How did you go about casting the film? Was it a matter of just calling up your pals and asking them to go away to camp for a few weeks? ^ In many cases, yes. That was actually part of the whole concept of doing the film in the first place – a chance to make an inexpensive movie, one location, outside, with friends, out of the city. Of course in addition to our friends, we auditioned many roles and made offers to name actors we didn’t know before, like David Hyde Pierce and Molly Shannon.
Janeane Garofalo must have been a blast to work with. Care to share any on set stories about Ms. Garofalo? ^ She was awesome. She brought her two dogs to the camp, stayed in the cabins with the rest of us, and was party girl #1.
A lot of jokes must have been left on the cutting room floor. Can you tell us about some of the things you had to cut? (Hopefully these will be on the DVD.) ^ There was a scene with myself and Kerri Kenney (also of The State) as a couple who are camping and their motorcycle gets stolen by Joe Lo Truglio’s character Neil. She and I have a rather lengthy scene where we discuss our future, our plans, etc. Had nothing to do with anything, so we opted to cut it, but yes hopefully it will appear on a DVD. Other cut moments include more stuff with the science kids and Gene, two naked a*s shots, and a recreation of an obscure scene from “Animal House”.
The film has been a hit on the film festival circuit, where was your best screening? ^ All four screenings at Sundance (which was the first place it was shown) were pretty amazing. They were way oversold and the one that was at, like 8:30 AM might have had the loudest, most responsive audience. One of the most satisfying screenings was early in editing when we showed a rough cut to a group of NYU students who went bezerk.
What’s your next project after this one? ^ Mike (Showalter) and I are writing a screenplay for Universal called “They Came Together”, which is a spoof of romantic comedies, especially those in the Nora Ephron / wanna-be Woody Allen veign. I’m also slated to direct “Cap’n Ricky…Also Featuring Karl” this winter, for Kinowelt USA.
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