So is Joe Nussbaum crazy or brave? I didn't ask him that, but I did get the chance to toss a few other questions his way at the World Premiere of "Sleepover," presented by MGM.
INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR JOE NUSSBAUM:
My question after seeing the movie is, what do the popular girls have to gain by getting involved in this bet? They already have rights to the popular kids table at high school.
That’s a really good question.
No one else will analyze it that much.
No, we analyzed it that much. We talked about that a lot. To me, when Staci and her friends challenge Julie and her friends to the Scavenger Hunt, it’s just to once again to demonstrate their complete superiority. They’ve got nothing to lose. All they want to do is watch these girls humiliate themselves. Then Hannah says, “Let’s play for the lunch spot.” It’s not Staci’s idea. And Staci can’t be shown up by Hannah. It’s hubris. She says, “Sure, we can play for the lunch spot. We’re never going to lose anyway so it doesn’t matter.” So that’s why they do it. It’s all about your pride being attacked.
It’s a pride issue.
It’s a pride issue. And remember they didn’t come up with that. They just wanted to humiliate them and then Hannah said, “Let’s make it interesting. Let’s raise the stakes.”
Did you eat at the cool table or the dork table in school?
(Laughing) I ate in-between. I was very in-between. I was kind of like Julie [Alexa Vega's character]. Julie would sit at the dumpster tables, I wasn’t quite at the dumpster tables, but I definitely wasn’t at the fountain.
Why tackle a teen movie for your first feature film? It’s a tough genre.
Yeah. Well you know, it’s such a fun genre and the girls were so great. The script was really strong and I just responded to it right away. It just seemed like it had a nice mix of heart and comedy, I hope that shows through in the movie. It was a fun project to work on.
Are you done with teen films now? Is that genre something you want to put behind you?
No, not necessarily. If there was another great script that came along, I’d do it in a second. I love working with these kids.
What was the biggest challenge?
The biggest challenge was their hours. They can only work so many hours because they’re not 18 yet. This is not a small little movie where people just talk in living rooms. There’s a club with 400 people, and there’s a high school dance with a live band. There’s skateboarding and jumping over fountains and it’s a lot to shoot in a short amount of time, and with a short amount of hours from the kids each day. So that was really hard. But once we got it in the can, it was smooth sailing.
What’s your next project?
I don’t know yet. I’m reading scripts right now and looking for a great comedy, and we’ll see what comes along.
So you’re going to stick with comedy?
I love comedy as long as it has a real relationship at the core.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Interviews from the World Premiere of “Sleepover:” Mika Boorem & Brie Larson / Sean Faris & Evan Peters / Kallie Flynn Childress & Ryan Slattery / Scout Taylor-Compton & Sara Paxton / Jane Lynch
Interview with Alexa Vega on the Set of “Sleepover”
