Filmmaking in Skokie: Aaron Wertheimer on Not If I See You First

Aaron Masliansky (00:00)
Welcome to the Chicagoland Guide. I'm your host, Aaron Masliansky. Today I bring you one of my favorite people, Aaron Wertheimer. Aaron is a filmmaker. He's based here in Skokie. I've known him for a long, long time. We'll talk a little bit about it as much as we can remember. But he is a filmmaker and he just came out with a new film that's gonna be premiering very soon at the Music Box Theater on March 26th. It's called

Not if I see you first. It is a lot of fun and I'm so excited to speak with you and thanks for coming on the show.

Aaron Wertheimer (00:31)
Yeah, thanks for having me.

Aaron Masliansky (00:33)
It's great. mean, like I said, we've known each other for a long time. We started as camp counselors at the Skokie Park district at Central Park. We were the Chucklers. And, you you married one of my high school friends and, you know, it's been a long, long time. And you were the first guest on Inside the Skev, my original podcast. So how does it feel to be back here now?

Aaron Wertheimer (00:56)
Yeah, it feels full circle, you know. Yeah, it feels great. Happy to be on.

Aaron Masliansky (01:03)
Thank you. And this movie that you just did has a lot of Skokie and Evanston to it. So I want to ask you about it. We got a clip lined up. We're going to hear a little bit about the movie itself. But when did you actually make this film? What years was it being shot?

Aaron Wertheimer (01:21)
We filmed it in the summer of 2023. So it was the end of July, beginning of August. We filmed over the course of 10 days.

Aaron Masliansky (01:33)
Okay, so it was post COVID that you were able to do this and kind of come out. Yeah. How does it feel right now as you're doing this, like getting ready for this premiere? Are you excited for this new film?

Aaron Wertheimer (01:37)
Correct. Yeah, post-COVID.

I am, really excited that we've gotten to the point where it's gonna be playing and I'm super excited that it's gonna be at the Music Box, which is, you know, a historic Chicago theater. It's definitely my favorite theater in Chicago. It's such a great experience to be there. You know, it's not...

You know some theaters you go and you just kind of go and then you come home and this is like an experience. They've got the organ in the corner. I don't know if the organ player will be there, but they have a bar attached to the theater and it's just kind of like a majestic place. They recently redid the sound there, so that's good. So and actually yesterday I was there. Doing a test screening just to make sure everything was going to work out well.

So yeah, it was cool to be there and see it on the screen. Me in the empty theater. I'm, you know, I'm of course with like a screening, there's always some anxieties. Like I hope a lot of people show up and enjoy the movie, but I think it will play well in a crowd. So yeah, overall I'm excited about it.

Aaron Masliansky (02:47)
Yeah, and it is a unique film. mean, tell us a little bit about it for those, mean, no one's seen it yet, except for me, because I've gotten the screener, but, and whoever else was in it with you, but tell us a little bit about it.

Aaron Wertheimer (02:53)
All right. Yes.

Well, it's basically I describe it as an absurd buddy comedy. So it's takes place, as you said, in Skokie mostly Skokie, Evanston. We also shot a little bit in Lincolnwood and Winnettka. And it's about a guy who's in town for work from Pittsburgh.

And he meets this guy who lives in Skokie who convinces him to spend a few extra days to see the sights of Chicago. And they never really end up doing that. They kind of just get into like a series of wacky adventures basically. So that it's kind of that basic plot and then a bunch of wacky stuff happens. Yes. Yes.

Aaron Masliansky (03:40)
Lots of wackiness and a lot of cherry cola. What's

the story behind that?

Aaron Wertheimer (03:47)
Well, I wanted them to have something in common that right off the bat would be a little bit unique that would maybe make them kind of stop and be like, hey, we both like that. when they first they first they see each other, they're both drinking cherry cola.

And then they see they bump into each other again and they're both still they're both also again drinking cherry cola. So it's like, hey, you're the you we both like the same thing. Like it's just an easy way to start talking. I kind of had this idea of like two people who meet that way. I didn't. And then I thought, cherry cola would be good. I was like, should they both be eating apples? I don't know. So I in the end I went with that. And then I just thought it could be a thing that there, you know, they have that in common. So they're always like whenever there's like a pause, it's like

Let's have another drink of cherry soda. I do, I like it less now after drinking a ton of it on set because we decided that we were actually gonna drink it. There were, think, a couple times where we replaced, when we could, if it wasn't a shot, if it was a shot where you see, like say you, because I'm in the movie also, I should say, but.

Aaron Masliansky (04:35)
do actually like Charlie Crane.

Aaron Wertheimer (04:56)
So if there's a shot where you see me open the soda and drink it, obviously I have to be drinking it. Sometimes, you know, after like take three or something, it's like, let me put just some like seltzer in here instead. It's a lot of, it's just, you start to notice different things about the flavor after a while when you drink too much of it.

Aaron Masliansky (05:09)
I'm like diabetes in like two seconds.

sure. The aftertaste and whatever else but

Aaron Wertheimer (05:22)
Yeah, but it does kind of bring you into like a state of like, what is cherry cola? What is this thing I'm drinking? You know, you just start to look at it differently. But to me, it was always like a fun drink to order if I'm, you know, at a movie theater or something like that. If I have a choice of found soda, I would go with cherry because you you don't always get to have that.

Aaron Masliansky (05:41)
Well, I think everyone should have a cherry-cola when they go to see the movie. Music box theater would be really awesome. And then the film goes into a lot of different things. You have selective amnesia and there's certain things you forget and you try to bring back your memory. How did you come up with that?

Aaron Wertheimer (05:44)
Definitely. Yeah, that would be great.

Yeah.

so yeah, I'm glad you asked that because with selective amnesia, was basically, so my influences for a movie like this, like I, there's certain things that are movies. Like I really like kind of like early nineties, early two thousands indie American indie movies. Like a lot of times they're kind of like a very basic plot, like two people meet and then a few things happen and then it ends, you know? So I always like movies like that.

Aaron Masliansky (06:03)
to remember.

Aaron Wertheimer (06:27)
But then I'm also super into Beverly Hills 90210 and I really like the melodrama of the show and I like the characters and their relationships but then also as the series progresses it gets kind of more and more soap opera-ish I guess. And I was watching an episode while I was writing the script and in this episode Kelly got shot and she's

At the time she was shot, she was engaged to Brandon. She gets shot and then she's in the hospital in a coma and she forgets Brandon. She remembers like everything else about her life, but she forgets her fiance. And I thought that's such a funny scenario because he's kind of like, I'm trying to like get her to remember me. And then she of course falls in love with like one of the other friends in the circle.

And so Brandon is kind of like, like, you know, I want to be supportive of my fiance who was shot and is in a coma. But at the same time, like, I'm kind of annoyed that she remembers everything except for me. So I thought that was just such a like in the show, of course, it's played straight. But I thought it was a really funny scenario just to like have selective amnesia. I thought it was just like a funny thing. So I threw that into the script.

Aaron Masliansky (07:45)
You forget your actual

life.

Aaron Wertheimer (07:47)
Yeah, it's like you forget, but then it's

like, I could just see it from the wife. It's like so annoying. Like, wait, so you remember like where you keep the yogurt, but like you can't remember me. Like you remember all these other things, you know, why don't you remember me? So that's how that came to be.

Aaron Masliansky (08:03)
And Kelly, does she eventually get her memory back?

Aaron Wertheimer (08:06)
Yeah, she does a lot of

tragic things happen to Kelly, you know, she's caught in a fire. She has a cocaine addiction. She got shot got amnesia. There's a lot of stuff that happened. She was addicted to pills for a while. There's a lot of crazy things that happen with Kelly. Yes. yeah, I mean, people go through a lot on that show. Almost everyone had a drug problem at some point. Brandon had a gambling problem.

Aaron Masliansky (08:20)
Go back and watch that.

It's a heavy, heavy show. I didn't realize how heavy that show was when it was.

Aaron Wertheimer (08:34)
crashed his car, I don't know, anyway, but yeah. Yeah, you gotta get deep in, like when you get to season nine, these things start happening.

Aaron Masliansky (08:36)
I'm not gonna tell you what though.

Yeah. And you've done a bunch of different films. You've had, you know, you've you work a lot of times with similar actors, friends of yours, family members that you have. How is this film different? And did you enjoy like being able to really control so much? I mean, a lot of it's by your house.

Aaron Wertheimer (08:51)
Mm.

Mm hmm. Yeah, so,

so with this movie, I'd been kind of well, I've been working on two scripts at the same time and one of them had a bigger budget and then one of them it was just what turned into this script. It was just like a bunch. Anytime I think of some random thing I thought was funny, I would just like make a note of it and then.

Thought if I have a simple enough plot I could just throw all these random things in because people will be able to follow the storyline because it's just like About two guys becoming friends, but then all these other things could happen So I would I have all these you know ideas and throw those together and then there was a screening of my other two movies at this place called analog that no longer exists, but so after seeing

those two movies with a audience. And I was like, Oh, yeah, it's so fun. You know, these movies like one of them, my first one was filmed in 2013. And the other one was in 2016. So seeing them, this was I guess, in 2022, these screens took place. But so it was like, like, especially the one from 2013. It's like, Oh, yeah, we shot this like 10 years ago. And now

I'm seeing like this really captures that was filmed in Brooklyn. It's like this captured Brooklyn in that time and that's cool. And like it captured the different actors and all the people and the other one skippers. was like in Michigan in 2016. So I just was really struck by how cool it was to capture a time and place. And then I so then I started to focus on this. I'm not if I see you first because I was like I've always wanted to make a film in Skokie.

And I thought this is a good opportunity to really capture Skokie right now. And like Skokie is just such a, to me it's such a unique place because it's kind of so normal in a certain way, but it has character and it has interesting locations. Like when you're driving around, you just see stuff that's kind of unique, I guess. And I liked the idea of capturing the suburban life in a certain way, kind of like a sleepy.

suburban life, but it's like close to Chicago, so it has a certain edge. but.

Aaron Masliansky (11:09)
love seeing different

places and where I recognize everything, where you are. it's so, so cool.

Aaron Wertheimer (11:15)
Yeah, yeah, that's neat for sure.

yeah, but I was gonna say, so I also, you know, I wanted to do this on a real micro budget just because I thought, you know, if I can do it on a little, you know, the lower the budget, the less money you have to make back to get people their money back, like get investors their money back. So I had a couple investors who were willing to put up the money for the movie and I...

You know, they were kind of like, how can you make it on such a small amount of money? But I knew that by using using my house as the house and I knew in Skokie, like we wouldn't really have to pay for locations. We paid for for two locations, fifty dollars each. So it was, you know, people were willing to let us film in places and and, yeah, using myself and Joey and I kind of wrote the the movie with.

her in mind, my wife, Joey in mind. yeah, just kind of threw in, you know, everything that I had access to. And I thought that also kind of makes it fun.

Aaron Masliansky (12:18)
it made it totally fun. And especially for people who know you to see everybody and see your kids and see your dad and everything. It was pretty awesome.

Aaron Wertheimer (12:24)
Yeah,

yeah, you know, hopefully people who don't know me like it too. But but people have seen it who don't who don't really know me and they you know they it's like they don't know oh that guy in the street is your is my dad. So for them it's just like oh you cast this guy.

Aaron Masliansky (12:37)
Right.

I love it. I love the whole thing with the guy waiting for the bathroom. But I think now would be a good time for those who are watching. You'll be able to see the trailer. If you're listening to this, you'll hear it. But obviously, it'll be in the show notes so you can be able to see it.

There we go. All right, here we go.

you

Love it. There it is, it worked.

Aaron Wertheimer (14:10)
There it is.

Aaron Masliansky (14:15)
I mean, such a great film and that kind of gives you an idea of all the different places that you go around and like the kind of the storyline. I love that you had the guy waiting for the bathroom everywhere. What was the story behind it?

Aaron Wertheimer (14:26)
yeah.

That was based on something that happened to me because I was I was in New York. I was producing this short film and at some point I was standing we were shooting in this house in the far Rockaways and at some point I was in the kitchen with a few other people hanging out off set and I was standing there, you know talking to somebody and then someone just came up to me. It was like are you in line for the bathroom? I was like

where's the bathroom? it was like, you know, maybe 10 feet away from me. And then later, someone else asked me again, if I'm in line for the bathroom, was like, do I look like somebody who's like in line for the bathroom or something? You know, why are people at I'm not like standing next to the bathroom. Why are people asking me if I'm in line for the bathroom? And then I was just talking to this other person on set, and we were talking about like, you know, thinking like, if it got more and more amplified, like more ridiculous.

Aaron Masliansky (15:13)
It's so absurd.

Aaron Wertheimer (15:24)
you know, that you're like nowhere near a bathroom. Like why would anybody possibly ask you that? So that was the idea behind that.

Aaron Masliansky (15:31)
Yeah, the best is in the alley. He's walking in the alley. Or right by there, your dad.

Aaron Wertheimer (15:35)
yeah,

that was behind my parents house. Yeah.

Aaron Masliansky (15:39)
Yeah, that's amazing. I love that.

When you go into some of these places, some of the coffee shops, you you're in Backlot, you're in like the Forest Preserve, right? I'm in Evans. Well, you're just outside.

Aaron Wertheimer (15:48)
Hmm. We weren't actually in backlot. We kind of faked that

we were outside it and then we actually filmed because I knew I didn't even ask them if we could film at backlog because I just knew knowing the place like it's never going to happen because it's always crowded. You know, they have the bathroom there, but they open at like six because I usually like with a place like that to ask, can we shoot like before you open or something?

But so I didn't even ask so we faked it in Skokie Valley actually, because I knew they had, you know, I thought that could look enough like a coffee shop. And I knew they had the bathroom sign. Yeah.

Aaron Masliansky (16:22)
Yeah, those bathrooms up there on the second floor.

Yeah, no, that was a good idea. And then you went into Squeezebox also, right?

Aaron Wertheimer (16:27)
Yeah.

Yeah,

so they Tim the owner he was super nice. We we would chat because I go I'm a kind of a regular there big record collector. So I go there a lot and we chat and at some point I I like Facebook message squeeze box something to like hold a record and then Tim I guess like look look to my profile or something was like oh you're a filmmaker blah blah so we were talking about that and then yeah, so then I asked him you know, can we?

You know film there before you're open. They don't open till noon so it made sense and he was totally nice about it great about it so we went there one morning before they opened and film there. That was really cool. Yeah that was great.

Aaron Masliansky (17:10)
That's so much fun. Did anybody give you any

trouble with anywhere that you wanted to go or outside?

Aaron Wertheimer (17:15)
A

couple of people didn't, they just said no, or they never got back to us about filming there. But we never got into any trouble. No one shut us down, which I figured no one's really gonna care. And I thought, we kinda had a plan, in a few places that we were outside.

I mean, you're allowed to film outside, but you just never know if someone's going to kind of be like, Oh, do you have a permit to be here? So we just thought if we, if someone comes up to us, we'll just kind of say like, uh, you know, we're just making something for tick tock and blah. I don't know. Just kind of mutter something. I think, you know, if we get kicked out, we would have a backup plan, but, but yeah, luckily nobody gave us any trouble. The place I was most concerned about was in when net cut by the beach, but, uh,

Nothing. Yeah, no one cared that we were filming there.

Aaron Masliansky (18:07)
That's cool. you know, in terms of like filming, I mean, you've done a lot of filming around Chicago. You've done stuff in Michigan. I mean, throughout the Midwest, obviously, when you're in New York and Brooklyn, but people don't always think of Chicago as like an independent filmmaker place. But I've gotten to meet a lot of people who are filmmakers like yourself. you know, there's a lot of, a lot of support throughout the community for independent filmmakers.

Aaron Wertheimer (18:13)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Aaron Masliansky (18:32)
is how have you found it to be able to produce, promote, make a success out of what you're doing?

Aaron Wertheimer (18:33)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I mean, there's a pretty nice indie film scene here I found when we came back from New York in 2016 and wanted to get involved. And I met some people who, you know, I met some indie filmmakers, I guess, who, you know, we are ideas and views aligned. And so I found the people I can work with. And then there's other people that I don't know or don't work with, but I know of them that I like and respect their stuff. And I think it's like a pretty supportive community.

overall. You know, because there are enough people doing it, but there's not so many that it's oversaturated. Like in New York, it almost feels like if you tell someone you're making a movie, they're like, yeah, who cares? Like, so what was everybody? Yeah. So, so yeah, I think it's really supportive and nice. People are friendly. And yeah, I found the scene to be good. And then there's places like the Music Box or the movie is also going to be screening at the Wilmette Theater.

Aaron Masliansky (19:18)
like having a podcast.

Aaron Wertheimer (19:35)
And we'll try to get some others, but they're totally open to, you know, screening a movie of an indie filmmaker, which is really nice that they also have that, you know, community mindset and they're open and they're not just, it's not like there's these gatekeepers that don't allow you to show a low budget movie anywhere.

Aaron Masliansky (19:56)
Right, and actually that's really nice about Wilmette Theater, because that's a nonprofit and they do want to support independent filmmakers. I'd love to actually have them on the show, and I think I may, but that's a great theater. And I love how like the smaller theaters like have that feel, right? Doesn't it feel right for like an independent film?

Aaron Wertheimer (19:59)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, it does. It's nice. Like especially, yeah, the Wilmette or the Music Box. Like you just walk up and you enter the theater. You're not walking through a mall or something first. And I like that. And yeah, I go to see movies at the Wilmette all the time and we've got good programming and nice. Yeah, it just feels nice sometimes to go to a theater that just has two screens maybe. And yeah, it's good.

Aaron Masliansky (20:36)
It's true.

And then, you you talked a little bit about some of the people that you've had in the film, and you've got your family members, your wife, you know, your kids, everybody, and friends. I mean, how is that working together with like that dynamic? it challenges with that? Or is it a lot of fun?

Aaron Wertheimer (20:52)
It's good.

I think it's fun. Especially with Joey. So she had a big role and but it's nice because since we live together we can kind of it's not like we have to schedule a rehearsal time. You know we could kind of talk about the character and about the tone and we were able to rehearse just kind of here and there on our own time and she she you know since we're married and stuff and she

understood the shorthand that like we have a shorthand together I guess and she understood the vibe I was looking for and I knew what she could bring to it so that was cool and then yeah with our daughter Eliana having a little role in the movie she so at the time I think she was seven and

Yeah, she was just really excited and we rehearsed and that was fun for her and she added a line, you know, cause it was like during rehearsal, I think it's a good time to play around. I don't really like to like improvise on set cause we're on such a short timeframe, but in rehearsal, it's like you could. So, so when we were rehearsing, it was like, well, what would you say here? You know, and she came up with a line and so she really enjoyed that. That was fun. And now she wants a bigger role on the next one.

Aaron Masliansky (22:09)
getting given her the bug. And then you know, you brought in, like, Kenny, who you've had in several films, I mean, so imagine that's a lot of fun working with them, right?

Aaron Wertheimer (22:10)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, that's always fun and we have, I think, a good chemistry and yeah, he was willing to do it because he lives in Pittsburgh and he's got a wife and three kids of his own.

And so we found a time that worked for everybody. He was kind of on a tight. He was here for six days, so we had to film all his stuff in six days. So that was a tight schedule, but I knew that we could pull it off. And he also really likes the, you know, he and I back in New York, we used to make these two minute shorts and those were just like no budget, just like me and him and a camera. And the camera was usually on a tripod with no one behind it. So.

He we always both really like that vibe of just, you know, because when you have a bigger crew, it's like everything moves slower and there's just more people, more egos, more just more stuff going on. So it's kind of fun to have. I mean, this not if I see you first had a small crew of like 10 people, but yeah, so he was definitely game for like the low budget, just kind of like shooting quickly sort of.

Bang. Yeah.

Aaron Masliansky (23:28)
It's more nimble, yeah.

And then you had your friend John in there as well.

Aaron Wertheimer (23:32)
Yeah, yeah,

I knew I needed somebody who was dynamic and you know, because his character is spoken about before you see him, which I always like when movies have that. So I knew like, you know, whenever you talking about somebody before you see him, there's like a build up. So the person has to has to be like have a certain presence.

To fulfill that so I thought well, he's somebody that I think has a good presence that could be that guy and He was in my really early movies. So it fun to to have him back in it Yeah

Aaron Masliansky (24:09)
Bring it back.

It's fun. I mean, it's fun to do the storytelling end of it. mean, and you've done different types of films and is this like this style? Do you see other people doing it in other films around or is this like, it really feels like this is the Aaron Warheimer film.

Aaron Wertheimer (24:29)
I guess I developed a certain style. mean, definitely influenced by other filmmakers. You you take little bits and pieces from other movies. So yeah, I have my influences and I don't know. It's like no matter what I write, it kind of like turns into this sort of like absurd humor. So that's, I just kind of like go with it, I guess.

Aaron Masliansky (24:53)
in your head.

Aaron Wertheimer (24:54)
Yeah, that's what's

in my head. Can't help it.

Aaron Masliansky (24:58)
And you know, and talking about like the business perspective of it, keeping it lean and you know, the promotions where right now you have scheduled for the Music Box Theater on March 26th. And then when's the Wilmette Theater going to be?

Aaron Wertheimer (25:08)
That's

on April 1st. And then we're yeah, and then we're gonna we're gonna try to set up some other screenings around around here in Pittsburgh and over at we're going to be screening in LA at the end of March. I'm not sure the exact date yet. Yeah, that's as part of a festival. Yeah.

Aaron Masliansky (25:12)
Okay, so April 1st and

That's cool. At a film festival?

Okay. So how do you get then go and get the movie to how do you make money on it? mean, are you going to be on streaming platforms? Do you sell it? Like, what's the story?

Aaron Wertheimer (25:40)
Yeah, we will do some theatrical first and then do streaming after. think from based on my experience, find that theatrical is the best way to make money because you're either renting the theater and then keeping 100 % of the box office or you're like split not renting it and splitting it 50-50. So it depends.

But I think that's the best way to make money from an indie movie. And then streaming, streaming is like a slow trickle. Like you kind of get some money here and there.

Aaron Masliansky (26:18)
And then doing a film like this though, mean, so many people do things like on TikTok or Instagram reels or whatever. It's very different than a long form film. Do you think that there's like still a long future for the

Aaron Wertheimer (26:18)
yeah, you know.

Mm-hmm.

Aaron Masliansky (26:35)
a regular film or do people's attention spans like not exist anymore to be able to sit to see a movie?

Aaron Wertheimer (26:43)
I think there still is a future for film. think people's attention spans are definitely different than they were like say when I was growing up for sure because you know we grew up like you if you watch TV you're not also like looking at your phone at the same time like a lot of people are barely paying attention to what they're watching.

But I think that there's still room for film. at some point, kind of just I think you have to like if you're creating anything, you have to accept, know, not everyone's going to like it. Not everyone's going to be into it, but you kind of have to create what you're interested in. I'm just interested in like feature filmmaking, I guess. I'm not so interested in. mean, it's you know, it could be fun to make a short.

Form two, but that's not like my passion. I guess I would say so I think I don't really I don't know. I'm not like trying to figure out like what do people want? Let me try to make that it's like you kind of just on this level, you know, I'm kind of doing it more for the passion for what I'm interested in. So I just do what I'm interested in. I think there's people who like it like I think there's still people who like. You know, like tangible objects also.

is, example, like records, you know, it's not like everyone is buying records, but there's enough people buying records that there's like indie record stores that are thriving and, you know, Target sells records now, like it's a, there's enough people that want to still like own media, I think, you know, even like blu rays, like way fewer people are buying that kind of thing now, but there's enough people buying them, I think it's not what it used to be.

Aaron Masliansky (27:52)
records.

Aaron Wertheimer (28:16)
But yeah, so I think there's still, I think there will always be a place for like, you know, long form filmmaking.

Aaron Masliansky (28:23)
I think there's something beautiful about it because you can actually pay attention and you can absorb a full story. And even like a record, like I don't buy records, but I understand the reason why you'd want to. Like there's, it's not just the music, it's the tangible aspect of being able to play it.

Aaron Wertheimer (28:28)
Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, it's nice to have the

packaging and the feeling of, know, when you put on music, it's not just like, let me put on like a Spotify playlist and we'll just play forever. It's like, you know, there's a finiteness to it. That's nice. And you take it, you have to take the record out, put it on the player, put the needle on. And that's like a really nice feeling, I think. And you're it. Yeah, right. It's a ritual and you're really like doing it and you can.

Aaron Masliansky (29:02)
It's like a ritual.

Aaron Wertheimer (29:08)
listen to it that way. And I think, you know, with like a movie in a theater is just a different experience from seeing from at home. I mean, there's some movies that play really well at home. I think this one will play fine at home, but I think it'll be fun in the theater, you know, to see a movie like with a crowd is always just like a different experience, a communal.

experience. mean, there's certain movies definitely I've seen lately, like say like The Brutalist or something like, I can't imagine watching this at home, like three and a half hours long. But in the theater, it's great. And you know, it kind of helps people focus, especially now, like, hopefully, you're not looking at your phone in the theater. And so yeah.

Aaron Masliansky (29:46)
right thing.

Yeah, you know, it's funny. It's like when I saw 2001 Space Odyssey at the Music Box Theater, they had it playing there. But I had seen it before, like on DVD back in college. But the experience seeing it there as compared to seeing it like in an apartment, it's amazing. I mean, like you said, it's not just watching the movie. It's being the experience of being there in the theater.

Aaron Wertheimer (29:59)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Aaron Masliansky (30:14)
being present for the actual event.

Aaron Wertheimer (30:19)
Yeah, and when it like washes over you in a theater, it's just a different thing than being at home looking at a screen and maybe in the corner of eye, you're also seeing like a pile of papers or something or like you like your dirty dishes or whatever. You know, I don't know. It's just a nice feeling.

Aaron Masliansky (30:36)
I agree with you. Well, this film is a ton of fun. I hope everyone goes to see it. And again, March 26th at the Music Box Theater and then April 1st at the Wilmette Theater. And where should people go to be able to find out more?

Aaron Wertheimer (30:49)
Well, so on the Music Box website, I don't know if the link will be connected to this in any way, but basically you could go to the Music Box website and there's a listing for the movie for not if I see you first on there. Same with the Wilmette Theater. There's a listing on there for wherever you could buy tickets.

Aaron Masliansky (30:57)
I'll put it there.

Aaron Wertheimer (31:09)
So yeah, you could buy tickets through the platform and there's on the music box site, there's a link to the trailer and whatever other information you need. There's going to be a Q and a after the movie at the music box with some cast and crew. So I think that will be fun. And we're showing a short film beforehand that is was written and directed by Michael Glover Smith, who's a filmmaker friend of mine. And that's a really good eight minute short.

Aaron Masliansky (31:23)
Nice.

Aaron Wertheimer (31:36)
So, yeah, I think it will be a great night.

Aaron Masliansky (31:39)
That'll be a ton of fun. I'll have in the show notes the links to be able to see that. And then where should people follow you on Instagram so you can get more followers?

Aaron Wertheimer (31:43)
Okay.

What is

my Instagram name these days? The true real Aaron Wertheimer You could actually I would suggest I don't know if you need to follow me necessarily. I would suggest following not if movie. If you want to follow the movie, but you're welcome to follow me too. I'm always you know I have 215 followers right now and and it's yeah Instagram told me if I get to 250 then I will get a badge of some. I don't know what the badge is. I think.

Aaron Masliansky (31:54)
you

Okay.

Aaron Wertheimer (32:15)
I think I just, don't know how I get the badge, but it said I will get a badge if I get to 250 followers. So 35 away.

Aaron Masliansky (32:19)
Well, we're going to get you that badge. It's going to be there.

Yeah. Everybody who follows the Chicagoland guide has got to follow.

Aaron Wertheimer (32:27)
Yeah, follow, yeah,

actually follow me please. The true real Aaron Wertheimer.

Aaron Masliansky (32:31)
Yeah,

we'll do it. Well, Aaron, this has been so much fun. Great catching up. And the movie is great. So everyone go ahead and go see it. But thanks for your time today.

Aaron Wertheimer (32:41)
Yeah, thank you. Thanks for watching it and thanks for the interview.

Aaron Masliansky (32:45)
My pleasure.