New on Blu-Ray and DVD this Tuesday, is the adult comedy Adult Beginners, starring Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne, and Bobby Cannavale. Directed by Ross Katz from an original story by Kroll, the result is a joyous look at growing up and into adulthood that is this generation’s existential conflict. Speaking exclusively with the director by phone, Katz shared stories of his time making Adult Beginners, as well as his entire experience making many different types of movies, doing many types of jobs, and working with many different legends of the craft (his first job in film was as a grip on Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, and worked his way to producing the Academy-Award nominated Lost in Translation). A jovial spirit with enthusiasm and an obvious love for film, we talked about his auditioning for the job for Kroll and Mark Duplass, working with legendary filmmakers, and a strive to keep working, while not getting “boxed in.” We begin:

 

Adult Beginners played earlier this year at Toronto International Film Festival and South by Southwest, and here we are re-visiting it ahead of its Blu-Ray and DVD release. What are some of your fondest memories that you remember about making the film?

Ross Katz: I was lucky to have Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne, and Bobby Cannavale as the anchors of the film. We shot last winter, a year ago, and it was the worst winter in twenty years I believe, with sixty inches of snow. I guess my overall fondest memory is what champs the cast and crew were. I mean, it was freezing! It was brutal wind, and brutal snow. And they are so lovely and hardworking. Every day, our feet were freezing, we had sixteen layers on… but it was like, being around these incredible people just made me happy.

The story is credited to Nick Kroll. How did you become the director for the film?

This was a very lucky one for me, because my first movie as a writer and director was an HBO film called Taking Chance with Kevin Bacon. And it’s a very, I’m very proud of it, but it’s a very heavy movie. And Nick Kroll’s agent called me and said, “Would you ever want to do something really different?” And I said, “Yeah!” That’s kind of the point for me. I don’t want to be put into a box, I don’t want to be “drama guy,” or… hold on just one second.

(Pause)

I’m finishing my new movie now, they’re texting me like five hundred times and I said, “You guys, I told you I had a phone interview!

(Laughter)

So anyways, there’s an incredible producer named Anthony Bregman, he’s extraordinary. He’s a mentor and friend, and he knows Nick, and Nick said they were looking for a director on Adult Beginners, and Anthony said, “Ross is really funny. You wouldn’t believe it, but he’s really funny. You wouldn’t believe it from Taking Chance, which is not funny.”

My favorite story about that is that Bobby Canavale called me and said, “Dude. I liked your movie Taking Chance, but uh… it’s not funny.” And I said, “I know Bobby, but I am.” So basically, Nick’s agent sent me the script, I fell madly in love with it, written by Liz Flahive and Jeff Cox, and I said, “I want to do this,” and I basically auditioned for Nick and for Mark Duplass. And I said, “Guys, I swear I’m funny.” And thankfully, they picked me.

My favorite story about that is that Bobby Canavale called me and said, “Dude. I liked your movie Taking Chance, but uh… it’s not funny.” And I said, “I know Bobby, but I am.”

Adult Beginners toes that line of comedy and drama that seems to encapsulate this younger generation’s style of storytelling. Did having that balance of those elements excite you for this project?

Well what I really loved about Liz and Jeff’s script, and Nick’s original idea, was that it felt very real to me, and you know – life is funny. I have an older brother, who is two and a half years older, and he was the “good” kid who went to Stanford and Yale, and became a lawyer, and I was the black sheep who dropped out of school and moved to Hollywood to make movies, and got my first job as a grip on Reservoir Dogs for fifty dollars a week. And we could not be more different, but we support each other. And there has been a lot of comedy in my family, and a lot of drama, and I really connected to it on that level.

I also, I really didn’t want to be pigeon-holed as a director, after having done a serious drama. I was very lucky, I worked for three spectacular directors. I worked for Quentin Tarantino, I worked for Sydney Pollack, and I worked for Ang Lee. And, Ang makes Brokeback Mountain but also makes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Sydney, my god, Sydney made this grand love story, The Way We Were, made a great comedy Tootsie, but also made Three Days of the Condor.

And I just, I don’t want to be put in a box. And this movie really helped to allow me to express a different side of myself, from Taking Chance. And I think there is a grounded quality to Adult Beginners. We really wanted it to feel real, we really wanted it to feel relatable. And I think, that it does, is a credit to Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne, and Bobby Cannavale, and all these incredible actors, that they brought the comedy, they brought the drama, and they brought the grounded realness to it.

And I just, I don’t want to be put in a box. And this movie really helped to allow me to express a different side of myself, from Taking Chance.

Do you consider yourself to be an independent filmmaker?

To be completely honest… I made a radical career change about eight years ago. I was a producer, I produced In the Bedroom and Lost in Translation, a number of films, The Laramie Project, and I had a burning desire to direct. I don’t consider myself an independent filmmaker, I consider myself just a director. I’m making a studio film now, it’s been a completely joyous experience. And it’s, I sort of feel like filmmaking is filmmaking, and, I’m getting to tell a story, this one is a love story, on a different scale and a different level, but I love all the experiences of directing movies because these are three very different movies and so each one has been very different to make.

First of all, I learned from these incredible directors that I was producing. I mean, Sofia Coppola is extraordinary. Todd Field, who directed In the Bedroom and Little Children, taught me things that I will never ever forget. If you’re going to go to Tokyo, I recommend bringing Bill Murray with you.

(Laughter)

Making Lost in Translation, we didn’t know that it was going to become what it became. But it was such a joyous, crazy experience. I mean, twenty-seven days, four million dollars, in the most expensive city in the world. But, I saw that Sofia has such a clear vision. She was so specific on her direction. She knew the shots she wanted, she knew the tone, the feel, the wardrobe, the color palette, everything. And I thought, some day, when I direct, I’m going to remember that.

Bill Murray was an absolute joy, and a total team player. There was a night where the crew was just exhausted, and Bill started wrapping equipment with them, he went over and started loading equipment onto a truck! And I said, “Bill, what are you doing?” And he said, “I want to get these guys home.”  It was that kind of spirit that got the film made

As a person who has worked in all areas of film production, what, in your opinion, is the state of filmmaking, as a working director today?

Well for me, I see, a lot of people sort of lament, “Film is dead,” with Video On Demand and iTunes… I don’t. I think filmmaking has really become democratized. I mean, I was a blue-collar kid, I didn’t have the money to buy 16mm film, I didn’t have the money to rent a 16mm camera, and make a short film. I just didn’t have the money! And now, you can be a poor kid with a phone and make a movie. You can tell your story with a Canon 5d.

I think, the democratization of storytelling is such a healthy thing. That you can express yourself on YouTube, and somebody will see it. You can tell your story whether you’re from the Bronx or whether you’re from Iowa, or wherever you’re from – you can tell your story, and you don’t have to be wealthy, you don’t have to be connected. I think it’s wonderful.

Adult Beginners is on Blu-Ray and DVD Tuesday, August 2nd.