Interview: Writer/Director Kyle Marvin on ‘80s romcoms, Y2K, and ‘80 for Brady’
In Maker’s Dozen, we ask folks in and around the film industry 12 questions and have them ask one of us.
Kyle Marvin is a writer, actor, and director. He starred in the Apple TV+ series WeCrashed and the films Hunter Gatherer, Kicks, and The Climb, which he also co-wrote. He makes his directorial debut with 80 for Brady, which opens in theaters on February 3.
In this interview, Kyle talks about his experience working with Tom Brady, his dream acting and directing gigs, his first on-screen crush, and his ideal Guy Fieri-made meal.
1. What is the Kyle Marvin origin story?
He started as a munchkin in the woods. My dad was a mountain climber and my mom was an outdoor education specialist, so I grew up in nature and the wilderness in Oregon. I had a great childhood, graduated high school, and then just wandered through the world. Decided not to go to college, but got into marketing because I could Photoshop things, which was like a magic trick to people at the time. I started working at a marketing firm doing commercials, which I loved. With my producing partner, a guy named Mike Covino, we were still shooting commercials at the time to pay our bills, because independent film is a great way to lose all your money.
So when we weren’t working we were trying to just shovel out commercials to try to put some money in our banks so that we could waste it all on movies. Because we had the cameras and knew how to make things, it was really easy to just make a movie. But then we made our first movie and realized it’s fucking not easy to make a movie at all. That short went to Sundance, which is where we sold the feature version of it. That feature went to Cannes and we ended up winning the jury prize at Cannes. Since then we’ve been playing around acting and other things, and then 80 for Brady sort of just fell into my lap. And now I’m here talking to you.
2. The Climb rules. After that, were scripts being sent to you or were you focused on creating your projects? And what ended up drawing you to this particular story?
It was so weird because The Climb was supposed to premiere March 20, 2020. And literally the week before our film came out, all cinemas in America shut down. So we had this wild ride where we were doing press and tours and we come off Cannes and this wild, positive thing to trying to reframe not only our careers but the whole world. We spent a lot of that pandemic time writing our next feature, writing the next feature for Mike to direct, and then writing a TV show.
We were still in that mode of getting those projects set up and greenlit when 80 for Brady came across our plate, and it sort of combined everything I love. It was comedy and it was a big-scale movie, which for us was really interesting and something I thought would be good for us as a company to explore and see if we could pull our indie sensibilities into a big theatrical national movie. And the people in the movie didn't hurt.
3. 80 for Brady isn’t, you know, this Marvel entity, but it involves a cultural figure and organization that loom just as large. Was there much sensitivity from the Patriots or Tom Brady on how they would be represented? And how easy or hard was that to navigate?
Brady was pretty open in terms of how he was portrayed. I think he was conscious of the fact that it’s called 80 for Brady and it circulates around a bunch of women going to see him. He was aware of that and so he stayed away from any hand in the real nitty-gritty of the creative. He sort of said, “You guys just do what you want to do.” His sentiment was that there’s stories for everyone who goes to the Super Bowl—let’s tell one of them. This is based on a real story of these women. It’s really a beautiful thing. And the truth is, with the NFL and with all of the teams, they love acknowledging their fan base. And particularly women football fans really are an underacknowledged group that have been around forever, since football was being played. So when they saw there’s an opportunity to celebrate female fans, they were for it. And it didn’t hurt that Tom Brady was on board.
4. Speaking of hall of famers, this cast is outrageous. What are your favorite films from each of your four leads [Jane Fonda, Sally Field, Lily Tomlin, and Rita Moreno]?
All of them have so many great ones, so I’m just gonna think of the ones that really stand out to me. I think from Jane: They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? That was one I remember seeing and I was just like, oh my God! For Sally: Mrs. Doubtfire, only because I watched it at a certain time and it was one of those movies I just loved. Lily… Nashville or Short Cuts. Her work with Altman was unbelievable. And Rita—I love her in Carnal Knowledge. I also thought she was really good in The Four Seasons. And Tom Brady, I think his best movie is this one. [laughter]
5. Great athletes tend to have a natural showmanship. What was it like watching Tom take on the challenge of this different kind of on-camera role?
It’s really daunting to act in a big movie. We all think we can act until you’re on a set and the pressure’s on and you get three takes and for the rest of your life people are gonna look at your performance in this moment. That’s a real thing. And I think Tom was really equipped on that front because he’s so used to pressure. I think what would be daunting to most people he sort of took in stride, and that level of just being relaxed is half the battle. Because Tom’s so good with pressure he was already primed to dig in. He didn’t do any acting lessons or anything to get ready for this thing. He just showed up on set and went for it, and that’s incredible.
“We all think we can act until you’re on a set and the pressure’s on and you get three takes and for the rest of your life people are gonna look at your performance in this moment.”
6. Abbott and Costello. Spielberg and Williams. Spike and Denzel. Marvin and Covino. Let’s go. How did your creative partnership with Michael Angelo Covino come to be and what’s next for you guys?
We started making commercials together, and we love yelling at each other and love giving each other shit. That’s sort of where it started, with us in pressure situations decompressing by making jokes. We would do a lot of sketches and try to out-weird the other person. That was the DNA of the whole thing.
It’s hard to find a writing partner, it’s hard to find a producing partner, and it’s hard to find an acting partner. So when you find someone who has all of those things, that’s a pretty rare thing. We have the same sensibility and the same priorities when it comes to comedy, and both of us are willing to gut-check the other person. That’s something I really treasure and is part of the secret sauce of what keeps us together and keeps us creating.
7. What is your dream acting gig and who is directing it?
I think America’s ready for a good old-fashioned ‘80s rom-com. That would be really fun. It’s funny because with my acting career, I’m a little bit more pragmatic. What I always tell my agents is I just want a little role in a great movie. I know I’m not helming a movie at this point, so just give me a little part in a great movie and I’ll be happy to flex my muscles. I mean, I’d love to be in a Scorsese movie—that’d be incredible. I think Wes Anderson’s a lot of fun and a great director. We’re in a heyday of great and talented directors who are doing incredible work.
8. What is your dream directing gig and who is starring in it?
I’d really like to direct a western because I think they’re great platforms for storytelling. And maybe more than westerns, I’d like to direct a musical. I think feature musical comedies are some of the movies I love the most, so I’d love to do that. If Fred Astaire were around I’d take him. Maybe I’ll do a musical comedy with Tom Cruise. I’ll just manifest that right here.
9. If Guy Fieri could hand-make and deliver one meal to your door, what would you order?
I would take some tacos. I could go for that right now. Maybe I’m just in a taco mood at the moment. I’ll call him up and see if he’ll come.
“I think America’s ready for a good old-fashioned ‘80s rom-com.”
10. Who was your first screen crush?
Neve Campbell in Scream or Katie Holmes in Dawson’s Creek. Both of those hit right as I was getting into my teens and becoming more aware of myself.
11. What other historical event would you love to see recreated on the big screen?
I think there’s something about that moment when we crossed into the year 2000 in small-town America, when we thought everything was gonna fucking implode, when we thought computers were going to come alive and eat us and everything was going to break. That was such a magical time. That’s a movie waiting to happen.
12. What piece of hard-won advice would you like to bestow to other first-time directors?
Listen to people and find out what makes them succeed. Because people are generally pretty tapped into what they need in order to do their best work, and I think a lot of being a director is not just listening to the words they say, but sort of watching what helps them the most and then really just giving them the space to do their best work. Doing things that enable and empower people tends to get the best results instead of bullwhipping them into where you’re trying to go.
+1. What’s your question for us?
What’s your go-to sugar?
[Kevin:] I haven’t outgrown my craving for sugary cereal. Maybe one day I’ll get to that point, maybe per my doctor’s orders, but I’m a sucker for it. Right now I’m in a Lucky Charms mode. There’s just something about it as a good cap-off to the day.