Doug Loves Movies - The Kings of Summer

Episode Date: June 21, 2013

Doug sits down with the cast, director, and cinematographer of "The Kings of Summer" for a Q&A after a showing at the Landmark Theater in L.A.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Doug hates candy wrappers screaming baby sticky seeds with 50 azepop or kernels in his teeth. There's still not one that he won't see, cause Doug loves movies! Hey everybody, my name is Doug and I love movies. This is Doug Loves Movies. As the title of this not-so-mini-mini-ep suggests, on Wednesday, June 19th, 2 Oceans 13, I got to go to the Landmark Theater in Los Angeles and conduct a Q&A with the director, cast, and cinematographer of a little gem that I've already told you about called The Kings of Summer. be soon, like Scottsdale, Arizona, San Diego, San Francisco, New Orleans, Minneapolis, Austin, Milwaukee, and more. And more cities will be added on Friday, and even more cities on July 5th. So go to thekingsofsummermovie.com to see if it's playing near you, and if possible, see the movie before listening to this. There are no major spoilers, but there's lots of little ones.

Enjoy! Hey, everybody! That was Kings of Summer, as you know, and a lot of the people involved in making this movie are here tonight. I'm Doug Benson. For anybody who doesn't know me, I have a podcast called Doug Loves Movies, this movie are here tonight. I'm Doug Benson. For anybody who doesn't know me,

I have a podcast called Doug Loves Movies. And I was fortunate enough to see the movie a few weeks ago and have on two of the guys that I think are here tonight. And we'll bring them out. But first, let's bring out the director of the movie, Jordan Vogt-Roberts is here. Jordan Vogt-Roberts. the director of the movie, Jordan Vogt-Roberts is here. Hey, thank you guys for coming out.

Like I said, you guys are supporting independent cinema and that's a big deal. If you like this movie, please help us spread the word about it. Because with movies this size, one or two people actually makes a big difference. Where are we at for the listeners of the podcast? You obviously don't need to tell these people where they can see it,

but is it still expanding into more cities pretty much each week? We're expanding. Last week we got our ass kicked by a little movie that no one's ever heard of called Man of Steel. So I think that's screwing up our expansion right now. But yeah, we're in like 60 cities right now. You can go to our website and it'll tell you where it's playing.

Kings of summer.com. The Kings of summer movie.com. I love how they always have to stick movie on there because some jerk went and grabbed the Kings of summer. As soon as he heard that was a movie. Actually, the best part about it is people were so nervous about this movie and the fact that there are kids swearing and kids drinking.

And the Kings of Summer is a legitimate corona ad campaign right now. I think if you go to thekingsofsummer.com, it's like a corona party. That's funny, because I think Bellagio's the most interesting man in the world. Oh, there's a thing at the end? There's a tag at the end. There's a scene at the end, and we're missing it? There's a Marvel-esque tag at interesting man in the world. Oh, there's a thing at the end? There's a tag at the end. There's a scene at the end and we're missing it? There's a Marvel-esque tag at the end of the movie. We're setting up the Avengers of Kings of Summer.

It's just more, it's extra footage of Bellagio. Bellagio. Biagio. Biagio. Do you want me to bring these guys out? Yeah, let's bring everybody up here. All right, so we have our wonderful cast here. First, I want to bring out Gabe Basso,

who plays Patrick. Next. Hey, dude. Nice to meet you. The very wonderful Joe Toy, a.k.a. Nick Robinson. And then the very odd creature Good to see you again I've been good

Have a seat, grab a microphone He's just chatting with me over here He's high The very odd creature Biagio Moises Arias Moises actually he won the

movie game we play on the show when he was on he was my favorite question I get all the time is like so Biagio

the kid who plays him is a weirdo right and it's like yeah but in a totally different way yeah he's a thug and then next

Mark Evan Jackson who plays Mr. Kenan. Hey dude, nice to see you. And primarily because I like embarrassing him, a very dear friend of mine and a huge part of this movie, Ross Riggi, the DP. and a huge part of this movie,

Ross Riggi, the DP. So we kind of have a ragtag group of people here. Hey, Ross. Nice to see you. Let me just jot that down. Late edition, Ross Riggi. How do you spell it? R-I-E-G-E. It's very... It's like Riege.

It's like Riege or Riggi. Yeah, I realize I've been pronouncing Your last name wrong forever, I'm so Sorry, like I've been saying Rij That's right, I'm a man of many names It's tough for some 17 year olds To bum us out, so it's okay Where did you, Jordan, where did you

Find Ross or how did that You know, collaboration get going We met like six Seven years ago now at this point. I was looking to, I used to shoot all my own stuff and I'm super hands on and kind of an asshole because of it.

And I didn't want to shoot my own stuff anymore. And he was at the same agency as me and I went to them and I was shooting this short film called Successful Alcoholics and I wanted someone to do it. And I got a bunch of great commercial reels. These guys look fucking incredible. I was like, why would they want to do this?

And they're like, well, these guys make a bunch of money. They want to do something cool. And there was this one reel in the pile that was definitely a little more rough around the edges than Raw, but it was way more exciting and definitely felt hip. And we've just been working together ever since. And he's kind of what saved me in this whole process. So he shot Successful Alcoholics?

Yeah. That's a terrific film as well. It's short. It's like 25 minutes long. 25 minutes. It's a medium. It stars one of the biggest banes of my existence, T.J. Miller. Mine too. Yeah, yeah.

He's a nut. He's kind of Biagio-like, but he's a real person. It's not a tremendous performance by a talented young actor. I don't want to say in a public environment, but to describe him as the Bane, as long as we can just both agree to describe him

as the Banes of our existence, that's great. Yeah, he's, you know, he's troublesome. He's a troublemaker, but hilarious dude. You know he talks shit about me by name in GQ magazine?

That's true. First time I was ever in GQ magazine. My parents pick up a GQ magazine to read and it's this guy talking shit about me for no reason unrelated to what they're talking about. It's great. Really good. I would like to really dig into this, but there's such a big panel here

that they maybe haven't even met T.J. Miller. Oh, man, what a douche. I know. Yeah, he just comes on my show and is one of the top three or four most obnoxious guests, and I have to have him back because the listeners love it. They love how frustrated I get with him. Beautiful.

But let me ask you guys specific questions about the movie, starting with Nick Robinson. Monopoly. It's a big plot point in the movie that you play Monopoly a few times in the story. Had you ever played prior to playing this role? I had, actually. I didn't

actually play it anymore in preparation or anything, but it was certainly a very cool time. I had a good time. It's so high. You're so high right now. No, I'm not. You're high. That scene

was one of the first ones I shot with Nick Offman. He's a machine. He's hilarious. He's a very funny dude. A lot of ruin takes for laughing at... That was rough. We basically set aside that whole day for that scene.

Just because we knew it was an important one. So we had like six or eight hours just to do that Monopoly scene. I mean, the kids in general, I just threw them under the bus. Because you've got Mark and Megan Mullally and Alison Brie and Eugene Cordero and these incredible comedians. And then you've got these guys. And I'm just like, all right, keep a straight face. Yeah, don't laugh at their crazy antics.

But that's like, finally, an intense Monopoly game in a motion picture. Because I've never gotten through a fucking Monopoly game without somebody getting pissed at somebody. Yeah, I mean... It gets personal. It gets personal. If we really wanted to be accurate, I feel like it would be Risk. Just because I don't think I've ever... Yeah, dude, Risk kills.

I've never accepted a game of Risk, being friends with those people. Were there any things like that, any choices in the movie that you had to go a way that you didn't want to go because of the rights or something? Is it hard to... Boston Market was on board, although it was the greatest

story. It's not really the greatest story. It's like a medium story. Yeah, it's a big build-up. Yeah, you really set yourself up for a fall there. This is the shit. At one point in the movie. So cool. At one point in the movie, the guy at the party when he shoots the gun right now, he says, you little shits.

And he used to say, you little cunts. And that's just terribly offensive for no reason. And I love it. And we went to Boston Market. For some reason, CBS went to Boston Market to be like, hey, do you want to sponsor this movie? Do you want to do a tie-in meal or something?

Yeah, in case they start serving rabbit. Right, exactly. And Boston Market, I guess, initially came back and was like, yeah, you know, maybe we could do this. We could do this.

And then they were just like, wait, is the word cunt in your movie? Yeah, no, we can't be involved with this at all. That's just a random random question that's the one word they're concerned about no i think it occurred to them after the fact that they're like oh right i think i heard someone say cunt oh okay but you didn't say we're changing it to shit it's just on their bullet point of like general deal memos at boston markets do you say the word cunt nick also has it does in fact have to...

There's a pretty gnarly section of the movie where he's dealing with preparing a rabbit. And you'd never done that before, right? No, no, I'd never scared a rabbit before. Did you feel very Jennifer Lawrence in that sequence? Because she, of course, did similar shit to a squirrel in that movie. I don't want to drop any other movie names right now. We're concentrating on Kings of Summer

in theaters. You were into it, because I approached him about it. Okay, no, don't say into it. That's creepy. No, you said you were like an Inuit. I was not really excited about the rabbit skinning scene. He told me that he grew up watching a bunch of Bear Grylls and Man vs. Wild.

Yeah, that's true, but I wasn't into it. He was open to the idea when I said to him, I want you to really do this. And his mom was not into that. I don't think to this day his mom has watched it. Yeah, she hasn't seen that scene once. The best thing about it was just that we shot in Ohio, which was great for a lot of reasons, and also when you shoot anywhere, it has its own unique issues.

But the best thing about Ohio for the production was you could just post on Craigslist and be like, does anyone have a dead rabbit? And people are like, I got a dead rabbit. That's so weird. They're looking at Craigslist, but they raise their hand. Yeah, exactly. It's very old-fashioned.

It's more like Craigslist is just a guy with a list of people with rabbits. Yeah, pretty much. Gabriel, can I get you a cold washcloth is the first thing I wanted to ask you. Because that is the funniest thing a parent has ever offered a child and his friend. That is hilarious. Was that like a Megan Mullally riff? No, that's a writer.

My grandma has done this to me all the time, I swear to God. I'm not actually kidding. Can I get you a cold washcloth? Yeah, she gave me a cold washcloth and she fluffs the pillows and puts the cold washcloth? Yeah, she gave me a cold washcloth and she fluffs the pillows and puts the cold washcloth over the pillow.

Wait, you get a cold washcloth in bed? Yeah, that's how it works. You get a cold washcloth and you lay down. Just because someone tells you that's how it works doesn't mean you should go along with this. You've got a lot to learn. They're teenagers, guys.

They don't know. But that's Chris. That's the writer. That's like his weird... That's like Megan Mullally in... First of all, Chris the writer basically is Biagio to a T. They even look similar.

But Chris, for the record, he would never say that. He would never say that. He would never admit that. Yeah, that's a diss to Moises here, though. Whoa. No, I'm sorry. I was kidding.

But Chris is very on the record as saying, like, Megan Mullally is his mother. Like, the dialogue that comes out of her mouth. And we did a lot of improv, and we did a lot of riffing, but that washcloth thing and the whole, like, Will Smith thing, those are all, like, based on real conversations, like, of his mom just not getting it. Yeah, I think

Mark, I think the camera's not even on you at that point, but I think you call Hancock Hemlick or something? Heimlich, yeah. That makes a little bit more sense than Hemlick. But if you,

like you said, Mark plays kind of, he's Megan's husband, and they're just weird parents. I mean, I guess there's a lot of things that are similar to all of our lives with our parents, but they're

a particularly strange couple, I thought. Thank you. In a fun way, yeah. I think that they are a really common couple. I mean, you know, it wasn't hard to tap into very recent seeming memories of my own parents asking me stupid questions like, so you decided to wear the blue shirt,

not the one with the pocket? Like, that's just one of those things. That's a scripted line in the movie, and it's one of those great questions. That's one of the first things that made me fall in love with the script it was like that really tapped into that question that you it instantly transported me to being 15 again to go like what the fuck are you talking like hey why do you care and what like but that's what's so interesting about it to me is it but he you know this you can you develop a rash because of the parrots and but but it's but they're always very uh sweet and uh and silly and like so it's it's interesting that you have that

the uh you're able to make it seem like yeah he would want he'd need to get away from those people you know because like there's more issues with Joe and his dad. Those are more well-defined in terms of why a kid would run away from home. Well, at the end of the day, both kids, I think when you take a step back, you should be so lucky. Joe's problems are a little more intense. They're not really, though. I would take my dad over Patrick's parents

like, during the day of the week. Disagree. That's so hilarious. No, man. They're so nice, though. They are saying a lot of fucked up shit,

though, even though they're being real nice while they're doing it. Those dinner table scenes, too, like the Hancock one, that was like two in the morning,

three in the morning. And he couldn't keep a straight face, i was just trying i was eating that burger was cooked for like 20 seconds in the microwave keep in mind our prop department was like fired immediately after that scene for feeding me that but i was forced feeding myself raw hamburger meat to not laugh i was like i can't do't do this. And you got mad at me. And you're busting up laughing behind camera. I hear all that laughing, and I'm the only one that's trying to keep a straight face.

Yeah. I'm allowed to laugh. Ross, how's it going? I'm great. I just want to make sure you get a question in. Holding down the left side over here. Were there any particular uh you know challenges to uh to shooting the the the woods of ohio absolutely everything yeah

was it difficult very difficult uh we had six day weeks which to begin with is tough and then on the seventh day our director j Jordan asked us to go out again and shoot and we can all speak for that so there was very little rest obviously very worth it but we all in certain ways became our own zombies during this production and managed to function somehow

yeah you were the nicest zombie ever though you were always in the best mood I don't know how you did it it blew my mind Ross is allowed to be in a good mood so I don't have to be I gotta balance out Jordan while watching

next to Biagio's name I wrote down formal dance training Moises how do you do that? Juilliard School of Dance at 3. Quite the prodigy. None of that shit's in the script, either. It doesn't say, and then Biagio dances the weirdest dance you've ever seen?

None of that's in the script. Yeah, what Ross just said, the seventh day, our first day off, Jordan took us three guys, them two and the rider, into the woods. It sounds very creepy, yes. But we just started, you know, banging on the pipe. Also sounds creepy. Yeah, that whole day was improvised. The whole pipe sequence in the movie.

Improvised pipe dance. Yeah, we just went out there. The audio from that scene is recorded on my iPhone. That's just like guerrilla filmmaking. We just went out there. The audio from that scene is recorded on my iPhone. That's just like guerrilla filmmaking. That just happened. The music, or whatever you'd call it, from the pounding on the pipe, was a... Music, music. It's music. It's a repeated

motif throughout the film, but that's not composed by anybody? That's just something the guys riffed? That just happened on our first day off and as soon as it happened, there are so few moments on a set where you actually feel like occasionally you capture something and you're like, this is good, this is exciting, that's going to work, that's going to be okay, we're going to have to

fix it in the edit or whatever. Very rarely do you come across a moment where you're like, oh, that's special, that's fucking magic, that's movie magic and you're watching it. And that was one of those things when we put them on the pipe, that just kind of unfolded. Like I said, it's on my audio. For the listeners of the

podcast, they're standing on a giant pipe. They didn't like put them on a, you know, put them on the pipe. Sounds like you got them to smoke some crack. We put them on the pipe. We got them all hooked on the pipe and just bang out of tune, boys. Put them on the pipe, took them to the woods and just banged.

For the listeners to the podcast, the three boys are smoking crack right now. But yeah, as soon as we shot that, I just started rethinking the entire movie. And I just knew that was something special. And so we started rejiggering it. And I didn't know, there's no violin in the script. I just found out he could do it. Moises is just incredibly talented as a dancer. And it's like, yeah, Biagio, why wouldn't he be able to dance?

But Patrick's foot injury, that was in the script. That's a script. Yeah, yeah. That wasn't one of those deals where, like, he showed up on the set with a fucked up foot. And you're like, oh, got to rewrite some pages. Got to change some shit. Got to fix that. Was that weird walking around with that thing on?

It was miserable. To be completely honest, like, I have this guy telling me to do everything, you know, Moises and Nick are doing, except in a boot. And so he was like, sprint down the field. And I was like, I'm in a boot. Yeah, I saw the slow motion running scenes. It's like, that guy really has a

thing on his foot. But he's super competitive is the best part. So he'll be like, yeah, I'm gonna do this and then bitch about it later. So he'll do it. I never bitched about anything. Until right now. Later. I didn't say how much later. It'll happen.

So, Jordan, the title got switched at some point in the process of this movie. And I'm, I'm just curious how that happened. And, uh, it used to be when we permitted Sundance,

it was called toys house. Uh, which on one hand is a title that I loved. On the other hand, no one is used to the possessive form of the word toy. And people would like, literally like out of Sundance, we would have reviews that would come out and it would call it Toys House

and then by the third paragraph they were calling our movie Toy Story. So it's this weird thing where some people love the title, some people... In fact, when Offerman got brought on board, he pitched me a bunch of weird alt titles that were like Pussy Canyon and weird things. Just like weird

Offerman titles. He just shows up. I'm not happy with this title. We're going to have to discuss some options. The Frank Toy Story. Just like weird shit like that. We always knew it was sort of a thing, but

then CBS... Toys in the Attic? Toys in the Attic. It wasn't taken already? Just weird shit. So it wasn't taken already. Just weird shit. So it wasn't like any kind of studio or any kind of pressure. No, no, no. CBS came in later. Oh, okay. I mean, I will say this freely.

I found out about the title change via Deadline Hollywood. Yeah. I don't understand that reaction from the audience, but two or three people are disgusted with Deadline Hollywood. Yeah, so switch the title. They did market testing, and it was this weird thing where they just found that more people would be willing to go to see a movie

called Kings of Summer than Toys House. And not even by that much, by like 10%. But the weird thing was on the exit polling when they were like, alright, now that you've seen the movie, do you feel like Toys House is a better title than Kings of Summer? It was even. They were like, yeah, we feel like they're both fine titles. It is kind of a spoiler that there's going to be a

house. And as it is, I was disappointed they never became royalty. But I did like the fact that no one at any point in the film, because of that sequence of events, no one had the opportunity to have the line yelling out, like, we're the kings of summer and then jump into the lake or something.

Come on back to Toy's house. Pussy Canyon. No, it's Pussy Canyon. Canyon. Canyon. So, yeah, that's an interesting story to me. Or, I mean,

I thought it might be an interesting story and turns out it was amazing. A writer to this day still calls it Toy's house. But there's that moment, I was going to say,

there was that moment where Moises, as Biagio, is standing in the shopping cart with his arms out as if he's about to say, I'm the king of the world. So it is sort of in there, I think. Everyone's nodding in agreement.

I thought he was going to say Pussy Canyon. That's what it looks like he's going to say. That's what I say every time I'm in a shopping cart. Oh, yeah, this is Pussy Canyon. Offerman's notes in general were amazing because they were all these things it was like he'd be like you know um you know a snake wouldn't behave that way like you know it's totally unrealistic that the boyfriend would be wearing a tool belt and driving the truck at the same time no one does that it's like's like, alright dude, you're a man, I'm not. I'm a boy, I get it.

I don't know about these things, like survival things. They were all incredible weird notes. Yeah, he's an intimidating figure. Yeah. Where the hell is he tonight? He's with his loving wife on vacation. Oh, the two of them blowing you off in your hour of need.

Yeah, that's what they do. But I'm thrilled to have all you guys here, and I would like to ask a question before opening it up to any audience questions that are out there that I ask on every episode of my podcast. Nick and Moises have already been through this. But let's start with Ross on the end down there,

crack cinematographer. What have you seen lately? Have you been to the movies lately? I have been to the movies lately. What have you seen lately? Have you been to the movies lately? I have been to the movies lately. What did you see? Man of Steel? This is the End? The most recent movie I saw was This is the End.

Yeah? Did you enjoy that? I don't mean to put you on the spot. Let me just ask you, how was the cinematography in This is the End? I appreciated it. I think it actually, for a comedy, I think we're in a world that comedies aren't giving emphasis to the way they're shot. And I think that they at least looked at that and took that seriously. I think yours and your movie and that movie are probably the two most hilarious movies

that also have lens flares that are playing in theaters this summer. Lots of lens flares. I appreciate lens flares. You could have said good-looking or textured or anything. Well, I don't know if I'd say that. I mean, I'm not sure if I'd say that about the other movie. But yeah, of course the cinematography in this movie is beautiful. You were all about the flares. I love lens flares. Every time there'd be a

sunset, oh, flare! And we'd stop shooting and get the flare. Like through the trees. We did the math. There's actually, if you break it down, there's a flare once per minute in this movie. That can't possibly be true. It's not actually once per minute, but sometimes they happen.

There's 92 flares in the movie we we counted we counted there's 92 that's the only reason i'd go back to see this is the end to do a flare i would have i would have guessed 50 at most if asked i thought i saw it three or four times and that's why i was being so clever bringing it up. 92. 92 times. Yep. That's a fun drinking game. You'd be dead. Next time I see that movie. Mark, what have you been to lately? I think the most recent movie I've seen was To the Wonder. Yeah.

A Terrence Malick movie. Yeah. Did you like that? I did. It was gorgeous. Yeah. It was very spare and lovely. Do you enjoy all of Malick's work?

You know, I will admit that I didn't know much about it until meeting Jordan. And when he found out that I hadn't known that much about Terrence Malick, he put our friendship on hold until I studied up. So yeah, becoming a giant fan. Tree of Life?

Yes. Moises is saying yes to Tree of Life. Yes. Moises is saying yes to Tree of Life. Incredibly trippy. And what have you seen lately, Moises? Have you been to the... Yeah, I saw Man of Steel. Did you like it?

Yeah. I wish I could say it was really, really good, but it was okay. All right. I haven't seen it yet, really good, but it was okay. All right. I haven't seen it yet, but I've heard mixed things, so it's fair assessment.

Yeah. I don't want to trash on it, but it was decent. This kid is slick. Nick, what about you? This is the N2, actually. Oh, they already made that? Oh, my God.

They just screen like shit so fast these days. Yeah, I know. I got a pre-screening. It's really cool. It's just going to blow your mind. And it's twice. It's crazy. It flares like at least 130 times.

Damn it. Hold up. But, no, it was good. I laughed. That was what I came to do was to laugh and I did. I'm here to laugh,

everybody. I'm here to laugh. Make that announcement to the theater. Well, also, the thing about Kings of Summer

that like, you may not get, the trailer's pretty funny but it's consistently funny throughout. Like, it's very, it's,

do you call it a comedy? Or you can't call it a rom-com, obviously. It's not really a rom-com. Even though those boys do fall in love with B.I. Jim. I think you have to call it a comedy. You probably have to then even go another level down and be like, it's a coming-of-age comedy. But I don't think that that

represents what it is. At the beginning, when I prefaced the intro, I was like, it's sort of a really weird movie, and it's not. And I think that there's stuff in this movie that is very weird. That was an interesting thing to put into our heads. It's weird, but it's not. Enjoy. Because it is.

It's quirky, but it's also relatable at the same time. There's also just absurd stuff. I just wanted to make something that was a throwback to Amblin movies and John Hughes movies and then basically make a really dumb Terrence Malick movie, which is to say have impressionistic and ethereal elements and match it up with dick jokes.

Yeah, it's artsier than your typical John Hughes movie. But then I think there's really weird alt comedy in that. All the stuff with Thomas Middleditch and Marilyn Rice Cup is the cops. There's crazy... I think Thomas Middleditch and Marilyn Rice Cubs, the cops, just like fucking, there's crazy. I think Thomas Middleditch studied T.J. Miller before playing that part.

Well, I... He was channeling him or something. Yeah, and Marilyn Rice Cubs is very, very funny. And Kumail and Johnny has a funny scene where he shows up as a delivery guy. I love when he's like, what's that, a pager? Who's got a pager? No, no, no. That dude had a beeper.

Yeah, beeper. That dude had a beeper? Yeah, beeper. That dude had a beeper somewhere? Is that a beeper? That had to be you, right? Biagio had a beeper. Yeah, Biagio had a beeper. Hell no. Of course he did.

I hope everyone listening to this as a podcast watches the movie first. Go see it somewhere and then listen to this. This is a weird time to tell people that. watches the movie first. Like, go see it somewhere and then listen to this. This is a weird time to tell people that. But I hope that's what happens because of what I'm about to say. When Biagio asks

his dad those questions, I like to imagine that Biagio just returned home and the father never noticed he was gone. In my mind, the dad had no idea he was gone. Yeah, and he was just shaving and, oh yes, he just asked me some questions like he does sometimes. It's been

a while. But also, that scene was written in English, and Moises is Colombian, and he made great strides in telling me he was from Colombia about 30 times. And so one day I just put him to the test and was like, alright dude, do the first half of the scene,

do this whole scene in Spanish Spanish except the last line. And it's so weird because that character should be Italian and he's speaking Spanish. And then the last line, but the dad's responding in English. It's like the weirdest thing. It is pretty weird now that you mention it. Yeah, but the dad had no idea he was gone. At all.

Alright. I can live with that assessment. Who do I leave off at? Gabriel, have you been to the movies? Yeah, I saw Man of Steel. It was decent. Whoa. Wow. This is smart. You're getting people to check out your movie.

You know, just talk down every other movie. I'm not saying... RCG is way better. wow this is smart you're getting people to check out your movie like you know just talk down every other movie I'm not saying our CG is way better like the snake CG yeah kills it

you had a real snake running around we had a real snake running around one that actually could hurt somebody no it didn't have fangs and it wasn't venomous

it was a gopher snake it was a gopher snake. It's a gopher snake, apparently. It was a real pain in the ass. Never did anything I wanted it to do. Yeah. Bit the wrong actor. We didn't feed that snake for like two weeks, which is like a normal thing in snake training.

It makes them aggressive. And then he showed up on set and like, what do they call it when they kill the mouse? Thumping it? Oh, yeah. Well, that's what Jungle Terry is. Oh, yeah. So our animal trainer's name was Jungle Terry. And he drove around in a zebra-printed Range Rover. Yeah.

And dressed in various safari regalia. And just yelled at people, welcome to Jurassic Park. Welcome to Jungle Terry. Yeah. Welcome to Jungle Terry. Yeah, it's fucking weird. Yeah, that snake sucked. All right, I think we've run out of time, actually, but let's get... Let's get some audience questions.

Yeah, let's get a couple quick ones, because no one's given me the stop now. I didn't get to answer the movie I saw. Okay, we've been told we have three minutes, so speed round of audience questions. This gentleman right up front here, just yell it out real loud. I was just wondering, I thought the first half... Okay, we don't have time for your critical assessment of the emotion. How did you balance the tone from being hilarious to being really serious throughout the movie? How did you balance the serious and wacky?

If you watch my short film, Successful Alcoholics, it does something similar where it starts off really funny and then gets really dramatic and then ping-pongs back and forth. I'm going to speed through these questions. It's just testing. It's always about making it real and grounded and about something and ideally rooting it in these characters. It takes a lot of testing and revising in the editing process to make sure the audience is willing to go on that path.

Thanks for that question. You're free to go. You serve. After a bunch of testings, was there anything that you were surprised the audience reacted to that you didn't think they would react that way? There's still things when I watch this movie. Do we need to repeat the question? Did you watch the whole thing this time? No. I've seen this movie like 500

times. It's stupid. I hate this movie. Yeah, you do have to see it a lot, but laughs in different places. Yeah, well, there's always things that people laugh at that I'm like, why are you laughing? That's not even a joke. What's going on? The things that I am not only surprised

people laugh at, but really happy people laugh at are a lot of the loose improv things that I really let these guys do and really bring themselves to it. Like before the camouflage scene when Patrick exits the house and is swinging that stick around and hits himself in the foot. That's really him hitting himself in the foot.

That was no joke. So there's a bunch of weird stuff like that. Filmmaking's a fluid process. You never know what people are going to react to. Don, you can go. Let's ask some of the actors. Do you have actor questions? Dude right there? Okay, go.

Yes, sir. Moises, just for the sake of the podcast listeners, I was hoping maybe you could just bust a quick move for us. Oh, yeah. He's saying that for the podcast you should dance because I always like to have things that the listeners just go, what's happening? I just backflipped, yeah. He's saying that for the podcast you should dance because I always like to have things that the listeners just go, what's happening?

I just backflipped, guys. I'm so slick. Use your imagination. I got a tweet from somebody after you were on Douglas Movies, Moises, and the person said, you know, he was on Hannah Montana. Why didn't you ask him about that? And I said, because I bet you he doesn't give a shit about talking about Hannah Montana. He's probably

had enough questions about that. Well, I mean, you just asked it, so let's get into it. Cancel the 10-10 screening. We're going to talk about Hannah Montana for an hour. I was 10. I'm 19. Kings of Summer. Exactly. I had no idea Kings of Summer. Exactly.

I had no idea he was on that show until we were in Ohio at grocery stores and teenage girls would come up to us crying, being like, are you Rico from Hannah? I don't give a shit about that show. I know nothing about that show. But to an entire generation, he's like their Steve Urkel. He was the

comic relief on a show that was huge. But he's clearly escaped from those shack. He was the comic relief on a show that was... Steve Urkel to me is huge. But he's clearly escaped from those shackles and does a great job of, you know, like we're not seeing, what's his name, Jaleel? Jaleel White. Yeah, we're not really seeing a lot of him in movies like this, so good job.

Last question. Well done. One more for... Maybe like a question that everyone could quickly give an answer. Everyone shout it out at the same time. Land trunt. Yeah. Land trunt.

Land trunt. That's a great one. No, that was in the script. That is from the mind of Chris Coletta. That's not a question. Walden. Henry David Thoreau's Walden. Two years in the woods.

It's an influence, certainly. The New Yorker referenced that and thought we were okay. Do you have a few other influences you could mention? I mean, it's sort of what I was talking about earlier. Look, the influences to me at the end of the day are just

goddamn being 14 is the best slash thank God I'm done with that. That was the most painful, terrible, awkward time of my life. But it's what makes you who you are. That's the influence.

Have you guys ever seen Speed, the Keanu Reeves movie? Yeah, that's how I refer to it every time I bring it up. Bad Boys 2, Over the Edge, Kids, Goonies,

Stand By Me, It was like Kids without the AIDS, I thought.onies, Stand By Me, It was like Kids without the AIDS, I thought. No, the AIDS is there. You just missed an important plot point. It's Biagio. It's Biagio. We cut it.

Well, thank you so much to all you guys for doing this. I really appreciate it. Jordan Van Roberts, Nick Robinson, Gabriel. Is it Basso? Basso. Yeah. I didn't want to say it the wrong way. Moises Arias, Mark Evan Jackson,

and Ross Rigi Rigi Go see Kings of Summer Thank you for coming out People listening, it really does make a difference As always, podcast listeners and as always, anyone who doesn't go see Kings of Summer is a shithead is a shithead

Now it's time for Doug to watch another talkie. Eyes of gold, his viewing prowess makes him cocky. There's no room in his heart for you because Doug

loves movies.