David (read his books http://davidnmeyer.com) played a huge part in my figuring things out in my life. I hated high school bc nobody cared about the life I had in the arts, it was taken as a distraction. Went to film school in Boston thinking I'd meet my people, and nobody really knew movies there. Emerson was full of sketch comedy kids who thought Stella (Kids in the Hall) was Kubrick. I thought I was alone. I thought I cared and knew more than anyone. But also had no idea how to do anything because I hated myself and the world so much, didn't see the point. I left Boston, came back to NY, and took a Japanese Cinema class at New School while I figured things out. First day I came in late, sat down next to Paul Dano. David lectured on Throne of Blood. It was all over my head. And I was surrounded by students young and old in fierce debate about Kurosawa, vocabulary I could not follow. David had this scene around him, so there were working directors and journalists who would come to the class just for David, so the room was incredible energy. And yeah. This was it. I found my people. Got my ass kicked. David gave me an A- on the Throne of Blood paper I wrote that week, I talked to him after class about it. Told him how confused I was and asked how I could have deserved this grade. He understood the thread I was thinking along, and even though I wasn't at the level the rest of them were on, he was steering my thinking. 15 years later, David is the first person I send my scripts to. He and Bianca are the ones who told me when I finally cracked my code a couple years ago, with the first script that really said what I was trying to say. I did make that film actually, but never showed anyone. David's not even seen it, only read the script. Anyway, this episode just has us talking movies and stuff. Read David's books on Gram Parsons, The Bee Gees, and Film Noir. And tell him you want him to publish the Miami Noir novel, it's really good.
