I talk to filmmakers all the time who say things like, I'm reviving the romcom. Or my film is a homage to 1950s Westerns. The statements encompass so many genres but the truth is, most of the time they don't work. It ends up being a facsimile of something great, which isn't good at all.

This is a long way at getting to the point that NIMRODS, opening in theaters on August 14th, is the absolute real deal: a film that will remind you of the GOONIES, as my guest, director Lee Kirk hints at, without trying to remake it. It tells the story of three kids driving cross country to open for Green Day on New Year's Eve, and as you might imagine, complications ensue.

I'm so excited to celebrate original art with a director who knows his classics.

Lee and I talk about:

how he was able to successfully bring back the feelings of 1990s/2000s road trip films;
if non-Green Day fans will enjoy the film;
how he got started in filmmaking;
actors writing parts for themselves and if that's a way in;
how new filmmakers can find their voice;
what he's learned since his previous features;
whether this ever was going to be a biopic and how he feels about the genre;
the amazing casting in this film;
how he ended up casting himself in the film;
the festival strategy for the film and the decision to go theatrical;
the luxury of avoiding social media;
if being a playwright bleeds over to screenwriting.

Memorable Quotes:

"We started talking about the movies that we wanted it to feel like, right? So one of the big ones was "Goonies." We talked about "Goonies," but also movies like "Footloose" and "Vacation"

"It's a film about being a teenager and the struggles that go along with not having all the agency over your life, having these hopes and dreams and beliefs in yourself, and wanting to find something, wanting to build a life, but frustrated with what you got."

"Every actor should be [writing their own scripts."

" If you like Quentin Tarantino, make your version of "Pulp Fiction," and you're gonna find something in there about what you have to say."

"Theatrical was always the goal."

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