Last Looks: Fifty Shades Darker (w/ Jake Johnson)
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bas.com slash bonkers and use the code bonkers at checkout. Career defeats, pommel horses, and that's what I call music. All this and more on today's How Did This Get Made? Last Look. This is the last look. But Paul's such a stand-up guy. He lets us all say goodbye to last week's film. See you later. Gotta go. Cheerio. Ta-ta. Now.

Hello, all you Kegelball ringing hunchbacks. I'm your host, Paul Scheer, and welcome to How Did This Get Made? Last Looks, where you, the listener, get to voice your issues on Fifty Shades Darker. And as always, I will reveal next week's movie. And later in the show, June, that's right, June will be filling in for Jason on this week's very special Just Chat with our first time How Did This Get Made? guest, Jake Johnson. That's right, you know Jake from New Girl, Jurassic World, and the Spider-Verse movies. Well, today, he is here to talk about his

brand new call-in advice podcast. We're here to help, but we're also going to chat about a whole lot more. So make sure you stick around. June actually had a great time doing a last looks. So maybe Jason's got some competition. Anyway, first things first, a big shout out to Quinn for that amazing opening theme. We love our themes. We love you, Quinn. We would love to have more themes for

from Quinn, but not just from Quinn, from you as well. So if you have a theme, send it to howdidthisgetmade at earwolf.com. Keep them short. 15 to 20 seconds is best. And people, if you've not pre-ordered my book, Joyful Recollections of Trauma, what are you waiting for? Seriously, please do. Why? Because it helps me. But secondly, because I think you're going to love it.

I got some great blurbs on the back. That's right. Amy Poehler, Patton Oswalt, Ed Brubaker, Jane Fonda, Phoebe Robinson, Jesse Klein. They like it. So I think you'll like it as well. And if you pre-order the book, you can sign up to get a special access to exclusive area on my website where I have photos and videos and a bunch of weird stuff. Plus you can also register to get a postcard. I'm only doing 3000. I'm

That was too much. Honestly, my hands hurt. But I'm getting there. I'm getting there. Over 1,500 are out in the mail right now. Anyway, our European tour is only two weeks away. We still have some tickets left. We've also just announced our films. You can go to hdtgm.com to find out more about that. But seriously.

come out see us we can't wait to be in the uk and we can't wait to be in ireland um i'm looking forward to belfast because that is where flanny who runs largo is from and he says belfast have some of the best audiences so prove him right um just got back from south by southwest where how did this get made won the best tv and film podcast award at the iheart radio podcast awards um it

It was a shock. Truly did not think that we were going to win. I was in the corner doing a bit with the Workaholic guys when my name was called and I was surprised. But you know what? I got to tell you, we appreciate you, the audience, listening to the show. It makes such a big difference knowing that people are listening because if we didn't have people listening, it would be a really sad show. It would just be a show of me in my closet talking to myself, which...

Honestly, I've done weirder things. The two people I didn't get to thank at that show, because it was such a surprise, I didn't have anything prepared, was Casey Holford and Rich Garcia, who are amazing and talented editors. They do all the post-production work. I don't think I also thanked Averill Halley, who picks all of our movies. Here's who else I didn't thank. Jason and June. That's right. Didn't thank them as well. So you know what?

people in a moment where I was surprised. I totally blanked on a lot of people's names, but I want to thank iHeart right now, and I want to thank all of them as well, because they all make this podcast run. All right, let's get into it. Last week, we talked at length about Fifty Shades Darker, a movie that Discord user Elaine Smith thinks could have been called Twilight Breaking Yawn.

I love it. Elaine, you nailed it. You nailed it, Elaine. Anyway, we had questions about Fifty Shades Darker, and we might have even missed a few things. Here is your chance to set us straight. Fact check us, if you will. It is now time for Corrections and Omissions. Corrections and Omissions. Corrections and Omissions. Corrections and Omissions.

Thank you, John Cohen, for that awesome theme song. You are now officially part of the Coen brothers because it's spelt the same way. I don't see that Coen brothers spelling that much. All right. So let's go to the discord. Who gives a cluck writes, I can't believe that no one brought up that Anna accepted Christian's proposal with a light up key chain that she had custom engraved to say yes in comic books.

sans font. When I first watched this, I laughed so hard I had to get up and pace it out just to survive the moment. This kiosk has gift boxes and they do custom terrible engraving? Well, first of all, I thought we did talk about that, but more to the point, I believe...

that the key chain already said yes. Like that was like an inspirational key chain. She didn't have it engraved, but I do agree. The gift boxes at a kiosk like that. I lived in New York City. You're lucky if they have a bag. They don't have a bag. I've never gotten a bag for them. Anyway, that was the most ridiculous thing in the film. And that's saying a lot. Now, look, I know it's not New York, it's Seattle, whatever, but I don't think Seattle kiosks have that either. Anyway, Rocket Wesker writes this. How the hell did Christian's

former submissive Layla, managed to break into his high-rise condo that the movie described as a fortress. Did Christian give her ninja training, sending her all over the world to spy on the enemies of the gray industry? I mean, also, after Anna witnessed how Christian lobotomized Layla so much that she could be subdued with a mere hand gesture, Anna's reaction was

was not one of horror, but rather mostly sad because she couldn't give him what Layla offered. You know, instead of seeing the love of her life as a monster. That is fucked up. Now look, I don't know if the books go into it, and yes, you are 100% right. That is fucked up. I didn't even think about it that he treated her like a dog and turned his hand. Although I felt like she was

playing a game. I also feel like she was leading a full life, but then also went a little crazy. Anyway, I bet you Layla got in there because they recognized her as being someone who used to visit his apartment. I don't know if he gives his security people like these submissives are no longer allowed here. You know, maybe he's he didn't email the people working the door. I don't know. Somebody clarify it.

Connor Dowling writes, Jason already touched on the Jeff Buckley song, but has anyone else noticed that the characters seem to listen to decent music, whereas the soundtrack is mostly distracting, unsexy, generic pop? For example, when Christian is working out, he's listening to So Lonely by The Police, and in Fifty Shades Freed, Anastasia is listening to David Bowie in the Kitchen, and Christian plays Maybe I'm Amazed by Paul McCartney on the piano.

But every other song choice sounds like the music from Love is Blind or Now That's What I Call Music 2017. Yeah, I don't know what that is. I mean, I know why they can't be on the soundtrack because they can't afford it on the soundtrack. They can probably afford the needle drop in the movie, but then to actually put it on another album, that's...

tremendously expensive. So that's what I would imagine. I think they probably saved money on the soundtrack. Also, I'm sure the people didn't want them. It's all cost. It's all a cost thing. Make your own soundtracks on Spotify. That's what I do. All right, let's go to the phones. Oh, we got an Anna.

Hi, Paul. Just wanted to give a little fun fact about Fifty Shades Darker. Joel brought up how Anastasia's associate asks what she should call her after she's, like, promoted overnight to editor or whatever. Well, that whole bit of dialogue between the two of them is actually taken directly from the last scene of Mike Nichols'

1988 classic movie Working Girl which stars Dakota Johnson's mother Melanie Griffith Nora Dunn asked her like what the rules are and what she should call her and Melanie Griffith's like you can just call me Tess and you don't have to get me coffee unless you're getting some for yourself and we'll figure out the rest from there so yeah just like a cute little mother daughter callback or whatever

That's all. Thanks. Yes, we did miss this, Anna. Or did we call it out again? I don't remember what we cut out. But yes, I remember that. Or I caught that later. But you know what? Also at the same time,

It's not like I have the Working Girl script, and while I love Mike Nichols, on the tip of my head. It's not like Luke, I'm your father. But anyway, Lizard Breath actually adds in, the scene in Working Girl illustrates how Melanie Griffith is different and will be a better boss than the ones that she had. In no way is Anastasia's situation similar. Therefore, this scene is pretty meaningless to the story, so much so that I audibly said, fuck

you to Fifty Shades for stealing a scene from a movie that I loved. Yes, that was the big twist, is that it doesn't mean anything. It's just a callback, but it actually has worse implications in the way that they used it. So thank you, Lizard Breath. Thank you, Anna, for letting us talk about something that we... I mean, look, there were so many things. I mean, we couldn't barely touch upon them all. That's why we're here. Joanna from Philadelphia. Hey, Paul. I got your postcard. Thanks very much.

So I wanted to comment on Fifty Shades Darker about the pommel horse exercise scene. So apparently Jamie Dornan has a certain talent with a pommel horse, and the director asked him, is there something interesting you can do, I guess, gymnastically-wise or exercise-wise? And he said, well, this is what I could do. So they wrote the pommel horse scene into the movie. But you'd like to know.

Love your show. Bye. Okay. Now this is interesting. Thank you, Joanna. See, he was a pommel horse expert, which look, if you got the talented person, you got to figure out how to get it in there. Um, you know what? I want to continue this, uh, pommel horse discussion because Meigs says, you know, a lifelong gymnast here. Uh, he 1000% did not

do a gymnastic skill on that pommel horse. Okay, Joanna, here we go. A little fighting back and forth. The planche that he does is not part of the official gymnastics code of points. Even on

on the floor exercises where planches are common and definitely not on the pommel horse, not knocking his or anyone's ability to showcase some strength. But why on earth would they include a piece of official gymnastics equipment if he's only going to do that? And you know what, Meigs? I think the answer is

Gymkata 2 starring Jamie Dornan. Let's get that made. Anyway, so many great corrections and omissions this week, but there can only be one winner. And you know, honestly, I want to give that winner to somebody who deserves it and somebody we just talked about. That's right, Meigs, you are winning because you brought your Olympic knowledge, you brought your gymnast knowledge, and you know what? You get this amazing song from the Action Jackson 5. Hit it! ♪

You win. You win.

Thank you, Action Jackson 5, for that song. Remember, if you want to submit an alt movie tagline or chime in with your own thoughts about the latest episode, hit us up at the Discord at discord.gg slash HDTGM or call us at 619-Paul-Asked. That's P-A-U-L-A-S-K. All right, coming up, Jake Johnson joins June and I for a chat. Plus, as always, we will reveal next week's movie. We'll be right back.

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It is now time to welcome June and Jake to the show for a little Just Chat. John Astonish, play us in. Jason and Paul, Just Chat. June and Paul, Just Chat. Tall John Shear, Just Chat. How did this get made? Last looks, Just Chat.

Well, this is a first because, June, you don't normally join me for a last dose. And, you know, Paul, I was thinking, like, I'm so glad our guest is coming on because I never do this. Jason's always here with you. Yes. And I feel safe knowing that our special guest is arriving because I know I wouldn't feel okay being on this show. Okay.

without him. So I feel so much better. I don't know what goes on here. All I see in your calendar is your recording last looks. I know Jason Mantzoukas is a part of it. So...

All right, well, without any further ado, let's bring in our guest, Jake Johnson. Jake, welcome to Last Looks with Paul and June. So glad you're here, Jake. Well, I'm glad to be here, and I'm glad you're here, June. It's been a long time since I've seen either of your faces. It's been a long time. It really has. Too long. It has been too long, and time has been so strange to keep track of, truly. Like, from the pandemic to the strikes, I'm like...

Time is melting before my very eyes. I also think kids confuse time. Because a lot of nights you can't go out and then you go, the first night you go out, it's been like eight months and you're like, what's up, everybody? Everybody else has been home most of their lives, yeah? Doing early bedtimes and homework, yeah? Jake, Paul and I have tickets to go see Madonna on Thursday night and we have found out that she goes on at 10 p.m. Pass.

past and i'm so fraught jake i don't know if i can go you can't june you could start and then at a certain point you have to go i'm loving the show i'm leaving i'm not staying the whole time it's a we really have to make a decision we got to talk about it we got to talk about i want to find out because my friend is going uh tonight and i feel like

L.A. makes you leave at a certain time. You have to get off stage at a certain time. So I wonder if she can...

pull that off. That 10 o'clock star. That's true of the Hollywood Bowl, but I don't know if that's true everywhere else. I thought Taylor Swift had to get off at 11.15 when she did the Eros tour, but maybe that's because outdoors. I don't know. I think Madonna is going to pull her Bruce move, her Prince move, and show everybody that she can still rock until 1.45 a.m. And when everybody's cheering, she's going to bring her old ass out for one more.

You know it. I mean, this tour, just from a vantage point, I haven't been fully engaged. It seems like it's a hot mess, but really fun. Like every night there's some sort of snafu. They're dragging her across the stage in a chair and the chair falls. She falls. Madonna's gotten older. And I'm not insulting Madonna. No. But Madonna has been playing this game at a high level since I was seven.

Yes. Madonna also took some time off and is now doing like a best. I mean, this is a best of tour. So she's trying to really, you know, it's hard to just switch it off. Cher kind of did this. I remember Cher had one last great March where she was dating a younger guy. She was in like sheer clothing. She was dancing her ass off in Vegas. There were magicians. I remember being like Cher show I'm hearing it's good stuff. And then after that, she's like,

Enough's enough. This is getting out of control. I call it. I'm calling it. I'm done. You know what? It's a wild addiction to keep performing after a certain point. What are you chasing, girl? What's up on that stage, Madonna? And by the way, if it's money, you know, that can't be. I don't think it can be, but you never know. Like, I'm always shocked to find out that people who have what I perceive to be an unparalleled

honestly morally reprehensible amount of money okay like those people are still after some more but i'll tell you what's really wild about some of those people some people aren't as rich as you think when i heard that johnny depp this was long before the case when johnny depp i heard something where someone said that he was going bankrupt and i thought how could johnny depp go bankrupt and they said well he bought an island and he fully staffed it you go

Right. And he's not renting out. It's not like an investment. No, that is just owning it. This is the problem. Old Hollywood has created this weird disconnect because back then, you know, they were, I remember hearing this story like, oh, the first season of Will and Grace, the ratings are so good. NBC bought everybody a Porsche. Me too. I remember hearing that too.

After the pilot of Friends, they took them all on a jet to Vegas and gave them all 10 grand to gamble on. Wow. Those days are over, my friends. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Those days are over. Now, you book a new show on NBC, you take a Greyhound to Reno, and you gamble with your own money. But no!

You send them presents. You take care of the executive. It's so, those days are over. But I think some people got caught in the middle of it. Again, another person who's owning islands and castles, Nick Cage, who I did a movie with, talking with him, and he was talking about how he slimmed down, you know, sell a couple castles. Like, a couple, not all, just a couple. Well, the LA that our generation moved to,

The town that I came out here for is very different than the town that we all live in now. And there has been a massive adjustment. I really believed the town I came to.

I would wear a beanie and a headshot. I'd be going like this. And then the next thing you know, there would be some executive that would give me a bucket of gold. I would have multiple mansions and that's how it worked. And you're like, oh, you've got to like constantly grind, be a business person. You got to work, you got to hustle. And you're like, oh, this makes more sense. The other fantasy didn't make sense. That's absolutely true. And what I, what I'm realizing more and more is that everybody's losing out on jobs and

Like you never get to a point in this career where you're not upset. You didn't get what another person got. And knowing that kind of gave me a lot of relief. Like when you see actual A-list movie stars, like sad that, that someone else was chosen or they got that project or that book or whatever. And it's like, man, it never ends. I'll tell you the other thing that's happened is the goal, at least for me has seemed to really change. Hmm.

The old idea of like, but you know, even when you say like the part, I'm like, in what project? Right? Yeah, that's true. I've got friends who have like, I'm like, you're going to go do that with that cool person. That's the dream. And then because I'm a little rat, I go, what are they paying? What are they paying and what are the hours? The hours are massive and the pay is scale. And I go, oh, so three months away from my kids to literally make a little bit of cash? Yeah.

Yeah, or maybe break even. And then guess what? So then you get to go to a film festival and be like fifth away from center and be like, it was amazing being with my new brothers and sisters. And then, God forbid, the movie gets killed and everybody goes like, it was really the worst thing on planet Earth. You then have to go like, now everyone goes like, distance, distance. And you go like, I didn't spend three months in Bulgaria in a village like a fucking asshole.

Why did I do that? I didn't even have any fun. I didn't have any fun. And also, like, I've always said, I always say to Paul, like, sometimes with the indie film and stuff, it feels like I pay good money to act.

Paying good money. And in June. To bring my own wardrobe. And the people watching it nowadays, 95 people total. Yeah, that's it. We could be going, we could be flyering and getting more people to be watching. I will say. Anyway, I'm sure this is super relatable and everybody's nodding their head along. But I will say this. This.

Jake, you directed this movie that I love, this Self Reliance. You've been making all these really interesting indie films. And I feel like you've had your hand at either co-writing them. This is the first time you directed, though, right? Yeah, the first time I did a feature. Yeah, and it's really great. And you should check it out. It's on Hulu. But you can at least do that. Then you feel like, well, I've done the whole...

I've done that. You've done everything. But as three people, and we've all known it when you act in television and you're an actor for hire a lot, and we've all been the ones where there's a built-in project and you just come in to be like the cashier who has no story but has to work a lot. And you realize that some directors are excellent. And you know right away, like, wow, you're really getting the most out of all of us. And then some directors are just terrible. Yeah.

And then you look at their IMDB and you're like, they don't even have credits. And you go like, you know, not to be an asshole, but I'm 10 years older than you. I've got 10,000 more hours than you. Perhaps we can do this. And they go like, I hear you, but I got to trust my gut. And I'm like, 28 years old.

Your gut doesn't know. You've never done it. It's not about a gut. It's about experience. So I wanted to just try everything out to see what felt the best. Yeah. Because it is a feeling out business now in that it's this new world. It's like, who cares? You do it. If it recoups financially, you get to make more. If it doesn't, then try something else. Or truthfully, just make something that...

you like. Like, that you like, but it doesn't have to be that expensive either. You don't have to do anything that, like, you know, that loses, like, you don't, not loses, but, like, it could just be, it, make it easier to make it a success. A hundred percent. It's very hard right now to get people on board with stuff, you know, and I mean,

Oh, man. And I'm also excited in addition to all the great stuff that you're doing. And you're in this Oscar-nominated movie, which are the best movies. I love these Spider-Man movies. But...

I will say that I love your podcast. You have a new podcast as well. This podcast. Who is this guy that you're hosting with? Because Gareth Reynolds. Yeah. So it's called We're Here to Help. Explain how you guys got hooked up in doing this together. So Gareth Reynolds, when I moved to Los Angeles, I lived two blocks from the old Improv Olympic. This was pre-UCB coming to LA. This is like you're living off of Hollywood Boulevard at that point. I was on Selma and Hollywood.

Love it. I was on, yeah, I was on Fuller. Fuller. I was on Fuller. Yeah. Fuller and Franklin. Oh, yeah. Living right. Living right. And by the way, Paul and I never experienced LA before UCB opened. So like, I don't even know what that time was. We came out here when the theater opened. Yeah. Well, there was a whole group of the UCBers who came at one point.

But before you guys, before UCB came, it was a different vibe. Well, because you had the ground links, which everybody knew. But if you're someone like me who likes to play more grounded and I don't like doing big characters, I was like, I don't know. And then the ImprovOlympic was more just they had a bar there.

So in Chicago, it has a lot of respect in the, the, and one in LA kind of wasn't just a theater with a bar. So the crazy thing about that was they cut themselves off at the knees because no one that was under 21 could go into improv Olympic. So it really hurt their audience. But it was a party place for that, which it was really fun. And Gareth was one of the people at that theater.

Okay. So Steve Berg, Gareth, there was a group I met in that community. I love that. Yeah. And they were really sweet. They all got me my first commercial agent. We all got our first theatrical together. We had formed like a little team and Gareth does a show called the dollop. And for about eight years, he's been trying to get me to do podcasts with him. Yeah. I couldn't quite wrap my head around him.

And then he was really explaining how it is a direct to audience world, which is more exciting. Yeah. Doing press for a movie like self-reliance.

I'm going out and I'm trying to connect to the audience, but there are like three PR people in the way at all times, or I need to go on somebody else's show or go to New York and go to like, you know, good morning America and have six minutes to go like wonderful to see you. So let me tell you this in two minutes. Yes. And he's like, or create your own, have your own base. And then they will go to see the movies, but you're directly talking. Yeah.

From your home. From your home. And so we started doing it and I was shocked how much fun it was. Isn't it the most fun? I mean, our podcast built our home. Podcasts are, we're made of podcasts over here.

But there's a similar thing with podcasting and those shows, like UCB shows or ImprovOlympic shows. Totally great. You're here, you're having fun, you have this connection. There's something slightly disposable about it. It's of the moment. You're just kind of capturing this

Well, I will say, though, I think that people consume podcasts in a much different way, or at least I do, where the interaction is so personal because you don't have a visual reference. I mean, I don't know if you guys film yours and release them. We don't. And very intentionally because we're

It's it is it's more connected to not be able to see the person and to like literally have them in your ears and your brain and your mind. And it's just a different level of connection. I also think for women, it's like really powerful. I will say, though, the way that you tape it, that set up at it's at HeadGum, right? You guys tape it. It is it's built.

To look a little bit more like us. I like that. Oh, so you have that. Okay. So we're, I guess we, we are old school that way. We only did audio for the first whatever month. And then a guy named Andrew Santino called me and said, no, I'm love him. And I didn't know I did his podcast. He watched ours and he's like, just do this. And he's like, just see. So our visual, our YouTube, we do shitty numbers. It's kind of nothing. We haven't cracked it. We don't really know what it is.

But most of our listeners still come through Spotify or Apple. But what's fun about going in person is you get a different level of anxiety before a taping. And it does feel like you're doing a show. Right. That's cool. Like our energy is 10% higher because they'll go like, you guys ready? And then all of a sudden we put on like radio voices for no reason. We'll be like, all right. And there's no audience. Like you're there.

And there's been something. I want to do a mix for us as we like eventually really land on what ours is. Listen, I think we have been told we should do it. Right, Paul? I mean, like, I think it's live shows. We do live shows and that's the same idea. That's a similar idea. Yeah. But I also just think that to get you and me and Jason all together to do something like that in person on video would be difficult.

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What I want to say, Paul, about something you said about the early days of the UCB or the IO type shows. Yeah. I've really connected with that in doing this. And it feels like I had a show called The Midwesterners with my buddy Oliver Raleigh in New York. And we were at UCB and we used to hand out flyers in Times Square. I remember that. Yes. It was everything.

And every single audience member mattered because you'd be like, all right, we're at Surf Reality. We got like 19 people. Dude, we got 19 people. And then you enter our business. And if you're lucky enough, you have a machine. And then you don't even know the numbers.

And so there's become a disconnect between, at least for me personally, what I'm doing in the audience. I care more about like, what did the town think? Right. Right. Like what's the buzz? And I'll go like, how's the rotten tomatoes numbers. I don't give a fuck about what the critics say per se, but like, what's the spin? Yeah. We want to see all this bullshit. I've totally forgotten. What do people think of the work I'm trying to do? Well, that's like, that's the tricky thing. I fucking flipped it. Yeah.

But it's a tricky thing. But it's because you forget it. Like I, I still perform live a lot and I love going home after a bad show where like not a bad show for myself, a bad show. I'm like, Oh, I didn't step up because I,

I still want to feel that like on some level, I want to feel good shows too, but like, there are some moments where like, Oh, right. You get your ass handed to you. I can't just like wing it all. Like, you know, like I'm not trying to, but it's like, but it is, it's like, you can kind of these ups and downs. And I love these people who perform. I remember like one night, Will Ferrell came to UCB and he was like, Hey, I just want to run this show I wrote. And it was the George Bush show he did off Broadway. But,

He didn't tell anyone. He just basically showed up. He said, can I take over your slot? We came out for our improv show. We said, hey, we normally do improv, but tonight we got something special. Here's Will Ferrell. And then he just did this show that he wrote like within two weeks with a handful of people there. And then they turned it into this show. And I was like, oh, I just love that he's like creating. And I've been watching like Adam Sandler work on this network.

Netflix special, a new Netflix special. And every time I see him like pop up at Largo, he's doing 15 minutes of brand new material. And it's like shocking. It's shocking. And it's like, Oh, it's so fun. Like, but you see like, Oh man,

It is fun to connect and because we can get so far away from it sometimes because it's like, I just want to go home. I just want to like hibernate because I've been working 12 hours. I've been in Bulgaria. But you also forget sometimes I also think like with so self-reliance was the first movie where I got to hear everything essentially. So a lot of times I've either wrote or produced or acted. And then there are certain things they keep from actors because they treat us like baby kings and queens so that there's certain stuff we don't hear.

I thought the most interesting part of the process was when we like tested it in Burbank with strangers. We hired a company and the audience described exactly what they thought the movie was. And I got to say, after a couple of reading those written things,

I finally knew what my movie was. I knew what I wanted my movie to be as like an artist with my like scarf and beret on. So cool. You know, and like never, never listen to the audience. You're the genius. They're just there. That like 90s mentality. I had that. But then when the audience tells you, you go, why didn't land that fucking plane?

So they think it's this. And I'm like, man, I wish I could now go back and have like X amount of money and recut some stuff and like shoot two scenes. Cause they're telling me,

What the movie should be in these moments and what they loved about it. And that to me really woke me up in a way I didn't expect. Cause I'd always heard of like Judd and those guys always testing their movies. And I never liked the idea of it. I didn't like the idea of a movie being by committee or being by an audience. Yeah. But in directing, I thought like,

I don't know. If I get the keys to the car again, if I do something, I definitely want to test it, hear what people think, and leave some budget to go back and tweak. I will say that

In my experience and things that I've directed and, and things I've screened a lot of stuff when I can, sometimes I do it at UCB. Sometimes I do it in different places. Well, I did that, but, but the problem with that, but the problem with screening, cause I did that is I mostly screened it and it would be at like party over here and, or like at a friend's and it'd be like super hip people in the business who knew. And their take was excellent.

Right. And they were like, we see what you're going for. And then you put it in front of a crowd and they were like, we didn't see what you were going for, but here's what we thought. It's so funny though, because like I'm remembering with Ask Backwards, when our Casey and I, when our movie got into Sundance, we...

And we sort of had to rush the post-process to get into Sundance. And why indie movies need to be color-corrected and mixed and everything to premiere? That's a whole other conversation. But the process was a bit rushed at the end. And, you know, we... There's so much buzz about our movie coming in. And then we screened it for, like, the film festival. Fucking nerds. And...

every screening like one was worse than the last people were walking out i was like i was like it was fucking hellish so bad oh it was literally like you never recover in some ways i'm very grateful because i'm like oh the worst professional experience of my life happened when i was 25.

You know, and so it's like behind. I'm like, try to hurt me. Please try to hurt me. Like I've already watched basically Harvey Weinstein and everyone walk out of our movie in like tropes. So it's it was like it was crazy. But the end of it, you know, they do that one public screening in Salt Lake City.

Right. And Paul had left at that point. And I was like, I want to go home today. I cannot take another day. Reviews were just vicious, vicious because it was a hard comedy. And I think also at that time, this is, you know, whenever it was like there was a feeling of like you women are trying to make us laugh. Like, go fuck yourselves. People were angry. Right.

Then we went to the public screening again. I tried to get out of it. I wanted to go home that day. And Casey was like, no, let's see her movie with like real people. And I was like, okay, we go and it killed. And it was like, it was so important. I was like, wow, these are, these are not film festival goers. They are who are ready with their take. This is an audience. Yes.

of people who want to be entertained. Everyone's got all these expectations, but what you want is people to leave the movie and go, I liked that. Yeah. That was a lot of fun. Period. I gave you 90 minutes of my time. I'm busy. You didn't let me down, fat boy. And you go, good. You

You give me what I want from this experience. I want to be scared. I want to laugh. I want to cry, whatever it boom, boom, boom, boom. I kind of had a big realization doing this movie and it's really what led me to the podcast and pushing the podcast and being excited about it. But you have like the ideas in your head of who you want to be as a creative and what that means. And then as I've been doing it, I've realized more with each project we're doing, it's like you're opening a restaurant, right?

So if you're starting a podcast, it's a restaurant. If you're doing a movie, especially a TV show, you're opening a restaurant. If people don't want to eat at your restaurant, you're not a genius chef.

And that doesn't mean in 10 years they'll realize that your hamburgers were delicious. You'll be closed down, you goober. People need to want to eat there now. Now, you can do it your own way. You can say, like, I put the cheese before the marinara sauce. Like, ooh, funky. How's it taste, asshole? If it tastes good, great.

And by the way, there's also the flip side of that too, which is like, sometimes the food tastes good and no one goes to a restaurant. And you know what? Yes, that's right. And that happens too. I will say that I read this book that Rick Rubin wrote just about the act of creation. And he was like, you have to be okay with whatever plan that you had for your work, that once it goes out into the world, it's theirs.

And you can't tell them that they're wrong. Yes. And you can't, you can't show them what they saw differently. It's like, it's theirs. And it's a, and you have to just be comfortable. It's like, it's like if you've ever, like June, June and I have taught, I have this situation. Like you go back to a house that you grew up in. You've, that house is sold. New people live there. They're not going to appreciate the detailing, the things that you had in your house. It's,

It's forever changed. And you have to be like that. That's what they did. They saw something else. And you just have to embrace it. And I feel like it's a good lesson for create without, yeah, I created something I really liked and people thought it was this or people thought it was that. It's like the fact that David Fincher is so upset. He's like, fight club isn't supposed to be for MAGA guys. This isn't what I meant. I didn't want to do that. Sorry, pal.

There it is. It's done. But going off of that, which was wild was, so I took my movie, went to South by Southwest with it. And I had a different experience, June, in that for the first three quarters, the audience was loving it. And I was like, oh, fuck. Yeah. Like it's, I was getting bigger laughs. I expect I was with my brother, but my idea was the entire third act, the last like 20 minutes, I was going to send the audience down a real mind fuck.

And if it were, because tonally, I like when things shift a lot. Yeah. So I thought like, you're going to be involved in this like really weirdo comedy. Who the hell knows what's going on? And then you're going to get spiraled into darkness. And there was a change in the air in the theater for the negative.

And I was sitting there and I was like, as it was happening, I, my brother looked at me cause I was with my brother and he's like, it's good, man. And I was like, you're wrong. I missed. So I then had like a full on Hulu came in and bought it. Uh, they came in aggressive. We sold, everybody was positive. I wouldn't do the celebratory dinners. Uh, I went back and I got, I raised extra money from MRC. We then reshot. We did two extra days. I got to reopen the edit and,

Because yes, once you're done done, it belongs to them. But what I really liked about that and what I like about the podcast, and we said it in the last episode, email in what you're not liking about our format. Yeah. I was like, this is a choose your own adventure world. And I don't view it as content. I view it more like an old Midwesterner show. If you guys think it's getting too much like this, let us know. It's not set in stone. There's no big studio. We don't work for some billionaire who gives us a ton of gold. Right.

We're doing ads for fucking rocket money. Who cares? We're having fun. Well, you can have fun. You can have fun and change things. And I feel like that's like, that's the other thing too, is like not getting caught up in anything. Like you try new things. Sometimes it will work. Sometimes it won't. And then you do it and you go like this, the audience wasn't into this and neither were we. We never need to do it again, but we didn't take 10 meetings on it. Yes. We did an episode on it. It didn't work. I didn't get on a Zoom about it. I didn't hear nine opinions. I didn't join call.

I didn't join audio. I didn't start video. It was such a relief.

No, I think it's just fun. It's fun to be able to mess around what we're doing right now, this whole thing. And by the way, you should be subscribing, liking, listening to We're Here to Help. And by the way, you're not just going to be listening to you guys give great advice. You might actually change people's lives. They might call because what I love about this idea that you do is you

You have no vested interest when you go when you are a friend and you go, hey, look, I have to ask you a question. X, Y and Z. I know you. We have a relationship. It's like but if you have a stranger is calling in.

You have no, I can just be cavalier. That sounds stupid. That's dumb. It's not going to work. See you later. And it's like, and it's, it's the purest form of advice. You're not couching it. You know what? I know a lot of people, a lot of women in my life this year announced as their new year's resolution that they were no longer giving advice, which I thought was interesting because I,

Sometimes I think there are people who give advice because they can't sit in someone else's pain. So you know what I'm talking about, Paul. I can't sit in somebody else's pain. Right. Like I want to fix it. I cannot sit in somebody else's pain. I want to fix it. Yeah. But it is very different though for someone to ask you for advice.

That to me is the best feeling in the world. When someone says, texts and say, can I ask for your advice? Now, if they text and say, can I pick your brain? That's a no. But if they say that's a no. It feels like June, you're getting mad at wording. No, no.

No, I'm not. You don't like the way they phrased it. Pick your brain. Pick your brain to me is like, I want at least a half an hour on the phone with you. Right. And I want to shoot this shit. I might even ask for this to be in person. That's a pass. That's gonna be a pass. Yeah, that's gonna be a pass. And it's like, I feel like we're talking around and you might not recognize my authority here. You're asking directly for my advice. Yeah.

recognize my authority is shocking and that Paul you let that go which was even more shocking oh I know I'm here that's not a normal statement

A friend, can I pick your brain? Do you recognize my authority? No, lady, I was asking your advice on if I should take an acting job with a director you worked with. Now, let me tell you, because we have Jake for a limited period of time here. Of course. And this is not, obviously, a podcast about me giving advice. I just want to say that you pulled off one of the best things that I love so much. He's in your movie, but like Boban. You had Boban on your show.

which is amazing. You've had Julian Bell on your show. You've had Damon Wayans Jr. on your show. You had Zach Woods. You got to cavalcade a great guest, Josh Peck. I would love to have you both. I'd love to be asked. You're asked to be asked. Officially. Well, there it is. You're going to run the show in a comedic way. Before you even ask the question, you've got a lot of nerve emailing in this show. Yes.

Well, Paul knows someone in our life that Paul and I both know actually really abused our time. Although I did say after 30 minutes, I said, I don't understand what you're asking me. 30 minutes. Yeah, 30 minutes. Because I didn't understand. And then that helped him because he goes, I don't know what I am asking. So I think it was out and come back. Yeah, come back. But going to the show and advice and that as a perfect example.

When we experiment and we say the show's an experiment, our first month would be like some heavy calls. Really? And they would be like, I'm thinking of going through a divorce. And I would go like, I hear you. And then we realized, no, these need to be prepped by our producer, Kevin. Yes. We want dumb ones that mean a lot to you. So our thing means you need to condense what it is.

know what you're asking so that when I say, okay, so we got a setup. What's your question? Because if it's, they eat your time. It's boring for the audience. It's that guy calling you for 30 minutes in the end. You go, what is it? I like, you know, some people, I don't know if Kevin uses this scale, but some people are energy vampires. Sure.

And they'll take and they'll take your energy. And it's not about what they want. It's about just they want your energy. Yeah. And then other people will fill you up. You know, I feel filled up from this conversation with you and Paul. But.

That's not always the case, you know, and you gotta be wary. All right. So that your, your, your assignment, if you're listening right now, everything is the act out. I mean, that it is truly the best part. It should be the end of an act of a, and that's true. How I feel right now. Okay.

We're here to help. It's available wherever you get your podcasts. Please make sure if you listen on Apple, you are following, you rate, you review. Say what you like about it if you get into it and, you know, help them out. And you know what, Paul? I will say to our listeners, like, I, you know...

don't like most podcasts. I don't care for them. And I'm excited to hear this. The only podcasts I listen to usually are true crime. And I'm, I'm feeling like the actually true crime is bringing my vibrations down. Try our show June, but thank you. I will. Don't try it. Episode one. Okay.

Try the most recent and go the opposite. This is what I recommend too. Oh, that's great. Because my whole theory is this. Ultimately, if you're talking about television, if you're talking about podcasts, it gets better. Yes. You learn what it is. You don't need to start. Yeah. Pilots are simply like, we did it. We completed this thing. Let's go forward. I do that all the time. As a matter of fact, because I get caught up in it too, I've recut old episodes recently.

Because if it's still there, why not just clean it up a little bit? God bless you for doing that. I mean, oh, wow. How did this get made? It's a constant work in progress. Unspooled is too. I like it because it's like, well, if it's going to exist, it's going to exist. Make it better. Make it better. Hulu...

is where you can find self-reliance. And this is Jake. And this is... Go listen to him. Go watch him. Great talking to you both. Go watch him. Listen to him. Consume him in whatever way you can. Thank you, Jake, for chatting with us. Go subscribe and listen to Jake's podcast. We're here to help wherever you get your podcasts. All right. It is...

Finally time to announce our next movie. Next week, we'll be going from sexy flings to cartoon g-strings. That's right. We are keeping the sexy going as we watch the 2011 Danish animated adventure,

Ronal the Barbarian. Instead of giving you a breakdown of the plot, I'm just going to read you the movie's tagline, which is babes, balls, and muscles in 3D for the whole family. Anyway, Rotten Tomatoes does not have any reviews for this film, so we turn to Letterboxd user Silver, who writes, I kept a bucket next to me the entire time while watching this just in case I needed to throw up or hit myself with it. Perfect review. Let's listen to the trailer for Ronal the Barbarian. Strike!

courage, fearlessness. These traits were Kron's gifts to our people. But first and foremost, it is Kron's blood which makes us barbarians, the greatest warriors in all of Metellonia. - Can't do... - Come on. ...more!

Fucking barbarians, man. Going out on a quest is more about having big balls rather than big muscles. You can stream Ronald the Barbarian for free on YouTube or you can rent it on Apple TV. I also encourage you to check out Hoopla and Canopy, which are digital media services online.

offered by your local public library that allow you to consume movies, TV, audio books, eBooks, and comics for free. While we're talking about local public libraries, where are my librarians at? Librarians, please pre-order my book. You can do that too. And if you can't afford my book, well, then what you can do is you could pre-order my book at the library. You can request it. It's very easy to do. So librarians help people out, but you can go to your local public library to pre-order my book

All this stuff actually helps. And you know what? With that, I'll say adieu. That's right. Remember to rate and review the show. It helps. And if you listen on Apple Podcasts, make sure you are following us. Visit us on social media at HDTGM. And a big thank you to our producer, Scott Sani, Molly Reynolds, Avril Halle, and our associate producer, Jess Cisneros, and as well as our engineers, Casey Holford and Rich Garcia. We will see you next week for Ronald the Barbarian. I just can't be. Here I am.

Be warned that once you pick up a refreshingly cold drink from McDonald's and

and people see just how refreshingly cold that drink from McDonald's is, you may create drink envy. Because there are drinks. Then there are drinks from McDonald's. For a morning brew that really creates a stir, get any size iced coffee, including caramel and French vanilla, for just 99 cents before 11 a.m. Price and participation may vary. Cannot be combined with any other offer or combo meal. Ba-da-da-ba-ba.