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Speaker 1: You're listening to Facing Evil, a production of iHeartRadio and

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Speaker 1: Tenderfoot TV. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast

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Speaker 1: are solely those of the individuals participating in the show

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Speaker 1: and do not represent those of iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV.

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Speaker 1: This podcast contains subject matter which may not be suitable

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Speaker 1: for everyone. Listener discretion is advised.

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Speaker 2: Alloha, everyone, Welcome back to Facing Evil. I'm Rascha Paccarero.

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Speaker 3: And I'm Evett Gentile. Today I am so excited to

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Speaker 3: bring you a special conversation with two incredible filmmakers, Will

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Speaker 3: Merrick and Nick Johnson.

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Speaker 2: That's right, they are the co directors for the new

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Speaker 2: movie Missing, starring Nia long Storm, Read, joaquim Dale, Meira

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Speaker 2: and many more. It's a wild, edge of your seat

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Speaker 2: thriller with so many twist and turns you will not

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Speaker 2: see them coming, I promise you. We had the absolute

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Speaker 2: pleasure and honor of getting to see the movie early,

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Speaker 2: and we got invited to speak with the phenomenal directors

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Speaker 2: of the film.

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Speaker 3: In fact, I even got to attend the premiere in

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Speaker 3: San Francisco, which was amazing. But anyway, we loved this movie,

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Speaker 3: and we loved even more talking with Will and Nick.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, and before we dive right into it, you should

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Speaker 2: know that the official Blu ray release of Missing is

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Speaker 2: out today March twenty eighth. It features so much bonus content,

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Speaker 2: including Easter eggs which I personally love, deleted scenes, and

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Speaker 2: so much more. So go to the store, order it online,

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Speaker 2: grab it off a shelf, or you can even find

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Speaker 2: the movie digitally and without further ado. Let's meet Will

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Speaker 2: Merrick and Nick Johnson.

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Speaker 4: Hey, thank you, that's awesome to.

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Speaker 3: Oh my god. And I also have to give a

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Speaker 3: shout out to Katie at Sony Pictures because she's the

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Speaker 3: one who sent Russian and I an email saying, hey,

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Speaker 3: you know, would you guys be interested in going to

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Speaker 3: the screening or the premiere in LA And we were like,

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Speaker 3: oh my god, we'd love to go, but we're not

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Speaker 3: going to be able to make it to LA. And

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Speaker 3: she goes, well, there's one in San Francisco, and I'm like,

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Speaker 3: that's perfect. So I actually went to the Alamo Draft

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Speaker 3: House to watch your movie, which was it's an epic

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Speaker 3: theater in the Mission District, but to watch your film

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Speaker 3: on the big screen was fantastic. So we have to

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Speaker 3: give a shout out to Katie. Thank you Katie.

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Speaker 2: Yes, yes, I know, And I got to watch it

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Speaker 2: on my iPhone because I was flying to San Francisco

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Speaker 2: to join my sister. But then that was like the day,

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Speaker 2: the day that Missing premiered was the day that like

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Speaker 2: the FAA like shut everything down for a few hours,

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Speaker 2: so I couldn't fly, right, I couldn't fly from Portland

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Speaker 2: San Francisco. But it was almost kind of yeah, but

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Speaker 2: it was almost kind of epic that I got to

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Speaker 2: watch it. I put it on my ring light, I

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Speaker 2: flipped it over, and I just watched.

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Speaker 4: The movie is good everywhere. It's good in the theater

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Speaker 4: because it's good to react with people, but it's kind

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Speaker 4: of cool at home too because it's on computers, so

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Speaker 4: it feels voyeuristic. I guess, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 3: First you're like, okay, computers, like on the screen, like

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Speaker 3: am I gonna be into this? So fascinating, Like you

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Speaker 3: didn't stop just waiting for what's to happen next.

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Speaker 5: So that's definitely always been like the we joke that

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Speaker 5: like at every step of the way, even even us,

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Speaker 5: we had that reaction when Aniche first pitched us the

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Speaker 5: idea for searching it's just like, how can this be good?

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Speaker 6: But I think that's also.

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Speaker 5: I think I think that's the fun of it, is

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Speaker 5: that like we are taking something that inherently shouldn't be entertaining,

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Speaker 5: like a Google translation shouldn't be entertaining, or going through

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Speaker 5: Google accounts should not be you know, entertaining, but we're

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Speaker 5: trying to turn it into big cinematics at pieces. So yeah,

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Speaker 5: I think I think that's that's the fun of it.

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Speaker 5: So thank you and for going to the Almo draft US.

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Speaker 6: That's so cool. It was a really unique premiere and

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Speaker 6: it's amazing to hear that you you went.

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Speaker 4: Did you see that live live stream of US and

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Speaker 4: Nia and Storm all?

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Speaker 7: We did?

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Speaker 3: My husband, Gina and I stayed after and listened to, yeah,

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Speaker 3: the live stream and saw you guys there with Nia,

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Speaker 3: you know Nia long and Storm read. I mean it

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Speaker 3: was it was epic, like so epic. Yeah, she was

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Speaker 3: on facing evil. Like we always like to ask all

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Speaker 3: of our guests like what led you to this career,

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Speaker 3: like how did you get to this particular journey? And

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Speaker 3: I guess I'll start with you Nick first, Why don't

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Speaker 3: you tell us?

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Speaker 6: Yes?

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Speaker 5: So, I think, like all of us that work on

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Speaker 5: uh worked on this movie in particular me will seven

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Speaker 5: Niche and Natalie, our producers. I grew up loving just

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Speaker 5: watching movies and also watching a lot of behind the scenes,

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Speaker 5: you know. I remember watching the Pirates of the Caribbean

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Speaker 5: Blu Ray feature making of and being like, Oh, that's

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Speaker 5: so cool. And so I started making movies with my

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Speaker 5: cousins and then my friends. When I was in middle

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Speaker 5: school and then in high school, I had a lot

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Speaker 5: of really great teachers that taught film in class, not

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Speaker 5: just like lazy, like I don't want to do anything today,

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Speaker 5: so I'll put on a movie, but pop films as

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Speaker 5: almost like you would a great novel. And so you know,

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Speaker 5: I was turned on to like Baz Luhrman and Cohen

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Speaker 5: Brothers and started to appreciate film.

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Speaker 6: More as like an art form.

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Speaker 5: And I think that combination of like big budget blockbuster

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Speaker 5: storytelling of Pirates of the Caribbean mixed with appreciating like

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Speaker 5: the tours of the Coen Brothers and Paul Thomas Anderson,

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Speaker 5: I think is kind of what led me then to

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Speaker 5: USC and ultimately to work with everyone.

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Speaker 4: I think a very similar story. I mean, we all

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Speaker 4: have this kind of path where we became obsessed as

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Speaker 4: little kids. Me and my sister made videos where we

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Speaker 4: would fight like we were in Star Wars or something

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Speaker 4: all over like the Ynca or something. And I think

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Speaker 4: I just realized early on that that when my family

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Speaker 4: watched them, they'd all be like having a great time,

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Speaker 4: like watching this thing we put together. And then I

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Speaker 4: got in theater in high school and recruited all those

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Speaker 4: kids to be in stuff, and at the cast party

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Speaker 4: we would show the stuff we made, and I think

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Speaker 4: just watching everybody react and have a good time watching

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Speaker 4: these things made me obsessed with creating movies and you know,

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Speaker 4: just any kind of cinematic form. And then USC worked

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Speaker 4: out and it came to LA and the rest was history.

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Speaker 4: It's fun to just do what I was obsessed with

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Speaker 4: as a teenager still as an adult.

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Speaker 3: And did you guys go to school together?

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Speaker 4: But we never met?

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Speaker 6: Yeah, exactly we So.

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Speaker 5: Will's two years younger than I am, and our path

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Speaker 5: was kind of strange because I was in the same

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Speaker 5: year as a niche who directed the first movie, and

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Speaker 5: I kind of.

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Speaker 6: Was like a DP at the time.

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Speaker 5: I didn't really edit much at USC, and then when

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Speaker 5: I graduated, I kind of started editing more trailers and

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Speaker 5: than my friends' movies like will if you want to

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Speaker 5: tell your side of that of that path.

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Speaker 4: I became an editor quickly at USC because I'm from

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Speaker 4: like a small town in North Carolina. So I mastered

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Speaker 4: the editing because that was the only way I could

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Speaker 4: make something good. It turned into it invaluable skill when

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Speaker 4: I went to college and Adiche and Sev needed an

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Speaker 4: editor for a sort of like a Google spec commercial

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Speaker 4: they were doing while I was still an undergrad, and

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Speaker 4: an editing professor recommended me, and I guess they liked

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Speaker 4: working with me because then they brought me back for

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Speaker 4: the movie we did Searching, which this movie is a

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Speaker 4: spiritual successor too. And then Nick and I met at

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Speaker 4: a coffee bean halfway between our houses and we talked

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Speaker 4: for about twenty minutes, and then we worked together for

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Speaker 4: the next ten years and it's been great.

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Speaker 2: So it's been ten years, so that not quite I.

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Speaker 4: Guess, but I know.

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Speaker 6: Years, six years, yeah.

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Speaker 4: Six years going on a decade. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 2: I love the dynamic that the two of you have

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Speaker 2: because I feel like just watching Missing and knowing your

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Speaker 2: involvement in Searching and the path that you both were

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Speaker 2: on at USC and everything you've just shared with us,

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Speaker 2: you almost seem like you are siblings and you become

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Speaker 2: family doing this right.

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Speaker 6: Absolutely.

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Speaker 4: Yeah. Somebody came came to us on one of the

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Speaker 4: shoot days and said, I've never worked with twins before.

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Speaker 4: We were like, oh wow, not just siblings, twins.

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Speaker 6: We did to be fair to them.

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Speaker 5: We had masks on because it was during COVID, so

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Speaker 5: we did so we're obscured. So you know, it's plausible

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Speaker 5: that we're siblings.

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Speaker 6: Yeah, for sure.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, Well, for our listeners that can't see you

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Speaker 2: right now like we can, you're both very very handsome

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Speaker 2: young men, but you definitely look related.

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Speaker 7: For sure.

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Speaker 2: I can see why they would make the mistake when you.

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Speaker 5: Spend I think a lot of time with someone as

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Speaker 5: we have, like we just for the last six years

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Speaker 5: really have been seen each other almost every day and

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Speaker 5: in rooms just going stir crazy. We've developed like a

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Speaker 5: secondhand language I think with each other that is sibling esque.

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Speaker 6: Yeah.

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Speaker 4: When we were in the trenches trying to finish missing

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Speaker 4: and I like looked out the wind and I was like,

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Speaker 4: do you ever feel that all this just world is

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Speaker 4: just so just like And it was like, I know

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Speaker 4: exactly what you mean, say it.

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Speaker 3: I already know are Yeah, this is the question that

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Speaker 3: I really want to ask. So there was Searching, was

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Speaker 3: it Searching Run? Then Missing?

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Speaker 4: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Is it a trilogy or is it not?

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Speaker 4: Not really? Not really?

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Speaker 5: Yeah, So I would say Run Run is not in

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Speaker 5: the same format, and I would say Missing was always

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Speaker 5: developed as like a sequel to Searching. That's how we

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Speaker 5: thought of it. We call it searching too. For the

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Speaker 5: longest time, we knew that we wanted it to work

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Speaker 5: operate on its own, but we had always kind of

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Speaker 5: seen it as like the standalone sequel to Searching. Run

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Speaker 5: doesn't really share any similarities to either too, other than

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Speaker 5: we have like an obsession with Easter eggs and like

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Speaker 5: content like these threadlines, and so they do exist in

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Speaker 5: the same universe seven a niche cinematic universe, whatever that is.

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Speaker 4: When you watch Missing, you're looking at a world where

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Speaker 4: the events of Run actually did take place, but as

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Speaker 4: movies they're not related.

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Speaker 3: Gotcha, But I you know, one of the things that

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Speaker 3: I noticed, like the mother in each film is like

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Speaker 3: the star so to speak. You know, everything is surrounded

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Speaker 3: by that. Is that a personal choice by a Niche

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Speaker 3: or by you guys, can you share a little bit

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Speaker 3: about that.

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Speaker 4: I mean, all three movies do really have family kind

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Speaker 4: of at their core, and that was present. I mean,

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Speaker 4: Searching was all about family, and to us that was

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Speaker 4: as much a core part of the story as it

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Speaker 4: being told on computer screens. It has to be about

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Speaker 4: family and how sort of your connection with family is

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Speaker 4: still central to your life even with technology, and so

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Speaker 4: that was given to us in the treatment by a

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Speaker 4: Niche and Sev for this movie. So they came up

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Speaker 4: with that, but we wouldn't have done it any different

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Speaker 4: ourselves if we could have.

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Speaker 5: Like if you ever meet Sev or a Niche, like,

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Speaker 5: family is such a massive part of their lives. They

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Speaker 5: love their family so much and they've got really strong

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Speaker 5: ties with their families and their siblings. Just knowing the

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Speaker 5: films that Aniche made at USC they always had this

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Speaker 5: tremendous heart to them. So I think that's something that

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Speaker 5: Aniche has always been interested in and wanted to do.

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Speaker 5: So I think that's how that's made its way into

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Speaker 5: the core of these movies.

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Speaker 4: I think the part that really resonated with me and

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Speaker 4: Nick as well. I know because we've talked about it

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Speaker 4: is just the idea that this movie kind of reflects

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Speaker 4: how when you're growing up you learn to understand who

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Speaker 4: your parents are as people in a deeper way. When

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Speaker 4: you're a kid, they're just your parent, and then when

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Speaker 4: you grow up you see them as a more nuanced person.

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Speaker 4: And it was really cool that in the story from

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Speaker 4: its inception here that's kind of at the core of

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Speaker 4: the mystery.

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Speaker 2: Without giving anything away, I was so struck by the

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Speaker 2: relationship between Nia's character and Storm's character and between other

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Speaker 2: family characters in the film, and I could not stop crying.

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Speaker 2: I was crying because I got triggered in bad ways

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Speaker 2: and in good ways, and I think that's where the

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Speaker 2: two of you were going with it, and you were

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Speaker 2: given this beautiful, beautiful platform, and I have to just

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Speaker 2: thank you because I'm the scaredy cat. I'm the one

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Speaker 2: that can't watch it, Like my sister watched it first

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Speaker 2: since I missed the screening, and I saw it the

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Speaker 2: next day and I'm like, can I handle it? Am

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Speaker 2: I gonna be able to handle it? She's like, You're okay,

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Speaker 2: but you're going to be triggered. Like what did it take?

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Speaker 2: You went from being editors together on Searching. How did

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Speaker 2: that conversation go where they were like, all right, we

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Speaker 2: want you to direct Missing.

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Speaker 6: It was quite a leap.

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Speaker 5: It took a leap of faith, I think on seven

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Speaker 5: and Niche and Natalie's part, on Sony's part as well,

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Speaker 5: and on all the actors part, because again we didn't

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Speaker 5: have any real directorial experience to point to or draw on.

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Speaker 5: I think the good thing was that because Searching was

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Speaker 5: such a post heavy movie, and we were brought on

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Speaker 5: before there was even a script. Really there was just

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Speaker 5: a treatment, so we were used to kind of developing

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Speaker 5: and workshopping, kind of pseudo helping write something like this,

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Speaker 5: and we had developed the language from the very beginning,

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Speaker 5: the visual language, so Will and I were very.

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Speaker 6: Confident that we could do this again.

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Speaker 5: We knew exactly how to make it, and I think

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Speaker 5: that gave everyone else the confidence that these guys know

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Speaker 5: how to do this. And then I think when it

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Speaker 5: came time to actually to write it, we had previous

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Speaker 5: experience dealing with Seven A Niche.

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Speaker 6: And they knew how we thought.

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Speaker 5: They knew like our notes on story and how we

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Speaker 5: thought about story and structure and characters, so they were

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Speaker 5: confident we had the ability to do that, And we

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Speaker 5: had actually been hired to do something for Paramount before

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Speaker 5: this actually as writers, and so Will and I had

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Speaker 5: already done that and had demonstrated that we had the

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Speaker 5: ability to carry a project to fruition or to a script,

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Speaker 5: and so that also, I think gave everyone the confidence

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Speaker 5: that we could do that. So yeah, I was definitely

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Speaker 5: leap for us personally, But I think as we got going,

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Speaker 5: we started to become a little bit more confident, like, no, like,

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Speaker 5: we know exactly how to make this, to the point

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Speaker 5: where by the time we got to set, we knew

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Speaker 5: exactly the shots that we needed and it felt kind

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Speaker 5: of natural to just to be.

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Speaker 3: Doing that are organic, m You know, when I went

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Speaker 3: to the screening here in San Francisco, and I stayed afterwards,

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Speaker 3: you know, for the Q and A, and I remember

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Speaker 3: and Neo was saying, like, you're gonna do what? Like,

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Speaker 3: how are we going to shoot this?

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Speaker 4: You know, Cornia really had to trust us, right, but she.

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Speaker 3: Sure did, She really did, and she was so you know,

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Speaker 3: gratefully like surprised and how it turned out, and like

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Speaker 3: she said, it was the best one of the best

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Speaker 3: experiences of her life. How do you feel about her

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Speaker 3: saying that, you know, Nia long like my all time

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Speaker 3: favorite love Jones, Like, come on.

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Speaker 8: She's a lled legends right. Yes, it's crazy that we

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Speaker 8: crossed paths with hers. It's so interesting to think about

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Speaker 8: and that she was one of the later people that

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Speaker 8: we casked. And I just love so much that she's

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Speaker 8: in this movie because she's just the perfect person to

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Speaker 8: play Storm's mom for one thing, and just you just

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Speaker 8: got to watch the movie you'll see why.

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Speaker 6: Yeah.

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Speaker 5: The thing about Nia is if you've ever met Nia

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Speaker 5: or seen her in interviews, she has a motherly warmth

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Speaker 5: to her, like she in some ways. I remember her

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Speaker 5: talking to me about like something in my life and

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Speaker 5: like she felt like a mom to me and will

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Speaker 5: sometimes you know. And she had that relationship with Storm

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Speaker 5: off camera as well.

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Speaker 6: I think she.

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Speaker 5: Sees Storm as being like a young version of her

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Speaker 5: almost in a weird way, like she can see you know,

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Speaker 5: when Nia started, I think she was she was like

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Speaker 5: pretty young when she was she was starting out, so

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Speaker 5: she has a lot of experience there. One thing that

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Speaker 5: a lot of our actors have described, and I know

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Speaker 5: John Joe described this on Searching, is that everyone has

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Speaker 5: to like relearn their jobs.

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Speaker 6: Everyone is relearning how to act.

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Speaker 5: Like when you you are just sitting in front of

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Speaker 5: a screen and looking around, and in Nia's case, you know,

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Speaker 5: there would be times where there'd just be one camera,

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Speaker 5: like she said, like fifteen twenty feet away, and.

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Speaker 6: It's like, wait a minute, where's my coverage? Where am

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Speaker 6: I looking at? What's my eyeline?

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Speaker 5: It's almost like you're blocking a stage play or something.

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Speaker 5: And then you're just asking everyone, the actors, the studio

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Speaker 5: execs who are at Video Village. You're asking everyone, Hey,

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Speaker 5: it's gonna look kind of weird at Video Village, and

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Speaker 5: it's gonna be this.

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Speaker 6: Big wide trust us, like, please just trust us.

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Speaker 5: When we're going to be creating coverage and cutting in

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Speaker 5: and it's gonna look okay. And I think like that

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Speaker 5: took a lot of risk on all of our actors' parts,

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Speaker 5: especially someone as established and experience as Nia. But one

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Speaker 5: of the most rewarding things was when she first saw

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Speaker 5: the movie and she like liked it. It was such

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Speaker 5: a relief because it was like, thank you for trusting us,

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Speaker 5: And I'm so.

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Speaker 6: Glad we pulled it off because we were asking a

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Speaker 6: lot of them.

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Speaker 3: I think, yeah, just have to ask you guys, like,

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Speaker 3: with all the technology, does this stuff really work? Is

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Speaker 3: it going to solve cases?

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Speaker 4: It has? I think a couple of times we're sort

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Speaker 4: of morally agnostic about technology. I guess where we're kind

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Speaker 4: of in awe of its power, but we don't know

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Speaker 4: if it's good or bad. I think what makes this

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Speaker 4: and Searching cool is is we really wanted to commit

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Speaker 4: to the idea that this could really happen. Like we're

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Speaker 4: past nineties kind of hacker boop boop kind of computer movies,

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Speaker 4: and we're where the cool thing is everything in this movie.

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Speaker 4: There might be a couple little less important moments in

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Speaker 4: this movie where where we stretch, like how easy it

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Speaker 4: would be to guess somebody's password, for instance, but not

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Speaker 4: by much. It's all it all could happen. Yeah. Yeah.

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Speaker 5: Also, when you make a a movie that takes place

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Speaker 5: entirely on devices technology, whereas in the nineties, technology was

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Speaker 5: a plot device or just a way to get from

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Speaker 5: point A to point B.

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Speaker 6: In our movie, technology is our set.

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Speaker 5: It's where the movie takes place, and so you owe

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Speaker 5: the audience a higher degree of versamilitude.

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Speaker 6: And I think when we were writing the movie.

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Speaker 5: It was always about Okay, let me pull up my

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Speaker 5: Google account and see how I would actually do this

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Speaker 5: if I was in this situation. For the most part,

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Speaker 5: we really tried to not bend those rules and try

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Speaker 5: to keep it really grounded, so I know, like also,

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Speaker 5: when we were writing the movie, we were listening to

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Speaker 5: true crime podcasts. We were listening to a lot of

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Speaker 5: real cases and researching real cases and seeing how in

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Speaker 5: a modern day things are solved, and so we wanted

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Speaker 5: to always be respectful to like those victims and never

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Speaker 5: really like incite them in the movie or anything.

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Speaker 6: We don't want to like draw any more attention to

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Speaker 6: those families.

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Speaker 5: But I think we were definitely aware that this stuff

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Speaker 5: that technology has used and used that as inspiration as

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Speaker 5: well sometimes.

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Speaker 4: And it's cool because June is eighteen years old and

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Speaker 4: she's like better than the than the police in some way,

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Speaker 4: is it, yeah, because of this Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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Speaker 2: And Storm is such an incredible actress. We haven't had

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Speaker 2: the opportunity, you know, to work with her or meet

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Speaker 2: her yet, but we're really close to Chris Pine, who

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Speaker 2: played her father, and that was just as plausible to me,

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Speaker 2: you know, Chris being her dad as Nia being you

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Speaker 2: know her mom, and it just I'm one degree away

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Speaker 2: from Nia. Long and storm reasons to you, Will and Nick,

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Speaker 2: thank you. You know my sister and I or both

402
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Speaker 2: you know, huge movie buffs and love the history of

403
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Speaker 2: it and we love being on set. I would love

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Speaker 2: to know, Well, let's start with you, and then I'd

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Speaker 2: love to know, Nick, what was your absolute favorite part

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Speaker 2: about being on set? I know that you only re

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Speaker 2: you know, you were filming for what like twenty some

408
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Speaker 2: days and then editing for two three years, But I

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Speaker 2: want to know what was that most magical moment like

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Speaker 2: on set for you.

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Speaker 4: I think my favorite part about being on set was

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Speaker 4: just after working so much to just get any little

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Speaker 4: project off the ground, as when we were kind of

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Speaker 4: beginning to try to make movies, and seeing how hard

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Speaker 4: all that was, just to show up and see all

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Speaker 4: these people who were so great at their jobs and

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Speaker 4: see this whole kind of machine come into place to

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Speaker 4: make something happen, and seeing everybody work toward the same goal,

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Speaker 4: it was honestly kind of overwhelming. At first, it was like,

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Speaker 4: what are we doing directing this thing with all these

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Speaker 4: trailers and stuff pulled up? But it was just really

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Speaker 4: cool to just work with all the people.

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Speaker 5: Really, I think my favorite part on set was probably

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Speaker 5: seeing the actors bring nuance and life to the characters,

425
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Speaker 5: because I think we had been writing alone in isolation

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Speaker 5: during the pandemic in our own respective houses for so long,

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Speaker 5: and then we had cut an animatic of the movie

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Speaker 5: which was just me and Will like performing very poorly

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Speaker 5: all the lines, and it.

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Speaker 6: Just had no life to it at all.

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Speaker 5: And then all of a sudden, coming on set and

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Speaker 5: seeing Nia or Storm or Joachime who plays Hobby come

433
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Speaker 5: in and breathe life into these roles, and all of

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Speaker 5: a sudden you realize some of those things that you

435
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Speaker 5: had written actually do have like a lot of humanity

436
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Speaker 5: to them or emotion underneath that we had just kind

437
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Speaker 5: of become numb to while writing. I think that was

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Speaker 5: one of the coolest things, was to see all that

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Speaker 5: stuff come to life.

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Speaker 4: Yeah.

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Speaker 2: And Joe Achim, oh my god, he was my heart.

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Speaker 5: I mean everyone kind of has seen him in something,

443
00:23:05,359 --> 00:23:08,840
Speaker 5: you know. I Will and I were really familiar with

444
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:12,000
Speaker 5: him from I Love twenty four growing up me too,

445
00:23:12,520 --> 00:23:15,760
Speaker 5: so he was in twenty four, but he's in Desperado.

446
00:23:15,880 --> 00:23:18,240
Speaker 5: I mean, he's just He's had such an incredible career.

447
00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:22,280
Speaker 6: He trained with Lee Strasberg, He's trained with Stella Adler.

448
00:23:22,640 --> 00:23:23,800
Speaker 6: He is a legend.

449
00:23:24,640 --> 00:23:27,080
Speaker 5: He's just been around for so long, and it was

450
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:30,600
Speaker 5: really incredible to get to know him and see how

451
00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:34,600
Speaker 5: he works. He is a truly phenomenal, world class actor.

452
00:23:35,040 --> 00:23:37,439
Speaker 5: I hope that, like I want to continue seeing him

453
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:39,840
Speaker 5: and stuff and roles that aren't just like the bad

454
00:23:39,920 --> 00:23:43,159
Speaker 5: guy that he seems to always be. He's such a

455
00:23:43,160 --> 00:23:46,080
Speaker 5: sweetheart in real life. He was perfect for the role

456
00:23:46,480 --> 00:23:49,960
Speaker 5: and I have such deep admiration for him as an

457
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:51,800
Speaker 5: actor as like a craftsman, and.

458
00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:55,280
Speaker 2: I love him in Storm, how they interact and you know.

459
00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,560
Speaker 5: The oh my god, you know, the two of them,

460
00:23:58,680 --> 00:24:01,760
Speaker 5: they're never in the same scene physical right, They weren't

461
00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:03,320
Speaker 5: in the same room.

462
00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:05,200
Speaker 6: Ever when we were shooting.

463
00:24:05,840 --> 00:24:09,480
Speaker 5: And one really great thing that that Joakim and Storm

464
00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:11,520
Speaker 5: wanted to do was be there for each other when

465
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:14,360
Speaker 5: they were doing their scenes. So Joaquim, you know, came

466
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:17,800
Speaker 5: to La to read with her during her scenes, and

467
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,800
Speaker 5: then likewise, Storm called in when we were shooting in

468
00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,840
Speaker 5: Colombia to perform all of her scenes with him. And

469
00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:26,000
Speaker 5: and that's why that works. It is because they were

470
00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:27,960
Speaker 5: able to see each other, see how they're going.

471
00:24:27,960 --> 00:24:30,320
Speaker 2: To act, and then real chemistry.

472
00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:33,720
Speaker 5: They were very gracious as actors, you know, basically donate

473
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:36,119
Speaker 5: their time and and make sure you know, they had

474
00:24:36,160 --> 00:24:36,880
Speaker 5: a scene partner.

475
00:24:37,359 --> 00:24:38,800
Speaker 6: I don't think it would have worked without that.

476
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:43,399
Speaker 3: What would you tell like young writers and directors that

477
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:46,440
Speaker 3: are coming up that are you know, pounding the pavement

478
00:24:46,560 --> 00:24:50,400
Speaker 3: wanting to get their their script, you know, scene or

479
00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,640
Speaker 3: what advice would would both of you give, you know, I.

480
00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:57,640
Speaker 5: Think you really have to love the act of doing it.

481
00:24:58,400 --> 00:25:01,480
Speaker 5: I think one of my favorite film as David Lynch.

482
00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:06,000
Speaker 4: Oh we know met him personally, personal hero of mine.

483
00:25:06,280 --> 00:25:10,200
Speaker 2: His song is the theme song for our previous podcast,

484
00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:10,919
Speaker 2: Root of Evil.

485
00:25:11,240 --> 00:25:12,280
Speaker 4: We both loved him.

486
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:15,240
Speaker 6: I love his music, I love everything he does.

487
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,280
Speaker 5: But he always talks about like the act of like

488
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:20,720
Speaker 5: doing of like he just loves doing, loves making things.

489
00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:24,240
Speaker 5: And I always think about that spirit of just making

490
00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:28,040
Speaker 5: things that if you love it enough, then all the

491
00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:29,919
Speaker 5: work that you have to put in to make it,

492
00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:31,360
Speaker 5: because you have to put in a lot of work

493
00:25:31,400 --> 00:25:31,880
Speaker 5: to make it.

494
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:32,480
Speaker 6: In this industry.

495
00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:35,359
Speaker 5: Will and I were doing literally sixteen hour days on searching,

496
00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:38,919
Speaker 5: coming home, sleeping waking up, going back to the office,

497
00:25:38,920 --> 00:25:40,720
Speaker 5: and we did that for an extended period of time.

498
00:25:40,920 --> 00:25:45,600
Speaker 5: We were very young, you're still very young on missing

499
00:25:45,640 --> 00:25:48,960
Speaker 5: we were grinding at the office and working literally twenty

500
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:51,879
Speaker 5: four to seven. I'd come home, I'd log into my

501
00:25:51,880 --> 00:25:55,720
Speaker 5: computer and continue working, and I would be miserable if

502
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:59,080
Speaker 5: I didn't love doing the thing, you know what I mean.

503
00:25:59,119 --> 00:26:02,240
Speaker 5: I think Will and I both just love making movies.

504
00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:06,639
Speaker 5: We love writing, we love working in after effects, you know,

505
00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:09,360
Speaker 5: we love we love the act of doing these things.

506
00:26:09,440 --> 00:26:12,080
Speaker 5: So I think the number one thing is if you

507
00:26:12,359 --> 00:26:15,119
Speaker 5: gotta love to do it, If you don't love doing it,

508
00:26:15,119 --> 00:26:17,479
Speaker 5: if what you want to do is just be a

509
00:26:17,480 --> 00:26:20,440
Speaker 5: filmmaker or go to a premiere, like, you're gonna be

510
00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:22,159
Speaker 5: kind of miserable because you're gonna have put in a

511
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,280
Speaker 5: lot of work in the interim to get there.

512
00:26:24,400 --> 00:26:26,560
Speaker 6: So I think that's one major thing.

513
00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:29,359
Speaker 5: And I think also when you're setting out to craft

514
00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:34,160
Speaker 5: stories or tell something, I think it really helps.

515
00:26:34,160 --> 00:26:35,600
Speaker 6: I had a screenwriter tell me that.

516
00:26:35,600 --> 00:26:37,840
Speaker 5: To use corners of yourself as the way she put it,

517
00:26:38,160 --> 00:26:41,399
Speaker 5: so you're not always making a biographical, you know, piece

518
00:26:41,520 --> 00:26:44,400
Speaker 5: or whatever. But I think it's really important to find

519
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:47,439
Speaker 5: little true corners of yourself, little things that you can

520
00:26:47,480 --> 00:26:49,320
Speaker 5: relate to. So, for instance, in this movie, Will and

521
00:26:49,359 --> 00:26:53,120
Speaker 5: I both have sisters, and we love our sisters.

522
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:53,680
Speaker 6: We love our moms.

523
00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:57,919
Speaker 5: We drew a lot on like just how emotionally we

524
00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:00,720
Speaker 5: feel about our sisters and how we serve our sisters

525
00:27:00,720 --> 00:27:03,119
Speaker 5: and our moms interacting with each other. So it's important

526
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,520
Speaker 5: to always find those corners of yourself and find those

527
00:27:06,560 --> 00:27:11,200
Speaker 5: capital t truth moments like for instance, a Niche, a

528
00:27:11,280 --> 00:27:14,600
Speaker 5: Niche came up with the voicemails beat, which I won't

529
00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:18,439
Speaker 5: I won't tell anyone what happens to avoid spoilers, but

530
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,080
Speaker 5: that's a really emotional moment and that came from him

531
00:27:21,119 --> 00:27:22,640
Speaker 5: just listening to voicemails.

532
00:27:22,160 --> 00:27:26,399
Speaker 6: From his mom. So I think audiences can tell those

533
00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:29,199
Speaker 6: things when you put something that's really truthful to yourself.

534
00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:31,800
Speaker 6: So if you're starting out writing or whatever, I think

535
00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:34,280
Speaker 6: look for those things that you're like, wow, that really

536
00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:35,160
Speaker 6: feels really true.

537
00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:36,920
Speaker 5: And emotional, like how do I put this into a

538
00:27:37,440 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 5: into into something.

539
00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:41,320
Speaker 4: Yes, those are both great advice.

540
00:27:41,600 --> 00:27:46,160
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, every episode of Facing Evil. So we are

541
00:27:46,880 --> 00:27:50,679
Speaker 2: Hawaiian born and raised in Hawaii, and the word emoa

542
00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:55,479
Speaker 2: means to move onward and upward right or but really,

543
00:27:56,280 --> 00:27:58,639
Speaker 2: especially for us doing facing evil, it's about finding the

544
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:02,080
Speaker 2: light in the dark right or overcoming or healing. I

545
00:28:02,119 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 2: would love to know what was the emil for you?

546
00:28:06,800 --> 00:28:08,240
Speaker 2: And if you don't want to say what it was

547
00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:10,040
Speaker 2: for you, what do you think it would be for

548
00:28:10,760 --> 00:28:14,440
Speaker 2: your audience who hasn't watched Missing yet? And again I'm

549
00:28:14,440 --> 00:28:16,199
Speaker 2: going to say this till the Cows come Home. You

550
00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,440
Speaker 2: can own it on digital March seventh or on Blue

551
00:28:18,440 --> 00:28:19,880
Speaker 2: Way March twenty eight.

552
00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,240
Speaker 4: We were starting to write this movie the week COVID hit,

553
00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:27,120
Speaker 4: and I think trying to create the movie through that

554
00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:31,479
Speaker 4: and doing a lot of work without our team around

555
00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:33,520
Speaker 4: that we usually you know, without being able to see

556
00:28:33,520 --> 00:28:35,680
Speaker 4: each other or see all the people we were working with,

557
00:28:36,920 --> 00:28:39,960
Speaker 4: really sort of made me at least realize how much

558
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:44,440
Speaker 4: I need those people around me in order to function normally.

559
00:28:44,480 --> 00:28:46,920
Speaker 4: And seeing them slowly come back was one good thing,

560
00:28:46,960 --> 00:28:51,600
Speaker 4: but also just learning to be more mindful and appreciative

561
00:28:51,600 --> 00:28:56,200
Speaker 4: of people, and to understand that it's always good to

562
00:28:56,360 --> 00:29:00,000
Speaker 4: appreciate what's good about people as much as you possible

563
00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,800
Speaker 4: we can, even in a stressful situation like some of

564
00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:05,200
Speaker 4: this was getting through with COVID.

565
00:29:05,720 --> 00:29:08,920
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, no, I agree with that wholeheartedly, and I

566
00:29:08,960 --> 00:29:11,800
Speaker 5: think to bring it back to the movie as well. Specifically,

567
00:29:11,840 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 5: that is what June's journey is is like through all

568
00:29:15,240 --> 00:29:17,680
Speaker 5: of this. Part of the fun of this movie is

569
00:29:17,720 --> 00:29:21,120
Speaker 5: it's a detective mystery where she's looking for her mom,

570
00:29:21,120 --> 00:29:23,320
Speaker 5: but at the same time, there's this other layer of

571
00:29:23,400 --> 00:29:25,480
Speaker 5: she's finding out who her mom is and learning to

572
00:29:25,520 --> 00:29:28,600
Speaker 5: appreciate her for who she is, and learning that in

573
00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:33,200
Speaker 5: the time of darkness and in this time of like

574
00:29:33,200 --> 00:29:35,320
Speaker 5: like I've lost my mom and I'm losing you know,

575
00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:39,280
Speaker 5: like someone I love, you actually learn how much you

576
00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:41,760
Speaker 5: do love that person, how much you appreciate them.

577
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,480
Speaker 4: And neither of them will ever ever give up. Neither

578
00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:48,640
Speaker 4: of them would will ever let the other one go

579
00:29:48,680 --> 00:29:50,520
Speaker 4: as long as they can do something.

580
00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:51,840
Speaker 2: That's the power of the film.

581
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:53,840
Speaker 3: That is the power of the film. And you know,

582
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:59,440
Speaker 3: when I left the theater that night, I was so emotional,

583
00:29:59,720 --> 00:30:03,640
Speaker 3: you know, for so many different reasons, but it was

584
00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:06,760
Speaker 3: the power of staying connected.

585
00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:11,080
Speaker 2: We would love to give you this opportunity, of course again,

586
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 2: we know March seventh, It's on digital and Blu ray.

587
00:30:13,880 --> 00:30:16,160
Speaker 2: On March twenty eighth. But what's next for the two

588
00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:18,479
Speaker 2: of you. Please tell me you're still working together, and

589
00:30:18,520 --> 00:30:22,080
Speaker 2: please tell our listeners where they can find you and

590
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:24,320
Speaker 2: of course find Missing of course.

591
00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,560
Speaker 5: Yeah, so Will and I are definitely still working together.

592
00:30:27,960 --> 00:30:32,120
Speaker 5: We hope to work together indefinitely going forward. And I

593
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:35,360
Speaker 5: think we also love working with Sevenisha and Natalie and

594
00:30:35,720 --> 00:30:38,040
Speaker 5: they've got some projects going on that we may be

595
00:30:38,080 --> 00:30:41,680
Speaker 5: a part of as well. In terms of Missing, like

596
00:30:41,760 --> 00:30:43,960
Speaker 5: you said, you can find it on Blu ray and

597
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,360
Speaker 5: I just want to plug that some Blu rays come

598
00:30:46,400 --> 00:30:49,200
Speaker 5: out where they have like special features. These special features

599
00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:51,880
Speaker 5: we've seen them are like really good. Like if I

600
00:30:51,960 --> 00:30:54,960
Speaker 5: were if I were a viewer, like I'd be really

601
00:30:54,960 --> 00:30:57,160
Speaker 5: excited for these special features. That kid and me that

602
00:30:57,280 --> 00:30:59,600
Speaker 5: got gets to watch all those like behind the scenes,

603
00:30:59,800 --> 00:31:02,880
Speaker 5: this is like the one where it's really worth checking out.

604
00:31:03,080 --> 00:31:05,880
Speaker 5: So and then in terms of where to find us,

605
00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:12,160
Speaker 5: we're both mostly on Instagram. So my Instagram's at Underscore

606
00:31:12,360 --> 00:31:15,360
Speaker 5: Nick D Johnson and Will what's your Instagram?

607
00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:17,320
Speaker 4: And I'm Will dot Marek.

608
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:23,080
Speaker 3: Well, for me personally, it's just been the ultimate honor

609
00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:27,400
Speaker 3: having you both on facing Evil. You both are just brilliant,

610
00:31:27,840 --> 00:31:32,440
Speaker 3: like deeply grounded human beings that I know you're going

611
00:31:32,520 --> 00:31:34,959
Speaker 3: to do kill it. You're going to continue to kill it.

612
00:31:35,040 --> 00:31:39,640
Speaker 3: Missing was fantastic on every single level. So I can't

613
00:31:39,680 --> 00:31:43,600
Speaker 3: wait for what's next. So mahalo nui looa for being

614
00:31:43,640 --> 00:31:44,479
Speaker 3: here with us.

615
00:31:44,800 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 6: Thank you so much.

616
00:31:45,680 --> 00:31:49,520
Speaker 5: This was like a real joy meeting you and talking

617
00:31:49,520 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 5: about the movie.

618
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,200
Speaker 6: Yeah, this was really fun. Really appreciate it.

619
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:55,760
Speaker 4: Hey, you guys are great. Thank you so much.

620
00:32:01,360 --> 00:32:04,320
Speaker 2: Well, that's our show for today. We hope you enjoyed

621
00:32:04,560 --> 00:32:08,960
Speaker 2: this discussion with Will Merrick and Nick Johnson, directors of

622
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:13,000
Speaker 2: the new movie Missing. The movie is now available digitally

623
00:32:13,280 --> 00:32:16,040
Speaker 2: and on Blu Ray release out today.

624
00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:19,200
Speaker 3: We always love to hear what you think, so find

625
00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:23,720
Speaker 3: us on social media or email us at facingevilpod at

626
00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:25,000
Speaker 3: tenderfoot dot tv.

627
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:29,160
Speaker 2: And one small request if you haven't already, please find

628
00:32:29,200 --> 00:32:32,240
Speaker 2: us on iTunes and give us a good rating and review.

629
00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:35,880
Speaker 2: If you like what we do, your support is always cherished.

630
00:32:36,640 --> 00:32:53,479
Speaker 7: Until next time, Aloha.

631
00:32:54,360 --> 00:32:58,120
Speaker 1: Facing Evil is a production of iHeartRadio and Tenderfoot TV.

632
00:32:58,920 --> 00:33:01,960
Speaker 1: The show is hosted by Russia Paccuerero and a Vet Gentile.

633
00:33:02,800 --> 00:33:06,480
Speaker 1: Matt Frederick and Alex Williams our executive producers on behalf

634
00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:11,280
Speaker 1: of iHeartRadio with producers Trevor Young and Jesse Funk, Donald

635
00:33:11,320 --> 00:33:14,560
Speaker 1: albright In Payne Lindsay our executive producers on behalf of

636
00:33:14,600 --> 00:33:20,560
Speaker 1: Tenderfoot TV, alongside producer Tracy Kaplan. Our researcher is Carolyn Talmadge.

637
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:24,960
Speaker 1: Original music by Makeup and Vanity Set. Find us on

638
00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:28,479
Speaker 1: social media or email us at Facing Evil pod at

639
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:33,560
Speaker 1: tenderfoot dot tv. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio or Tenderfoot TV,

640
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:38,360
Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

641
00:33:38,400 --> 00:33:41,840
Speaker 1: to your favorite shows