The bittersweet comedy, “How It’s Goin’” by directors Irene Kim Chin and Kurt Vincent, finds a young father stumbling into a 4/20 celebration after dropping off his daughter with his ex-wife for the weekend. We asked Chin and Vincent how the project started, finding the right tone, and what’s next for them…

1) Can you talk briefly about your backgrounds, and how you first got interested in movies?

We started watching movies together when we were living in Maui. We rented a spiritual healer’s yurt in the middle of the rainforest and we would rent movies from a rental shop in Paia that also sold beer in plastic cups for a dollar. IC was an aspiring writer- writing personal essay and poetry. KV was already an aspiring filmmaker and had made some short docs in college. We watched a lot of movies in the yurt at night and another popular evening activity was for us to go to the mall and see movies- a memorable double header was Babel and then Santa Clause 3, and another memorable one was The Departed on opening night, sold out, sitting in the front row, which dates our Maui adventures to 2006.

2) What’s the origin story here - what started the project, and what were some of the first steps to get it rolling?

Jeremy (producer) came to us with the seed of an idea- hey guys I’ve been thinking about making a film about 4/20. He showed us footage that he shot last year at Hippie Hill on 420- it was just for kicks, it’s a freaky slice of San Francisco culture. We brought together our influences- the way Mike Leigh’s stories unfold, long lenses of the 70s directors like Altman. We had just finished shooting a Kurt Vile and Courtney Barnett music doc (Jeremy produced), and were listening to a lot of 70s music for inspiration- a song stuck out- Randy Newman’s Love Story (You and Me). We began thinking of a love story- and we settled on a story about a father and daughter. We see the film, like life, as a journey, that unfolds and reveals itself along the way. 

It’s about friends and family. Kurt met Jeremy in kindergarten. They’ve been friends ever since and we saw this film as an opportunity to get a bunch of our friends together to make something fun. Kurt had the idea to call Adam Callahan, a friend from college, to write the script and a play a part on screen. Adam wrote the part of the father with his childhood friend Steven Talley in mind. We cast Jeremy’s daughter for Cali.

3) I love the bittersweet tone you found — it’s so sad and heavy but also it’s this visually bright film, with sunlight and park vibes and getting high with friends. Steven is straddling world between fatherhood and still being a young man with some freedom. What was the most important thing for you to capture in terms of getting the overall tone right? What was the hardest scene to find it?

(KV) I’d say capturing San Francisco was the key to the tone. I love the city. I’m originally from Ohio and it’s so different than anywhere I’ve been. Whenever I visit though I end up feeling a sort of sadness. It’s strange. It’s the sunsets or something. We used a lot of wide shots that opened up the landscapes to bring you into the world of the story. And we really wanted our characters to seem like normal people who keep living after the story ends. This is just a moment from their lives. 

We knew that if we didn’t establish right away how much Steve enjoys spending time with his daughter Cali than the whole story doesn’t work. But then when we began filming it turned out to be the easiest part of the production because Cali was so natural and loved Steve. 

The hardest scene to find was the blanket scene when they’re hanging out smoking. It’s a major decision for our main character- and also the Park Rangers were trying to kick us out at that moment and we only had a few chances to get it. 

4) What’s a film you’ve seen, new or old, in the last couple of years that has really resonated with you and why?

Most recently we watched Akira for the first time. I knew it would be visually great, but the story and music blew me away. It’s insane and so much to unpack- I need to watch it like 6 more times. Gotta get the Blu Ray. Kurt’s obsessed with Inherent Vice and rewatches scenes from it all the time. Also, the Les Blank Criterion box set has been really inspiring. 

5) What’s next for you?

We are developing a feature length doc about Prospect Park in Brooklyn. The film was inspired by riding bikes in the park and so our approach to the film and the feeling we hope to capture is that - the experience of exploring the park on bike. Along the way, we’ll hear the personal stories of the people we meet in the Park, who are the using the Park for all kinds of reasons. The Park was built the same year the Civil War ended, giving the Park special cultural and historical significance, and it’s working in the same way 150 years later. We shot a few days last summer and it was really amazing. We knew right away it was our next film.

Contact Info:

IG: Chin: @largepantaloons. Vincent: @vincentkrut.