Episode 114: Interview w/ Nathalie Boltt

Alright G-towners - get ready to turn those frowners into upside downers. It's not often I get to share cinematic geekery with an acclaimed actor and director, but Nathalie Boltt was super kind and willing to chat with yours truly for a concise but peanut-packed snickers bar of an episode. For those who don't know, Nat Boltt is a South African actor (in major productions like District 9, Riverdale and many more) director and writer whose debut feature film "Holy Days" has just been released and is crushing so many film festival minds. I finished it minutes before interviewing her and it is something to behold. The uplifting, effervescent and heavy spiritual film stars the three silver screen legends Miriam Margolyes, Judy Davis and Jacki Weaver and newcomer Elijah Tamati who steals and melts hearts the minute he's on screen. Nat also acted in the movie and talked about the strange fourth-wall breaking transition between being a character in the film that you yourself are directing. We talked about Peter Jackson. We talked about Neill Blomkamp. We talked about getting your creative dreams crushed. We talked about hope and joy. We talked about the need for more female directors. We had a great chat. Hope ya dig it.

My new album "Geographics" is out now on all platforms. You can preorder the digital, cd and vinyl versions of the album on my bandcamp page, (which helps me greatly) but I understand that cash is tight all over the map, so you can also order a five dollar Geographics sticker. 5 beans! This album is really special to me (as my friends Melissa Payne and Charles Austin played all over it) and I hope you'll come along for the supersonic ride. Follow me @gravencanada on all the socials, and check my website to see when I'm playing live in a town near you. Join Graventown today to support yours truly for only 8 clams a month. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Testing, testing one, two, three, Natalie Bolt on the phone.

SPEAKER_02 0:25

Yes. Well, thanks again, everyone, for being back here in Graventown. And it's not often that I have a guest. A lot of the times, Graventown is me and my neurotic ramblings, but I appreciate you being here for this special kind of occasion. And I've had some really cool guests lately, and I'm really lucky to have these conversations. And today is no exception because I have with me very cool, very friendly actor, director, someone who has uh made her mark in many different ways and is really starting to make a mark with her first directorial debut feature in a movie called Holy Days. And she's someone that you may recognize from films like by the way, one of my faves of all time, District 9, and was a recurring character acting on Riverdale. Um, unbelievable to be graced with the presence today uh with Nat Bolf. Nat, thanks for being here in Graventown.

SPEAKER_00 1:26

Hey, lovely, we got it together. I'm happy to connect.

SPEAKER_02 1:30

Yes, thank you so much, and uh thanks for your time. What where do we find you today?

SPEAKER_00 1:36

Oh, I'm based in Deep Cove in Vancouver. Yeah, I've been here for quite a few years now.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Oh, that's very cool. And um, so can uh before we get into holy days, which I want to do, I know we don't have a ton of time, but I'd love to just geek out with you for a minute on District 9. Is that cool?

SPEAKER_03 1:55

Of course.

SPEAKER_02 1:56

Um, I mean, that's one of my most fave films of all time. And um so I mean, just as an outsider watching something like that, there's really there's not many movies I can think of in the last 20 or 30 years that are like District Nine, right? It really stands out as something different. What was it like being a part of that, being on the set, like being a character? Was it all kind of secret? Was it under wraps? Like how how did that all uh transpire?

SPEAKER_00 2:29

This was very surprising to me. You know, I was in Wellington and New Zealand at the time. My husband worked for Peter Jackson, so that's how we ended up uh, you know, he at Forwaiter Digital that did um the post-production on District 9. So the actual whole shoot of it took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, which I had left uh a couple of years before. So I had no idea that this big production was going on. And um I was yeah, I I they read my agent tweeted out to me, said, you know, they they need to do some um some pickup shoes. And uh and they they heard about you and um can you can you come down? And I kind of went, what is this? It's um probably B grade movie about uh aliens addicted to cat food. What? And so um I kind of went, you know, for once in my life I just had a baby, I just had my son. Uh for once in my life I said no. And um, because I spent my whole life as actors do chasing work, and um, you know, I've just been in Berlin and London and and uh I was waiting for my green card for the US. And this thing lands in my lap and I go, no, I don't want to do it, it sounds silly. Um and then they kept coming back saying, um, but we really, really want you, and we're looking for South Africans and we'll hold your baby was I think the thing that's d that um convinced me. So I said, okay, you can have an hour and a half of my time, you can hold my baby, and um, you know, I'll talk to this director, whoever the hell he is, and uh, and I'll do my very best to pretend like I understand aliens, um, and uh, you know, and and do my my best acting. And then of course, what happens is we get I get on like a house on fire with um Neil Blomkamp, who I'm now still very friendly with. He he is um he's also based in Vancouver, so we have the whole background of South Africa, New Zealand, and and Canada. Uh we share that we share all of those points. But um, yeah, then they called me back a couple of times because it just worked so well. And then I saw that I saw the film cut together and it was just the absolute sleeper hit of that time. Oh, yeah. Um, and I had no idea what I had actually signed up for and how great it was going to be. And and at the same time, um, you know, like you, none of us had any idea what a standout film it would be because there hasn't been anything like District 9 since.

SPEAKER_04 4:54

No.

SPEAKER_00 4:55

Um, there have been many attempts, and of course, people are always are still screaming for District 10. And I and I, you know, I tease Neil, you know, he's like, No, I might still do it, I might still do it. Um yeah, but what a funny thing, you know, you to just you just never know which film's gonna pop. And um, you know, kudos to all the filmmakers and the actors in and the and the VFX and the design in that film, you know, Shalteau uh Cockley, who played the lead, like what an incredible performance. And I've since worked with Shalto.

SPEAKER_02 5:25

And have you?

SPEAKER_00 5:26

Like me, he's yeah, he's very um on the on the game off the grid, which is one of Neil's games. Um and uh, you know, like me, he's I call it squirrel energy. We're very squirrely, you know. We've we got a million things going on in our own.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

I can sense that about you, yeah. No, it's good because bounce around a lot. I I I think that's why uh you and I sort of connected because I I'm similar at times. I can go very hermit at other times, but I do have like a a squirrelly neurosis that's always kind of rambling around.

SPEAKER_00 5:57

Yeah, you can't sit still too long. Yeah, I think I think it's uh yeah, it is a neurosis. It really is. I think it's genetic and and creative, and yeah, you kind of your battery gets empty sometimes, and you have to kind of and then you really kind of crash.

SPEAKER_04 6:13

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_00 6:14

But um, but then as soon as you have any energy back, I feel like people like us, um, you know, we are those little the the extra, the dura cell bat battery that um just keeps going. And I I don't know if it means we live longer or shorter.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

Yeah, no, it's true. I think the steam, you know. Well, I mean, there's all this research coming out now about um neuroplasticity in the brain, and so I think that hopefully builds well um for us. And and I mean tr transitioning into holy days, like um, either way, thanks for talking about District 9. That's so cool. Holy cow.

SPEAKER_00 6:51

Oh, yeah, I need time, especially very strong.

SPEAKER_02 6:53

Yeah, oh okay. Well, I'm gonna send you more questions when we have more time about that.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 6:57

Um, so holy days, you know, speaking about neuroplasticity and people getting older and and growing old and having a sense of purpose, keeping your minds active. Um I think there's so much about that in this movie, especially because there is a main story, um, without I don't want to give too much away, but with the the main boy who has played so great. By the way, for the listener, I literally just got here to this microphone and I just finished watching the movie about half an hour ago and fought insane traffic. And so coming off the emotional roller coaster of the movie, which was by the way, Nat, like so brilliant. And I'm so thankful you made this movie because I think there is more need for hopeful material in this day and age, and there's more need for you know describing and portraying uh characters who are going through you know, death and struggle and sadness, but coming out on the other side to find joy, to find hope, to find longevity. And these three main characters, and there is a question coming, I won't just tell you this. These three uh main characters who um one of the names you'll have to help me with, but so three of my fave fave movies of all time are The Ref, who which Judy Davis was in and is brilliant. Um then one of my other faves is Magnolia by P.T. Anderson. And Miriam has like a small role in that, but it's so memorable. It's unreal, and so it's blowing my mind. And then my other fave movie is Silver Lining's Playbook, which is but what what's the name of that actor again who is in this movie?

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Jackie Weaver.

SPEAKER_02 8:47

Jackie Weaver. Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 8:49

Yeah, like yeah, she was Oscar nominated for Silver Lining Playbook and for my other favorite movie, which is Animal Kingdom.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Oh, Animal Kingdom.

SPEAKER_00 8:57

The original Aussie, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:59

So my mind was blown watching this today, going, oh my god, like I knew I kind of didn't want to know a ton about it going into it, so I could geek out on it with you. But uh, those are three of my favorite actors of all time, and it just to see them together and portraying these um older women who who are nuns who are like, you know, have this certain kind of life, but then are taking this boy with them on this awesome journey. I mean, it's such a beautiful story. Can you talk about the screenplay and everything and the story and who originally how did that come to you? Like this, how the writer and all that stuff, how it came into your hands?

SPEAKER_00 9:37

So, um, yeah, I mean, this is a story of three nuns who are forced out of their home and they are forced into the world uh and on a road trip in um New Zealand 1970s, uh, and a little boy, a little Maori kid.

SPEAKER_02 9:52

Who is great, by the way, unreal.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

He hitches a ride with them um because he has his own reason for wanting to get down to the South Island of New Zealand, um, and that is that he believes his um newly uh the loss of his mum, his mum has died recently, that he that she will be on her ancestral mountain in the Southern Alps. And so he believes that he can go and find her. So that's just a quick synopsis. And the way it came to me was um the writer of this book, it's based on a book by the same name, Holy Days.

SPEAKER_04 10:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:23

Um, so Dame Joy Cowley is an absolutely renowned and adored writer in New Zealand, but also in in America. Um so yeah, she she has this incredible reputation for just being, I don't know, really prolific and a great writer of thousands of children's books. Um and this isn't necessarily a children's story, but you do get some perspective for from the from the kids' uh point of view. Um, and the reason I made it was because Joy and I had um a friendship that developed over our first project together, which was my first short film called The Silk, based on her most famous short story.

SPEAKER_03 11:02

Right.

SPEAKER_00 11:02

Um, you can find it on my website, Nat Bolt. Natboltdirector.com. And she trusted me because of what I did with that short story, and then said, look, you should make this novel into a feature film. And I kind of went, ooh, none's interesting. Um, not my not my first sort of uh choice of topic at all. But then, you know, when I read it and just once again, Joy, who is a very special person, she's got sort of angel qualities, very warm, interesting person. Um yeah, she's definitely got magic in her. When she when I read her story about what happens, you know, with this almost little Miss Sunshine type story, very unlikely characters in a car together and the wonderful things that they experience, I thought, okay, well, this is unusual. Um, and if Joy says it's the best thing and she's trusting me with it, then I should do it, you know, thinking that it would be done in two years' time. Um, that was 12 years ago. And so, yeah, you know, you take on these things. Um, hopefully my next film won't take that long, but you take on these things, um, thinking, sure, I mean, I can do this. And I think it's that kind of like um that sort of naivety and um just you know blind confidence that also gets gets you into good problems. So, you know, I was working on other things, Riverdale, et cetera. And whenever I had a break, I would be writing the next version of the script. Um so I was always busy, you know, again, that squirrely energy. Um yeah, and but I mean, you know, no none of us could have foreseen COVID and then strikes and just how difficult it is to get a movie up that is not a blockbuster, that is not superheroes, that not that's not all uh, you know, gloom and doom and violence and weapons or just pure action and guys.

SPEAKER_03 12:55

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:56

Um this is this is a different type of story, it's completely unique. Really, yeah, and not that easy to finance, you know. So a lot of that is just trying to get the nod from various funders and financiers.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 13:09

It's difficult. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:11

How how has that road been for you? Has it been kind of uh distressing at times or have you found it encouraging in the people?

SPEAKER_00 13:18

Yeah, excruciating. I mean, we we, you know, uh my producers believed in me and they believed in my ability to write. And then I, you know, I was trained by Warner Brothers as a director. I did all the usual things. I directed short films and music videos and directed on Riverdale. But and even then, you know, for anyone, male or female, it's very difficult to get your first feature financed. But I think in my case, um, it's such a complex film and there's so much in it. So much that happens. And there's stunts and there's action. I mean, there is so there is action, it's but it's not violent action. It's fun, it's comedy, you know. It's like my version of the blues brother, blues brothers version of the book. And um and so yeah, to kind of integrate all these things, um, and and you've always got to find the people with the open minds, you know. And yeah, and apparently, you know, and I didn't know this as my first time feature, you always struggle with the final five or ten percent. And there were times when I would just be, you know, we we we almost went to camera in 2023, and then an investor, um, we lost an investor. Um, and then we just could not find that final five percent. It was just, it was just unbelievable, you know. You just and so I would just be hanging my head in tears sometimes going, I've worked on this project for 11 years now, you know, at the time.

SPEAKER_03 14:45

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 14:45

And and it's gonna fall over, and we've got this incredible cost attached, and we're gonna lose them because we can't find that final little like crumb of money after raising all the other money. Um, it's just it's so, it's so difficult and so stressful. But lucky for me, unlike a lot of filmmakers, we did, the producers did find that final crumb of money, that little file last little package. And um, we went ahead uh yes, at the end of 2024. Um, and now I have a film to show, which a lot of filmmakers never do, you know, it just they can't, something happens, it falls over, you lose your class, you lose your investors, and then it just crumbles into nothing, and you've put years and years of your life into it.

SPEAKER_02 15:28

Yeah. I see, you know what? It's so so in you talking about this film, though it's it's different in many ways to getting the finances and all that in order, it's similar to me like being an independent musician and getting an album together, uh though on a much greater scale, like movie is so big, but where you talked about hanging your head in in tears, I mean that's most of my nights. As being an independent creative person who's just putting their art out there. So good. I mean, good for you for like uh persevering. And man, as a true fan, people who know me and listen to my podcast, like they know that um music is my thing, it's what I do in life, but cinema and comedy are like the two things that I go to like when I'm traveling, or yeah, to give my my mind a break. And so I'm a huge fan, and so like it's an incredible movie. I'm not I'm not blowing you smoke, by the way. Like, it's it's really fucking it's so great. So thank you for making it. And I wanted to ask you too about Miriam. Um because she's someone who always, you know, even in just that little part that she has in Magnolia, she's just someone who, in whatever she's been in, she's like a BAFTA award winner, she's hugely renowned the world over. She's someone who just kind of jumps off the screen whenever she's in a small scene or a big scene. What was did you find that in working with her on this film? Like, were you just like, whoa, like you could kind of stand back and see the magic she was making?

SPEAKER_00 17:04

Yeah, like she's a really interesting person. I totally agree with you. You know, that scene in Magnolia and everything that I've seen her in, even when she's on Graeme Norton being, you know, rude and making us all laugh again and telling stories, or she's doing Emily Dickinson. Uh, sorry, Charles Dickens, what am I saying? Um, which is one of her great loves. Um, you know, I mean, she was shooting in New Zealand and why she's 84. While she was doing our film in New Zealand, she quickly rustled up an entire play and filled out a theater on the weekend because she felt like she should. She got talk about squeally energy. Like she's just one of those people who's just like a wellspring of of ideas and um and in a way perfection. So, you know, you asked about how was she on set. She she's very strict with herself.

SPEAKER_04 17:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

She gets very frustrated if she doesn't do things perfectly. Um, you know, so a lot of the time my job as a director was just reassuring her that she was great, you know, that she was doing a wonderful job. Um, always word perfect, perfect accent. She decided she was going to do a slight um Scottish accent in honor of her dad. Um, you know, and and then so she's doing this perfection. Judy Davis is doing her Irish perfection. You've just got these three women who are each bringing their own um special source, you know. And um Miriam, I like I just think I would love to have that kind of sharp wit at that age or any age, because you know, you watch her on screen with like um the latest one with Alexander Skarsgard and her riffing on um Graham Norton. And I was just thinking, you know, I know Miriam and I've I've joked around with her and she's great fun. But if I was on that couch on that, you know, the hot seat on Graham Norton and you've got you've got fast brains like that just riffing jokes, I think I would just honestly seize up and just go blank and stop talking because how do you how do you compete? I know. You know, there's there's so much going on beneath the surface of uh not just the humor, but the sort of thinking ahead and how you're gonna like really pop that gag. And then uh Miriam is also, she plays the sort of the very sweet, incredibly well-spoken granny, grandma, who then comes up with some absolutely shocking statement um that takes everybody by surprise. And somehow it works not only in in the UK but in the States. So there's, you know, she's really got a thing. She's like developed her own brand.

SPEAKER_03 19:39

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 19:40

She's still going. I mean, you know, she's got this is her third book tour. She had an Oscar-nominated short film um just this year, and then doing holy days, and um she has a documentary that's going into its third season. This is all while she's 80 to 84, going on 85.

SPEAKER_02 19:58

Unreal. What a what a powerhouse. I mean, and and isn't that funny that someone who has done it at that level for so long with being being on set with you as the director is still saying to you, and you're like reassuring her. I just find that so funny that like as any human being, right? We all think like, oh, they must just do it in their sleep. But no, as human beings, like we all have our own uh insecurities and faults and like worries, even though it might seem like we're crushing it on a certain level, there's still all that underneath, right? It's unreal.

SPEAKER_00 20:33

Absolutely. And I mean, she said, you know, um, she was she was quite scared of Judy because Judy is known for being quite fierce, but also Judy is just kind of she comes in with this incredible regal energy.

SPEAKER_04 20:44

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 20:45

Um, and then you know, she knew Jackie Weaver a little bit, but um, and Jackie is the complete polar opposite, you know, she's she's very kind and generous and um and I wouldn't say meek, but certainly friendly, you know, she sort of reads the room in a different way. And so Miriam, when in interviews that we've had during press junkets for holidays, she said, you know, she just felt really honored and quite terrified of being on screen with these other talents because, you know, you you don't want to mess up. Um, and clearly that does not go away because that's how the others felt as well. And, you know, something that she brought up in her um, Mary even brought up in one of her books is that in her sort of younger years when she was coming up or trying to come up as a comedian or um, I think just a performer who has comedic abilities, she said the Monty Python guys just would not let her in. You know, they didn't want her to be funny and they would not find her funny. And she said they were brutal, you know. And that's an interesting thing for me because there, you know, you have guys like that who are so adored and so revered. But then, you know, same thing. It's still competitive, it's still um you. Ego, there's there's still people who are let in and people who are not. It's it's kind of like imagine what SNL is like, you know.

SPEAKER_04 22:06

Oh, I know.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

And who gets to shine and who doesn't get to shine, and not always based on talent, um, it's based on sort of the human social hierarchies.

SPEAKER_02 22:16

Yeah. I think a lot of and a lot of it is right time, right place too. And I I know that um you only have a couple more minutes, so I wanted to ask you, um, in acting also in this movie, which is your this is your first like your real directorial feature, right? Yeah, yeah. So did you feel like were you able to kind of get through the looking glass of that? Because your character does have a few pretty key scenes in the movie, which were beautiful, by the way. I mean, FYI, by the way, going into this movie, I thought it would be emotional, but to quote to quote Bill Murray and Life Aquatic, that was a goddamn tearjerker, Nat. I mean, come on, it was unreal. Like, I was like, oh my god, Nat's uh gonna make me cry so much this afternoon, but it was really great. And your scenes, especially. So, in the scenes that you're in, did you find in acting in it, but also directing it, were you able to kind of separate that fourth wall or get through the looking glass? Do you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 23:19

Because there's a bit of uh weird sauce happening.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

How did that go for you?

SPEAKER_00 23:23

There's such a disconnect for sure. I mean, I luckily I've done it before because otherwise it would have been horrifying. Okay. Um, I I've acted in my own projects uh four times, and probably the hardest one was Riverdale because you've got this massive, well-oiled Hollywood machine watching you as you as you dart in front of and behind the camera. Um, it wasn't my choice on Riverdale, and um, and in previous short films, I've kind of got I've tried it and gone, oh my god, that is so hard. Um, but so I knew I could do it, but and I also knew what happens. And what happens is that when you step in front of a camera as an actor, um, you have to rely on you know input from the script supervisor, the DP, um possibly like you know, producers that or people that you whose opinion you trust on your performance because you never have time to watch it back. You, you know, your schedule is so tight. And so, you know, that happens, but then when you jump back behind the camera as a director, then there's a there's a lack of shift and energy that's happened. And then you have to kind of reclaim your role as the captain of the ship. Um, and if you do that enough through these shoots, you know, I had I probably had about three or four days, it can get quite confusing, not only for you, but for the for the crew. So, you know, each time you're back in the director's chair, you kind of, you know, I just kind of had to go, yep, this is my voice and we're we're following my vision. Just a quick reminder so that it doesn't become a committee decision, you know, and because there's nothing for me, you know, I've been on uh in productions where it's more of a collaboration and on comedies and documentaries where that works. But when it's me who's written the script and and I'm the director and I'm gonna have to see it through all the way through post-production, you know, it has to it there has to be one person's voice that comes through. Otherwise, the danger is that it becomes beige and um and beige is not a colour that I that I um mess with, you know. I'm very much very much a popping color kind of person. And um, yeah, I so you know what I'm what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_02 25:26

I do.

unknown 25:27

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:27

In the future, though, if I were to do like a Tika Waity or a Ben Affleck and and um be the lead in my film, I think I would need a lot more time. You probably need like, you know, a good almost double the schedule so that you can keep watching yourself back and agreeing on whether that's a good performance or not, and then going ahead.

SPEAKER_02 25:45

Yeah, well, that's so interesting. So I one one pe one person who'm a huge fan of, and I listened to a lot of his content on Smartless, is Jason Bateman. And he's someone who has started to do that now, like get into directing and even being the lead and stuff. And I'm like, oh, that's I don't know. Just for me, it's it's insane. But you I mean you did it effortless effortlessly in this movie, and no, you weren't the lead, you still had to be present as that character in that scene and then jump back to being the director.

SPEAKER_00 26:15

But then you become less you become less precious about your performance. I definitely was very precious when I was purely an actor. And then as a director, I mean there was loads of stuff in holy days with my character that I just cut, you know, where you go, I'm serving the story here. Of course, as an actor, I want all my lines in every actor does. But as a director, you go, Oh, well, that's you know, doesn't matter because this is what we need to tell the story, that's superfluous and moving on, keep the pace up, you know. Um, so it actually is quite good um doing that and and actually training yourself to be to see all departments in a film, um, so so that you don't become that neurotic actor um who is just about you.

SPEAKER_03 26:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Um, you know, and I feel I feel bad because, you know, we had a lot of little kids in our in this film, um, and they thought that they were going to be in every scene and all the scenes that they prepared for. Right, right. And a lot of those fall away, you know, and you kind of go, Oh, yes, this is the this is the first time learning that painful truth.

SPEAKER_02 27:12

That's it's so true. Well, I listen I listened to a lot of comedians talk about that too, and they're always trying to get in films, and then they tell, you know, their parents or their friends, they're like, I'm gonna be, I have like a small part, and you know, this upcoming movie, and it gets cut like so often.

SPEAKER_00 27:29

And I mean, I've seen lead roles get cut cut down to nothing as well when you're just do it's devastating.

SPEAKER_02 27:35

Yeah, well, yeah, but here we here we are still doing it. And I mean, I'm I'm so thankful you made it, and also I know you have to get going. Um, do you have like two more minutes? Or do you gotta go?

SPEAKER_00 27:45

Um, I'm I'm keeping an eye on the window. My rhyme is arriving, so we have two more minutes. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 27:50

So I just want to that's one more quick question. Was the boy at the start of the movie is he playing with the actual stop motion set for a second, or is that a totally different thing he's playing with?

SPEAKER_00 28:01

Oh, yeah, good question. Yeah, so no, he's playing with a little tiny version of that, and the stop motion is a giant, almost as big as a room version of that that we could move a proper camera through. Yeah. So um I love that element, by the way.

SPEAKER_02 28:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 28:16

Thank you. And and I love that you made that connection that you think, okay, well, we're in his world. But yeah, you have to do two different versions, sometimes three, if you look at some of the real um big set pieces that they do massive models on, like um Lord of the Rings. You know, you kind of have a like a third and then a two-third version, and they have all these incredible scale conversions. Um that you know, certain action pieces are when you're blowing things up or doing stunts, you have to have um bigger versions that you can manipulate better. So um, yeah, but that that was kind of my idea of Brian has his little world and he his world has never expanded beyond his little town. And then as as he um as he goes on his journey, so he so his world expands, you know, and so we kind of build build onto that.

SPEAKER_02 29:06

So cool.

SPEAKER_00 29:07

Brian is here, okay.

SPEAKER_02 29:09

That's fine. I just want to say thank you so much, Nat. And uh as well also as more I have a nine-year-old daughter, so as more female directors come out and uh do great things, like Greta Gerwig and uh lots of others I can't think of. Thank you for making such a great movie and showing uh younger you know, women that they can do things and be creative without sounding too corny or cheesy.

SPEAKER_00 29:30

Just thank you for uh Oh, it's not corny or cheesy, then thank you for saying that because they're really there's such a tiny percentage of female filmmakers out there. And if I can inspire anyone else to hop on and you know run the marathon with me, then let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 29:44

Right on. Well, thanks for being on Graven Town, Nat. Have a great day.

SPEAKER_00 29:48

Let's talk again. I'd love to. Okay. Okay, bye for now. Thanks, Natty. Bye.

SPEAKER_02 29:52

Thanks, Nathan.