Now. Let's get our audience acquainted with our next guest who has generously taking time out of his busy schedule. Trae shooting a new movie to sit down with the fever dream. Screw today's guests is josh ruben. A writer director and actor. Who is a veteran of the comedy. Website college humor. But in the your since josh has risen to become one of the american film industry's most promising budding or toys specifically in the field of comedy orange. His twenty two thousand film scare me which premiered at the sundance film festival is described by rotten tomatoes as quote smart well acted and suitably chile his new movie. We are wants with him which was released. This summer was similarly met with high levels of critical acclaim and is now available to rent your streaming. Max you can follow josh on twitter. Dot com at josh reuben. And if you're interested in seeing some of the most cleverly written in twisted leaf funny four of being produced today. I highly highly recommend you. Go watch joshua's movies calling my way earlier stint as a film critic i will say that his direct oriel and writing style reminds me of if you put diablo cody and edgar right into a blender mixed in some tequila and then served with a rim of salt. The other voice you'll be hearing interviewing our guests will be producer jesse cannon josh. Welcome to dreams. Thank you for being here with us today. Oh my guys. That was such an intro. Thank you. I appreciate it. What high compliments. Let's leave yours. Goes podcasting as your directing wills. So why wanted to start with was just because some of our listeners for those may be unfamiliar with your filmography at the moment. Let's take a trip back in time. You cut your teeth or at least some of your teeth at college humor And it was funny. Because was talking to you on the phone. For the first time i did not know that. And when you mentioned you at once worked college humor. Mind immediately. flashback to sketch the college humor. Put out back. When i was in college that you start in called greece dilemma. Can you explain to our listeners. What that was and allow say is that i highly encourage you guys to look up on youtube. I still think about to this day. I think i saw. I dunno ten twelve years ago. Yes if i can articulate this properly grace which is one of my favorite films singing summer. Lovin and what gets down to the boys describing. I think it was danny describing what he was gonna do to to sandy. Can you get me a friend or make out under the doc. Basically the more sexually charged innuendo all of his guy friends. Stop the song and call him out and basically hamadan is the line in that song that is kind of like turned heads for years. Now when you watch it in more of a modern context where it's like did she put up a fight. Yes that was the term it was you put up a as you put it with my going. Everybody is like wait. What what's about fuck kentucky. Yeah kentucky right. Yeah well well. What would you say that exactly. It was cool. It was such a what a wonderful experience. What film school for me. I essentially made you know. Thousands of if i wasn't in i was directing if i wasn't directing i was writing or co writing thousands of sketches mostly about boobs and beer and video games but that was one of the ones that actually you know. We tried to get as pointed as we could but specifically from an anti sexual assault. Yes yes yes. So you mentioned those sort of a film school sorts obviously in the years or the intervening decade. You kind of dove head. Enhance i into horror comedy. I wanna start by focusing on your movie which was just released this summer. Cold we're wolves within can walk our audience through just the elevator. Pitch of what. This movie is in case. they haven't seen it. Obviously i highly recommend you all rent or stream it today. Can you walk us through. What was the inspiration for coming up with. This movie. And i know is based on a video game but it has an underlying socio economic and political subtexts that. I'm not sure was in the video. Can you walk us through that. It certainly wasn't in the video game because a video game is basically mafia but a bunch of like old krones and weird dracula esque medieval character sitting around a bonfire manipulating and undermining one another which is a very Socio politically and economically relevant to today the idea is actually conceived. The story adapted by the video games actually conceived by writer mishna wolff brilliantly conceived at the story of small town residents who have basically their simmering resentments for one another come to a boil while snowed in at the local lodge while a creature is killing them off one by one wreaking havoc and bringing out the worst in them and being from a small town being from a desolate catskills town because it wasn't quite desolate book. Certainly when i was a kid certainly more far removed from more progressive areas. Hit quite close to home. I know pretty narrow minded folks who live up in the sticks. There was a liberal town. You know woodstock new york. That's more or less where i grew up in but some of the smaller surrounding towns have very different political interests and outlooks than certainly i did growing up and it was really kind of cathartic to go back there and bring in. I my liberal and queer creative troop to tell this story about. I don't wanna say red. America and blue america but essentially about these archetypes sort of going head-to-head essentially disagreeing about this fiscal opportunity in this oil pipeline being built through their town. And so you went to film on location in the area. You grew up with it. Takes place in the fictional town of bieber field vermont. I sort of selfishly presented the hudson valley. Because you know it's where my parents are. And i figured on the weekends. I could have moms lasagna. And crying in my home pillow if it wasn't going well but also because beaver field even though it's vermont in the film is very much like some of the small towns that i grew up in and fleischmann's newark where they actually shot. Jim jarmusch is the dead. Don't die that was largely worthy film. Took place where we were. We actually shot as well as some part in Venetia new york as well but knew kids who weren't unlike some of the more. I guess uncouth characters in the film and i think part of that is simply because you know not all of them had the sort of privilege experience to be able to walk around the west village every once in a while or see a gay person or see someone who you know. Where's their religious beliefs on their on their sleeve or sort of more open minded folks. It was kind of wonderful to blow that open without hopefully being to ham fisted and making it about the magi idiots of the world you know. I think especially between scare me and werewolves. I think that you know my personal politics. My passion about where we stand society has less to do with where people on the political spectrum and more about like can i present crass people getting their come up or rather getting what they deserve but oftentimes in the context of viscera spraying everywhere with the specter of a wolf or a wheel. Man yeah and i think it was guglielmo del toro who once said that essentially all horror is political. Even if it doesn't itself intends to be. I think unlikely paraphrasing him right now and as you pointed out and i do agree with you there. Like the george romero's world movies or explicitly political. Like if you see nine eleven in you don't see nineteen sixties america and the civil rights movement and vietnam and all the horror that came with it. You're obviously not watching.