IamA guy that made a movie called SPLIT, an indie romcom about bowling - not the big budget horror movie of the exact same name AMA!

Hi Do you think about changing the name of the film after the Shyamalan film was released? Admittedly, I have seen a bit of your film but I was genuinely looking for the Shyamalan one, I know this will have happened somewhere before but I just wanted to confess. :~P

We'd already been out in the world for several months by the time his came out, so that was never really an option. We're really happy with the title of our movie given the subject matter and were on the public record long before their movie was even announced. Ha and no worries! So many people have that same story, we appreciate you giving us a few minutes :-)

The exact same thing happened to me but i managed to watch over an hour of your film before i noticed a distinct lack of Macavoy. On the whole i tbought it was pleasant, some good jokes.

Haha thank you kindly! Always nice to hear

Well, I'll watch the whole thing now, thank you! :~)

thank YOU!

How do I get my cousin to stop calling me and asking to go bowling with him? Every day! You'd think he'd give up by now.

Oh I got it, try this: GO BOWLING with him!

How many people worked on this film? How did you get funding? Who wrote it?

Great questions, I'd say maybe around 50 or so depending on who all would fall into your definition of "worked on" it. If you count the many people over the years that have offered feedback and support as well, became a part of our movie's cumulative family over time, we're probably well into the hundreds. Funds were raised via multiple units/shares in a private equity offering. But to even get to that point, we did a Kickstarter campaign very early on just to raise enough money to start raising the money (engage a lawyer, set up an LLC, etc). We shot the first few pages of the feature as a stand alone short ("proof of concept" piece) and used it to pull together some interest and a Kickstarter video, raised the rest of the funds from there. I wrote the script as well, I am the writer/director and lead producer.

How do you make money back off of an indie movie such as this one?

We're figuring that out as we go right now actually, we've partnered with a great distribution company that found us and has gotten us onto a ton of various platforms: Amazon Prime Video, iTunes, Google Play, VUDU, XBOX, Playstation, and a bunch more I just can't think of off the top of my head. As well as lots of cable providers' VOD services. Folks find us however they find us, watch the movie, then we get quarterly reports and checks from the distributor less their percentage. Currently, the ideal way for someone to check out our movie and optimize what we get in return is to be an Amazon Prime member where you can watch our movie for free as a benefit to your subscription. We get paid for every minute someone watches that way.

So do you just leave it streaming at home on several computers 24/7 to drive up your revenue?

Why didn't I think of that??

Can you get into RedBox, on demand plays on Vimeo and YouTube and Amazon, $1.99 to 2.99 on demand on cable and satellite pay per views, small art house theaters, small cities and towns that have old theatres with 1,2,3 5 screens maximum?

I bet we could probably, and our great distribution team is still working on a lot of that as I type. Theatrical would be great but likely whenever you see small movies in tiny theatres like that, they've paid to do something called "four walling" their project, where it seems like a great thing but really it's just like throwing an expensive party for your movie just to say you had a "theatrical run" somewhere. I'm personally opposed to this practice just because my obligation to our investors will always come before all else when it comes to making financial decisions. We'll be just fine with these numerous digital outlets, but that said I certainly wouldn't kick a Redbox or theatre offer to the curb if it made good money sense and got more eyes onto our movie!

What is your opinion of the bowling classic "King Pin"? Love it, like it, dislike it, hate it?

LOVE IT, clearly. It's just a great comedy. Is it a touch insulting to the sport and those that live/love it? Possibly. But getting mad at comedy is just making the joke on you right? It's a funny movie with bowling as a major part of the story, I'm all in. You guys and your ten frames...

Have you ever picked up a 7-10?

Oh man I wish! The great irony of the whole thing is that I'm not terribly good at bowling myself.

Are you good at terribly bowling?

YES! That I excel at.

3/10 on imdb, sounds horrible.

Do you think it's a good movie?

On another note, how has your day been?

:)

Haha I do think it's a good movie, we're very proud of it. We set out to make something that's just fun for people that love bowling and movies and I believe that's exactly what we accomplished. It's very easy for people that stumble upon something in our genre that were thinking they were about to watch a horror movie to drop us a 1 on IMDb, so we've gotten a whole lot of that. I don't blame folks though, to each their own. We've had plenty of people watch by mistake and enjoy it too!

Also my day is going just fine! Just getting started honestly, thank you for asking. Planning on spending a few hours doing this then it's off to a screening of a friend's project later tonight. How about you?

Why not call it Seven Ten Split? Or 710 split, something along those lines? Seems more relevant, kind of catchy and solves your M. Night Shamalamadingdong comparison.

EDIT: I realize the movie was already released. However, is there precedent for such a thing? Would the cost of a change now possibly outweigh the potential loss in sales due to the mix-up?

Good question and that has come up a couple of times actually, even before we even knew about the M.Night movie. One of my fellow producers actually pushed this for a while back when it would actually help you in things like online searches (Casually browsing for a movie? The number movies are the ones you see at the top, before the letters even start in the alphabetical listings!) All this to say though, we stuck with it all the way through because without getting into the boring details about "branding" and all of that, it just made the most sense both creative-wise and bottomline cost-wise at every turn. No numbers, just Split. Plus with the M.Night movie of it all, again there's the simple fact that we were already well out of the starting gate before we even knew his was coming.

Thanks for the response. So, Judd Cusack......a fan of John Cusack and Judd Nelson, or just John Hughes movies in general? His movies take up a nice chunk of my top 10.

Also, I see you worked on War Of The Worlds. I don't care what anyone says about Tom Cruise, that was a great remake. Any stories?

Love Cusack for sure, one of my favorites of all time. Say Anything, High Fidelity, Better Off Dead, The Sure Thing, One Crazy Summer... I mean, come on. He's the Cuse. I also LOVE John Hughes movies basically across the board, even the ones some folks consider "lesser" works I can basically recite beginning to end (Career Opportunities, The Great Outdoors anyone?). BUT, funny enough, this particular Judd reference is from a long time ago when the theatre kids I hung out with in college were doing a production of Oklahoma(!) and a good friend got a bit inebriated at a Reds game we were attending. It was the first day we'd ever met and he kept forgetting my name and calling me Jud by mistake. It just stuck with that group of friends and some still call me exclusively that to this day. We've all been mistakenly adding the extra D to the spelling for years, but there ya have it. As for War of the Worlds, yes I couldn't agree more. It was a really cool one to be a part of. One time as a PA on that, I did have to pick up TC's cold weather gear and drive it to him on set. He had his own separate village of campers, and I simply passed the duffle off to a security guard working the entrance. That was also the project when I was dedicated to be a film "runner" overnight from a particularly remote location in upstate NY. I'd drive up, stay the night, watch a little on set, grab the film when they wrapped for the day and drive it straight back to the lab in lower Manhattan. So, you know, just a 24 year old dude with a quarter million dollars worth of movie in the backseat. No pressure. But I did get to watch Steven Spielberg direct a ton of extras as a fake flaming train roared by them in front of a huge green screen, embers flying everywhere. It was pretty bad ass.

Why not make a horror movie about bowling?

Ohhh just you wait... ;-)

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Now this is a very interesting and great question. Initially what I want to say is in reference to a lot of things you wouldn't see necessarily, but hear. I'd go back and dedicate a lot more money to sound design, mix and polishing the sound work throughout the movie. Another thing that jumps to mind is that if we'd had unlimited money to start, you'd be seeing a lot more of a "name" cast in the lead roles. That said though, now that things have come together the way they have I wouldn't change a single performer. The music would be quite a bit more familiar to you as well, but again I think a lot of the challenges that come with micro budget movie making are exactly the things that end up making your movie great. Each song is perfect where it is to me. Next up: waffles are almost always gonna win for me, but there's a place in Connecticut that makes the most outrageous chocolate chip pancakes they're hard to pass up. Same with a few other specialty pancake spots. As for what's next: I'm working on a kind of unique spin on an old horror comedy story, the script for that is coming together nicely and we should be looking for funding by the end of this year. In the meantime, I'm producing a documentary with a friend about Moby-Dick fans called 'Call Us Ishmael' (he won't let me call it 'Dickheads') so keep an eye out for that soon too!

What should I be doing right now if I want to break into independent film? I studied film but have no idea how the industry works.

Get out there and find something that's shooting near you, immerse yourself in it. Surround yourself with people that are doing what you want to be doing! Be dependable and friendly, and things will just keep going from there just watch.

It's sad that bowling is a dying sport. We're you aware of all the trouble it has been having, especially on the Pro level?

It didn't seem like a dying sport when I was trying to get a lane last week.

Zing!

I have many thoughts on this, so hang with me here... Personally, I reject the notion that bowling is "dying" in several ways. I'll spare you most of them here, but to say I'm aware of the situation I believe you're referencing here and have been for some time is actually a bit of an understatement. Happens my initial contact with the PBA was facilitated by a couple of filmmaker friends that made a terrific little doc a while back called 'A League of Ordinary Gentlemen' that covers this topic very well.

Think about a plant, one that started small and grew over time to be very very big. As the plant grew, you'd buy bigger and bigger pots for that plant to expand into. To live and thrive. Then, over time, to no fault of the plant's... that huge container it ended up in started to break. It'd had a great run. But it was time to start shifting the plant back down to a more medium sized pot that made more sense. After a little trial and error, you'll eventually find the pot that the plant fits in just right. The perfect size to fit the plant and help it live it's healthiest most fruitful life. And over time, you may have to change the pot again. Maybe bigger again, maybe smaller. Who knows? But with your love, that plant can live as long as it's given the care and right size place to do its thing.

Yes, it's an imperfect metaphor but I think that's bowling. It's not gonna die, the audience interest and the support will always be there from those that truly love it. That size and fervor of the global appetite for it will shift over time, but it'll never go away.

In large part, this is actually one of the big themes I carried with me throughout the making of the movie: finding that right place in the world, where you fit. Does Cassie really need to do what she thinks the whole world, and especially her deceased father wants her to do and get married before she turns 30? This even helped me realize why Louisville was the perfect place to shoot the movie (besides my obvious bias having grown up there). It's an amazing town, and I love it dearly. But as long as I've been alive, it's had an identity crisis: does it want to be a bigger city than it is? Is it too big for itself already? All the while, it's perfect just the way it is. Will that stop the efforts of many to try and make it "The Next [Insert Latest Cool Big Town Here]"...? Absolutely not. Several other characters and decisions throughout the movie rest solidly within this overall idea, but I'll leave it at that for now.

Bowling isn't dying. Sure bowling ain't what it once was, but that's just fine.

Bowling's gonna be just fine.

Why didn't you make the main character speak more movies quotes?

Haha I love this! Trust me, if I'd completely had my way from day one the whole movie would be wall-to-wall movie quotes.

Do you watch you professional bowling on TV?

Oh I love it, so much. Every chance I get I'm watching, and I love to attend live when I can.

How often do you go bowling?

I've been in a regular Tuesday night league here in Brooklyn for I think around 8-9 years now? That plus a few practice trips here and there.

How many times does your name appear in the credits?

That is a wonderful question that I somehow don't have an exact answer for. Too many?

Who did the art for the movie poster?

Yes! The incredible, one and only Bill Green is a good friend that does all of the posters for the various Lebowski Fests and honored us with the original and key poster art for the movie (billgreenstudios.com). If you've also seen the Star Wars inspired alternate poster art, that was done by a crazy talented fella by the name of Ryan McGrath (ryanjamesmcgrath.com). Go buy all of their things!

How much of it was filmed on a set? How much on location?

All on location! You think we could afford built sets?? Oh man, I wish...

Do you plan on answering more questions?

I will go to sleep eventually but I'll be happy to wake up and answer more!

Be honest, are you trying to get people to watch your film by piggy backing on the publicity of the M Night movie?

I'm happy when anyone finds our movie, no matter how it happens!

What are your favorite subreddits?

Oh boy, let's see... r/bowling r/comics r/dogberg r/filmmakers r/historyporn r/italiangreyhounds (we have one, she's the best) r/kentucky r/louisville r/obscuremedia r/orcas r/screenwriting r/squaredcircle

Have you thought about making a film around other other sports themed RomComs like: Tennis, Golf, Cycling, Running, Rock climbing, Kayaking/Canoeing, Disc Golf, E-Sports?

Well let's take your list one-by-one: - tennis: friends did this, it's called 2nd Serve - check it out! - golf: I went golfing once and hit the ball backwards, not my thing... but mini-golf? there's an idea! - cycling: this could be a lot of fun, but also not 100% my thing - running: legit had this idea, my wife runs a lot and that whole subculture is hilarious and fascinating! - rock climbing: terrifying, makes the indoor kid in me curl into a ball - kayaking/canoeing: see above, but I do love sea kayaking - disc golf: could be perfect for an indie comedy, hmmm - e-Sports: again, not my thing but could be a solid movie for sure!

Things not on your list that I have considered for story ideas: kickball, dodgeball, wrestling (both "pro" and college/Olympic), skeeball, and my friends' Big Buck Hunter league

Were you the writer of the screenplay, director, producer, or all 3?

All 3, but I had a number of helpers with the last part

What is the best subreddit besides r/movies to discuss movies? What are the best non Reddit sites to discuss movies since imdb.com shut down their message boards two months ago?

Depending on what you're into and what portion of the business you're most interested in, I have several: r/filmmakers is good for overall discussion and questions, r/indiefilm is also good for those things as well as general peer review/feedback, if you're a writer then r/screenwriting is pretty great, and if you're that rare person who really wants to be on the UPM/line producing/money and budget person track (you're so valuable, smart move! it's like playing the tuba instead of a more popular instrument so you have an easier time getting into college on scholarship!) you should definitely be paying attention to r/filmtvbudgeting

As for non Reddit sites, I'm a big fan of both indieWIRE and No Film School but there's tons of others as well. Lots and lots of great podcasts out there as well that you should be listening to if you're not, too many to list here honestly. I'm going to be on a few coming up here soon if you wanna follow our movie on social (facebook.com/SPLITtheMovie and twitter.com/SPLITtheMovie)

Best beer to drink while bowling? Best snack from the snack bar from the bowling alley snack bar?

I'm a craft beer guy most of the time, but when I'm bowling I like a nice Miller High Life given the option. It is the Champagne of Beers. Snack bar fave is Andy Capp's Hot Fries. I do not know why.

What is the subject of your next project?

My most immediate next project is a documentary that I'm producing with a friend about Moby-Dick and it's fans. From there, I'm working on a horror comedy script. Stay tuned on both!

When do you start your next project?

Hard to say really, but I'm writing the script now so in some ways... I've already started?

Roughly what is your Advertsing and marketing budget for the film? How all do you plan to spread the word About the movie? Facebook, Instagram, twitter, YouTube previews, world of mouth, viral marketing, guerrila marketing, printed ads placed next or on bulletin boards..?

We've been in the thick of this for a bit, so I'll take your list one-by-one. The answer to your initial question is: roughly not enough. But, we managed to scrape together a good amount prior to release time to engage a great publicity and marketing team for just a few weeks to help us get our ducks in a row. Facebook: yes, we've been all over this one for years (like us! facebook.com/SPLITtheMovie), Instagram: thought about this one but never had the bandwidth available on our team to really do it right so we didn't go down that path, Twitter: all over it (follow us! twitter.com/SPLITtheMovie), YouTube previews: little too pricey for us but hope to do things like this with the next one, Word of Mouth: I sure hope so(!), Viral Marketing: not exactly a tangible thing but we've tried our best to create good content with that potential sure, Guerrila Marketing: I'm not even entirely sure what that means so I'm guessing probably no, Printed Ads Placed Next To or On Bulletin Boards: nah. Most of our marketing has been via social and shout outs from fans of the movie as well as the connected cast/crew and organizations. We did a few hundred postcard/flyers that went into each registration bag at last year's BowlExpo as well. We've been all over the place, trying to spread the word best we can on a very limited budget.

How many people do you think watched both your SPLIT and M. Night's version of SPLIT?

I hope a lot! Realistically though, I think the two genres are so different that we're serving pretty separate audiences. Fingers crossed the crossover has been significant, but I'm not sure if that's a measurable metric for us.

Where did you go to college to learn about the how to's in the industry?

Tricky question to answer and you'll get why in a second: I went to Northern Kentucky University, just across the river from Cincinnati. I was a Radio/TV major with a minor in Theatre though, as there was no proper Film program. What I did to make up for that, was just make the best of it and take all of the film/movie-oriented classes that were available, read as many film production and film studies books as I could outside of my class time, then jumped right into working on local productions when I graduated. The how to's really didn't start revealing themselves until I was working on set.

What type of music is in the sound track?

Not sure I can nail down an exact "type" of music for you, but it's all great! Most of our soundtrack tunes came from a producer friend's record label (sonaBLAST! records) on the house, it was a real lifesaver for the project. The few other songs not from his records came to me via friends in some way. Score music is by the great Nathaniel Blume

How was the food from Catering?

Delightful! The days we could afford to have it anyway. Other days it was friends of the movie just cooking huge meals for us from scratch, which honestly was even better. We had some amazing people come through for us big time on this, and I am forever in their debt :-)

Why didn't you make a thriller movie about a guy with split personalities?

Wait, maybe I did... What day is this? Where am I?

Or a cereal killer who goes bowling often?

Like maybe The Dude just going full cold-blooded on Toucan Sam? Hmm, this idea may have some potential.

Have you thought about making your next film in Georgia? The costs of lodging and other services are low in a bunch of cities outside of Atlanta and there are many studios in and around Atlanta to use for indoor scenes. Plus there is a rebate. I recommend outside of Atlanta like Macon or Savannah and town on the coast. Avoid the summer filming if you have to film alot outdoors.

Certainly I have plenty of friends that are working in Georgia and quite enjoying it, some of them have even moved there recently from New Orleans. We're always on the look out for the right place to shoot a project, both from a financial perspective and (most importantly) from a visual and story setting perspective. So many states have put terrific incentive packages through recently (both Kentucky and Ohio are just as good as Georgia now financially speaking, and even better in a number of ways actually!), but GA is definitely pretty much always in the conversation for sure.

Who are your favorite producers? Who are your favorite directors?

Favorite producers is tricky, as I'm just going to name you off a list of all of the great people I've had an opportunity to work with directly. Directors is kind of the same, but I certainly have my go-to list that I'll check out just about any project they do and have for years: the Coens for sure, honestly still Kevin Smith (back off, haters), plenty of others as well but those are the ones that jump to mind.

How many takes did you need to film the exact strike or split of the pins?

Oh boy, so many takes of bowling balls of various colors hitting different sets of pins in different locations from different angles and distances. Just. So. Many. Funny enough, the 7-10 from the opening we ended up having to just tape those two pins down and cycle the setter eventually. No one could just leave that, after hours and hours of trying. The final/winning strike we actually had a couple of decent versions of by the time we got to shooting that scene, but the one we ended up using is just too perfect with the way that one pin just kinda topples slowly.

Not the same guy that did the Split movie from the late 80's?

Negative... but now I have to look that one up.

Why did it take almost 4 years to release it?

You hear people say it, over and over, but really no truer words have ever been spoken maybe than this: "Good, Fast, Cheap. Pick two." We didn't have a lot of money so our two sort of picked themselves. Also lots of folks in key positions for us were working for nothing or next to nothing, so when they had to pause for a while to go do better paid work, we would focus on something else in the meantime - never stalling out entirely, always moving forward but it was never at the pace you would otherwise expect if you were paying everyone regular working rates. Favors mean you get what you can at the pace your incredible friends can offer, and you're immensely appreciative of it. Also, the folks we were paying closer to normal rates for the various bits of post work were never at top/usual rates because they were terrific companies or professionals helping out a little indie because they loved the project and us. So, if we were in the middle of something and a huge Sundance movie was ready to pay top dollar to make a deadline? We happily went to the back burner for a bit. Also after principal photography, there were a few pickups and inserts we needed to grab along the way that didn't reveal themselves as truly needed until we were deep in the edit. That took a bit of schedule juggling to wrangle, in addition to some ADR looping to be scheduled in different cities over the course of a few months... Short answer: post, man. It just takes a while. Especially when you have to do it on the cheap.

Were there any live in animals in the movie?

Nope, although I do love a random animal reaction shot/cutaway for punching up comedic moments. Alas, we didn't have enough money for hiring professional animal wranglers and I'd never just wing it.

How many takes were cut due to something funny and unexpected?

So many, during the credit scroll at the end we have a decent little compilation of some of the funnier/select bloopers but we were all having so much fun it was almost constant.

What special effects were used?

No real special FX at all, we were a pretty simple little operation on this one. There are a number of great visual/digital effects throughout though, done by my buddy Chris Dye. All of the various screens you see in the movie are him, including the score screens in the final tournament. Also he was responsible for all the drugged up shots.

When and where was the premiere?

We were the closing night event for the movie fest portion of Louisville's incredible Idea Festival. It's called IF Film, and we got a good chunk of the cast to come in for it and invited all of our crew and extras, such a fun little red carpet time celebrating it all together.

What is your favorite movie time snacks and drinks?

I've recently gotten onto the popcorn/Snocaps mixture bandwagon. Which I'm guessing means I'm living on borrowed time now, but it's just so delicious. Drink-wise the wife and I always go with a half Diet Coke and half Cherry Coke mixture.

What are some cool props that you used in the movie?

Storm and Ebonite both hooked us up with some amazing product placement for the movie, but I'd have to say my favorite were the scented bowling balls. Yep... you read that correctly, Storm sent us a bunch of scented balls. My favorites were citrus and butterscotch.

How do you get the budget for a movie? Is it like getting a loan at the bank?

You can get money for a movie that way, but it's much more complicated than it sounds and we didn't choose to go that route. For us it was basically like setting up a small business, and selling 20 little pieces of that business to interested investors. Some people bought 3 or 4, others bought a half of one. That's also really oversimplifying the process, but basically that's it. Lots of paperwork and rules apply, but that's the short version. Find out how much you need, break that number into smaller pieces, sell those pieces and promise to pay them back plus some when the time comes before the producers' side starts making any profit.

How did you cast actors and actresses for the movie?

I had a great casting agent friend in NYC (Rori!) that helped us find some outstanding options, along with the help of a terrific local agency in Kentucky called Heyman Talent. Rori had helped us cast the initial short as well, so she was a huge help already knowing the basic story and what I had in mind before we even stepped foot into feature prep

Did you try your best not to use cliche' lines and story arcs that most RomComs use?

Yes, for sure, to a degree. Yet, part of what's great about the romcom genre is that it's something like comfort food in its predictability and standard formula points. So I knew we needed to adhere to certain things, otherwise we wouldn't even be a romantic comedy technically at all. What I did try and do at every chance we had though was take the cliche tropes and lines etc. and turn them just a little, making ours the same but just different and unique enough to be our own spin

What gave you inspiration for the film or was it all of your own imagination?

Mostly my own imagination, but really a collection of a whole lot of things. I grew up around bowling, my parents have been going to various weekly leagues my whole life and it really became its own little world for me. We also watched the pros on TV, so it sort of just made sense to do something centered around the sport when it came time to make my first movie. I wanted to make a romantic comedy that took place in the world of bowling, that I knew. The initial idea was to write a story about a girl who couldn't date/wasn't attracted to anyone that wasn't a good bowler, then things just rolled on from there.

So you are esentially a bowling family

Oh yeah, 100% we are. I teared up when I watched my mom finally meet Pete Weber for the first time in her life.

Do you have any directorial advice?

Surround yourself with a lot of people that you get along with really well and also just happen to be the best at what they do. They'll become your support system and you'll all just thrive on making each other look good!

How did you keep set control on a small-indie film?

Just keep your cool and stay honest, things will get crazy from time to time but if you've picked your cast and crew well it'll all just be fun stories by the end.

Leaving aside actual creative choices, what's one lesson you learned from this process that would be helpful to a guy or girl like you who is making their own SPLIT?

FINISH. So many things will come along throughout the process that will make it seem like everything is working against you, but if there's one lesson I learned not only by going through it myself but from listening to all of the incredible advice I received from so many supporters along the way, no matter what: maintain your vision and finish your movie. Tell your story, get it out into the world.

Who is your Daddy and what does he do?

Ah haha IT'S NOT A TUMA! But really my dad is a retired GE assembly plant worker down in Kentucky, he enjoys long walks and westerns

Hi there! How would you describe the situation for independent filmmakers nowadays? And last, What advice would you give to somene who wants to make a movie with little resources?

Hello! That is a pretty big question, but I'd have to say the situation is nothing but positive for independent filmmakers these days. The technology has advanced to a point where there's really no excuse to not get out there and tell your story. Also, the world is consuming content in so many different ways at such a dizzying rate there's no reason not to! That said though, everything I mentioned is as much a blessing as a curse. Because the technology has become so accessible, there are countless independent projects hitting the market place every single day. To really stand out these days, you have to do something truly special: either something no one's seen before or something we've all seen a million times but executed exceptionally, and even better if it's in a unique new way.

Cake or pie?

Depends on the occasion. Birthday? Cake. Derby? Pie.

I was just checking out your IMDB, and it looks like you really put in your dues. Any good stories from your PA days that you can share? Synecdoche, New York is one of my favorite films of all time, awesome that you got to be a part of it!

Oh yeah, it's been a great ride for sure. I've been very fortunate. Wow, do I have stories... It's honestly so many at this point it's tough to know where to start. The most timely is one about Michael Ballhaus I suppose that I just shared via Facebook last week. There's also the time I shared nachos with Will Ferrell, almost knocked Martin Scorsese over with a bathroom door, held an Oscar to settle a discussion about their weight my first day at an office, drinking beers in Nashville with Cameron Crowe and one of my favorite bands... So many great memories, and honestly of course a few not so great. But let's see: Synecdoche? People react most strongly so consistently to two movies that I've worked on: August Rush and Synecdoche NY. My best story from that one I suppose is the time PSH walked right in front of my mom while she was waiting for me to get off work and show her around NYC for the first time. We got outside and she asked, "So do you ever get to see any famous people?" I said sure, one walked inches in front of your face not half an hour ago. SHE PROCEEDED TO LOSE HER MIND then asked why didn't you tell me?? I of course returned with, "Well, this." Phil was a hell of a guy, and Charlie is just a genius the likes of which I've maybe not been around since. Truly a great one to be a part of. Thanks for reminding me :-)

Wait... Did this movie feature a Haggard old lady masturbating furiously (and graphically) during a performance exhibition?

Woo boy... no. WAIT THOUGH: does that happen in the mysterious other 'Split' that came out in 2016? I've heard it's out there

Woo boy... no. WAIT THOUGH: does that happen in the mysterious other 'Split' that came out in 2016? I've heard it's out there