The Latest With Maya

I am a metastasized brain tumor survivor and current brain tumor patient who loves everything pop culture and interviews celebrities. My podcast highlights my interviews, which are intimate conversations with various people in the entertainment industry that I love and whose work has helped me through so much and inspires me.

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The Latest With Maya

Writer and Director Chandler Levack | The Latest With Maya

April 17, 2026 • Maya • Season 3 • Episode 38

0:00 | 9:15

A conversation with Chandler Levack.❤️ See "Mile End Kicks" in theaters and watch "Roommates" on Netflix!

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SPEAKER_01 0:00

It's the latest.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Hi, Chandler. I'm Maya from The Latest to Admaya. I'm so excited to be talking with you. Thank you so much for joining me. Thanks. Thanks for having me on your podcast. So you wrote and directed the new movie Mile and Kicks, which is out today in theaters. What inspired the idea for this movie?

SPEAKER_01 0:46

Well, I lived in Montreal in the summer of 2011. And uh that was cool and a kind of an exciting time for the music scene there. Um I started my career as a music journalist when I was really young. And so um yeah, I just wanted to make kind of like a funny, honest rom-com about yeah, my experiences working as a young music critic.

SPEAKER_00 1:11

Oh, I love that. Yeah. Um, so do you have a favorite scene from the movie?

SPEAKER_01 1:20

Oh, that's a good question. Um, I think there's a really nice uh kissing scene at the end of the movie. Um that was um like really beautifully performed by the actors, and I was really touched by it. So maybe I'll say that. You know, I always feel like I really like the convention in rom-coms where like two characters that you really want to, you know, kiss, like finally have their moment. So it was like a kind of an honor to get to to film one of those scenes for the first time.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

Oh, I love that. Yeah, I um I was so grateful to get um a screener for this movie. I've been so excited to watch it, and I loved it. And um, Devin Bostik, I'm such a fan of his and everybody in the movie. Um, so I just yeah, I love this movie. Thank you so much. Yeah, Devin is just wonderful. Yeah, oh I love that. Um, so you uh directed the movie Roommates, which is also out today on Netflix. Um, and I also was grateful to get a screener for this movie, and I loved it as well. Um, what attracted you to the movie?

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Um I really liked the script. I thought it was very funny and original, and I loved um Jimmy and Kira's writing. They they work on SML and they did a Domingo sketch. Um, and I also just wanted to work with Adam and his daughter, Sadie. So it was really exciting to get to kind of stretch my wings as a director and do something that's really different from the kinds of stuff that I normally do and get to work with all these really incredibly awesome comedians. So I was just like uh it was like an offer I couldn't refuse.

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Oh, I love that. Um were there any scenes from Milks that were particularly challenging to direct?

SPEAKER_01 3:34

Um I think I think for me it was just like it was it was my first time kind of working with a lot of uh back background actors and and blocking them. So the as fun as the party scenes were, they were challenging because you have like uh a hundred extras, and then you also have um the the the the live band and the actors are really playing that song uh ASL Live and they'd learned the song and and some of the actors weren't hadn't learned how didn't uh hadn't played guitar or bass before. So it was just like a lot of preparation to kind of make all the elements work, like the acting and the music and like good sound recording and just like a creating a really good authentic atmosphere, like of a party scene, you know, it was just like uh a complicated collaboration there.

SPEAKER_00 4:23

Oh wow. Um were there any scenes from roommates that you had to do multiple takes and would make it on a blooper reel?

SPEAKER_01 4:38

Oh, I'm sure there's a lot of really good blooper material. Um, you know, Adam really likes to have fun on said, and you know, we try lots of different jokes and gags. Um I think I don't know if it would make it on a blooper reel, but the the karaoke song we shot a lot of footage for. I think Sadie had to sing that song like 20 or 30 times. Angles and and you know, shots that we needed to get. Um, so that was uh yeah, exciting, but but but a lot of a lot of hard work.

SPEAKER_00 5:12

Yeah. Oh wow. Um so is there someone who has inspired or influenced your directorial style?

SPEAKER_01 5:26

Yeah, definitely. I think Greta Gerwig is a big hero of mine. When I saw Ladybird, I was really inspired by that movie and uh the way that she talked about directing and working with actors and like different aspects of you know, the collaboration with like her cinematographer and classroom designer, production designer, like um she really um inspired me to to want to make a movie, and uh and I just think that she's a really really good director and and writer.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Oh, I love that. Yeah, um Ladybird and Barbie are two of my favorite movies. Um yeah, mine too. Yeah, and I love her little women as well. Oh yeah, that one yeah, was also such a good movie. Um what genre of movie would your life story be told as?

SPEAKER_01 6:28

I mean, I've I've basically made it so I don't know whatever this movie could be considered like a coming of age story.

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Oh, I love that. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I've all I've always wanted a musical rom-com for uh what what kind of movie would it be like, do you think? Oh I don't know, I feel like maybe a little bit of like the prom. Uh that's one of my favorite movies, so that's the first one that comes to mind.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Okay, you gotta get Ryan Murphy on board for for your movie.

SPEAKER_00 7:15

Yeah. Um, so I just have uh one final question for you. Um so if you had a warning label, what would yours say?

SPEAKER_01 7:34

Uh a warning label. Interesting. Uh I don't know. The first thing that came to head came to my head was like, you know, when you see like um chocolate bars and it says like caution may contain nuts. Oh you know.

SPEAKER_00 7:54

I love that. Yeah, I think I think that's a good warning, label. What would you uh I'd have several, but the one I think that would be the biggest would be prone to anxiety, don't overload.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

Oh god, I have that one too, actually, as well.

unknown 8:20

Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_00 8:23

Um well uh that was um my final question for you. Um thank you.

SPEAKER_01 8:33

That's a really fun question. I love it.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

Thank you so much. Uh thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me. And um I love both MyLend kicks and roommates, and I can't wait for everyone to see them. That's so nice.

SPEAKER_01 8:55

Thank you so much, Maya. You're a delight to talk to you, and I hope you have a great day.

SPEAKER_00 8:59

Oh, thank you so much, you too.