How did Martin Scorsese become executive producer of this indie?
He saw the first thing I wrote and liked it. So when I wrote this, I had my agent send it to him. He loved the script and said to me, I want to executive produce and you should direct it. He’s been great; very supportive. And I idolize his work. Who better to have as your quasi-mentor — or whatever you want to call it — than Martin Scorsese?! Q: Rory and Kieran Culkin play the characters based on you and your brother. Had you always intended on casting real-life brothers? A: For me, it became sort of an embarrassment of riches because reality was very important. I wanted every moment to be truthful. I strive for that. I had worked with Kieran and I knew Rory’s work — one of my favorite movies is You Can Count on Me (2000). So, when I had the opportunity to get both of them, I thought: This is going to make my job easier — they have a built-in dynamic already. All you have to do is keep the camera rolling and get them to improv and do the things they would normally do when they’re s
