'The Travel Companion' Explores Creative Insecurities and Friendship

Summary

Podcast Summary: “The Travel Companion” Explores Creative Insecurities and Friendship

Podcast: All Of It with Alison Stewart (WNYC)
Air Date: April 10, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode features co-directors and writers Alex Malice and Travis Wood, discussing their new independent film, The Travel Companion. The film explores the complicated dynamics of male friendship, creative insecurity, and the tension that arises when romance enters the mix. Drawing from personal experience, the filmmakers reflect on the challenges of transitioning from shorts to their first feature, the practical and emotional hurdles of independent filmmaking, and the subtle nuances of male loneliness.

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Main Topics & Key Insights

1. Genesis of the Film: The “Travel Companion” Perk

• The story’s spark came from Travis’s real-life experience as a "travel companion," someone benefiting from an airline employee's flight perks.
• Travis Wood describes the perk:

  “My buddy works for an airline and he can pick one person that gets free privileges…You can take a flight anywhere on standby for free.” (02:22)

• The plot originates from Travis’s anxiety about losing this perk if his friend, Bruce, fell in love:

  “I was telling [Alex], like, oh, my buddy's got a new girlfriend. I think I might lose it. And he thought that was so funny.” (02:44)

2. Collaborative Creation & Transition from Shorts to Feature

• Alex and Travis, long-time collaborators on short films, found relief in starting a project that felt “fun and easy” after building up features as intimidating.
• Alex Malice:

  “It had this perfect counterpoint. Like, this is a small idea with a lot of big implications. That feels easy. It feels fun.” (03:01)

• Co-writing involved a third collaborator, Weston Auburn, making the process “as easy as possible…sort of this ad hoc writer's room.” (04:48)

3. Directorial Dynamic & Decision-Making

• The directors divided tasks based on who had the most passion for a scene or idea.
• They occasionally disagreed on scope, with Travis pushing for practicality:
  • Travis Wood:

    “I think sometimes my producerial brain can maybe go a little farther than my directing brain...” (05:50)

  • Alex Malice:

    “One thing you pushed for was shooting in an airport…Travis was always the one who would just kind of wink and say, just you watch, we'll figure it out.” (06:14)

• Guerrilla shooting: Alex describes sneaking shots in an airport with minimal crew, highlighting the DIY ethos of indie film. (06:31)

4. Character Dynamics: Simon, Bruce, and Beatrice

• Simon: An insecure filmmaker stuck milking his old thesis film, working a dead-end job shooting taxi cab ads.
  • Alex Malice:

    “He just wants to move forward…when it’s inside your head, it’s perfect…but the moment you start to…shoot it or…make a rough cut, it starts to look bad…Simon...is allowing himself to stay in that potential period because that’s what feels best.” (09:57)

• Bruce: The dependable, stable friend whose airline job provides the flight perk; they’ve possibly outgrown their friendship but are tethered by history.
  • Travis Wood:

    “Bruce is kind of the rock…they’ve kind of outgrown this friendship. Maybe they wouldn’t be friends if they met today...since they met in elementary school, they’re still here.” (12:09)

• Beatrice: An accomplished filmmaker and Bruce’s romantic interest, her presence amplifies Simon’s professional and personal insecurities.
  • Travis Wood:

    “...being that close to someone who is...living out where he wants to be...now she could potentially take the one thing he does have, which is these flight benefits. So it’s like a double whammy.” (17:13)

5. Casting, Performance, and Improv

• Simon is played by Tristan Turner, whose natural performance helped create empathy for a sometimes abrasive character.
  • Alex Malice:

    “We want these scenes, if nothing else, to feel real and lived in. And Tristan was able to deliver that.” (13:40)

• Bruce, played by Anthony Oberbeck, brings improv from his comedy background.
  • Travis Wood:

    “He brought a ton of just good lines to the film…kept everybody on their toes.” (14:20)

• The filmmakers welcomed improv as long as it enhanced the realism and did not disrupt the story structure. (15:02)

6. Themes: Creative Insecurity and Male Friendship

• The story examines how creative ambitions can stall, especially when artists avoid exposing their imperfect, unfinished ideas to the world.
• Male friendship is depicted with realism—supportive yet emotionally reserved, often avoiding honest confrontation.
  • Travis Wood:

    “This film would be over a lot quicker if they just had like one honest conversation at the top. But...with men, sometimes in these friendships...don’t say it, just let it be.” (19:15)

7. Making Movies in New York

• The directors leveraged their personal networks and familiarity with the city for locations, creating an authentic, lived-in backdrop.
  • Alex Malice:

    “We really just wanted to...go the places that felt familiar and places that we had access.” (20:23)

8. Messages & Reflections

• The filmmakers hope viewers recognize parts of themselves in Simon—even if they’re uncomfortable aspects.
  • Travis Wood:

    “A lot of people, they don’t like Simon when they watch the film, but…I hope that they can kind of reflect on their self and their own relationships and find some empathy for this character.” (20:59)

  • Alex Malice:

    “With Simon, ... you’re forced to look at maybe some of the less appetizing parts of yourself.” (21:17)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Travis Wood on the travel companion anxiety:

  “I was telling him, like, oh, my buddy's got a new girlfriend. I think I might lose it.” (02:44)

• Alex Malice (on filmmaking ambition):

  “Felt like this huge, giant thing that I think I maybe subconsciously was always feeling like, oh, it has to be perfect if I'm gonna make a feature film.” (03:01)

• On sneakily shooting in an airport:

  “…I have it on a small tripod. And then finally, I'm sprinting through the airport following [the actor]. And no one even turned. No one blinked an eye.” (06:31)

• On Simon’s creative anxiety:

  “When it’s inside your head, it’s perfect…But the moment you start to put it on the page…it starts to look bad…Simon... is allowing himself to stay in that potential period because that’s what feels best.” (09:57)

• On male communication:
  • Travis Wood:

    “This film would be over a lot quicker if they just had like one honest conversation at the top.” (19:15)

• On audience empathy:

  “You’re forced to look at maybe some of the less appetizing parts of yourself.” (21:17, Alex Malice)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:00 | Introduction to “The Travel Companion” and its premise | | 02:22 | Real-life inspiration for the travel companion plot | | 03:01 | Shifting from shorts to features; handling big creative ambitions | | 04:48 | The co-writing process and dividing creative responsibilities | | 06:31 | Behind the scenes: guerrilla filming in an airport | | 07:51 | Introducing the character Simon and his initial film festival scene | | 09:57 | Simon’s insecurity and fear of creative inadequacy | | 12:09 | Bruce’s stabilizing role and long-term friendship dynamics | | 13:40 | Casting and performance: Tristan Turner as Simon | | 14:20 | Comedic improv and Anthony Oberbeck’s portrayal of Bruce | | 17:13 | Beatrice’s impact on Simon’s insecurities | | 18:28 | The deeper fear: losing friendship vs losing perks | | 19:15 | Male loneliness and communication breakdowns in friendships | | 20:23 | Making movies in NYC—using local resources and connections | | 20:59 | What the filmmakers hope audiences take away from “The Travel Companion” |

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Final Thoughts

This warm, honest, and humorous episode offers a rare look inside the minds of independent filmmakers—how they use personal experience as creative fuel, how friendship and ambition intertwine, and how artistic insecurity can sit just beneath the surface. It’s a conversation especially resonant for anyone who’s ever chased a creative dream or clung to an old friendship when life’s circumstances start to shift.

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The Travel Companion is screening at BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music) through April 16th.

Transcript

[Travis Wood]

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[Alex Malice]

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[Travis Wood]

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[Alex Malice]

car and home insurance.

[Travis Wood]

And now we're customizing this rush hour ad to keep you calm, which could help your driving. And science says therapy is great for a healthy mindset. So enjoy this 14 second session on us. I think you've done everything right and absolutely nothing wrong. In fact, anything that hasn't gone your way could probably be blamed on your father not being emotionally available because his father wasn't emotionally available and so on. And now that you're calm and healing,

[Alex Malice]

you're probably driving better too. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty.

[Alison Stewart]

Foreign. This is all of it from wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. A new independent film looks at the question, can a friendship survive a romance? Especially when the new love interest threatens something that is important. It's called the Travel Companion. In the film, we meet Simon, a documentary filmmaker struggling to find his footing in the industry. He's at a little bit of a dead end job. He did make a film film for his thesis a few years ago and he has been milking it. Then there's Bruce, his support bud, who works for an airline and allows Simon to use his Travel Companion perks to shoot all over the world. Even though Simon has no clue what the film is about yet. However, their bromance is put to the test when Beatrice enters the picture. She's a slightly more accomplished filmmaker with a steady roster of commercial clients. And it seems she also has the keys to Bruce's heart. Who. Who will be Bruce's travel companion in the future. The Travel Companion is playing at BAM through Thursday, April 16. Co directors and writers Alex Malice. Hi, Alex.

[Alex Malice]

Hello.

[Alison Stewart]

And Travis Wood are here. Hi, Travis.

[Travis Wood]

Hey.

[Alison Stewart]

To talk a little bit about it. Thanks for coming to the studio.

[Alex Malice]

Yeah, we're super excited. Thank you.

[Alison Stewart]

All right, Travis, you experience being a travel companion?

[Travis Wood]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

All right, explain this to me.

[Travis Wood]

So basically my buddy works for an airline and he can pick one person that gets free privileges the same that he gets.

[Alex Malice]

And.

[Travis Wood]

And basically you can take a flight anywhere on standby for free. So if there's an open seat. You can take it, and that's literally anywhere. So I've been using it for years to just see the entire world.

[Alison Stewart]

So when did you decide that would be a great jumping off point for a film?

[Travis Wood]

Well, I was walking around with Alex at a film festival, and I was telling him, like, oh, my buddy's got a new girlfriend. I think I might lose it. And he thought that that was so funny. We immediately started just riffing ideas, and that was kind of the first Inception point.

[Alison Stewart]

What was interesting to you about that? Ide?

[Alex Malice]

I think it was just funny enough and maybe just dumb enough that it felt like, why not? You know, I think Travis and I are both short filmmakers. We'd made a lot of shorts together and on a part for many years, and there was always this big chasm between making a feature film. It felt like this huge, giant thing that I think I maybe subconsciously was always feeling like, oh, it has to be perfect if I'm gonna make a feature film. It has to be this big, grand statement that, you know, does a lot. And when we were walking that day and this idea came out, it felt it kind of had this perfect counterpoint. Like, this is a small idea with a lot of big implications. That feels easy. It feels fun. Let's just go. Let's move forward with that.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah. As Alex said, you guys have directed short films for a while. Travis, how did working on short films prepare you to co direct an entire feature film?

[Travis Wood]

Yeah, in many ways, I think it gave me the confidence and I think the style of what I would want out of this, and also the trust in Alex. You know, we'd worked on a lot of projects together, and so I knew that we could come together and, like, do a good job and see it through. Like, making a feature is, like, an endless amount of work for at least a couple years. So you want to have someone you really trust. If you're going to do a co

[Alison Stewart]

direction, how did you know you would be able to co direct with Travis?

[Alex Malice]

I think actions speak louder than words. Travis shows up. He shows up, and he gives 110% on everything. He just attacks, and it's like, that's what you want in a partner. I think Travis was joking. What did you say about, like, always wanting another?

[Travis Wood]

Oh, yeah, I joked. I was like, I. I always wanted two of me. And then I met Alex.

[Alison Stewart]

Well, how did you guys figure out a way to give your individual input to the script and input to the actors, but not step on each other's Toes?

[Alex Malice]

That's a good question. We had a third co writer and producer on the film, Weston Auburn. And the three of us got together and I think it was more about making it as easy as possible for ourselves. There's so many hurdles that one creates when writing. You stare at this blank page and you're like, how do I begin? Where do I go? It feels so intimidating and having three people sort of this ad hoc writer's room to say, let's bullet point, let's give ideas. And then maybe at the end of the session, sort of assign a scene and then you just have one scene that you have to work on in a week instead of this sort of open ended assignment and we'd come back together and then we would sort of pass it around. And I think in general, more to your question, it often fell to who was most passionate, who felt the strongest about something, who believed in the vision of something the most, and more often not. We would defer to that.

[Alison Stewart]

Travis, what was something that you really believed in that you had to not fight for, but you had to say, I really think this should be a part of, of this film?

[Travis Wood]

You know, Alex, I feel like we have like a lot of the same sort of style and interest, so there's not a ton of things like that. I think sometimes my producerial brain can maybe go a little farther than my directing brain. So I feel like sometimes there would be times where I was like, I don't think we have time for that. Like, I would actually be in that head space a little more pushing to be like, let's trim it down maybe. But for the most part, we're on the same page.

[Alex Malice]

I mean, one thing you pushed for was shooting in an airport. When we were sharing the script around, people say, you know, great job, looks good. How are you going to shoot in an airport? That sounds impossible. And Travis was always the one who would just kind of wink and say, just you watch, we'll figure it out.

[Alison Stewart]

Do I want to know how you figured it out or no?

[Alex Malice]

Yeah. Well, we did sort of the more traditional route for a small upstate airport in Westchester, New York, where we got a permit to shoot in this section that they have. And then for the sort of montage scenes where Simon is running around the airport, missing flights and sort of waiting around, I bought a one way refundable ticket entered through TSA with a very small camera. And Tristan, the actor and I just spent about four hours in the Delta terminal just stealing shots. And it was so surprising how little anyone cared. Started Sort of holding it close to my chest. I can get a quick shot before anyone notices. Next thing you know, I have it on a small tripod. And then finally, I'm sprinting through the airport following him. And no one even turned. No one blinked an eye.

[Alison Stewart]

Wow. It's an independent film.

[Alex Malice]

That's right.

[Alison Stewart]

It's called the Travel Companion. It's screening at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Bam. Now through next Thursday, April 16th, I'm speaking with its co directors and co writers Alex Malice and Travis Wood. Let's talk about the characters a little bit. The film opens up, Travis. It's a post Q and A festival with. With various directors and our protagonist, Simon. He doesn't even get a chance to speak. They just like. And we're done. Why did you want to introduce us to him that way?

[Travis Wood]

You know, that was one of the first scenes that I think came up, you know, because we were at a festival and we were. We were. Yeah, we were one of those Q and A filmmakers. So I. I think we just thought it'd be really funny and also to kind of put him in to show you his place in the world and how he is kind of missing a little opportunity. And so we just thought it was perfect to say, like, okay, let's open on a main character who doesn't even get to speak in the opening scene.

[Alison Stewart]

Alice, that's a really interesting point that you guys are filmmakers. Did you ever go to a festival where you saw other filmmakers? They're sort of showing off what they've done.

[Alex Malice]

Yeah, short film Q&As probably deserve their own, you know, full series. The sort of idiosyncrasy synchronicities of them, I think. Yeah. You know, I think people maybe take up too much space or they just give a one word answer. And it's tough because I don't know what the right way to do it is. There's 10 people up on stage and sometimes even less in the audience, and you're kind of going down the line and, you know, it's a very exciting moment. It's. It's sort of the peak, the celebratory moment of a short's life. But it can also be a little frustrating when you feel like maybe you only get to say a couple of words.

[Alison Stewart]

What's going on with Simon when we meet him?

[Travis Wood]

Well, Simon has just been milking his thesis film for maybe the last several years, and he's working on a documentary that he really can't describe. And that documentary is utilizing these travel benefits so he's kind of going all over the world. He's filming stuff, but he doesn't really know what he's quite making yet. And when we meet him, he is, yes, towards the end of that milking run with his best friend and roommate, Bruce.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, he. He describes his film to someone as it's being about his Midwestern roots and describes it as, quote, a nostalgia piece travelog about past, present and future. A eulogy for a long history political that's not liberal, but liberal leaning. He keeps going on and on with all of these award salad. Basically. What version of success is he really looking for?

[Alex Malice]

He. I think he just wants to move forward. And his character in that moment, I think is representative of something that I certainly feel and I think a lot of artists and filmmakers feel, where you have an idea in your head and when it's inside your head, it's perfect. You don't have to explain every part of it because you don't have to put words to it. And it feels safe there, it feels good there. And it can even make you feel confident just knowing that you have this potential idea. But the moment you start to kind of put it on the page or start to shoot it or maybe make a rough cut, it starts to look bad. You know, you shine light on it and it's messy, it's imperfect, and that can really knock the wind out of your sails. And so Simon, I think, is maybe subconsciously allowing himself to stay in that potential period because that's what feels best.

[Alison Stewart]

When you think about Simon, what does he envision for his future? He just told me what he thought. What do you think about Simon?

[Travis Wood]

You know, I think he really does envision being like a very successful working filmmaker. I think he really, really sees himself being at the top, but doesn't see how to get there. And so until he gets there, what's really cool and special is that he can fly for free and he can see the world. And that's what he can add to the conversation is these places he's been. In lieu of having, like a successful art piece to point to, we're talking

[Alison Stewart]

about the film the Travel Companion. It's screening at Brooklyn Academy of Music through next Thursday. After the break, we'll talk about those travel vouchers and what happens next. This is all of It. You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. Joining me in studio is Alex Malice and Travis Wood. They are co directors and co writers of the new film the Travel Companion. It's screening at the Brooklyn Academy of Music now through Thursday, April 16. It's about aspiring filmmaker and his friend and how their romance is upended. All right, let's talk about the friend, Bruce. He's kind of a normie. He works at a stable job at an airline. Travis, tell us about the role that Bruce plays in Simon's life.

[Travis Wood]

Bruce is kind of the rock. You know, him and Bruce have been friends for a long time and he is just. He's home, you know, he's been around for so long. And I think in many ways they've kind of outgrown this friendship. When we meet them, like, it's already. Maybe they wouldn't be friends if they met today, but since they met in elementary school, they're still here, they're still living together. They still have this shared history that keeps them together.

[Alison Stewart]

How much does Simon give back to Bruce in the relationship, Alex?

[Alex Malice]

Not enough, I think, like Travis said, there's a lot of routine that is born of this long term friendship. And it's pretty clear, it should be pretty clear pretty quickly in the film that Simon is taking it for granted.

[Alison Stewart]

Who plays Simon? Tell us a little bit about the actor.

[Alex Malice]

Oh, my gosh. Tristan Turner, Shout Out. He was amazing. He is our star. We worked with this incredible casting director, Alan Scott Neal, and he was sending us tapes and he flagged this. This tape that Tristan sent in and said, I think this is your guy. We watched it and even before we heard his voice, we knew this is the guy. He looks like the guy. This guy looks like he could be an experimental filmmake. And when we heard his tape, he just nailed it. He got it. And he was so easy to work with and so naturalistic, which was a huge focus of ours. When we were talking about developing the project was like, we want these scenes, if nothing else, we want them to feel real and lived in. And Tristan was able to deliver that.

[Alison Stewart]

You definitely get them when they're out exercising.

[Alex Malice]

Yes.

[Alison Stewart]

Like, you can feel that. Oh, those are two guys I passed in the park. Easy.

[Alex Malice]

Yeah. It's a tough role to play because on the page, especially before we shot it, reading the script, the. The character's quite abrasive, this character of Simon. And it was like, I think a big goal of ours in casting and then shooting and editing and everything was to bring a sense of empathy to that. And Tristan was instrumental in achieving that.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah, because at times you're like, Simon, come on.

[Alex Malice]

Exactly. Come on. The cringe.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah. But you sort of feel like, come on dude, you'll get it. You'll get it. You'll get out of this situation. And he just can't get it out of his own way.

[Alex Malice]

Exactly.

[Alison Stewart]

Tell us a little bit about who plays Bruce.

[Travis Wood]

So Bruce is played by Anthony Oberbeck and he's an incredible comedic actor. He's got like an improv background. And yeah, he brought a ton of just good lines to the film. Even, you know, I remember on set he would be kind of like doing the most improv out of everyone and surprising us and just keeping it really fresh. Like, I think he kept everybody on their toes. You know, he's really patient in his performance. He doesn't rush it and he's really in the moment, you know, I think at one point he even said something to Tristan in the scene and Tristan was like, is Anthony actually mad at me or is he just like, is the character? Is he so in character?

[Alison Stewart]

How do you deal with improv when you're on an indie budget?

[Alex Malice]

We welcomed it. I think the improv. Anthony was really smart in that the improv he did was expanding on what we had. It's not like he would throw it out and do something completely different. So it wasn't ever an issue. And it was nine times out of 10, something we would welcome and most of the time improved the performances, improved the feel, that real feeling that lived in feeling that we were going for.

[Alison Stewart]

Simon is working sort of a dead end job. What is he doing exactly?

[Travis Wood]

So that was actually inspired by Alex's, one of his first jobs here in New York City. But he is filming the ads on top of Taxi tops for an advertising agency.

[Alison Stewart]

Why does he feel like it's just going nowhere?

[Alex Malice]

I think it's. He finds it, you know, from a filmmaking perspective, I think he finds it sort of emasculating. It's. It's technically what he wants to do. Hold a camera, film stuff. He's a filmmaker, but what he's doing is so sort of lifeless and lacking in creativity that it's quite unfulfilling for him.

[Alison Stewart]

We got a question from our listeners about your film. It says, I have a question for directors Alex and Travis. I watched a travel companion, a flight recently and was curious who the actor was who played the office boss. He was only in two scenes, but so funny. I thought I recognized him, but I couldn't place him.

[Alex Malice]

Oh my gosh. So amazing. That is my good friend Peter Fairman, who is an actor. And he showed up just for those two scenes. His day job is kind of that I Don't know if you'd appreciate me saying this, but he does work in advertising, so he was able to really nail the role. And I would love to work with him again and work with him more.

[Alison Stewart]

We're talking about the film the Travel Companion. Its co directors and co writers are joining me in studio. Alex Malice and Travis Wood. All right, Beatrice. She's actually introduced pretty early in the film. She becomes a love interest for Bruce. She's also a filmmaker. She's a little better off than Simon is where he is right now. How does her relationship with Bruce put a spotlight on Simon's insecurities? Who wants to take that one?

[Travis Wood]

Yeah, I mean, I think to start just being a more successful filmmaker in the picture is very stressful for Simon, being that close to someone who is kind of living out where he wants to be at. And so in addition to that, now she could potentially take the one thing he does have, which is these flight benefits. So it's like a double whammy for Simon that he really can't handle. Like, I think if she wasn't a filmmaker, he might be able to go about it a little bit better.

[Alison Stewart]

Well, let's listen to from the Travel Companion. This is a scene between Simon and Bruce, and you'll get the picture.

[Alex Malice]

Listen, man, I know that you're eventually gonna, like, give the flights to your future wife or something, but I'm still good for now, right?

[Travis Wood]

Yeah, you're good for now, bro. Right.

[Alex Malice]

But, like, what if you, I don't know, start getting, like, serious with somebody?

[Travis Wood]

Now that you mention it, I guess

[Alex Malice]

we'd have to see how we travel together, huh? We travel great together. Not us.

[Travis Wood]

Not you and me.

[Alison Stewart]

All right, this is about more than just travel perks. What is Simon really getting at? What is Simon afraid of losing?

[Alex Malice]

He is. Whether or not he could admit it to himself, he is afraid of losing this friendship. And I think that is a central tension that we were exploring. Simon's inability to see what is right in front of him, to acknowledge the truth of what's. Of what's happening. And he is so hyper focused on these flights, on losing these flights. And there's a bit of truth in that. He doesn't want to. Yes. He doesn't want to lose this amazing perk, but I think deep down inside, he understands that. That maybe this is a crucial moment in his friendship and one that he. One that he doesn't. He doesn't want change. He doesn't want to lose this.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah. You know, sort of a subtext of the travel companion is sort of this broader conversation about male loneliness, you know, what did you want to explore about male loneliness in this film, Travis and Alex?

[Travis Wood]

Yeah, I think just communication struggles. Yeah, I think, you know, this film would be over a lot quicker if they just had like one honest conversation at the top. But I think with men, sometimes in these friendships, it can be kind of a. Like, don't say it, just let it be. And so that's kind of a struggle throughout the entire film is like, not really talking about what they're talking about.

[Alison Stewart]

What do you think, Alex?

[Alex Malice]

Yeah, exactly. I think we joked a little about how, you know, there's the classic. There's the cliche of horror films where if there had just been a cell phone call in the first three minutes, the film would be over. And similar with. With this film where if these men would just talk to each other and be honest. I think there's. There's another trope where it's like, you know, a guy comes back from maybe like a weekend with the boys and the partner would say, like, how are they? How's their life? How's their job? You know, how's their. How's their respective partners? And I have no idea. All we talked about was, you know, stupid shit, stupid stuff. Excuse me.

[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. My guests are the co directors and co writers, Alex Malice and Travis Wood. The film is called the Travel Companion. What was it like to film in New York?

[Alex Malice]

Oh, it was a pleasure. We're both New Yorkers and we use it to our advantage. When we were writing the script, we were thinking about places that we knew both from a story perspective and also from a producing perspective. These are places we have access to. Our friend owns a camera store. That's the bodega that I go to. And I know the guy. My partner works at a cinema, Dera messenger. And we can shoot there, dctv. And so we really just wanted to kind of go the places that felt familiar and places that we had access.

[Alison Stewart]

What do you hope, Travis, is that people will take away from the film?

[Travis Wood]

You know, I hope people, you know, a lot of people, they don't like Simon when they watch the film, but I think at all after, I hope that they can kind of reflect on their self and their own relationships and find some empathy for this character.

[Alison Stewart]

What do you hope that people take away from the film?

[Alex Malice]

Yeah, very similar. Simon is a tricky character. I think we've come to look to Hollywood films or films in general as like these hero stories. And we want to see the best parts of ourselves on camera or on the screen, I should say. And with Simon, it's kind of the opposite. You're forced to look at maybe some of the less appetizing parts of yourself.

[Alison Stewart]

The Travel Companion is playing at BAM through Thursday, April 16. I've been speaking with its co directors and writers, Alex Malice and Travis Woods. Thanks for being with us.

[Alex Malice]

Thank you so much. Thank you.

[Alison Stewart]

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[Alex Malice]

A cool and crisp Modelo tastes good, but that fought for every rebound Modelo or that just clocked out Modelo That Modelo you earned is just better. That Modelo is the mark of a fighter drink responsibly. Being reported by Crown and Port Chicago, Illinois.