing for me was the fact that I just, you know, I had no idea that my personal experience. Like that could be something useful to an actor. So now it's, but you have to wait for them to ask. That's one thing that I have learned as a director. You don't start sharing too much.

But, you know, if they ask, hey. This is Hunter Carson, and you're listening to me have a meltdown on Movie Meltdown. 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. Al verme tan solo y triste como el viento Quisiera llorar, quisiera morir de sentimiento. All right, we're back. Thank you to Allison for, she puts up with me. That's what I think is impressive with any guest that's on the show.

If they have enough of a tolerance to deal with me, you know, that's impressive. You are selling yourself short. You are a delight. So say you. And Allison is a delight.

So I can only imagine what a delightful exchange that was. There was, I'm assuming there was nobody else in that vicinity. Because we get into it and we're all excited and we're talking loud. So I was just like, I wonder if there's somebody over there waiting for an elevator that's like, what the hell are they talking about? That's awesome.

Do you guys get super nerdy? I mean, do I have another mode? Fair. I feel like that's, yeah. That's a given, so.

Not everybody's going to ask her about Riverdale. Anyway, so I did. That being said, I was trying to hit the big ones there, so I didn't get to talk about all of them, but I did want to bring up in my continuation of things I've seen lately. Are you familiar with Sugartown? Um, I haven't been able to find Sugar Can.

I hadn't seen it until recently. How did you find it? Because I've looked for it. I'm not good at finding things. You found it on that internet, didn't you?

On that information highway. And I can't, uh, I'm not. Good at it. Because I, yeah, there were several of them that were harder to come by physically, which is everything anymore. I know I'm the only idiot buying physical media now.

No, I am. Um, I just bought two new. I went out and actually I have two. Psy movies, Criterion Edition. That's the level of dork I am.

That's awesome. Planning ahead on that. But of the Allison, a lot of those I couldn't find. And then somewhere I found that one. And I'm just like, okay, I'm enough of a Duran Duran dork to know who John Taylor is.

So the fact that he got into acting and I hadn't seen that movie, but he is a lead, you know, it's a ensemble, but still he's one of the main people in this movie. And the whole time I'm just like, Duran Duran. You guys are awesome. I'm a power station kind of guy. So yeah, I was so excited to watch a movie that had John Taylor in it.

So I'm either old or a dork. I'm going to go with both. Going to go with both. It was a lot of fun though. It's a very slice of life mixed together.

It's this whole ensemble and everybody's kind of got crazy stuff going on in their life. So it's worth watching. Check it out. If we can find it. If you can find it.

I'll have to remember where it was, and maybe if you ask nicely and donate to Lucy and get one of those t-shirts she won't give you, I'll send you the place that I found it. Perfect. Otherwise, yeah, in grace of my heart, which we didn't really get to, but Ileana Douglas, man, there's something about her. Well, I mean, she's Hollywood royalty, so genes don't stray far. I suppose, but mostly she's just, I've found out in recent years listening to people run down their film fests Which, by the way, planting that seed.

Because she just likes to go to Film Fest and host them and do the Q & As. And so she's like such a dork on that level. Really? That I'm like... Okay, that makes me like her more because she's just kind of a movie geek, let alone she's in a ton of great movies, but she's just super movie dorky.

So, question, because we're thinking ahead about programming character quests, but the question is sometimes, and this is actually something I ran up against in thinking about Harry, is that Harry actually didn't like being referred to as a character actor. So there's part of me that kind of has felt guilt about that, but he was in Drago's movie Character, which was about character actors, and since he was in that, I felt like it was sort of a tacit permission for us to use... that moniker but would she consider herself a leading lady who wouldn't want to be an honoree of character fest or would she. I feel like she's pretty relaxed about things anyway again i haven't spoken to her i don't know any of this but just the vibe that i've got but again i think she likes hollywood history enough to just show up and talk about harry dean or character fest or whatever.

Probably we would honor her because her body of. Work that's another thing though ever do from that movie and forward, you know, I feel like the character actor thing isn't like the slap it used to be. Like, I feel like it was something that probably somebody producers, I'm sure, throw it around. And even people who are actors that wouldn't consider themselves that would talk that way about other people. I feel like now there's such an industry and a fan base of people that just sort of love movies that like, they mean that, you know, in a loving way.

And, They seek people out because of these roles. Well, sure. Which is, as you know, that's what you're doing. But I feel like you're not alone. I feel like there's a lot of other people out there.

So I would hope now there would be a ton of people who probably fall into that category that aren't upset about it either. They're just like, yeah, I am, and that's how I pay my bills, and I'm glad that somebody even pays attention to these kind of roles. Because you should. Those are important. Well, I asked Cy Richardson for a statement about it because we were putting out a press release, a final press release.

And I said, you know, do you have a statement about this? And he said yes, that he was honored to be a character actor because character actors are us. They are the people. And he is thrilled to represent the people. So I loved that as a response.

Sometimes way more interesting than the leads. So much more interesting. I mean, that's why we're doing a Harry Dean stand. Why would you, yeah, why would you want, you know, regular normal actors? Yeah.

Character actors. That's the way to go. Yeah. Yeah. Go with character.

So, so yeah, there you go. Grace of my heart, Ileana Douglas, just planting that seed. I love it. All right. Well, we will let you get back to work.

You've got a lot of stuff to do. Thanks for being here. It's always a pleasure getting to chat with you. If anybody's interested, where would they go to find out about this in the interweb? In that interweb that you don't go to, obviously.

Right, right. Www.harrydeanstantonfest.org. And if, again, have I mentioned that I'm a total Luddite? Really trying to get that CharacterFest website up, but somehow failing. But that'll be a thing at some point.

As of right now, you can go to the Kentucky Theater website for information on CharacterFest. So if you build websites and you're looking to donate some time. We'll give you some t-shirts. There you go. That's how you get that t-shirt.

All right. Otherwise, that about does it. We will return next time. Same geek feed. Thanks for listening.

Bye. Bye. Bye. To smile around the world he took no fight and jettisoned we'll go tonight to give him. Hell oh well Gosh darn it.

You gotta be kidding. Me. Gosh darn it. You've got to cut that out. Yeah, you've got to cut that out for me now, Brian.

This episode is a production of Movie Meltdown, produced and edited by the Auditude 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! This program is a proud member of the battleship pretension fleet.