HardLore - Jeremy Saulnier (Writer & Director of Green Room)

Episode Date: July 25, 2024

HardLore was joined for our first ever interview with a filmmaker by GREEN ROOM writer and director Jeremy Saulnier, who many don't know is a Virginia/DC hardcore OG. As the now cult classic film approaches its historic 10th anniversary, we moderated a Q&A at a sold out screening of the 2015 punk horror phenomenon at Brain Dead Studios. So much of this movie is crafted out of personal experiences, whether they were Jeremy's, or fellow hardcore musicians and show-goers he grew up with. HardLore is now on Patreon! Join now to watch every single weekly episode early and ad-free, alongside exclusive monthly episodes: https://patreon.com/hardlorepod HardLore Official Website/HardLore Records store: https://hardlorepod.com Join the HARDLORE DISCORD: https://discord.gg/jA9rppggef Get 15% off MADD VINTAGE with code HARDLORE15! https://MaddVintage.com Get 20% OFF @manscaped + Free Shipping with promo code HARDLORE at MANSCAPED.com! #ad #manscapedpod FOLLOW HARDLORE: INSTAGRAM | https://www.instagram.com/hardlorepod/ TWITTER | https://twitter.com/hardlorepod SPOTIFY | https://spoti.fi/3J1GIrp APPLE | https://apple.co/3IKBss2 FOLLOW COLIN: INSTAGRAM | https://www.instagram.com/colinyovng/ TWITTER | https://www.twitter.com/ColinYovng FOLLOW BO: INSTAGRAM | https://www.instagram.com/bosxe/ TWITTER | https://www.twitter.com/bosxe Check out our merch at https://knotfest.com/store/?view=hardlore Find all of our videos at https://knot1.co/3vWXsbx   HardLore: A Knotfest Series, Fueled by Monster Energy Edited by Steven Grise • Title sequence by Nicholas Marzluf Join the HARDLORE PATREON to watch every single weekly episode early and ad-free, alongside exclusive monthly episodes. Join the HARDLORE DISCORD for community discussions and to participate in our future Q&A episodes. FOLLOW HARDLORE: INSTAGRAM, TWITTER, SPOTIFY, APPLE FOLLOW COLIN: INSTAGRAM FOLLOW BO: INSTAGRAM, TWITTER   For sponsorship opportunities, email us! [e-mail] Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Subscribe to the all-new hardlore Patreon now for early ad-free access to every episode and an exclusive episode every month. Are you giving Patrick Stewart? Sir Patrick. Sir Patrick Stewart. Like a racist bangers playlist to like to get in a character? No. So, but he went deep. I don't know how he totally prepped, but...

Did he get to the second screwdriver record? I had Hey, thank you chick Thank you so much Real stars coming So how incredible was that Who's hungry

Yeah, starve Want a little arm Hungry for a little arm Okay, so now we've got the bright light when it's dark That's awesome The moment you've all been waiting for Please everyone welcome

Writer, Director, Jeremy Sonia. Excellent. Thank you. Welcome, Jeremy. We, you know, first things first, congrats on a legitimate classic film, truly.

Well, thank you. Certified classic. Please give it up for Greenwood. Is there paperwork for that, or how do I... It's in the mail, yeah. Yeah, 100%. Check in my pocket.

Who knows if in our lifetime again we will ever get a story with unlikely heroes and minor threat shirts, you know? It's not in my lifetime. It's perhaps at first the most accurate portrayal of a DIY punk band on the road. Is that something you took from firsthand experience in your band No Turn on Fred? Oh! I usually don't tell the N-T-O-R-F. We say N-T-O-F.

Oh, that's way cool. He got the dirt sheet on it. And it was a tough font, so we would fool people. No, we are goofballs. But the filmmaking posse that I grew up with sort of, I guess, making videos and zombie flicks and whatnot, we're also into punk and hardcore and metal and whatnot. So I was more in a local band. I was a yeller in a hardcore band for sure.

It was some of the best years of my life. The physicalities, the sort of camaraderie, I needed it in my life. And it defined me in many ways, but my friends were talented musicians. I just screamed. And I was along for the ride. They wrote the music. In many ways, I'm like Pat. I felt like a bit of a poser.

they dig in the crates and I'd be like, what did y'all get? But I definitely lived it, you know, going to a lot of shows in D.C. But the road stories are me going back and interviewing my pals. I mean, they really did fall asleep in North Carolina coming back from a tour and ended up in a cornfield. Who gave you the fart moment? Because I could tell that one's real. Well, that's, you know, that's everybody. True.

I personally live the fart moment. Oh, good. Daily. The paintball anecdote also seems so specific. Is there a Rick Silva in your life that just fucked a bunch of people up someday? The what? The paintball anecdote that he shares. Yeah, that was all real.

Okay. Really? Absolutely. Rick Spears, my buddy, filmmaker, too. He was the guy. It was my bachelor party. Oh, wow. Yeah.

Congrat Mazel, by the way. And it was fucking real. And it defined how, like, you know, you're writing, you're like, how do we do this? How do we attack these badasses, machetes, weapons? And I remember, like, it happened. I've seen it. It was, we were just like getting obliterated in the Catskills in New York. And we, you know, didn't have quite enough for our own game.

So they were like, oh, we'll just, you know, do a pickup game. And then in walks these fucking Marines and fatigues. And clearly. Slow motion. Yeah. Fucking 120 frames. And we were doomed. And I was sitting there trying to play a real war, like, just hunkered down.

Like, trying to get them. And it's like, every time. And then fucking Rick in jean shorts. Just like, wha! And he gets up and just fucking to do, do, do, do. And takes him all out. that's the key of the movie. And what was his last name he said?

Spears. How does he spell that? Do you know? I swear it's relevant. I believe it's like a spear? S-P-E-A-R-S? Captain Spears of Easy Company Band of Brothers Charged in

and did that in the Battle of Bastogne. So that's a cool. And that was real guy. Professor Bo has arrived. Yeah, no, that was also a reference. No, I knew that. Spelled a little differently. But still, did you imagine

while writing and directing this movie, hardcore punk musicians and or podcasters, nitpicking the beginning part where they're on tour and talking chromags and DMS. Oh, fuck yeah. I mean, I also interviewed buddies. I mean, the brilliant line,

my buddy Jesse, who's in a metal band, do I get Ozzy and Dio? That's real. I nodded my head without even real. I was like, yeah. He would. He would. He would.

I was like, Dio, and I was like, let me listen, because I thought he was fucking horrible. Like I said, you age into it.

Yeah, yeah. Because it's fucking Ozzy, Ozzy, fuck that shit. And then it's kind of like... The humanizer is harder than paranoid. You know? Am I wrong? Harder.

Harder. Harder. I can't go there. But anyways, I stole shit from all my friends to make this movie. So this is all an aggregate of like true stories from your youth essentially. Absolutely.

That's awesome. And the funny thing is it's a very sort of 90s story and I had to contemporize it. Yeah, right. Because I just, I didn't want to do a, I didn't, I couldn't afford to do a period. Plus like 2015 to 1995. It's not, it's not cool. use the aesthetic. And initially when I submitted this to a couple of financiers

and they're like, what is this some kind of 80s throwback thing? Punks versus skins. And I was like, just you wait. I've been researching on the internet. They're coming back. It's happening somewhere in Middle America right now. Yeah. Which sucks.

Absolutely. A lot of times movies that have to do with music can be really frustrating to watch as people who play music. Was there like, I don't know, was there somebody on set around who were like, no, no, you wouldn't hold your fucking guitar like that. You would do it like this.

You wouldn't, I don't know. Absolutely. Really. You know, lots of friends are still making music. And we had some great buddies based in Portland, Oregon, where we shot it. You know, friends called friends. And it's like, you definitely need consultants.

Because most of the band members had not played before. And it was like rule number one. Because a film like this will certainly be scrutinized by legit musicians, and we have to do justice to like the band on the road story. And so we did, you know, our own little boot camp with musicians. We re-recorded songs from my youth that my friends had written. And half the songs that they perform, aside from, of course, D.K., were songs.

that I knew from the 90s that my friends wrote. It was really fun to kind of, to use them and see them on screen. But just for the sake of continuity, instead of going to old demos, we just had a band re-record them all. The actors were along for the ride, watching, and they had about, I think, a week, about two weeks to just do a hardcore workshop

and just get it together. Joel on drums had never even touched drums. I read that. He learned to play drums. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. And I said it before, like, what's so cool is by the rap party, they played a live show. Wow, that's incredible.

Yeah. Anton being the exception to that, perhaps, perhaps. A true San Fernando Valley legend, rest of the piece. Fuck yeah. Grew up playing punk music with people that we know. Was that a thing that came up when casting him or just when shooting the shit? On set? No, it certainly came up.

I just think it helped him land the role. Yeah. Because I'm a little bit guarded with like Hollywood types. And he's, he was a well-known actor and he was seeking out the role. I'm like, well, that's a good sign. That's cool. He's into to win it. And then I think after our first Zoom was like, oh, he's the guy.

But he mentioned that he was in a band. He showed me some videos. wonderfully pathetic live performances. That's what you want. So the Mexican restaurant scene, I live that. Yeah, it was fucking surreal. So great. My favorite show ever.

We've done that. In Atlanta, yeah. And they're doing takeout orders right in front of you and don't give the shit. You're just like, it's good. Six bucks was, you know, maybe a little high. Yeah, I got to say the opening band at the Nazi compound getting three.

Dude, cow catcher is unbelievable. Yeah, yeah. That's the, I'm the headline. to say it. Cowcatcher is hard as shit. It's a good bit. So I'm sorry. True.

Hey man, you know, ideology aside, there's a lot of the music. Just got to work on the main bit. Even some slayer shit, I'm like, but, you know, fucking banks. The Aint rights also have to be incredible for Nazis

to be moshing second song after the, after the song that says, they're like, wow, these guys are talking shit about us. The next one's pretty good. It's a good band. If you can get it done, you know, then... But that was like a key sequence. Just like, and that's what I knew from the scene,

is that it's just... It's about the music. And I would be at shows in Washington, D.C. Luckily there, you know, the Nazi contingent did not have the majority so they couldn't take... Because there's lots of horror stories, like down in Delaware or whatever. I was in Delmarva era.

and it got horrible, but it was just a very odd scene. It wasn't, like, fully peaceful, but you had, like, sharp skinheads, you had Nazi skinheads. You had, like, Krishna core. You'd fuck every kind of core there was. You have lettermen jackets and shit. Krishna motherfuckers stab people, okay? Don't get it to me. Yeah.

Was that a choice you made it so as not to maybe confuse a layman watching that to not have, like, traditional skinheads or, you know, sharp skinheads or anything like that. Oh, yeah, because this is like that deep remote, like this is the home team only wouldn't have. Ultra left was very good. Yeah. The fucking, we premiered this in France and the French loat that joke. And I got, I got shit about it, you know, on the internet, but I don't care. You go far enough left.

You're right. They self-identifies, you know, white national socialist. And that was just a little inside joke. it wasn't anything about what I think is socialist. It's just like a thing. And if you know, you know. Absolutely. Several characters are, at least one,

confirmed to be based off of real D.C. and Virginia punks, namely Tad. Tad is a real guy. Tad seems to be a frail bastard in this movie. No offense to the gentleman that played Tad, who is here. Tad will whoop your ass in real life. That's a real guy. thing. I guess he could

whoop my ass now. But he was younger than me, so back then there's no way. Now? If I... Yeah. Yeah, Tad could beat me up. He's tattooing. You can get tattooed by him. Yeah, jinks proof in D.C. That's right. Yeah. He's legit. Any other punk real guys in there? Well, the funny thing is

through Madison, but Tad, the real Tad, set this shit up. That's how I got this gig. Don't kill me. Because you've got a record. Had anybody not seen this movie before tonight? Did you say Nazi?

Not seen. Wow. I was not. Listen. Who hasn't seen this movie? All right. So there's a few. There's a squeamish part with the knife in the head.

But I feel like the movie, the tone of the movie is really set with the door scene. with like the scene. And you could physically, you could see the rooms squirm at that part. Why did that look so crazy? What did you do? No, it was horrifying.

It was an exhausting situation there. It was, what was that? It's been so long. It was either scene 53 or scene 58. You're sick. But it was infamous. And it was a full, like, you know, I think it was a 16-pillar.

page fucking buildup. And we all knew it was coming and had a sort of lockdown for it. But the intensity of it and the screaming and the crying and just the tension that was created before shit hits the fan took a real toll on everybody. I mean, it's just a, you think, you know, you're an indie filmmaker. I say, do something where it's like just a few people in a room. And that's the way to do it. But the continuity you have to keep is actually a surprise.

Oh, would it be weather? It has to be certain, if it's like a one day situation, it's like a 36-hour time frame here. But the emotional continuity was something I hadn't calculated, and it was rough to watch everyone go through it. Of course, we're all having fun, but I'm sort of sitting back just watching this nightmare I created, and I had to pretend.

And, you know, I could pretend to be sorry in front of the actors. And then, you're like... I mean, the caliber of talent in that room to carry that emotional moment is insane. It isn't... It's all the way it's on their shoulders. It's tough. You know, my previous film was very visual. And I had an amazing actor to sort of...

Give it up her blue room real quick. Yeah. And this was just, like, fucking people talking. And I didn't know how to deal with that. And I had a great DP, Sean Porter. The whole crew was amazing. And we had just let it rip. And when you're doing a round-your-round,

like takes of just eight people in a room, just giving them each two takes, you're on take 16 of this insane, sort of intense interaction. So it was a lot. And Bravo to the entire cast. Did you know that that was a moment when you're... Like, sometimes when you're making a record,

when you're making a song, you know, oh, this is the part. This is the single. This is the single. Did you know? Was that the single of the movie? Yeah, it was time to start fucking stomping, man. And it was because it's an exercise intention building,

like this swirling tension. Even visually, it was all about like shark circling. So we're outside with the skinhead crew, it's always fluid camera. It's always moving. They're talking. And you're always like, what the fuck are they saying? It doesn't matter.

They know what they're saying. You know? And then we get inside the room, it's just like kind of lock off, simple camera work. But we had, I had done enough teasing. And that scene was the whole film hinges on now shit hits the fan and we go.

And it's funny, you mention it as shark circling because I literally thought of how you don't see jaws until like you just see violence, but you don't see the thing. And then that's like the first time in that movie where it's like, oh, they're getting fucked up. Yeah, and Patrick Stewart, you know, it's tough to

have this amazing actor like outside a door. Yeah. But to create that atmosphere, we did put heat on him. We put a lens on him outside the door just so he'd feel that. And the tension between the door, I mean, Anton was miced the whole time. And, you know, when Worm first confronts him and when Patrick Stewart's right there, his heart was just beating so loudly, we used it in the final sound mix. It's all, it's fucking real live stage, you know.

Are you giving Patrick Stewart, Sir Patrick. Sir Patrick Stewart, like a racist bangers playlist to get in the case? To get him in? No. But he went deep.

I don't know how he totally prepped, but... Did he get to the second screwdriver record? I had... I had lots of references. Okay. And both American and British and, you know, he kind of saved the flick came in last minute we couldn't find darcy and all of a sudden he had switched

management companies saying when i was at and he i got a call like how about Patrick stewers i wasn't aiming that high like he probably wouldn't do it um but he just wanted to rock and roll and and he was so adamant about doing this it was amazing but i was so busy with prep and i i don't think things through all the way that's why i I have Macon Blair, who's actually fucking here. Oh, who. Yeah. Yeah.

And correct me if I'm wrong, I'm making, but Macon wrote like a three-page history for me because I was like, dude, I'm doing shot list and shit. Like, I can't do this. So he just, and I think that might have really helped get Patrick Stewart on board. Wow. Very cool. Yeah.

Lore. I never read it. I don't give a fuck. No, just kidding. No, it was amazing. Do you imagine a sequel where the ain't rights get canceled for playing the Nazi place in the first place? Not until just now. Let's talk after.

The one surviving member. Yeah. Like that guy's a fucking scumbaguer for playing in the first place. Total piece of shit. Well, Gabe survives. Macon's character. And maybe he repents. Oh, true.

It seems that way. It's a prison movie. Does it? Oh. You can go many ways. You got made the waist. Just spitball in here. Tad still vacuuming.

Tad is out there. Tattooing now. What you got, Bo? I got all kinds of stuff. I read something about a shot with the machete being a specific callback to London calling, to the Clash record cover. Was that intentional, or is that something?

Not by me. Okay. No, it was, the poster designers were amazing. and for me it was like London calling or is that DRI? Oh, it's DRI could be either

but it was rat I believe the poster team was like yeah fucking Lennon and I was like that's the poster The arm one was where the cuts are the black flag bar That was the Mando special edition

It's my most coveted poster Oh it's funny because I've heard you talk about that several times It's a really good one I've got two. Hey, you win again. I'm sure you're asked your top four movies till you're blue in the face.

So I am more curious about your top four hardcore records of all time. Ooh. We'll edit it so that you look like you knew them so fast. You look so smart. If you're in this room, he did it really fast. You love gut instinct. I know that. Yeah, it's seven inch.

Disturbing the piece. You love Shirtara, I know that. Yeah. Oh, you saw the shirt. I saw the shirt. Yeah. They're fun. I mean, age of quarrel, it's a classic, you know.

You're killing it. You got two. No, I mean, because now it's just like talking heads and soft rock. I'm just kidding. I'm just kidding. I've, it's actually my world is mostly like mixed. and seven inches comps that were dubbed

oh cool you know bad brains yeah gut instinct chromags um minor thread of course uh all the all the shit I put in the movie

I was just very surprised you know DK was my first entry into it I had a QNA last night and I guess I told the story way way back but I had the I had um the Beverly Hills soundtrack.

That was what I was listening to at the time I was eight years old. And I visited a cousin in Colorado and he played me Dead Kennedys and I was like, holy fuck, I don't think I like this. But I think I want to hear it more.

And we put the scotch tape on the Beverly Hills Cop soundtrack and he recorded D.K. for me. and I kept Axel F safe. Yeah, that's a banger.

It wasn't recorded over, so that was the most important thing. I took that back. The Patti LaBelle song is really good, too. Fuck yeah. Banger. And then I was, at the age we had to go to record stores

with your mom to get shit. So I was like, hey, my mom, get me sex, pistols, tapes, and stuff, it was really weird. So I was in like sixth grade, and I remember being ostracized. I was trying at the school picnic play,

you know, never mind the bullocks. And they kicked me out and they kept playing, I forgot, it's Who's Johnny from the short circuit soundtrack? And that's what won. And I was like, fuck all you. So I started hanging out with older people. Do one more and then we'll take it to the audience.

First and last words of the movie are the same thing. Shit. Was that intentional? Wow. A lot of this shit is intentional after the fact. Okay. Like I'll read the script like, oh, shit. I'm a genius.

Where did the siphoning gas thing come from? Did you do that? Did you steal gas? I've tried to remember. Stephen, you cut this. I did a lot. I did a lot. Oh, my daughter's in the audience.

Statutes done. It's over. I did a lot of vandalism. Like a shit ton. Really? And so, but I don't know. I remember tasting gasoline. You probably did it then.

Baby. No, but. But the particular. There's a lot of research in that. That was a lot of YouTube shit. Oh, okay, sure, YouTube. But I was more into breaking into cars. Oh.

And going to... Then you get stuff. That's awesome. Well, I mean, if you're a teenager and you end up with golf clubs, that's like $200. Oh, yeah. So that was amazing. That was breaking into the private school's bus.

That's like $2.10. Yeah, I mean, they're worth like $1,000, but they know where They came from when you go to the pawn shop. His daughters, remember this. You're going to need this information. His clubs? You keep those. I don't go.

Oh. What is next for you? I got a film Rebel Ridge that's coming out real soon. It's finally done. Very excited about it. Awesome. There should be news days, weeks. Who knows?

Yeah. Awesome. Yeah. Breaking. But it's finished. Wow. Congrats. How's that feel?

It feels real good. You're in that period now. We talk about it a lot where the record's done and you're just waiting for people to hear it. Yeah, does that suck? It sucks. Does that suck just being like, you don't even fucking know. No, it's actually, it's fun. Okay.

That potential energy still exists. Yum. Yeah, it's good. Pardon this interruption. We've got to tell you about a few things, Bo, right? Boy, do we. How are you feeling? I feel great.

Me too. What do you attribute that to? I mostly attributed to age you one, and I'll be brutally honest with you. I drink it every morning, no matter what's going on, empty stomach, fill the tank with something good right away. Wow. I just woke up. It's noon in Chicago. I'm back, and I'm about to go have mine as soon as we're done here.

Unbelievable. You know, studies have shown 97% of particular. participants in a study said that they have way more energy drinking AG1 every single day. You need less coffee, less energy drinks, less stuff that is surely eventually going to be found to be bad for you. Yeah, for sure. So drink AG1, which we know now is good. And does all the stuff that you needed to do anyway. That's right.

Your body is desperately begging, screaming, crying for the probiotics, prebiotics, and nutrients that AG1 can provide you with one small scoop. and 16 ounces of cold water. How do they do that, Colin? Athletic greens.com slash hardlore is going to get you five free travel packs. That's on us. You can have those. Don't worry about it. And if you're lacking vitamin D, which you for sure are, you're going to get a free year's supply of vitamin D drops.

How easy is that? Yeah, you'll be good until the next sound of fury because Lord knows we all got enough this weekend. But then winter is right around the corner. You need your vitamin D. You really need it, man, especially in Chicago. Yes. It's scary there in the winter. It's also a manscape time.

Oh, our beloved. When you're melting and it's a thousand degrees outside at sounding fury, something like that, you know, these outdoor fest, these summer fests are scorching. Your balls are screaming. Mine. Mine, they're hoarse. They were yelling so hard. Yeah, exactly. But, you know, we have the cure. We have the throat coat of balls, you know. And it's called the Manscaped Crop Preserver and the Crop Revire. I was just looking at the site yesterday.

They have all kinds of new crop products that I wasn't familiar with. Oh, tell me more. Yeah, I'm interested in checking out. They have a crop moisturizer. They have a crop, like, shaving. serum, if that's what you're into. And a crop, some kind of crop cleanser. Crop cleanser. I love the crop cleanser. I've not tried it.

I use that every morning. Really? Oh, yeah. Hop in the shower, first thing I do. Yeah. Isn't that funny? Be gone. Be gone, funk. Be gone, stank. Yeah. And if you use Code Hardlaw,

you can get any of that 20% off and free shipping. It's something I want to specify, too. Our listeners here who may not have balls. The crop preserver is like a liquid, like a lotion, almost talc. Like a talc vibe. You don't have to have balls. If you chafe?

Yes, exactly. Just put it on your legs. I mean, I know many people who have, I wore it on my legs in Japan when I was walking 20 miles a day. There you go. Never chafed for a second. Exactly my point. Unbelievable. It's also mad vintage time.

Love seeing Luke out there at Santa Fury. he was in the cut. He was, dude. He was, you know, lurking and stalking, just looking at shirts.

Checking people's tags. Researching, studying. And let me tell you, I got this shirt from Luke. Wow. And this is the greatest shirt of all time. I'm wearing it in the other thing, too.

I swear, these were days apart. It's true. No connection. Go to madventures.com right now, and you'll be baffled of what this man has. If you like the show,

you like what he's got. The thing I like about him is he went to Sona Fury as a fan. He's a hardcore kid. Yeah. He also went to get trophies of war. Oh, he went to the Rose Bowl at 6 a.m. as well. Or 5 a.m. or something, which this is the first month I haven't gone. So he copped some heat for me, you know, essentially.

He was doing, there was this bad religion shirt I wanted, and Lana and him messaged me about it at the same time. Whoa. And then they met each other well. Today? At the Rose Bowl. Oh, at the Rose Bowl, sorry. Wow. So they battle each other for it,

not knowing they were both battling each other for me. That is so funny. Amazing. That's what he goes above and beyond. That's the kind of guy he is. And just look at his stock, man. So use code hardlore 15. You're going to get 15% off.

Anything on there. That stuff adds up, man. And you know you're going to find something you want. You're going to be scrolling. You're going to be pissed that you need to buy it. But luckily, Tax on a little extra is on us. Back to the episode.

You want to walk around the room? Yeah, I'll take some questions, I think. I know there's. There's so many. There's so many. So, Bo's coming. So you better get ready. All right, let's, Jesus Christ.

There are a lot. Will you come to me, so I have to crawl all over me? Nice. This is Stephen. He's got a real bright light, but he's going to be filming everything. Oh, this is being video? Yeah. You look beautiful.

I didn't even see the camera. What's your name? Cyrus. What do you got? Each of you can answer, but what's your Desert Island movie? Oh, thank you. Thank you so much. Caddyshack.

So, the answer a month or three ago is no country for old men. However, something happened to me. I took my daughters to see John Carpenter's

the thing at the Egyptian. I hadn't seen that. I've seen it forever on home video. I've seen it. I've seen an old cruddy print from the 80s. But this was the most pristine I've ever seen it on 35 millimeter. And it absolutely blew me away. And I think that's my favorite moviegoing experience in my entire life.

That's my third favorite movie of all time. Third. What's your first? Caddyshack's number one. Catty shack? Who else had a question? Bo, what's yours? The crow.

Nice. Come on over, brother. I feel weird talking movies with a guy who makes movies, you know? The crow is good. Thanks. You're good. What's your name? Quinn.

What do you got, Quinn? Is CCR Pat's Desert Island Man? It just... Oh, shit. Oh, what do you know? So yes and no. There are two correct answers and that is one of them. Yes.

How did you know that? What's the other one? Well, that's the song that plays the credits. Okay. The other one's a secret. Fair. But it has been guessed before on the internet. Just so y'all know.

Google.com. Thank you. That was good. That was a good question. It was a good answer. When the skin bird said Madonna and then Slayer, both you. Oh, we popped hard. Yeah, that's it.

Who else? That's real. I'm coming on down. What's your name, brother? Nathan. Nathan, what do you got? You know, I know you made murder party, amazing. Indy film.

Macon's amazing in that. Thank you. Blue ruin, same thing. So you went from independent actors, your own independent crew, to kind of bigger stuff. Like you said, you got Patrick Stewart. Was it daunting to go from, you know, friends, independent actors to Anton, Patrick Stewart, coal, Imogen poots,

like all those people who were established, like very, you know, blockbuster movies. Was that daunting in any way? The process of making green room was absolutely daunting. I almost,

I think Macon can attest to this. I almost walked off my own set, day three. Just a whole different animal. Like I had so much control over Blue Ruin, and it was such a low-key vibe. Our footprint was very small.

We could move fast, be efficient. and when it rained, you'd say, oh, we'll come back and shoot another day. My wife and I did most of the funding for that, I did some Kickstarter, but we had full control over that. And just being at the mercy of financiers and so many moving parts for green room was tough, but the cast was absolutely the easiest part of that. I mean, it was, so with Anton, Alia, Joe and Callum,

they were all 25, 26. So they were kind of, you know, Anton and Imogen were, they'd been in Fright Night together. I was like, ooh, I can't do that again. It's already been done. But they were just so good, and they both wanted to be in the movie. And that's a huge sort of return on an investment. When someone of that stature wants to be in your little movie, it means it's a big deal. You know the rapport is going to be there.

They're invested from the get-go. But, you know, Callum and Joe, they did self-tapes from the UK. I had no idea who they were. So I was just at this lovely place where you can just choose people based on their chops. And so I just collected amazing people and put them on screen, and they are what got me through the otherwise tumultuous process of making a movie. That's cool. Thank you.

You bet. Come on down. What's your name? Fellow. My name is Presley Peters. My question for everybody would be, what's the most punk thing you think you've done in your life

and how has it influenced where you've gotten to today? Straight edge. That's probably the straight edge thing. Probably being straight edge. That's a good answer. Thank you. Didn't go to college.

That's pretty cool. What do you need that for? There's other stuff, but it's all illegal. So I didn't go to college. I went to NYU film school. Oh, fuck. You know what's weird? And it's not just because I don't have a real answer.

This fucking movie. I mean, because we snuck it in under the wire. I have no clue how this got through the filters. Like this, I didn't pay for the shit. Somebody else did. And the esoteric nonsense that everyone's talking back and forth and fighting for like not giving Imaging Poots an introduction, which is like, yeah, maybe through a windshield of a van.

and she's in like a three-quarter wide shot and we don't give a fuck who she is until she earns her way in the circle. And I think it was just, you know, the financiers came on board and they were excited but they didn't quite know what they were doing. I had no fucking clue what I was doing. And somehow this movie got through

and I think that's extremely rare and I'm very proud of it. And it happens to be sort of a punk movie, but that was probably the most punk thing I've ever done is use momentum for my previous movie to just, you know, pull the wool over people's eyes and get this thing to y'all. I see a familiar face.

I got to go over there. Martine from Whittier has a question. I hate that I'm so obsessed with this, but all the Nazi stuff that was in there looks so legit. Where does it come from? Is someone getting online and ordering it on Amazon? How do you know it looks legit? Take his hat off.

Take his hat off. Take his head off. Yeah, it's just crazy because I've seen this stuff before and it's, it looks very legit. And I'm like, who's the person that has to get that and then hang a swastika on the wall? And, you know, it's just crazy. So I also, I mean, I grew up in the hardcore scene in the 90s, so I saw it my whole, my whole teenagehood.

It's like every show. and I was very particular about costumes and texture and not going too far. You know, it can't all be a bunch of like, you know, hyperboized fashion punk or gutter punk. It's like it's a certain thing. And it was, you know, it's going for the more like Mad Max aesthetic, the military vibe. But that and a shit ton of research just to make sure we nailed it. But, you know, it was set in Oregon for a reason. It's a long history there.

Some, you know, some collaborators I reached out to couldn't do this movie because they've lived it and they've had friends that were hurt. I even had, so the whole thing about playing Nazi punks fuck off, like, that's happened. I didn't know it. But someone's like, I fucking did that. I was like, are you? It would take like 90 minutes to explain that whole story, dude. Yeah. But yeah, so, I mean, I knew the aesthetic,

and I just made sure we delivered. Great job. Great question. Good question, good question. Let's get some women. Yeah, yeah, please, by all me. Would you mind? Hello, what's your name?

Hey, I'm Sacred. Speaking of that cover that they did on the movie, I wanted to ask you guys if there's like a certain message behind the second song they did when, you know, everyone was getting down. But like before, like in the scene where they covered the Dead Kennedys, most of those people were like, you know, booing them and shit. So like was that whole like scene where Worm complements them on their second song, was that like pure comedic relief or was it like a bigger message behind that? Yeah, it speaks to that thing where it's just the music. There can be rivals at a show. There can be a fight that just occurred and was broken up,

and then if the music brings them together, that's what it does. That song in particular is coronary. And it was written by Sam Jones and some buddies in a band called Missionary Position. It banged every single show. Like whatever weird, whack, you know, like half-assed anemic show vibe was happening, when they played that song, it starts very fast. Every time the breakdown occurred every single time, everybody went nuts. And that just struck me and stayed with me. And I wanted to recreate that where there's this little synergistic moment in the slow motion and where all the ideology and affiliation just gets evaporated.

and there's just music and humans and it's this one little moment before it goes real bad the showcase the power of what this shit does to people I really like the duality of that scene that was pretty sick thank you

thank you I think we got time for one more also the idea of this guy sucks but his band's pretty good is pretty common yeah yeah yeah it's the thing sorry and then I have one thing please by all means No, no, I just want to say, like, we have some amazing humanoids in the audience. You know him as Big Justin, but Eric Edelston's in the house.

Yay. Yep. We have Gay, we have Macon Blair, partner and crime. And we have the fictional Tad, David Thompson, everybody. Yeah. Hey, why'd you cast him for Big Justin? Anybody else? We have one more, I think. Yeah, come on down.

Deeggs. Clearly, this is a very tense movie. And it's funny because when I rewatched this movie with my brother a while ago, I had a visceral memory of seeing the actual machete make contact with Anton's arm. But then when it happened, I was like, oh, that was so visceral.

How did you kind of learn where to, for all your movies? kind of like pull back, go full out with visuals, you know, how have you kind of learned your pacing and where you pull back on tension, give the big squirm moment, the big ooh moment. Has that's just been through years and years of practicing? Are there a lot of influences you like pulling to?

Because you're very good at it. Why, thank you. Yeah, shit, there was a lot of stuff. Sorry. So makeup, and what to show, there actually was a little thought behind that. And when I was writing the script, it was very intuitive. I didn't want to know.

I knew where it was going to end up somehow in an abstract way. But what makes it so harrowing for people is because I didn't know where it was going to go, and I just had to play both sides. And when the Nazis win, they win. I would say, well, if I'm here doing this, they'd have to go there. this is an exit, but what are these guys going to do? Like not cover an exit? So, Reese is dead.

He gets out, boom, and it's like, ooh. And I'm writing it, and I'm like, ah, it hurts, it hurts. But I make it so, because I just wanted to use this opportunity to do a film where real shit happens. And by using that as a tool, it would not like to subvert the genre, but just to make everyone feel uncomfortable that in this movie, we're governed by, different set of rules and the reality is that when our beloved characters we want to survive fuck up in any way they are dead or when I write myself into a corner I try to write myself out as as the character but when I fail as a writer they're dead so that adds to us I didn't it's it's a uncharted way to write a script but I think it adds a lot of tension to it and I think one of the

rules and I don't know if it came by pure intention while writing or if I just realized it later is that when someone loses their life in this movie there's a certain amount of like reference to it gratuitous close-ups are reserved for other like if someone's not being harmed or already dead or whatever it is with a few exceptions but I didn't want to get gratuitous when I want people to feel the gravity what's happening. I also like the Gore score. So I got my cake and I ate it too. But with that scene you're talking about, that's inspired by Flash Gordon, the tree stump scene, which was seared into my brain. It's probably my first film going experience. If not, you should check it out if you don't remember it.

But it was supposed to be off screen and the reveal was everything. And that was not just the amazing makeup by Mike Marrault. Reno and his team. But I walk people through this, and it's like you have this disgusting wound, and it looks amazing, and photo real, and it's like, ah, it's gross, but it's not gross. And me and Anton had a session. I was like, grow, like you're too stiff. You can't do that. Like, it's not gross enough.

And I was like, loosen up, loosen up and do this. And by the time he was doing this, I was like, let's roll. And so it's like, it's performance, too, and the way they react. the physicality, I'm very dialed in when it comes to that and how humans like, die. Thank you. I think that's all. That's time? I think so, I believe so.

Well, if that's time, thank you all. Yeah, is any questions for our cast back here? Just like, not to put, you on. Probably so many. It's happening. I've seen it. It's amazing. that's our time. Jeremy, thank you so much

for being here. It was my pleasure. Thank you all so much for coming. To the cast, you guys are incredible. Yeah. Very special movie. We're all lucky. It exists. Apparently we're lucky it got made, right? Indeed. Okay. Yeah. So thanks for making it. Thanks for coming. Thanks for having us. Oh my God. Anytime.

All right. Take care, everybody. Bye. We're going to hover outside. What's first? We, oh, so we're Harlow, we're Colin and both. We do a little hardcore show called Hardcore. We're very excited to be here to moderate this Q&A, but before we are anything, we are fans of movies.

We are fans of going to the movies. And lately that's been hard because people are so terrible. So there's a few things we wanted to say before this movie starts. We come to this place. To shut the fuck out. We come to theaters to laugh, to cry to care. Because we need that. Especially me.

And we go somewhere we've never been before. Even if it's a movie we've mostly all seen before. Dazzling images. On a pretty big screen. Sound that... I can't hear if you don't shut the fuck up. And somehow here, heartbreak? Will not compare to the physical pain you will feel if you use your phone for more than one second.

Humanity. Humanity. Too big movies worse. Enjoy Green Room!