Meet Joel Liss And Joshua Stein | Filmmakers

We had the good fortune of connecting with Joel Liss And Joshua Stein and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Joel Liss and, what is the most important factor behind your success?
Filmmaking is a team sport, and we have a team that’s become like family these last few years. The two of us met at orientation at Ithaca College while playing a game of Froggy Murder. We were the first two to die, and now we’re making movies about murder. Hurt people hurt people, but we’re grateful for the partnership that came out of that.

Clara Montague and Manny Sanchez joined in on the fun at Ithaca — where we made a six episode web series and a handful of shorts — we all moved to LA as part of a satanic blood pact to make movies. Since then, we added Kelsey L Johnson and Olivia Belluck to the team. Five out of the six of us live together in a townhouse in Valley Village, and Kelsey’s just down the street. Working as a team, especially one as close as this, is great because you’re not just working for yourself, you’re working for your partners and your friends. Each one of us brings a unique skillset to the table, and we’re good at holding eachother accountable to live up to those skills.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Much of what we do comes out of a genuine love for B-movies, the kind of stuff our parents wouldn’t let us watch when we were kids; which only made it more exciting. We love taking the kind of ideas you’d find on the bottom of the video store shelf and elevating them into movies with a great deal of heart and character (but still plenty of camp and gore.) Our dream is to make a really silly, gross, nasty movie that can still make you cry. We don’t think movies should exist within one genre or one emotion, we want people to experience a spectrum of fun and fear and love and sadness.

As newer filmmakers, we think that there’s still a gap in media that lacks our generation’s voice. We’re trying to speak to our sense of humor and our anxieties about the future, and hopefully that connects with the rest of our generation.

All of that has led us to our first two feature films, one in pre-production and one in active development. The first is a shoestring comedy we’re proud to say we’ve already locked down the funding for. It’s a very silly movie that we’ll be shooting in December, with the end goal of hosting on FSVOD services and roadshowing around LA.

Next fall, we hope to shoot a far more ambitious project, called “Thank You Thank You Thank You” a thriller comedy following best friends (and serial killers) Sandra and Grace who botched their latest crime scene and have to get out of town all while being pursued by Sheriff Bobby Lupo (who just so happens to be Sandra’s dad.) It’s the laugh-out-loud, dark, absurdist, anti-coming-of-age, buddy comedy for our generation. Comedian — and close personal friend! — Nina Lane is attached to star as Sandra, and we’re actively casting Grace and Bobby as we take the project out to producers and financiers.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Our living room was recenty featured in Couch Digest. It’s a big sectional with very comfortable cushioning and it’s perfectly positioned toward our TV. Any great day in LA starts and ends there.

From Joel: I’m a hiker, so any guest of mine is at least hiking once at Fryman Canyon, the Trebek Open Space, Runyon, or — just for tourists — the Hollywood Sign. Afterward we’re grilling on my porch and then going down the street for karaoke at the best dive bar in LA that’s also in walking distance to my house, the Fox Fire Room.

From Josh: I’m fancy and refined, unlike Joel. Huntington Gardens and the Getty.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
We already mentioned the team, but they’re obviously the one’s who come to mind. LA is a small town. no matter what they say, and we find ourselves coming back to work with a lot of folks over and over again. A non-exhaustive list:

Jonathan Aboaf
Stephanie Hawkins
Advaith Deo
Nina Lane
Bailey Rye
Kit Kocanda
Ciara Naughton
Robert Toth
Barton Richman and the rest of Sentience Entertainment
And obviously our cats Harry thee Cowboy and Cashew (the cat)

Website: https://thankyouthemovie.com