'Reunion', Director, Chris Nelson

0:00Chris NelsonWillie Block and Jake Emanuel. And, interestingly enough, I mean, they started work on this project I think 10 years ago. I mean, this, their work on this project predates Knives Out. It pre… predates actually the whole wave of, and when I read it, I mean, it was b… like I said, it was before Knives Out, it was before anything. And I remember just being so taken with how, original it felt for them to be doing a comedic take on a whodunit, like a classic sort of Agatha Christie closed room whodunit, but as a really funny reunion comedy.

0:41Jawad MirHey everyone, this is Jawad, your host of Kingdom of Dreams Podcast. Today, my guest is Chris Nelson, who directed the murder mystery comedy Reunion, produced by Paramount Pictures. The film will be available on digital platforms to buy on June 28th, including Apple TV, Google Play, Prime Video, Fandango, and many others. Thank you so much, and here's my interview with Chris Nelson for Reunion. Thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it. Looking forward to chatting with you about your film, Reunion.

1:10Chris NelsonLikewise.

1:12Jawad MirJust to kinda start off with, you know, as a director on this film, how did you come on board? Because from what I've seen on IMDb, it's, it's a script that's written by not yourself, but it was, you know, obviously other screenwriters involved. How did you get on, involved on this project?

1:32Chris NelsonThe script was written by, Willie Block and Jake Emanuel. And, interestingly enough, I mean, they started work on this project I think 10 years ago. I mean, this, their work on this project predates Knives Out. It pre… predates actually the whole wave of murder mystery comedies that I... I mean, in some ways it's become like a sub-genre.

1:53Chris NelsonBut I was sent the script through my representation, in I think, I mean, I'm bad with math, but I mean, 2018 or 2019 coming off my movie before this. And when I read it, I mean, it was b… like I said, it was before Knives Out, it was before anything. And I remember just being so taken with how, original it felt for them to be doing a comedic take on a whodunit, like a classic sort of Agatha Christie closed room whodunit, but as a really funny reunion comedy. And, for me it was like, "Okay, great." I mean, I, in my mind I'm always thinking about like, you know, what haven't we seen, what's, what's new, what's interesting, what's fun for me to sort of work on. And I was just completely taken by the fact that, like... I was having even a hard time remembering how many reunion comedies there really were. Like, when you, when you really think about it, there's not a lot of really well-known kind of reunion comedies out there even though they're such a, they're such a place of especially American culture and culture in general.

3:00Chris NelsonAnd they're so funny, inherently funny. Because you've got all these people coming back and kind of falling into their old patterns of who they were in high school, and yet having, you know, new personas and things to hide, and all kinds of things that just make for just a lot of, lot of fun in terms of, directing comedy. And then to add in this, you know, whodunit, this Agatha Christie sort of closed room, whodunit just was e… very exciting to me. So I was just immediately really taken with it, and then, sort of met with people to give them my overall take and that's how I came on board.

3:38Jawad MirAwesome. Yeah, it's so true that there isn't, any, I mean, to my knowledge about not even just like a na… like a murder mystery comedy, but just movies on reunion. Like, it's just not there.

3:50Chris NelsonYeah, it's so…

3:51Jawad MirAnd it's, it's, it's so bizarre. It's such... Everybody goes through that. I mean, I…

3:55Chris NelsonYeah

3:55Jawad Mir... I would imagine.

3:57Chris NelsonYeah. I mean, I just came back from my, college reunion. But I, you know, I have to say, I think everyone does, and it is true. It's like there's Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, but that's a totally different type of, you know, wild comedy. But, and I, you know, I was hard-pressed even making the movie coming up with real reunion comedy references. So the, to me that's always exciting.

4:23Jawad MirRight. How was r… your reunion? I th… I think you just said you were…... Just there recently.

4:28Chris NelsonYeah, it was, it was fine. It was,.. It's always, to me again, it's always just kinda fun to go back and see, certain people and it is... I always marvel at the fact that, like, people change and yet there's still something fairly similar about everybody, and I, that's to me the best thing about it.

4:48Jawad MirRight. And, you know, in this world of social media, you know, where you can like find out who is where in life that you used to go to high school with or university with, you know, very easily. Some people have still kinda kept anonymous. It, is it... And I'm gonna get to the film in a second, but just kinda connecting to that, like people are always afraid to go back because of certain things that may come up that they don't wanna talk about, they don't wanna deal with…... Or may… or maybe they don't even want closure on, right?

5:19Chris NelsonYeah. I don't know. I mean, it is really funny, isn't it? That, you know, there is something about, there is something about, you know, where you go to school and sort of being so full of dreams and promise and sort of all the things you have in your head about who you're gonna be, and then going back and trying to figure out how you measure up and have you know, have you done all the things you've wanted to do, and what might you be hiding and what might you be trying to put forward to the world and all that stuff. I think there is something just inherently really fun about that.

5:52Jawad MirRight. How much of your own experiences in school, college, you know, your life path was incorporated… Not necessarily changing the script, but just in terms of those moments where you improvise that kinda came out from your own experiences, that this is something that had happened, that let me incorporate that

6:16Chris NelsonYou know, not, I mean, I wouldn't say that so much of that was, it wasn't inherently like a, personal story for me. I think I…

6:24Jawad MirRight

6:24Chris Nelson... You know, I related to it more in lines of like what I was talking about in terms of just the fun of it, and the ability to sort of create really interesting characters that all have their own distinct kind of point of view. And honestly, like a lot of that just came out more through the casting process, as it always does, and just hiring really exciting, great actors and comedic actors who can sort of bring their own point of view to it, and the character, and help with improv, and do all the things that just, you know, make for a really fun comedy.

7:01Jawad MirI guess, let me, let me rephrase that question. Which character reminded you of... We're not gonna talk about the film, where it went. We're not gonna talk about that at all. But which character reminded you of yourself or somebody else you knew growing up in school or college?

7:16Chris NelsonOh, that's funny. I don't know that I actually really had that, I don't think I had that experience with it. I think I was really just really much more identifying with the project and the ensemble as a, as a whole. I mean, you know, I think as a director or an actor, any creative person, you really try to sort of glimpse all the elements of different characters that you can… some things you can relate to, some things you can't, that you try to kinda bring out and just make for an exciting watch. But, there wasn't any one character that I, that I personally related to.

7:51Jawad MirOkay. Got it. Like you said, a film like this hasn't been done before. And, you know, Hollywood is just one of those places, or just the way the world works is like until it's done, you know, it's difficult to get that across. You know, in a s… if there, like you said, Knives Out, if there was Knives Out not made, or anything, or any of that nature, like, what's his name? Kenneth Branagh's, you know, series of murder mysteries. Was it difficult to get this off the ground, in terms of getting it to a studio? Was it already at Paramount? What was the process of that?

8:29Chris NelsonNo, yeah, that's a, it's a really good question. I mean, and I, you know, just to be clear, we are definitely much more of a, of a real, like an out… outrageous reunion comedy than those movies. Which is, you know, luckily I feel happy that I, it feels like we're very different from those movies…

8:46Jawad MirYep

8:46Chris Nelson... That you mentioned. So i… in some ways…

8:48Jawad MirYeah

8:48Chris Nelson... I think the movie was always seen as a comedy, you know, first and foremost, and people loved the murder mystery element on top of it. And yeah, it's true, comedies, in general have been a bit of a challenge to sort of get going these days in Hollywood, especially because, you know, people have really been focused on what they think is sometimes like a, you know, a more international type of a movie, or things that they believe comedy, you know, is harder to sort of like, you know, stick in that way. I personally don't necessarily agree with that. I think people love comedies. I think we're all craving comedy. I think comedy, you know, brings people together if you can, get people to sort of laugh, and it unites us and it's, I don't know, it's an escape that is really fun. But I, you know, again, it's like anything with… that you're trying to do that's maybe a little bit new or isn't the thing that people are gonna automatically sort of jump on board as a, you know, a four tent pole big, you know, theatrical release.

9:48Chris NelsonYou try to, try to make it for as, you know, little as possible budget-wise to try to get the vision across as much as you can and still be sort of, you know, reasonable in that respect. So that was really the, that was really the way in which we went about kind of approaching it, and then we got, we started to package it together with the talent and get the actors involved, and then Spyglass came in, to finance the movie. A… and then in conjunction with Lionsgate came in the end as well. So that's sort of how the, how the movie came about. And then Paramount, acquired the movie, which is, which is great.

10:32Jawad MirAwesome. And I'm glad you talked about comedies because it's something, you know, is lacking. I was even watching Jerry Seinfeld's interview with his new movie that came out on Netflix, Frost. That, you know…

10:44Chris NelsonYeah

10:44Jawad Mir... People are afraid to, make jokes or do comedies because, you know, we live in this world right now where everything, everybody's offended by somebody else. And how… Were you conscious, aware of that, like when you were making the film? Or were you just going all guns blazing out, "It doesn't matter, just gotta make a good movie and a funny movie, no matter what"?

11:07Chris NelsonNo, I think you have to be thi… I personally think you have to be thinking about those things, and I think it's okay to be responsibly minded in that respect. We did a lot of dis… We had a lot of discussions about that, all along the way.

11:21Jawad MirYeah.

11:21Chris NelsonI would say all the way even through to the edit I thought about it. But I do think it's one of those interesting things where it's a, it is a b… a kind of a balance. It's like you need to try to think things through and think about it from multiple perspectives, and then at some point you also have to kind of get out of your head and allow people to do, you know, comedic work and improv, and things that make something feel fun. So I think it's, I think it's, it's a, it's a bit of a balance. And I a lot of times like to kind of think about it also in terms of like the responsibility behind what the joke is, but also character. Like, is this motivated by character? What are you trying to say about the character that's making these jokes? What is... Does the character have something to learn? Does the character, you know? Like a lot of times it really for me comes, down to just making sure you understand the intention behind the, behind things. 'Cause I mean, nobody… I certainly don't wanna be in the business of,...

12:23Chris NelsonHarming people too much, right? I mean, like it's not…

12:27Jawad MirYeah

12:27Chris Nelson... It's not a… that's not appealing to me. I'm a fan of progress.

12:32Jawad MirRight. But it's also, you know, th… there's a fine line trying to figure out, but what may be funny or offensive to me or to you may not be to somebody else, and vice versa.

12:43Chris NelsonRight. I mean, it's…

12:44Jawad MirIt's, it's tough

12:44Chris Nelson... Yeah, exact… I mean, that's the, yeah, that's the part that I don't know how much we can control. I can, I can say that we did our be… like, everyone, you do our, you do your best, right? I think that's, but that's the nature of filmmaking in general. It's like you

12:56Jawad MirYeah

12:56Chris Nelson... Do your best, and you also, you do all the things that you feel like you need to do, and then you kinda put it out there, and you, hope that people get what you were going for, right? Or they hope that you get that. And I think that's part of the, that's the part of the fun of what we do and working with really talented people and collaborating to make great movies. That, ultimately everyone is setting out to do, the best…

13:22Chris Nelson... That they can, so.

13:24Jawad MirRight. Was there, you know, the film to me can be a great, the way the script is written and everything, it could be a great theatrical, like a play as well, right? Like, just because of its environment and everything and where it's set up…

13:43Chris NelsonYeah

13:43Jawad Mir... And everything. Was there any specific point... Well, how many, let me ask you this. How many days of shoots were there?

13:53Chris NelsonWe did it in under five weeks, so I think we ended up at, you know, 23 or 24 days of shooting, which, you know, with an ensemble comedy with that many characters sort of in the scenes was, it was a fast-paced shoot, for sure.

14:07Jawad MirRight. So how many, not how many, wh… wha… in those 25 days, obviously you can't have, that's just the nature of business, everybody available at the same time for a lot of scenes. You know, sometimes there is always those moments where you have to shoot, certain scene, certain characters at a different day just because of their availability and their schedule. Was there a lot of that or just a bit of that, and how did you sort of overcome those kind of scheduling if there were any kind of issues, because of that?

14:38Chris NelsonWell, I mean, one thing for, you know, for better and for worse, we shot this movie in the, in the height of COVID, meaning like we were li… we were literally in the middle of a pandemic when we sh… when we shot the movie, and one of the things that was, I think, appealing from everyone from a safety protocol point of view was that, you know, we were in, so much of the movie takes place, because it is a closed-door Agatha Christie whodunit in this, you know, isolated, mansion. And we were sort of in this one location for the bulk of our, of our shoot, and also actors' schedules were obviously a lot easier to sort of contain…

15:18Chris Nelson... At that point because there was just a lot less that was going on during that time. So, and really it's, it is such an ensemble comedy, meaning like one of the things that I think is really fun is that there are so many scenes in this movie with just great comedic actors all together. And it's a lot of movie, meaning like it's, there aren't a ton of scenes where it's just, you know, there are two characters. There's, there's some, and there's plenty, but it is really a true ensemble comedy. So we had everyone pretty much, a lot of the time. I mean, and some people that were in, you know, smaller supporting roles would come in for shorter periods of time. But, you know, we didn't have to really do so much of that. It was really much more about, honestly scheduling just based on w… what made sense.

16:08Jawad MirAnd consi… the fact that it was shot during COVID, was it at the peak of COVID where you guys had to sort of stay at the same place for a long period of time, or were you guys able to move around and go back home and come?

16:21Chris NelsonWe actually did, we all commuted back and forth to home. We just had to test every day, and everyone was in masks. I mean, except for the primary cast, obviously, in front of the camera. We were all, you know, fully masked, the, pretty much the entire time making that movie, and we were testing daily for the most part in and out, and it was a very kind of controlled and secured situation. And then we obviously asked people to sort of remain in kind of a, you know, a pod-like structure to sort of avoid anybody getting sick, 'cause schedule was tight, but.

16:57Jawad MirRight. And as a director, whether it's this film, you can talk about this film, or just in general, do you like to have the dailies being sort of cut in the rough, in the rough cut on set, or do you like to sort of get at it after production is out of the way?

17:18Chris NelsonThat's a great question. I, for me, it's really a little bit of a combination. A lot of times it's about what I feel like is gonna make me feel comfortable that I have it. Sometimes I'll just know, like I mean, honestly, I, it… so much of comedy is something you're continually playing with in the edit, and showing stuff. So a lot of times it's about kind of shooting and not wanting to get overly distracted by the edit, but there are plenty of times where, you know, you, something happens, or you're, you're sort of running short on time, and you're kinda wondering, "Did I get this? Did I get this?" And then a lot of times I am just calling the editor and saying, "Hey, can you edit this together for me, you know, quickly? Can you put this sequence together? Can you put this together just to make sure that it cuts and that I have everything that I need?" Or, you know, asking for a little bit of reassurance in that, on that end. But for the most part, I like to kind of keep focused on the actual shoot and not get really bogged down by, you know, o… overthinking or looking too much at stuff.

18:22Chris NelsonI like to review it and make sure that it's sort of looks good and looks consistent and feels like… You know, the movie, and then rely on the editor to also speak up if there's something, he or she thinks we, you know, missed.

18:40Jawad MirRight. No, that's, that's, it's, it… that… every director works differently, right? And I know in the... A… and I based on the conversation that I've had with a lot of, editors and directors who have worked in films from the '80s, '90s, early 2000, '70s. In the older day, older, back in the day, it was like that where a lot of, like, editors would want to, directors would want the editor on the set to cut the dailies and just to have an idea. But I think things have sort of have been changing a little bit over time, but it also de… like you said, it depends on everybody's personality. Like, what they wanna do, how much they can focus, and how much they can't focus…

19:16Chris NelsonYeah, and I…

19:16Jawad Mir... And just have to be on one thing.

19:18Chris NelsonYeah, and I do think that, some of it's also about what time, like how crazy your schedule is and what you have…

19:23Jawad MirYeah

19:23Chris Nelson... Time to really do. It's, sometimes that can just be an added piece or an added distraction that slows everything down. And you know, if you don't have the luxury of a lot of shooting days or time, that can't always be the best thing. And also when you have, when you have really great actors, that are there, and they're in a lot of scenes, and there's a lot of attention that you need to give to, all of the sort of actors and the performances and sort of time being spent getting ready to shoot things.

19:54Jawad MirRight. As a director, how much are you... So you know, Quentin Tarantino, for example, like he, when he's directing, he's standing right next to a cinematographer, and he's very much focused on the performance. But there are some directors like Steven Soderbergh, who's also on the camera, and, you know, Spielberg sometimes works back and, well, not, he doesn't necessarily operates the camera, but he knows how to do that. But i… in terms of how you work as a director, is your focus primarily on the actors always, or you like to get into the technical aspects other than giving directions to the cinematographer like, you know, "Let's try this. Let's try a 50. Let's try a 35"?

20:32Chris NelsonI'm, I'm not a technician, meaning like I definitely don't, I'm not a camera operator. I'm not a, you know, I don't... But I love that. I love the technical details, meaning I love, like you said, I love to think about, you know, l… lenses. I like to sort of be very sort of involved in sort of what the, what the lighting's gonna look like, the, all the elements of the, you know, of the, of the image that sort of goes into making a movie, I love and I find fascinating. And I try to spend, as much time as I can, especially more in the pre-production stage and in the sort of scouting stage and in the sort of technical buildup, really kind of working with the key crew departments and the sort of technicians and sort of building that. And then when it comes to the shoot, I keep an eye on that, but then I also like to just be really focused on the actors and the performance at that point, especially if you're directing…

21:25Jawad MirYeah

21:26Chris Nelson... An ensemble comedy. It's, that's, that's what, that's the heart of it, I think once you get into the, once you get into the shoot, as long as you've done all of the sort of work leading up to it.

21:36Jawad MirYeah. If you weren't a director, but you were still in the film business, what other element of production or post-production or pre-production you would like to do that you enjoy… ... Aside from directing?

21:49Chris NelsonThat's amazing. I do, I really do love the editing process. I mean, I do think it might be really hard to sort of be working on your own as much as an editor actually does.

22:00Jawad MirYeah.

22:00Chris NelsonBut I find the editing process kind of almost magical and so interesting about how many different ways there are to go about it. I like post-production in general. I love sound design. I like music. I love the col… I like color, you know, color correcting the image. Like, I think all of that part of the process is just really fascinating. But I also think it makes sense in some ways as a director because it's kind of like all, everything's all, like everything, all the work you've done is now coming together at the end. So there is something very exciting about that part of the process. But I also, I don't know, I also love the casting process, and I love, I love working with actors. So, you know, that's a, that's a tough question for me to answer.

22:46Jawad MirNo. It's, it's, it's great that you answered because it is, editing, is something that, you know, I do, but I'm primarily focused on directing, but I've done editing. And I, the i… what you just said is so bang on. That's exactly how I feel. The idea of everything coming together at the end, i… is just so rewarding because when, I know ba… based on my experience, like when we st… when I start on the editing, the beginning part's like, okay, that's it. You know, we're almost there.

23:16Chris NelsonYeah.

23:16Jawad MirBut then there's all those days in between where things are not going the way you want to, but then when it comes to the very end, that's when you start feeling even more better, right? Like, this is it. All that work that we've done for the last three, four, five years is coming to an end. And then how do you let go? That's another challenging part. You know, how do you let go of something that you worked on for four or five years, especially if you had fun, and you know, if it's a good, great project that you worked on?

23:40Chris NelsonFor sure, and then we're also like, you know, you get close to things, and you know, you're always wondering, am I too close to this? Do I need to, you know…

23:47Jawad MirYeah

23:47Chris Nelson... Am I, am I being objective? Do I need to remove myself? It's a, it's a, I think that's a muscle that you're constantly exercising as a director. I always try to kind of s… sit down and try to put myself into like, okay, I'm watching this neutrally. Like, I try to pretend like I'm just an audience member, and I haven't been so close to this and like, how does this feel? And I'm just watching it and try to be in like a neutral mindset, but it's very, it's a very difficult thing. I... On this one, I tried to not watch the whole movie back so much. I tried to actually just focus on individual scenes and really kind of really, even cutting without music at first too, and just try to get the scenes to be as good as I think individually and then kind of put it together and then start to watch as a whole and then, you know, from there. So I was like, I think you're always, what's fun is you're always experimenting… How to do it, and it's different for each project, and you're always just sort of like, you know, deciding that with your editor and going with your instincts and trying to do, what feels best for the project.

24:51Jawad MirNice. What do you hope to… You know, as a storyteller, whether you're telling a comedy or an action or a very deep and emotional story, you always have an intention of people walking away with something. You know, when they watch a film that anybody, any director has made, or any, anyone has directed. What is your hope that people walk away with or people feel after watching Reunion?

25:20Chris NelsonI, you know, I really did make this movie to be, a fun ride, and I, you know, I think that what I really hope is that people, laugh, that they see some of the sort of comedy in their, maybe at their own reunions in all of it. But also, hopefully there's some surprising, you know, twists and turns to the whodunit, that keep people guessing as well. And so I hope they're satisfied by that. I hope they feel like they've seen both a comedy and a whodunit that feels sort of different and slightly outrageous and you know, something more original than they've seen before. That's what I hope.

26:00Jawad MirNice. Great. And just lastly, Chris, normally I ask this in the very beginning, but I'm, I'm just going with the flow. What has your journey been like from the inception of you wanting to be a director to where you are today?

26:19Chris NelsonOh, that's a great question. Well, it's been a… I mean, I, it's been somewhat of a long road, I would say. I started as an actor, and I did work so… some professionally as an actor when I was, in my teen years. And then I went off to college and thought I wanted to get out of the business, and then nothing else was sticking, and I took a writing and directing class in college and was like, "Okay, I think maybe this is sort of the way I wanna go, on the other side of the camera." But I got out of school, and I had student loans and stuff to sort of figure out the realities of like, how am I gonna do this? And so I worked as a production assistant for a commercial music video production company. And I was like, "Okay, I can't afford film school. I'm gonna kind of lean into this as my film school." And I worked, my way through to the commercial business and started, you know, producing and doing music videos and commercials for a really great company that was working with a lot of talented people.

27:19Chris NelsonAnd I was like, "Okay, I'm gonna start as a director in commercials to learn the technical side and the image of how to put something together," and continued to study writing and my background as an actor. Kind of, you know, felt… I felt good about knowing how to work with actors from that. And then, eventually I made a short film that, played film festivals and got me signed at an agency, and I made my first movie about, I think, 12 years ago. I just finished my fourth, so. I started… I didn't actually s… direct my first movie for, you know, I think 20-some odd years out of college. So.

27:57Jawad MirRight.

27:58Chris NelsonYeah. That's how it… That…

27:59Jawad MirYeah

27:59Chris Nelson... That's, that's been my, that's been my journey.

28:03Jawad MirHow does it feel to be where you are today compared to where you were five, 10, 15, 20 years ago?

28:10Chris NelsonI… You know, look, I feel, I feel fortunate. It's been… It's a very strange time, you, as you might know, in our business. We've been… You know, COVID started and then strikes and…

28:20Jawad MirYeah

28:20Chris Nelson... All kinds of stuff. I'm just, I'm, I'm thankful that this movie is, getting out into the world and hopefully people get a lot of enjoyment out of it. And that in and of itself for me is enough for me to be very thankful in this moment.

28:35Jawad MirWonderfully said, and that's a great way to wrap things up. Thank you so much, Chris, for your time. I truly enjoyed our conversation.

28:41Chris NelsonThank you. Yeah, it was a pleasure. Thank you so much.

28:44Jawad MirWell, I will…

28:44Chris NelsonAnd yeah, we… coming out on June 28th, digitally, so I hope, I hope you watch. I hope everyone watches it.

28:50Jawad MirI did, and I enjoyed it.

28:52Chris NelsonOh, great.

28:52Jawad MirSo thank you so much. Yeah, and, people will enjoy it too. Thank you so much again, Chris.

28:56Chris NelsonThank you. All right. Bye.

28:58Jawad MirAll right. Take care.