welcome to the MartyrCycle this is
Derek Smith contributing editor also
from Film Classics Virgin. You can find me
online @Darathus. What we have
here today is an interview with director
Joe Lynch, talking about his upcoming
film MAYHEM available November 10th on
in theaters and on VOD. Thank you very
much and enjoy!
awesome well thanks for giving me a call
and taking the time out of your day to
be able to talk with me thank you so
much for having me I really appreciate
you taking the time to talk to little ol
me so first off I want to make sure how
are you doing after your incident with
that Framingham Slayer let's just say
that a little lighter you definitely
took a pound of flesh so I you know I
but that's good thing I knew I needed to
lose a little weight so it's totally
fine yeah a good reference deep cut I'm
very impressed
well the big fan both of you know these
films your work with you know the movie
credit Holliston all that's awesome so
much yeah that's awesome definitely was
excited I always feel like no one but my
mom watches this shit so like it's
always nice when someone else is like
hey yeah I know the Framingham I know
the Framingham Slayer like I've seen
your ship horn and then you know like do
I need to pay you back like am I gonna
get a bad yelp review but thank you I
appreciate it well with with mayhem
coming out definitely you know I
absolutely love the film did it first of
all thank you but you definitely
approach the end got the whole aspect of
you know coming up in a corporate world
you know my day job I'm in a corporate
office I'm on the tech so you know
what's up you know what it's like I know
it's a bagel Thursday is not as alluring
as they told us immersed know so where
did that aspect of that come true from I
mean it you know it's all in the script
fray or at least in the the version that
I read when I first got the script you
know there's that that old chestnut
where they're like when the script
landed on my desk you know in most cases
it does not land on any desk it lands in
your email and you're probably checking
it on your phone or what have you but I
I got to script when I was in a
corporate day job you know I was doing a
nine-to-five it was more like a
32:7 if anything but it was it was a
corporate gig it was as corporate as it
comes i was definitely a cog a small cog
in the in the master machine so to speak
and i was not happy i was not my i was
not like himself
i was not living a lie I was I was
making ends meet like well barely if
anything but it was just something that
just that did not feel creatively
fruitful to me like you know when I make
movies we're not making like I'm being
creative there is a great sense of
satisfaction and gratification even if
it is for myself you know like I've
Menino like oh my god I just married
this you know this shot with this music
or I've written something or a certain
performance just hit like there's
something really exciting about that and
that's something that you like you
always dreamed of having whether
whatever job it is you always five-four
you know this customer satisfaction of
course but on a client satisfaction but
also self gratification and I just
wasn't getting it with this job and this
script comes along and I swear to God I
just immediately went that's me I know
what it feels like I know what it feels
like to you know at least in that
certain case and in other cases before
like how much you kill yourselves to
climb the corporate ladder just to kind
of you know get that corner office or
get that bigger cubicle or be allowed to
you know do things that you weren't able
to when you were an associate or a PA or
you know an assistant if anything and
with that though comes the kind of
dehumanization of okay well I what I
think really doesn't matter and it needs
to be vetted by 17 or 18 other people
and everyone is so passive-aggressive
and they don't want to say what they
truly feel because no one wants to get
sued so this this script just kind of
hit me on a personal level that I never
saw coming
and I just I I needed to make it like
I've said this before and I'm sorry I'm
repeating it but like in the past I
wanted to make movies I wanted to you
know recreate the feeling that I had
when I saw you know truck mussels The
Blob for the first time or Dawn of the
Dead or die hard or the French can
or Schindler's List like the feeling
that I got when of the film affected me
you know whether it's laughing or crying
or screaming or just emoting or whatever
or just getting all the fields a lot of
times when you're making when filmmakers
and put myself specifically like I
wanted to make an homage to splatter
movies and I wanted to make die hard in
a room and I wanted to make Goonies for
grown-ups but nothing before felt like
it was a personal thing as much as it
was like I want to show you what I look
at my DVD collection but compressed and
turned into a movie this one was
something that on a personal and
emotional level like I felt like all of
my time doing corporate gig felt like
research
I felt like Cameron Crowe like when he
was writing Fast Times at Ridgemont High
works like the time spent in the field
so to speak was allowing me to be able
to reflect and comment that through my
art and like it just it was this perfect
storm of events that just kind of led me
to going I there's no one else that can
tell the story like I could tell the
story and after that we were we were off
and definitely yeah you could definitely
get that visceral feel from it so if
that personal aspect was worth great so
that's awesome thank you one other thing
I definitely as a Derek Derek is myself
I love that you actually had Derek as
the main character he was not a dick or
the villain which is always general the
trope for that name so thank you just a
personal thank you very welcome you know
what's funny is my favorite Derek is
Peter Jackson's Derek in bad taste
so like you know because then there's
that that you know that old that line
that he says like well Derek's don't run
like I just were mild and I'll never not
meet a Derek in my life and think like
cuz he won does he does he stay in fight
the aliens or does he one let me find
out so so Derek Derek was a name that
has always been close to me where I'm
like yeah I want to make that
a good dirt well again we appreciate it
and I don't run just because I don't
like so you know coming up dude I've
been a fan of like a drama since the
wall since the toxic avenger cartoon so
toxic Crusaders yeah and because I had
the little Toxie action figure and
everything so when I when I revisited
that in high school and you know found
that the movies were a lot more out
there and of course hitting that in high
school that was like the perfect time
man like exactly like when you saw toxic
avenger when you were a kid like that
shit dangerous but like good dangerous
cool dangerous you were like oh mate you
know it's like getting a Sex Pistols
album or the Damned album or so like
that it's just totally punk rock and I
can stand behind that so it's awesome
seem like you James Gunn like different
Haga coming up like out of that group of
people that it's just like really down
in a eaten cheese sandwiches shit minute
everything who do you think like you
know that you had a chance to work with
do you think they might be become the
next well-known person just in their
work ethic you know they're there's a
guy that I've that has worked at Troma
probably the longest of all the people
that I knew in my tenure there Scott Ian
Gabe Freedman and if you look up his
credits like he's been with Troma I
think he started actually like around
the tromeo and juliet time but he was
kind of their main editor but and Lloyd
was very smart with this was like what
Gabe was an amazing writer yet he wasn't
really hired to be a writer he was just
always there and you know he was the guy
that was kind of cut and everything and
he just ended up kind of being around
when there was writer sessions and he
would just have like the best ideas so
Dave Dave and I were the ones who came
up with the story for Tots adventure
part for citizen Toxie based purely out
of our conversations in the Edit room
because my my meager little office
wouldn't even call an office it was a it
was a broom closet that they kind of put
two chairs in and that was the writers
room yeah that was it but that room was
next door to Gabe's edit room so we
would end up hanging out all the time to
just kind of like shootin the shit and
very quickly I found out that like Gabe
was just this like whirling dervish of
creativity and knew the Troma brand
sometimes even better than Lloyd
you know like in terms of just like
ideas and you know how to address notes
and still keep it making it feel Troma
esque or whatever and you know I've seen
Gabe around since I moved out to LA
because he moved out to LA as well and
he's just one of those guys where I'm
like any day now I expect him to be
doing the next one he's just this
fountain of creativity and was just in
one of the funniest people I've ever met
and had such a singular comedic voice
that it was either like I either I'm
gonna see him at The Improv headlining
or I'm gonna see him directing something
that is holy Gabe Friedman zone it's
just a matter of like time and
opportunity and luck and everything but
he's definitely someone that like in in
the pantheon of of Troma alums he's one
that like I can't wait to see what he
does yeah I was in not involved like on
the on the ground level but like I did
dis tougher like I gonna help moderate
the message board back when message
boards were still kind of while so it's
been a while so yeah I'm familiar with
Gabe in it with his work and stuff so
yeah I definitely in gunning for him as
well I hope he steps up because his his
stuff has always been great
at he added a lot to the company for
sure so Oh totally absolutely well um in
regards to me um was there any thing
because I know you've talked about it a
lot you know
in the different interviews and stuff is
there one little aspect of the film that
you just really want people to latch on
to and enjoy honestly I want them to
just latch on and hang on you know
that's that's really like if if there's
an audience out there for this movie you
know on the base level other than you
know the fans of Stephen offense of
Samarra which are becoming huge now
because the babysitter and three
billboards I mean she's popping up
everywhere and rightfully so because she
is a fuckin movie star I loved her you
know when I first saw her and ash vs.
Evil Dead and thought to myself like oh
my god she's a she's gonna be a fuckin
movie star and now seeing how she's kind
of like conquering hollywood at this
point like I want people to come in and
see what they want to see in terms of
like oh okay I know this is you know
Stephen young movie or it's a Samara
Weaving movie or it's maybe there's two
people out there we go it's a Joe Lynch
movie but I really like the thing that
I've gleaned on since we've premiered
this movie around the world on the panel
over the past eight months is like how
much people relate to the situation and
how much people can relate to the the
trials and tribulations of kind of
persevering the corporate world and that
that to me is like the biggest reward
that I've gotten is that like so the
longest time I thought like I'm the only
one who feels this way very quickly I
found out that I am not the only one who
feels this way like I would always
before before the movie starts I would
always ask like alright how many people
have worked or are working a corporate
gig and my god most of the audience
light raises their hand you know so I
already know like okay people are going
to respond to this one thing that no one
has a pond yet but it's something that
I've kind of like teased about years
before is uh so when I when the last two
movies that I've done
I've done this thing where every day on
set I would have this little wicket the
Ewok action-figure because it was my
son's and I would like send pictures of
wicket on set for him just so that he
saw like alright I'm still alive and I'm
still hanging out with his toy
he's only game its knees like that take
this I'm like okay then I'm gonna put it
in every picture and what I did with
Everly was I put it in a scene and and
called it an Ewok bomb and I kind of
threw it out there during a reddit like
if anyone finds that thing I was very
impressed and no one has found that one
yet so I made it a little bit easier in
this one I challenge anyone listening to
this or we're gonna watch the movie
whether it's in the theater or on VOD it
probably easier watch on VOD or iTunes
you can actually freeze frame it but uh
but wicket is in there and if anybody
finds it tweet me and I will make sure
that you are rewarded kindly which
likely means it apply just be a poster
or you can have my second-born if you
like he's totally up for grabs but
that's just like one of those little
Easter eggs that I've always had fun
with you know when with movies where
they're not like entirely distracting
but it's a little bit of a relationship
between the the filmmakers and the
audience where there's those tiny little
bon mots that make you feel like it's
coming this movie's coming from a
personal place it's not just being
drowned out by a corporation so to speak
it's it's it's a it's a work of art you
know and you know that that's that's a
subjective of course I'm not saying that
would anything that I do is a work of
art but it is an expression that I had
that is more of an artistic expression
than anything that I've done it passed
you know whether it's been other
features that I've done or TV or you
know music videos or short films or even
the podcast like the podcast obviously
is personal because we're being
cathartic every week and we're kind of
talking very honestly or as honestly as
we can be but this movie really kind of
came from my heart and there's a lot of
me in this movie or the more than I'm
sure anybody wants you know at all so
much so that I'm in the fucking movie
but that was done purely out of
necessity that was because I do die
out of English speaking Serbian people
and it was the it was the he was a
purely out of necessity and I just went
like when we couldn't find anybody and I
needed someone that I you know could
hire and have an in like an American
accent and I wouldn't have to dub him
later because you know there's a couple
people that are dubbed in this and it
just drives me nuts
there's nothing I could do here I was
like look I I guess I got to do this but
at the same time I fell in love with
Steven and Samara platonically but I
fell in love with them and loved being
with them and they're like being in
after myself there's always that secret
wanted like you know getting the game
coach you know there's those moments
where like the coach jumps in you know
and you're like yeah and I was like
fucking why not you know it's like so
the second to last day of before we
wrapped and it was their last day on set
they they didn't even know that I was
gonna do it so I showed up and I shaved
my beard so I had this like porn stache
and everything enough they did not see
that coming but it was so much fun to
just jump into the fire with these two
such talented actors and just riff and
just like have fun with it and it was it
was one of the best days of my life you
know because I got to build direct and
act in the scene with these two
accomplished actors and it made it all
the trials and tribulations worth it
yeah and that was that was definitely a
fun scene and yeah so that's awesome
that you guys they had so much fun with
it so you've done two films in Serbia
now that are you any plans to go back or
I have to I have to complete my Serbian
trilogy I just do at this point but you
know it's not for any like aesthetic or
ego I really enjoyed making both movies
there like as hard as they were and it
sucked having like a language barrier at
first but you get over that and it
sucked being halfway around the world
but God that's why God created Skype and
FaceTime like it and it's gotten easier
from everly to - ma'am I've made things
a lot easier that the technology has
gotten better and the world's gotten
smaller but the crew and a lot of the
actors who are there and everything they
were just such great people and there
were such artisans and they really cared
like in most cases now like if you go to
obvious
the LA or New York or any of the places
that have a big tax break where they're
just kind of like a machine churning out
content whether it's TV or films or
digital or whatever I hate to say but a
lot of times people just kind of go they
turn a light on and I'm going to lunch
you know it's a gig it's in oh there's
nothing really personal to it whereas in
Serbia it was like so whether you want
this life you wanted to feel like it's
an unfunny movie or do you want to make
it feel like it's a more you know the
cinema verite I will do that for you
like the fact that you have this coming
from the grips and the fact that there
are people who share my viewpoint on
film where or just like anything
creative like this where it's like
decisions that I made on that set in
Serbia last year we're talking about
today and that people are gonna see
around the world what other job allows
you to do that
like that's amazing like that that's
that's something you can't take for
granted and I think you know the cruise
and Serbia still feel that way whereas a
lot of places don't really care as much
you know and I love that it's like why
wouldn't I want to get the band back
together like the Blues Brothers Newman
again there's a lot of a lot of the same
people who worked on Everly worked again
on mayhem and a lot of them kind of
stepped up and did like the next higher
up position so my art director became my
production designer and camera
assistants became camera operators and
like there was a sense of family you
know in that so that there's one project
that I'm developing now that we're in
the script phase for that I thought even
back then like this would be a perfect
place to do it
where this time I can actually shoot
Serbia or Serbia I'm not shooting Serbia
for me or Serbia for New York I'm not
shooting Serbia for any work Punk USA
I'm actually be making you know I'm not
making a Serbian film that I would be
making why Serbia mmm-hmm which only
sounds even more fucked up from the
original oh don't worry I got that
covered what's funny is that you know
half of my crew worked on a Serbian film
so anytime you'd bring that up you could
tell like they start their eyes glaze
over they it's like if you bring up like
he departed relative or a bad accident
they were in every one just like old boy
like you can just tell like they they
like I don't want to talk about but me
being the you know the idiot that I am
Allah no no tell me more tell me more so
I got plenty of a Serbian film stories
that would make your pubes turn white oh
gosh I don't know if you if you've seen
it but yeah I really dug it there's this
movie called dark waters yeah of course
the Mariano by you know yeah if you
haven't had a chance to check out then
you I think it's Severin release they
talked about filming in Crimea in the in
the Ukraine and all this stuff that they
went through filming with being the only
English speakers and the group and stuff
I thought you'd probably get a kick out
of that it's like don't put it out yeah
I love those guys yeah no I got to see
that holy shit
yeah writing that down now it's a killer
release highly recommend I keep it up
awesome yeah but anywho well I that's
all I have really at the moment but yeah
thanks again for taking the time out of
your day no Derek thank you so much for
taking the time to support the movie it
means the world to me that you you took
the call yeah yeah just get the word out
November 10th in theaters and VOD comes
out on DVD like a month later and then
we're hitting shutter in February it's
like we're we're we're hitting the
mayhem hard and we could not be more
proud of the movie and you know
hopefully people you know hopefully this
cures your case of the Mondays yes
definitely well yeah and actually that
reminds me with shudders you know how
did that come about shudder just loved
the movie when they saw it at South by
Southwest and I love shudder so it was
like look you know if it means that we
get to work together on this and getting
the word out like absolutely personally
speaking like I don't necessarily
consider it like a straight-up horror
movie but it is not one of those genre
mashups that I think people across the
board will appreciate and I think
shudders you know shudder at the time
was looking for something that would be
a little bit more you know broadly
appealing especially since you know you
have Stephen from the walking dead and
smarphone ash vs. Evil Dead like it
already comes with enough harm pedigree
that if we're trying something a little
bit different you know that people will
somewhat accept that it's like you know
you might love Tom Petty in the
Heartbreakers but you might like the
Traveling Wilburys but at least you know
the pedigree behind that band that
supergroup and you'll want to see where
they go with that you know so that was
that was kind of the the thought behind
it and again I love that service so much
and I have from the beginning so it's
like any any chance that I get to work
with people that I really admire and
it's and companies that are gonna be
supporting the genre in positive ways I
like let's get into Beth together and
talk yeah it's I just love what they're
doing especially with flake the found
footage 3d coming out oh my god I love
that movie so much like and then
bringing like we are the flesh and then
bringing kuso and all that stuff so yeah
I mean it's definitely a family that I
want to be part of it I'm proud that
that mayhem will be part of it in 2018
yeah and getting to meet Sam I gotta
meet him at Fantastic Fest this year and
oh cool again to finally meet you I mean
he is really on the ground looking
Superman is the shit like Zimmerman
knows his shit he's a great guy to hang
out with amazing karaoke artists so you
know how can you go wrong anyway I got a
one because they hum example other one
calling right now but Derek thank you so
much again and again get the word out
and hopefully I'll talk to you soon will
do thank you very much sir
all right
