Yeah, man, I'm excited. That is a hell of a collection back already there's a lot. Yeah, it's it's exciting, but it's overwhelming. I'm sure I did it make it probably makes like watching movies feel like, you know, church like, just like I'm gonna it's it's it's it's sacred. I'm gonna take it out of its case. I'm gonna pop it in get to enjoy it. The hard part is the forty eight minutes spent before the movie trying to figure out which one to watch. Yeah, that's right.
Yeah, that's that's what happens when I have forty eight thousand of them. It's just like which one tonight, you know. Hello there, and welcome back to the Disconnected. I am here with Josh Rubin, who is the star of the recent A Wounded Fawn that just dropped on shutter but has all kinds of other stuff unders built. We're gonna talk about as many of them as we possibly can. Josh, thanks for coming on today. Thanks for having me man. So first of all, how's this whole voluntary podcast
tour that you're on. You should be coming to the end of it soon, right, I have a full week of like four to five a day coming up. But the first leg was amazing. I mean, everybody's asked such insightful specific questions and there hasn't been that much overlap, which is kind of crazy. So I'm eager to see what's in store for this coming week.
It's also kind of been an amazing character study just of the different swath of interviews and types of questions, but types of people, and so I'm definitely clocking just like, wow, the personalities across the spectrum of this industries so to speak, is really really fascinating. Just as like a comedian observationist, I'm just kind of like, wow, Yeah, they're a really great way to meet people, you know what i mean, just kind of wow.
While I'm sitting at home my pajamas writing shit, it's like, oh, it feels like I'm out meeting people, but I'm really just here. And what a what a swath of personalities that meant. It's been pretty cool.
And it's the cool thing about stuff like this is it makes the world feel that much smaller because some of these people would never have the opportunity to to make, you know, acquaintances like this, and it's nice to be able to share your viewpoint across this spectrum because there's a lot of yeah yeah, and you know, I feel like it's the the lines are blurred.
It seems to become negligible at some point where it's like you talk to the La Times, there's not everybody reads or you you talk to an obscure publication
not everyone might listen to. But there's a there's a there's a coalescence of ven diagram kind of element to it where it's like it's at some point people are gonna end up, you know, here in one over the other, or you know, could could end up listening to that obscure show more than say they would have heard or read about it on you know, a news paper that don't subscribe to or otherwise. Yeah, exactly. So it's it's it's cool. So to get into the technical stuff. You've directed a few
things of your own, one of which that I truly loved. Here is a copy of that. How how is it giving up the director's chair and going into something with somebody like Travis Stevens for this, it was great because as a filmmaker going back to acting, I mean I started as an actor. I get to then archive how a filmmaker like Travis, or really any director talks to their crew, or talks to their actors or orchestrates and conducts.
I think that's why directors love talking to other directors, is because what we do is so is so absolutely insane and very very difficult, and it requires such a privileged set of skills amassed over the years, if you're lucky enough to be able to amass those skills over the years without anybody kind of recognizing it. So for me, it was great, and you know, it's and it's like it's like I sort of get to take a seat back
and exercise a different part of my toolbox. But but I also get to learn from others and adopt what sort of I'd like to bring on to the next project as a filmmaker exactly. And this this role seemed to indicate that there was probably a lot of trust between you and Travis the way that you executed everything in this it's sort of an odd character study, obviously, but beyond all of that, there's a lot that there's a nuance in your performance.
And without Travis, I'm sure directing very specific things, it wouldn't exist the way that it does on screen, even though that you have obviously in a lot of what you do, your own specific nuances. So the blending of those two. Did you feel any sort of you know, built trust on this set. That's an awesome question. Like I was saying before this, not much overlap, but the questions on like Indie press stour, there was an inherent trust there. I mean, he's a seasoned filmmaker and producer,
so I knew that I'd kind of be taken care of. I'm pretty good atself directing, and I really really appreciate and the trust was especially learned when I saw the steps, the careful steps Travis was taking in advance of us, you know, getting a set and the cameras rolling questions that he
was at. He would ask us about our characters and trying to sort of, you know, sew in the tone or exhibit the tone, articulate the tone, so that when we did get there, we'd done not just whatever learn their lines and various you know, bits of character work, but knowing how we were going to fit into the story. So yeah, that that definitely existed and was super valuable in such an excellent part of the process.
You know, what you really wanted a filmmaker was Travis did, is to make sure that he catches you so that you you're acting within the confines of the tableau that he's kind of painting right, and that you know when you see the thing at Tribeca for the first time that I did, you go, oh, that's why he had me do that, or why that was
filmed a certain way. The nightmare scenario for me, regardless of how good you are, how great a performance you kind of deliver, is then that the technical piece of it won't get supplemented, it won't be as supported. But in this case it absolutely was, which was such a joy to see how it all came together. Speaking of that, what did you feel the first time you watched it? Other than, you know, obviously the pride of your performance, but do you feel like the story was effective for you
watching it for the first time? The story was immensely effective. The film stock was, so that was the most exciting part to me, beyond how the visuals and how Valls score. He's our brilliant composer. How that kind of translated the very first time. To be totally honest, I turned to my wife and I was like, I'm dog shit right, this is terrible, like the performance, like I wouldn't cast me right, And she was like, you're crazy. That's just how I am when I see myself for
the first time, especially or performances. I just I see all the kind of imperfections. Take with that what you will, but I mean, yeah, I was overwhelmingly especially with each version of the film that I saw, because Tribeca was one sort of sound design and color pass and fantastic fest, especially that theater at the Alamo. It's just yeah, that sound system is crazy. It looked even better. It sounded incredible. That's the one where it sort of like clicked in, like, oh shit, no, this
is this is a holy visionary, very different kind of film. I think he's going to have a nice life. I watching this, I was very, very impressed with the fact that it was shot on film. It was shot in film in a way that was done to look like the seventies and have that thematic feel. And watching with my wife, she looked at me and said, why does this look so different than some of the other newer movies that we watched, And I had to explain the technical side of her
that alone, that educational side. Are you getting the this feeling that maybe some other people might view this and say, hey, maybe I'm a little inspired and I'll shoot my next feature on film. I think I'm seeing quite a bit of that movement. Like I know Travis was inspired by Joe Begos's Bliss in particular, and now you're seeing I didn't even realize that Christmas, Bloody Christmas, his next film or his most recent film, is also on
sixteen, and this about essentially Terminator Santa Claus. So I'm super excited to see that, just because you know, there's something about that aesthetic that's so kind of transportive and nostalgic for all of us film lovers. But I'm curious how for the say not sinophiles or people who wouldn't quite calculate that, how they feel about the aesthetic, if they just are enjoying the ride or whatnot. But I'd like to think that, yeah, that film will continue to
have a life. And Travis specifically set out to do it and executed it because it was Joe I believe, who broke the men that it was some impossible thing to do a movie on film. It's not impossible, and it's not it's not cost prohibitive. You just have to you just have to calculate your number of film canisters, film cartridges to shoot, you know, budget accordingly. And that's what we did. What about yourself, do you see
yourself shooting on film anytime soon? I'm definitely, I'm definitely more curious about it, for sure. I like what it does to us actors into the production crew. It kind of charges everyone to do it right the first take, you know, because every foot of film is X amount of dollars whatever in a in a different even different kind of sense that you know, time is money when you're shooting digitally. But yeah, I don't know for sure. I think I would if if the film required it, if it felt
like that would assist the film in some way. In an instance like this, it made total sense because it's a it's a jalloh kind of homage, it's a Sam Raimio homage in a way. But I'm definitely my interest is piqued for sure, speaking of Yallo, any certain Yallow films that while shooting this, you were hearkening back to for yourself personally, that you seem to
appreciate from viewing in past years. I am such a newcomer to that whole subset of horror films, to the Italian filmography, to our gento and was it Diadado and Folci and all them. I think I remember the one that stuck with me as a kid, and I'm sure I've seen more was Phenomena originally Creepers with Jennifer Connelly. I think that one is Phenomenon, just the fact that it gets away with so much and there's such a there's such a
scope to it really really really stuck with me. There were images that you know, will stay with you forever, as with most of those films, but there was one specifically I was thinking of it. I maybe because it's just not within my I'm more of like a you know, Batman Returns and Weekend at Bernie's Kid that i am Italian horror cinemaphile. But now I'm more I think, dug in and excited about going back and looking, watching and appreciating them in the way that you know, I don't know, Travis might
go into the Severn film's vault and yeah, it's all stoked on. Yeah, Travis's episode on that was pretty great. And speaking of Travis, he also directed Jacob's Wife, which also had your co star Sarah Lynde in it, and how how how was it working with her, because without the two leads having this great chemistry, this really would not have worked the way that
it did. Someone said the other day they were like, I really loved how much How what that they didn't have chemistry talking about the characters, which
is a testament to how how great our chemistry was. I mean, she's phenomenal, like the only thing you the best thing you can kind of dream of, which is what I was so excited about My first film, like, Uh, Scare Me was essentially a black box theater play, and I was so stoked after years of doing comedy to get back to my acting roots and really act opposite another performer who is really listening and kind of that thing of you know, it's like, oh god, actors just going on about
like listening, what's that all about? And you try and kind of chase that a little bit, even in the comedy work that I'd done in the past, like, oh, I wonder if I can kind of find that. And Sarah is the epitome of that, and We're both sort of have similar sensibilities that in that we just want to dive right in and take risks and try stuff and keep it interesting for one another and for each other bury it up and not just you know, repeat it like you know, a
broken record or dialogue or what have you. It was phenomenal to play an intimidator and to play like the bully sort of dangerous side of Bruce and watch her as Meredith react to that with every like fiber of her being, like, that's how much of an incredible visceral listener she is. And then beyond the flip of that, and to see her essentially playing a god was was just so epic. I mean, she's a dream She's a dream partner,
dream person to work with. You know, I've been repeating this, but the I just appreciated the fact that, you know, she, you know what, isn't the type of actor to have to like retreat to a corner and listen to sad music or anything. I really haven't worked with any actor like that, but I don't do many dramas. She just wanted to jump in and that's that's how I like to do it too. One of the things I really wanted to hit on today. You kind of just alluded to
it not working on a lot of dramas. It seems like, especially with indie filmmakers, people are finally starting to come around the fact that horror and comedy are really only separated by like a very thin shower curtain. A lot of the things that you have to pull out of yourself come from that same vein. So with your comedy background, how how do you feel like that
benefited you on a film like this. Oh, just because we're boundary pushers and risk takers, and you know, comedians are typically great observationalists, so we we we're ones to find some personality personality and and skewer them through say mockery or mimic or or or or other or other means. And that was what was so cool about playing Bruce is it's like, you know, the
type of narcissistic bastard I was. I'm so excited to break over the cools, especially after like the past, you know, several years of presidency and types of personalities and such. You know, we're also excited to secure I think that's what it is about these comedians in our in our field who have advanced in horror, Zach Craiger and Jordan Peele, even even John Craisin.
There's just an observation of humanity that that I think we live to do in a different way, in the way that we not only want to document it, but we've we were we're we've played it, we've we've actually embodied those types of characters and secured them, held the mirror up to them, that kind of thing, and uh, yeah, it's it's a it's a fascinating
subject. I love, I love kind of I love kind of digging into what it is about the parallels and there's so much more to be said, but you know, to to that and I think, uh, I think that's why US comics might be effective. You know filmmakers to that degree. Comedy is so important and with especially with your background, somebody that's broken their their back to produce some of these shorts and you know your work would drop
out where they started with, you know, such a little bit. And uh, they've really gotten popular, especially with the sam doing all the TikTok videos and all that crazy it's old how many people are finding drop out nowadays. But with those you were originally forced to have this tiny budget, which it seems like it really leads to this massive amount of creativity. Can you
share anything where on your sets? You feel like because you were so stuck with how little you could actually spend, it brought out an incredibly fascinating project because I feel like where was Within is kind of like the definition of that to me. Yeah, and that's that was thank you. Everything I've done has been that type of project, and it's it takes a very specific type
of technician to figure out how to make that schedule work. I think my work not only in sketch like internet sketch comedy, where the first time you see the location, your location scout day is also your prep day and your shoot day and you've got four hours and if you have a celebrity, you got them for ten minutes or whatever. To so you you learn so quickly
how to just just saw all solve shit, just shoot it. You know, Where Wolves was an instant was like the perfect culmination of all the shit that I'd learned, all the falling down and fucking up through years of doing college humor videos and shorts and just kind of finding myself took me so long to even figure out technically what sort of you know, emotional effect lenses had. I kind of knew in my heart what certain visuals were, but I
couldn't quite find find and articulate it technically. That was such an example perfect, you know, storm of my my skill set amassed over years of doing commercials and sketch for how to get the thing in the can, and we somehow came in undertime and under budget on that after you know, having days slashed and you know, actor availability issues and all kinds of stuff, weather
issues. Same thing with Scare Me. I mean, we shot that and I just learned I thought it was fourteen days, and my DP the other day was like, no, that was that was twelve days. We lost a lot of time because of because of blizzards, and I only had AYA
for nine days of those twelve days. So what that does is it forces you into a very kind of survival mode creative mode situation where you go, okay, if we can only if I had to choose, if I had to sacrifice some kids and pick my favorites, it's more like picking your necessaries to get the thing in the can. Here's the few I'd picked to get
it done. Like, as an example on were Wolves, that whole hallway scene after spoiler alert, Pete gets his hand bitten off, and there are gunshots, and there's complex choreography, and the hallway truly was the you know, that's a real hallway. That wasn't a set. There weren't flyaway walls or anything. I just, you know, we had four hours to do it, maybe even less. So I just said, we're gonna shoot everything this way. All the back and forth, I'm side coaching all the actors.
Stand back for the gun shit, let's knock it out. Cool now, we're gonna do everything this way. And then going entirely on Michael's coverage, we're gonna get all the squibs, Sam, get in here, squat down, turn back, just do all your lines like this, and then we're gonna turn the camera this way and get Rebecca in the hallway. And
that was it, and it was three takes each, you know. And what I've learned from moving at that pace is not everybody's ready to move at that pace, especially if they come from the TV world or you got endless resources. So what I've learned, especially on that gig and everything I'm gonna do from here on out, regardless of the budget. Is if I'm going too fast, like let's have a safe word, or like at the beginning of the day, you know, hey, you know you kind of you
kind of give them the load down. The sun's gonna go down as fast as you know the Lord intended, so like, let's let's just check in with each other, like today's gonna go quickly. Here's what I need to get for the story. But if it's if it's too fast for you, if there's anything you want to try, you got to say, like grab me, because when I work, I'm like a scrambled egg, you know,
I'm just like con just popping off. And it seems like improv is kind of the perfect fuel for that because with that background, you have to be able to answer the drop of a hat, and a lot of these people they don't have that type of background, so maybe they don't. Yeah, yeah, you need actors who are just kind of ready. That's why that whole cast in particular, coming most of which from the improv world, from you know who like had fifteen roommates and did live theater and did all
that thing, just like ready for anything. Why I a cash and Chris Red are ready for anything. That's how I was able to get those in the can you know folks with a theater background and improv background that they'll save your ass for sure, agreed. As you noticed when you first came on, this is a channel about physical media. As this is behind me, How does this feel that there are people across this world holding something you created, They can touch it, it lives on their shelf, and you are
able to purchase something in a store that you made. How does that feel as a filmmaker. It's it's insane day, and I actually not, but I want to say two weeks ago, I went to a place called Video Tech here in California. It's called it's in South Pasadena. It's it's a hard media story. They've got vinyls, they've got cassette tapes, they've got deep every Blu Ray, DVD, you know, TV show and film you can possibly imagine. And they had not only were wolves but also scare me
in within two shelves of each other. And as a child of you know, the eighties and the VHS era and walking into the you know the kind of vault like chapel of our video stores, and I can remember all four of them throughout my childhood and to adulthood. You know what they were, how they smelled, and the effect they had on me. It feels amazing. It's incredible. And I don't know what it is about today that hard media is. I mean, you you would know more than I would hear.
Hard media is coming back in such a big way, not just vinyls, but also cassette tapes and Blu rays and Ultra four k, et cetera, et cetera. I don't know what it is or why it is. Maybe maybe it's kind of an anesthetical or a snap back response to how we're gone. We've gone so opposite that way. We're looking for that tactile experience again. I'd like to think even like kids these days are discovering the magic
of hard media in a weird way. Like I feel like even even younger kids in the TikTok generation are going like, ooh, a cassette tepe. You know true, I'm curious. I'm curious from your perspective what your take is on that. Just being a collector buddy, do you do you have a sense of like what that is and why that is. There's a couple
of things some of the companies I've talked to. One is that during the pandemic, a lot of people had what we're kind of referring to a streaming fatigue, and whether it's stuff disappearing from these libraries or just I've looked at these three hundred and twelve thousand times and it's not the same. And they're hearkening back to man. When I was a kid, I had this, you know, a VHS of Aladdin that I played forty nine times. When I stream this, I'm never gonna watch it again, But when I hold
it, it's that much more important. So possibly that side of things, but then on the other side of it, it is people genuinely that are I hate this experience because there's so many things that are not respectful to the viewers or the filmmakers. Like if I were to stream Werewolves within the moment the credits are started, basically it's let me recommend four other titles and it's blaring in your face. You don't get to sit with that feeling of what
just ended. It's a yes, it's a verse kill. It actually is. I mean they're like I was watching even it wasn't glass onion because I had a DGA screen, or there was there was some I think they've been episode. Oh it might even be White Lotus, Like, you know, this hot new show on HBO is like so exciting, you want to sit with that music, and then suddenly HBO credits this that and the other thing
and or Damer. We were watching you know, Dahmer on Netflix. Yeah, and as you know, troubling as the show is really my wife and I really loved it, and you want to sit in the heft of that last moment that's well said, and then you can't reach for the remote fast enough and figure out how to get the credit suggested the other way, and it's just it's obnoxious. So you're you're totally that's that's that's totally bang on. And I'm also finding I don't know if this is this is adjacent.
I think it is comic books. I'm I'm rediscovering my love of comic books and graphic novels. It might have been a pandemic thing as well, and so I'm I'm releasing a graphic novel next year that's kind of an homage to my love of tales in the crypt it feels like it could be a tale out of Tales or a tale out of Stephen King's Dairy. And I think it's simply because you know, I love having the thing in my hand, maybe as a result of you know, or that that that snap reaction too.
You know, Let's get the phone out of the hand and get back to what it felt like watching reading this stuff as a kid. Are there any certain films that you really relied on back in the in the old hard, meaty days at the video store that you remember just going back to, I mean dark Man, dark Man, I think one, two, and three. Honestly, all three of them. I rented all three of them. Dark Man one I'd rent and rent and rent. I don't know why we didn't own it. I never owned it at any point. I can't
tell you why, because I'd rent it again and again. I think it was just a period, probably an elementary into junior high, where I'd rent it so often and then just kind of forgot about it, I mean truly blackout forgot about it until a few years ago when I went, like I used to watch this horror superhero movie hundreds of times a year and put it away completely, rebought it on Netflix or bought it for the first time or sorry on iTunes, and and just discovered or rediscovered how rewatchable it is.
The colors, the action, the raimiesque kind of you know glory that was that was super reliable to me. And then anything that looked like a great horror movie. But you know what's funny is that back then, in the late nineties in early two thousands, even as a high schooler, you'd kind of want to rent these like independent dramas like I remember going and wanting to rent like Nick Nolty's like uh Affliction and like The Ice Storm and uh the
The Death of a Salesman with with Dustin Hoffman. I don't know what it was. Maybe it's because I was like a bit of a theater kid and whatever, but I think it was just the thing of each movie, almost any movie, as long as you brought a few tapes home, just to have this kind of holy effect where we don't go to go, well, what are they and I will right, well, that's the event for tonight.
They wouldn't all be great, but it's like, what is this thing going to behold, you know, with the Sweet Hereafter and I heard of it all right, fuck it put it in. It's like, oh that's intense, but yeah, whatever, until you start to get hip to the fact that as a kid, you're like, oh, that looks like there's old people in it. Well there's not in a blood on the back, or you know, no one has a no one has a fuck up face
or is it there's an insert of machete or whatever. You know, Yeah, that's that's I think one of the things that is making this different for a lot of people is those we treated them as events, but nowadays, if you're just streaming something on Netflix, a lot of us just background noise. So getting this physical media, it's something where it's intentional. You're making that move to actually have a relationship for the next ninety minutes with something that
is important to you. Yeah. Yeah, that's well, that's well said.
That's well said. I I wonder if this era now now is theater the issue of you know, driving to the theater is sort of becoming fragile, and the state of the theater industry is becoming frat I wonder if there's going to be kind of a resurgence of hard media to the degree that will kind of aid you know, pre existing films or the future of film, that that will become only a way to sort of maybe supplement some of these losses, and that maybe people will drive it back, you know, drive
back to the theaters or continue going back. You know, next year some of the theater chains will fail, but that the you know, the standbys. I mean, my my local Almo here in Los Angeles is there's a lot of people there every weekend because it's a destination. Is you know, price is fine, it's still like a little cost prohibitive. But you see them. You know, when they did three dollars movie Day nationally a few months ago, you couldn't see anything. You couldn't get in the door to
see any movie. It didn't matter what it was, documentary, anime from the past, brand new flike Black Adam, whatever the hell. You know. So, I don't know if you ever go, but the Nubev in Hollywood. I was just there in June, and the amount of screenings of stuff that sell out within like two hours of tickets going live. Yeah, until because they have this this reverence for it and it's it's on the cheap side. It's not that bad at the New BEV. Yeah, everybody,
I gotta go. I have to go. I criminally have not been. There's so many times my finger is hovered over the the ticket button for things like, I mean everything from Batman Returns to Suspiria and everything else. But I but I will. I think it's because it's like the parking where do you go? But there is a spot they talk about on the website. They're like, just go up the street. Uh yeah, No, that's the kind of thing that excites me. You know. I think there's a
is called brain Dead Studios. I want to say here in La with it. It's like an obscure movie theater. The boutique movie theaters will sell out. There was a Friday the thirteenth on thirty five mil Part three on thirty five mil. U full on three D gave you the Glasses and everything else looked incredible. Brian Fuller was there and some of the original casts, and
it was like it was an event completely sold out. Like that stuff's really exciting, And I'd like to think that it's not just places like here in La that if that those types of events happened elsewhere in our in our in our country that people would go, and I think they will. There's it's
great to follow the mom pop video stores. There's one even like to shout out to Tinker Street Theater in Woodstock, New York that that fulk the management that's taken over Tinker Street Theater in our tiny town, our tiny theater. The curation is out of control and I think they're they're selling out, you
know, pretty frequently. It's really incredible with that, Like they're showing Critters and you know, Vampuro's Lesbos and all, like, you know, then they'll show Elf and Batman and you know, it's just it's pretty pretty rad. A friend of mine who is also comedian, he met you a couple
months ago at Beyonfest. I believe he goes to the new BEV like freaking church every single month they do. It's usually four or five films where it's an unknown horror marathon where you sign up and then they just play it for the next like nine hours. And it sounds incredible. So yeah, wow, he's loved everyone he's gone to. I would recommend that that sounds incredible. Yeah, I'm going to look that up. If there's a membership program
or something, maybe that's what I should I should sign up for. God bless Quentin for doubling down on it. Josh, I want to be respectful of your time. Thank you for coming on here today. This has been amazing. I'm so glad that you were able to break through with the Wounded Fawn and wear Woll's within and scare me and everything else. I can't wait to see what's next. Thank you, Ryan, me too. I hope I do. My fans well, we'll see doing great and I can't wait
for the next cup of the Game Changer with you. Thank you very much, sir, appreciate it. Have good afternoon, all right, YouTube, thanks for having me tell me no