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Victoria Astuto and Matthew Kyle Levine
3.4k Plays1 year ago
Victoria Astuto is an actress, musician, and educator based in New York. She is most known for her roles in Some Time Soon and Trusted Hands. In addition to acting, she also plays Clarinet with the Brooklyn Wind Symphony and is a Band Director in the Hudson Valley.
Matthew Kyle Levine is a filmmaker based in New York City. His short films have won awards and played at numerous film festivals throughout North America, including the Williamsburg Independent Film Festival and the Canada Shorts Film Festival.
Watch 'Some Time Soon' and Levine's other films here:
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:02
Speaker
You are listening to something rather than nothing. Creator and host Ken Zalante. Editor and producer Peter Bauer.
Introduction of Guests and Film
00:00:18
Speaker
This is Ken Vellante with the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast, and we have a great episode here with Matthew Kyle Levine and Victoria Mstuto. The new film, sometime soon, directed by Matthew Kyle Levine, starring and with contributions from Victoria, recently available here in late March within the last couple days. I've watched it.
00:00:46
Speaker
A couple times, again, an excellent film. Matt and Victoria, welcome to the Something Rather Than Nothing podcast. Thanks for having us. Yeah, thank you.
00:00:58
Speaker
Great to have you and Matt for listeners to remember no was on number 146 talking about film episode 164 with Shay Glashine and music and and more film and
00:01:16
Speaker
And now we have Victoria, who stars in the new short film sometime soon. So welcome back, Matt, and welcome again, Victoria. So very happy to have you here. And we're meeting you in New York City, right? Yeah, we're in Greenwood Lake right now, just about like 50 minutes away from.
00:01:38
Speaker
Alright and I'm calling out
Film Themes and Character Exploration
00:01:40
Speaker
from Eugene, Oregon track town USA home of home of the ducks. All right I Want to talk to you both first of all To tell the listeners about about about this this short film this movie that you just put out what? What's it about what what are you trying with this one?
00:02:05
Speaker
Yeah, so we're really excited about it. It came out yesterday, and I feel like this, I feel personally, is one of my most emotional and impactful movies yet. It's a little more on the nose. It's a little less ambiguous. And it basically follows the life of a young woman who runs away from everything that she knew. She runs away from everyone that she knows to go to Florida in the hopes for a more rosy and utopian version of her life.
00:02:33
Speaker
But she finds that through all these voicemails that she keeps getting that she can't really run away from her past or whatever trauma that she's trying to run away from, she can't seem to get away from it. And she fills out her days going to the beach and
00:02:48
Speaker
Going to bars, just sort of any way to kind of distract herself is welcome for her. And she spends most of her time living out of her car in this portion of the film, in this portion, you know, moment in her life. And we just sort of follow the emotional kind of path that she goes down while she goes down this kind of rabbit hole of sadness that she experiences when she gets to this place and finds that it's not as great as she was hoping it would be.
00:03:17
Speaker
Yeah, and Victoria, and you've been in a couple of Matt's film. He's not giving you a lot of lines. Not going to speculate on that. I know you do fine with them. But more of reactions to situations. And there's a lot of silence and consideration and wrenching through things.
00:03:44
Speaker
You've been newer to acting, I know. What has the experience been like for you to move into these roles that are really important for holding the story together and then being able to do that? What's the experience like? Definitely challenging. I remember when we first shot Trusted Hands, the last one, I was like,
00:04:08
Speaker
I don't know if I can act like this is, I've never done this before. I kind of sprung an honor. Yeah. I mean, I acted once in a senior play and I was a man, so kind of not my best acting experience. Something to work off of. Something, you know, I had something from experience. Yeah, go out of your comfort zone. Yeah. But I definitely, I think as someone who's also introverted, I think it even made me dive further into my own emotions.
00:04:38
Speaker
Because I can't say anything I guess I didn't even at while it was happening I don't realize how expressive I'm being but well Really like putting yourself in the character whether it's the trusted hands or for the sometimes soon That sad deep like emotional sadness I feel like I don't know I felt sad just doing after we did I'm like
00:05:01
Speaker
Yeah, because it's a lot to kind of ask of yourself to like throw yourself into this kind of intense situation and then also to not have anyone to bounce off of. It's like it's a nice kind of reflection and it works to our advantage because the character has no one to bounce her thoughts or feelings. It's lonely and I think that shows of like the loneliness that you feel. I mean for some time soon she's really trying to escape but also
00:05:26
Speaker
can't connect. And I think that shows. Yeah, yeah, it was interesting because you mentioned the introverted piece and I immediately thought of because, you know, I've just seen the film, I've seen you in the film and you kind of make the connection to how you present yourself there. And it was so interesting to hear that word because when you look at your character with them sometime soon, it's like,
00:05:52
Speaker
You're right there on edge. Everything is expressing. I'm going to walk by and be like, I'm not fucking with her. Not now. It's just this space. I'm not going to talk. I'm right there and holding that. So there's a lot of power to that. And I also.
00:06:17
Speaker
Keep wide berth when I've seen where you're able to display in that part, but it was
00:06:26
Speaker
It was just quite effective and held as a presence. One of the things I wanted to ask you, Victoria, is about art and acting being a particular form that you've done
Victoria's Artistic Journey
00:06:45
Speaker
recently. But I know you have a lot of interest in music and in sound and
00:06:52
Speaker
you know, being around and creating art. I was wondering what your experience is as far as like your identity, seeing yourself as an artist, and maybe where that is right now doing these short films. Yeah, um, I, I feel like it began my art journey or artist journey as a musician was the first thing as an at a very young age, and that kind of
00:07:17
Speaker
built into like, I really, really did love music and also felt like so inspired by the teachers and the people that surrounded me, which then really kind of inspired me to be a music teacher, which is what I do now. And I think the community, I think that's created in schools, like I felt the most safe in the band room and with like those kinds of people. I saw like a New York Times article about how like,
00:07:47
Speaker
high school kids were saying, it's like, I only go to school so I can go to band and this is like my place. And I definitely felt that and wanted to then like create that kind of environment when I'm a teacher. And that's something I tried. Right now I teach fourth, fifth and sixth grade band. So starting kids out from the very beginning and then seeing them grow for three years.
00:08:11
Speaker
And I do I have kids that like coming on with me and you know, I hope I hope to create that environment that kids like love music and feel safe in that place and I think that really Like kind of cultivated the artist I think in myself and I love the art room and those are like my two favorite places that I felt like I could be myself and then as an adult I
00:08:39
Speaker
Um, I'm a clarinet player is like my main thing, but I never made my own music until very recently, like the last two years, um, kind of got going on writing my own music and using the skills that I've, you know, built up over the years to make my own thing, which is very, I don't know.
00:09:02
Speaker
very eye-opening because I've always been like okay I'm just like I'm a clarinet player and I play in the orchestra and I play in um right now I play in a group in Brooklyn um and it's like playing other people's music and I'm like well I think you asked me when like don't you make your own music and that was something I just was like oh yeah why don't I do that and I love like singing and guitar and kind of those things but then uh I think writing my own music has brought my
00:09:31
Speaker
I don't know, my expressive, like. Your creative side out. My creative side out even more and with acting is now I can combine, I feel like all the things that I like, because I feel like you obviously have to be expressive to write music and play music and perform. And so I think acting felt, I thought it was going to be, it is challenging. I shouldn't say that. It's very challenging, but I think being a musician helped kind of like
00:09:58
Speaker
lead into that next role. Yeah, it's interesting how much being a teacher kind of
Importance of Art and Music Education
00:10:03
Speaker
informs what you do in the movies because being a teacher is a performative thing. And I also just think, you know, I know on this podcast, we talk about art, so it's not out of place to say like, by you creating that environment for the children to like express themselves and to be great artists, it's interesting because I feel like that's almost as an adult, what you have to do is you have to kind of
00:10:24
Speaker
express and uplift the childlike wonder within yourself to push yourself to still be like a child and still be curious to make art in your own right. So it's like you have to almost create like a welcoming and freeing atmosphere within your own mind in the same way that you would for children.
00:10:42
Speaker
Yeah, you really you really do and I think it's something When you were mentioning your comments Victoria about you know, like the art room and the in the music room, you know, I've I've I've wrapped Union members in the k-12 system for about a quarter century and I know about those spaces and I know about the importance of
00:11:05
Speaker
those for those are there and a thing that comes up in the show is like the you know what I'm asking the you know are you an artist question when you become an artist you know we're always talking about the folks that are around.
00:11:18
Speaker
uh kids, right? You know, their uncle was an artist and he did what he wanted and I liked that or my teacher viewed art in this way and so I was a shitty artist or you know, mom said this and she didn't really mean it but she said I couldn't draw a straight line with a ruler and that hurt my feelings and you know, like like there's so many things that happen and I just don't want to rush over and and just thinking about that space that you help create the teachers help create for
00:11:48
Speaker
You know what we've missed is why kids go to school, right? They're not all going to school for the same reason.
00:11:57
Speaker
you know, whether it's FIAD or physical education or the band program that will at least get them there for half the day, maybe the whole day. I think a lot of policymakers are really missing out because kids need those things to be provided and we're starving. I feel we're starving a bit and that's the field. So, but okay, I'm pontificating.
00:12:23
Speaker
I'm pontificating to a crowd that's favorable to it. So Matt, I wanted to chat about your films in general. I've seen your short films develop.
00:12:43
Speaker
I wanted to see if you could give a little bit of a summary of your creative endeavors. I know you work a lot in film, helping with creating music videos, visual dynamics for all sorts. But talking about your work within film and the films you've created, could you just tell listeners a little bit about those pieces and what you've been doing?
00:13:09
Speaker
Yeah, so I've been working in the film industry for, you know, seven, eight years, kind of like helping people fulfill their dreams and their visions. But all along, you know, since I was like 12, I would always make my own, you know, short little movies. And as time has progressed, I've kind of honed in on what my style and what my firstly, what my taste in movies is, and then like what I would like to say or express in filmmaking and
00:13:33
Speaker
You know, over the course of the last maybe like three or four years, I feel like I've really honed in on a theme or just kind of like a style that I really feel like is my own and I kind of represents the way I look and view the world. And that theme normally deals with isolation and our emotions and our psychology and how our past kind of informs our actions.
00:13:58
Speaker
kind of how every human makes mistakes and has like an ugly side and kind of exploring that while also kind of validating and showing that they're beautiful in their own right as just a human generally.
00:14:12
Speaker
Yeah, that's kind of a that's an intense answer This is like intense intense answer show I um talking about uh sometime uh soon I had um, I've written a few words to describe, uh the visuals there of uh banal horror of the four-lane mid-city boulevard at dusk reflecting just the the space of
00:14:41
Speaker
Cars buzzing past. It's at dusk. The idea is like there's a lot of activity, but is any of it pointing anywhere? Who's sitting in these cars? Just things going don't pass. It was very palpable, very poetic. Talking about your movies, I thought that was almost like kind of summing up the feelings of loneliness and isolation that you force
00:15:10
Speaker
folks to deal with keeping them in there too long than is normally advised. Is that fair to say? For sure. Yeah.
Modern Isolation in Film
00:15:20
Speaker
And I feel like this movie specifically kind of explores the natural reaction to being isolated, which is to like, you know, run away and be free and to go wherever you want and to adventure in Rome. And I was thinking today that this movie almost kind of springboards off of the concept of like
00:15:38
Speaker
this American dream, you know, that's not to just, you know, get a house and just, you know, get all your stuff in it and just kind of sit there with it, but instead to kind of go on the road, kind of like the Jack Kerouac novel on the road, you know, like this kind of fantasy of adventuring and kind of exploring. And I thought that this movie was kind of an interesting kind of almost like current modern take on the on the road concept, where even though this character has the ability and the freedom to go wherever she wishes,
00:16:07
Speaker
It's like this modern take showing that she has like almost this shackle which is the phone kind of keeping her isolated and I feel like that shot is kind of is very representative of that that kind of Boulevard intersection shot because You just see all this activity as you say of all these people in their individual bubbles their individual pods Just sort of like racing down the highway heading to her to just escape whatever Existential dread that they might be feeling to kind of go to the next thing to kind of make their life better
00:16:35
Speaker
And then here we have this character that almost broke off from that train, that path. And there she is right on the side of the frame, kind of in her own bubble. And I think the interesting thing about that is that even though she broke free from it, the shot and the movie almost shows that society is not really interested in rewarding people from breaking free from that path. And she's still alone because she's in her own bubble and there's almost no one, literally no one in the shot and no one in the movie that's willing to connect with her.
00:17:05
Speaker
So she's almost trapped in her own isolation, even though she's trying to break free. And I think a lot of that has to do with the effect that technology and, you know, the modern world kind of has on us now with things like, you know, just I don't know how to explain it, like not the industrial revolution or anything, but, you know, just what cars and technology and phones have done and how they've isolated us and kind of kept us less community oriented.
00:17:32
Speaker
I think the movie is kind of messing with all those themes, if that makes sense. Connected with disconnected. We have these roads that can take us anywhere, but then where are we going? Are we connecting when we get there? And it's almost like a question of what are we all running from?
00:17:48
Speaker
Yeah, there's, just to talk about, I'm captured by some of the images that I've seen on this film, and everybody check out some time soon, short film, but one of the scenes you see is a bar, could be any suburban bar, is a little bit of neon light. There's too much space for the people who are there, so it's not happening. There's a few people there, people
00:18:14
Speaker
or drinking and it creates this massive disconnection because of course, if you think about any of the sensuality that's possible, like within the bar, like you got to go hit on somebody. I mean, that's where she is, right? But yet it's still like the sensuality and the is all tied to the to the phone. So it's like doubly isolated, like nobody's going to interact in this environment. And second of all, everybody has a phone. So there's another barrier. Nothing's going to happen here. Like that's human to human.
00:18:44
Speaker
Now that you mentioned it's funny because we literally, we filmed most of this movie, just a little bit of background on how it was done. We didn't go down to Florida like expecting to make a movie at all. We had no script or anything in mind. We just were, we were actually going to make, take a trip and we were going to fly. Antigua? It was like Antigua and we were just trying to like, you know, we had the
00:19:05
Speaker
COVID blues. I was off from school. No, it was Christmas break. Yeah, 2021. You both deserved it. We were trying to get out and then even though we were both vaccinated, the requirements for flying were that you had to have a COVID test three days before the flight. So there was no way to get the results in time. So we booked the flight thinking we would get our results in time and then
00:19:33
Speaker
We're like, all right, we'll just drive to the airport even though we haven't gotten our results yet. Maybe we'll get them any minute. And then we get there and it's just like, we don't have the results so we can't take the flight. So now we're like, we get reimbursed or whatever, but now we're like, what do we do? And we're like, screw it, let's just drive to Florida because that's at least a place where it's warm and we can take a break. And I think that there's something to be said thematically with that occurrence and how it inspired the movie because
00:19:57
Speaker
we were clearly trying to run from the isolation that comes from COVID. And it was almost like everything was stopping us from being able to just go anywhere. And so the only, the best thing we could do was just to flee. And there was kind of a freeing sense with that, but also there was this dread underneath of like, is it okay to flee? You know, it is, is it okay to be, you know? So, so it was interesting. And then I basically,
00:20:22
Speaker
while we were there, you know, just having a good time. I had this, you know, the camera at the time was pretty new, this red Komodo that I'm obsessed with. So, uh, I am too. I'm obsessed with your red Komodo camera too. I don't know if Victoria has to deal with, but I was just like, I was just like, Hey, Victoria, do this, do that, do that. And when I was like filming her on the beach and then slowly I kind of realized that like I'm coming upon
00:20:48
Speaker
a story here and what's interesting about the bar is that like it almost worked out to our advantage because you know at that point we knew that we wanted to make this story about someone who's obsessed with their phone and that's living under their car and then we get there we just want an open spot where we can film over no one's gonna give us a hard time and then we see this section where there's literally nobody seated
00:21:06
Speaker
in the section, but then people are at the bar and there's literally, I didn't even realize it until we're discussing now, but there's literally this wall. There's a divide in the bar where there's the people and then there's Victoria's character and she's stuck in her phone. And I think even some of the extras, the people that were at the bar were even looking at their phone too.
Societal Isolation and Art's Role
00:21:27
Speaker
It kind of created this literal and visual divide, which is perfect. Well, and on that too, I mean, I'm very, it can be very detail oriented, but in the type of film, the way that you show it, the details are going to be pronounced. So you got to have certain things right. But even some of the
00:21:45
Speaker
mannerisms of the folks in those scenes at the bar of how they're like trying to get close to trying to yell something to like even the Those those pieces around all affirm that and I just wanted to mention that because those are the places where like the Viewers eyes like what do I look at and what do I listen to? I'm gonna do it aggressively because I have a gut like you know and
00:22:09
Speaker
And you know that people are going there hungry on that. Exactly. It makes you wonder why she's so willing to just try to find someone because she's perusing the dating apps. Why is she looking towards the screen to find someone who then maybe later she can talk to when she's literally surrounded by people? And now that we're talking about it, I'm remembering this one shot where she gets out of the car and stretches and it's on this street.
00:22:35
Speaker
And literally a person who is not an extra just didn't care that we were filming, just walked past the camera. I know what you're talking about, yeah. And she just walks right past the car as Victoria's coming out. And there's this clear separation between the two of them. And again, nobody talks to anybody. It's like you do your thing, I do my thing. It's like we're in this, the movie takes place in like, it's like the Miami, Fort Lauderdale area. And it's like all these people are around yet for some reason in this generation, in this time period that we're living in.
00:23:02
Speaker
And nobody wants to, everyone wants to keep to themselves. And it creates this classic loneliness within a city kind of.
00:23:11
Speaker
I'm sensitive to that type of stuff as far as how people interact. I've lived on the east coast and the Midwest and the west coast and the differences are profound and people will tell you different things. I know the west coast, the people are a little bit more communal for sure. The east coast, everyone's like, you keep your head down and you do your own thing.
00:23:36
Speaker
Well, the there's I remember just one thing, too, is when I went to the Midwest and how like super friendly was I was rattled to the core because of like six people in a row going up to a cafe in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and like, how are you going and like getting coffee and stuff? I'm like, Rad, I'm like, man, and it's like, it's like cult shit. I didn't know like they turned over here. But then I calmed down and realized that
00:24:04
Speaker
people had a generally friendly approach. New York or city dweller or not city dweller like someone on the coast maybe more so will feel almost like that's the crazy thing to not be so communal and you almost realize you've been pre-programmed to be standoffish and for what? Probably just to drive
00:24:26
Speaker
you know the capitalist system that we all live in get back to work is kind of the idea yes is that that that that turn on so yes been it's been great to talk about on the the sometimes soon of victoria i'm looking back at you on the screen
00:24:44
Speaker
Well, you know then talking about talking about art and again, thank you for teaching By the way, thank you for being a teacher And in the importance of that I asked one big heavy Philosophical question not more. This is the biggest one and I've asked Matt so he sees off these off the He's already been he's already been through it. But um
00:25:13
Speaker
Uh, the question why I ask is just about, uh, kind of why we do things or maybe why we're here or what is, what is all about. And the question is, why is there something rather than nothing, Victoria? Um, I thought you were like, you're on your own. Uh, I think there's something,
00:25:42
Speaker
rather than nothing because we're all here to make something of our time on this earth and on this planet for whatever we want it to be. Whether it's making art to connect with people or making music or making film or teaching to connect with others or I mean those are just my ways. But I think that gives I mean for me it gives you it gives me purpose
00:26:11
Speaker
to feel like I'm creating something, something rather than nothing in this time that I'm here. Um, and even though, you know, we all know things get dark and it's, there are things that are hard to deal with. And I think creating something is what gives that darkness a light or a purpose to why we feel this way.
00:26:35
Speaker
Yeah. No, that answer means a lot to me in particular because I've been listening to something a couple of days ago. I've had to make decisions recently about just...
00:26:50
Speaker
just like focus in life and you know sometimes you hear things i heard it on podcast alright so i was listening to podcast but it was about that when you allow some space to open some space within yourself to open and then there's an orientation towards
00:27:11
Speaker
towards light, towards the sun, towards space. That can be imperfect how that works out and how you feel, but the positivity in the light is going to be inflected around by the opportunity you've had for it to go out. And it's something that I wouldn't even like said or thought of, but like I was like reading this or listening to this and it just really sunk in that
00:27:39
Speaker
It isn't getting all the fufu or getting everything just right and that I'm doing helpful things. That means I feel perfect. No, because you could be down five minutes from now. It's about that it's like positively oriented.
00:27:55
Speaker
And so what you were saying what you did as far as like the light and with art I know for sure that's like A huge focus right now being like I don't have to tell anybody that i'm around that things are shitty out there in society And and if that's a bad attitude or whatever it's shitty out. Everybody's telling me it's shitty and it feels shitty So hence that being the case i'm like
00:28:18
Speaker
Well, what is glorious and what is good? And just the words that you were mentioning, Victoria, about, you know, about light and that opening up, it just, you know, that's the way it hit me right now. So I really, I really love that. Yeah. That's like saying almost the creation is the light. That's like, you know, we kind of are all navigating.
00:28:36
Speaker
world that can sometimes seem really dark but when you do create something you kind of can look at this like little model of yourself and your emotions and it kind of can make you feel like okay I'm here now yeah no I just it's interesting to hear you say that you know
00:28:52
Speaker
creating something, it creates meaning, and then it creates this sort of light because I feel like we are all navigating a dark world sometimes, or it could feel sometimes like it's very heavy and dark, the world that we live in. And I think when we create something, we almost create this little model of ourselves and our emotions that we can look back on kind of outside of ourselves and be like, okay, there I am. I'm here in this moment and I'm present and I am living in the moment.
00:29:20
Speaker
where i feel like there's a lot of things in life that we do that are future or past oriented where i feel like you know making art is just a very it's a grounding thing and it kind of makes you reflective of all the experiences you've had in the past but keeps you right there in the present yeah yeah i uh i know the the glimpses i've had as far as and people talking about flow in creation where
Upcoming Projects and Performances
00:29:46
Speaker
you know that that ego is not around that much that anxiety is not around that much the
00:29:52
Speaker
the what should I do next is not asked because the hands are already moving. And like, that's, that's, that's some beautiful territory. And it's kind of like, you know, why I like to talk about all that and be like, and, you know, another thing I too, I'd like the energy of talking to artists like yourselves when you just drop something, you know, you just drop the film and stuff and to be able to connect.
00:30:20
Speaker
Yeah, around connect around like, you know, the energy about that and the idea to have, you know, to, to see things and to point them out and celebrate them and
00:30:33
Speaker
As folks know, I'm a big fan of your film, Matt, and also Victoria, just incredible work in the ways that I was talking about and seeing in that film. Really encourage everybody to take a look at it. But I want to ask just generally, like the both of you,
00:30:53
Speaker
just like what's coming up this year, 2023. I know with the show, have a lot of big plans with the show. The show is growing when I think artistically is doing these type of things. But what's up for 2023 for you both in terms of art and what you're thinking about?
00:31:13
Speaker
Yeah, well, for us, it's been huge. Like, it's been a very great experience, you know, collaborating together and working on stuff together just because we're already so close. So, you know, I hope to make more, you know, I hope we make more films together and I know we will. And we've already actually made one.
00:31:30
Speaker
Another one. I'm not sure if that is like the next thing that I'm going to edit. I might work on another short film in between them. But similar thing to this movie, we had an Airbnb in Vermont and we made a movie that focuses a bit more on me. I try to flex the acting chops a little bit more on this one. And that one should be coming out hopefully like later this year. Kind of explore similar themes, but there's a couple of stylistic choices about it that make it a little different.
00:32:00
Speaker
And also I just recently, I wouldn't say it's completed, but I'm pretty close to completing a draft of a feature film script. And I'm really excited about it. I've been really plugging away at that for a long time. And it's been my dream since I was a little kid to make a feature. So I'm glad to finally find the story that I want to tell.
00:32:18
Speaker
And so now it's all about just gaining the funding and kind of mapping out the budget and picking the actors. And I'm hoping to reach out to a lot of actors I've worked with in the past. I'm pretty sure Shay is going to be the main character in this feature. And I'm going to work probably again with Nancy, who voiced the sister.
00:32:38
Speaker
and sometime soon and probably Desi who was in house to herself and most likely Dan Berkey from Daddy's Wallet. So it's going to be kind of like a huge collaboration of the family of artists that I've worked with in the past to make this big movie that's hopefully going to have a lot more to it given that it'll be more like an hour and a half.
00:32:58
Speaker
That's really cool. And Nancy, was that the sister's voice? Yeah. Yeah, that was really cool. I mean, you just notice voices of being like, because you have to hit what you're doing. Yeah, yeah. No, she's incredible. She hit it home with that one. She hit home run.
00:33:15
Speaker
That was, that was really well done. Uh, yeah. And, uh, Victor, well, geez, you got to teach, right? So that doesn't take up too much time. And you're, when your contract is day, there's nothing else to do. There's nothing else to do, of course. Right. Yeah. So, uh, in, you know, in all my spare time, which is here and there, um,
00:33:39
Speaker
In the past like two years, I've been working on making and recording my own music. So hoping to, with like summer coming too, hoping to maybe try to release like a little EP by maybe the end of the summer. And then just doing like some performance, like I perform with a group in Brooklyn, so we'll be performing at Carnegie Hall in June. And then, yeah.
00:34:06
Speaker
It sounds good. It's going to be great. Yeah. It sounds impressive. I mean, 2024 we're going to South Korea and Japan with this group as well. So that'll be.
00:34:15
Speaker
very exciting. I mean, that's not 2023, but something to really look forward to as well. Thinking if that definitely goes through and I go with her to Japan, we might try to make a movie that takes place in Japan, which would be really cool. I've always wanted to see that country. I've always been really deeply intrigued by the mountains and the literature. And I've studied a lot of
00:34:42
Speaker
Buddhism Zen Buddhism so really really enjoy that but no they thanks for mentioning you know some of the some of the things upcoming I definitely look to look forward to you know anything you both create and you know Matt as I told you I'm on the ground floor the Matthew Kyle Levine film so when
Relevance of Physical Media Today
00:35:05
Speaker
the the
00:35:24
Speaker
uh you know the film uh and so everybody can find that uh vimeo's good spot for it i've been uh watching a lot of film lately this one service uh i've watched with a lot of great classic films a movie film mubi
00:35:40
Speaker
a lot. Yeah, I am. It's doing God's work. That's true. I know I I've had it for a bit. And I like how each day they mentioned like a type of film and like why it's featured that day. And I think there was one recently that I haven't watched, which was like surveillance video, like like threaded and combined surveillance video for a couple of years ago. And I'm like, that's right up my alley. But I didn't know somebody had
00:36:10
Speaker
You know threaded that together, but can bring me the surveillance video. So that's like all my movies are almost surveillance in a way Final question. I know I asked this once before and I want to ask it Um, and it's not a tough one. It's just if you've seen it, um the movie anomalisa I i've heard of it. That's uh charlie. I brought it up once before And a charlie kaufman film in victoria. Have you seen it? I have not seen it. It's like a stop motion, right?
00:36:40
Speaker
Yeah, so what I want to say about it, and I don't mean to bring you've already answered this once a bit on fear for me to ask him that but anyways with the with the film the reason why it keeps coming in my head when I talk to you is that yes, it's a stop motion animation and
00:36:57
Speaker
There's aspects of hyper-realness and artificiality that I sometimes see where you're operating, where it's like, is it busy? Is it not busy? There's this categorical kind of shifts. Now, the movements and the interactions in Anomalisa are
00:37:16
Speaker
weird because stop motion but it takes place in a hotel and it immediately taps into the place of the loneliness of travelers right travelers who end up in a spot and we'll look in their phone book and being like we were so in love 15 years ago looking through and it's like
00:37:39
Speaker
There's nothing wrong with, but it's like a desperation, like an alcoholic desperation of past times. And so it's not an uplifting. Oh, that's okay. Movie. There's something about the aesthetic.
00:37:56
Speaker
that every time I see one of your films and so whenever you watch it because they're just so different in a certain way, I think I'm gonna try to find out what it is, why I feel the same way in that. I'll be sure to watch it before the next time we're on then and we could talk about it.
00:38:16
Speaker
I got one task for myself is that I for some reason I saw a copy of anomalies that I saw in the store and it actually had a kind of like topographical pull out pop up of the set.
00:38:32
Speaker
I don't know what sort of mood I was in because this is normally would, you know, it was reasonably priced. I would have purchased it. I didn't. I felt like it was too holy of an object. It's like, it's like taking something from church or something. So I was like,
00:38:48
Speaker
It's in Corvallis, so I'm about 15 minutes from Corvallis, Oregon, so I'm going to go back. Just some DVD store? Yeah, it's just an odd old DVD store. They have way more record in DVD stores. I love that. No, it's huge. You can't escape it anywhere now. VHS.
00:39:11
Speaker
I know. Yeah, it's becoming over by you too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, cassette too. It's like anything to be more physical because we just I think I think there's something that hurts us at our core, where art is so digitized and like not not physical. Yeah, like grab the thing. I'm a comic book guy from when a sense of kids so I get like, give me it. Give me it in my hands.
00:39:35
Speaker
That's what I'm most excited about with
Episode Conclusion and Reflections
00:39:38
Speaker
making the features. I finally, I'll just have like a DVD at least of it, you know? I mean, I could do it with a short film, it's a little weird to have like a DVD for a 15 minute. Yeah, maybe, but still to have the, I feel like it's the same thing with an album. It's like when you get it on even a CD or, you know, a vinyl, if you're lucky, it's like there's a thing where you could hold it and be like, this is a thing. I made it. Yeah.
00:39:57
Speaker
Well, you saw the design aspect of it, too, of looking back at some old CDs where, shit, if I'm a photographer for groups or an artist and I got that shit on the front of the CD, I want people touching it, putting up on your wall, like, you know, so there's other pieces. Yeah. So.
00:40:15
Speaker
Hey, it's been great. It's been great talking with with you both. I've been really rep. I just want to say I've been really rep in New York City. You know, I'm going to get some heat from my folks up in Rhode Island and Boston. But this is my second episode out of three out of New York City.
00:40:33
Speaker
Yeah, and I hope to do a correspondent field visit out that way as soon as I can. I would love to be in person one at some point if you're here. Yeah, yeah.
00:40:49
Speaker
And the only other request is in the recent film. Yeah, there's There's some some audio pieces of going through sound stations and listen to songs I'm giving you full rights for something rather than nothing clip if somebody's flicking flicking through the stations next You got six and a half days of free material to listen to and pick out the perfect three seconds Beautiful, maybe I'll do it'll be a nice little Easter
00:41:20
Speaker
Thank you both. Great to see you again, Matt. Victoria, great to meet you and great work. Thanks for everything you do in the arts and teaching the kids the arts. Hey Matt, I imagine maybe we'll all be chatting pretty darn soon again. I really hope so. It's always a pleasure. I feel like I come to tons of revelations about my own stuff just from our conversation, so it's always great.
00:41:48
Speaker
Well, that's the thing with these, it helps me too, so that's the reciprocity, right? Yeah, exactly. Alright, take care. Alright, thanks Ken. Thank you. This is something rather than nothing.