Rom-Coms, Disney Adults, & the Hollywood Hustle | Jonah Feingold

Matt Buechele spots Zohran Mamdani riding his bicycle through the park with four guys in suits, kind of like The Sandlot, but with city government. Then he sits down with filmmaker, writer, director, and producer Jonah Feingold to talk about his new movie Busboys, starring Theo Von and David Spade. They chat about Jonah’s childhood obsession with Hook, his internship with Hans Zimmer, his love of 1940s comedies, and why he decided to stop waiting for Hollywood to give him permission to make things. Plus, Matt and Jonah make predictions about the next You’ve Got Mail, the future of dating shows, and never working with AI actors. Chapters: 00:00:00 Directing Busboys starring Theo Von and David Spade 00:03:22 Navigating dyslexia and reading classic books for writing 00:07:38 Finding inspiration in 1940s screwball comedies 00:13:00 Script writing process and leather notebook hierarchy 00:16:38 Childhood obsession with Captain Hook and character costumes 00:20:02 Analyzing Disney World Imagineering and fandom culture 00:24:21 Interning for Hans Zimmer and observing famous directors 00:29:01 Collaborating with film composers on custom character themes 00:30:33 Landing the job to direct Busboys for Hulu 00:36:37 Independent filmmaking hustle and securing brand sponsorships 00:41:02 Launching Romantic media brand and pitching new scripts 00:46:15 Movie predictions and modern rom com reboots Topics:  Jonah Feingold on directing Busboys Interning for composer Hans Zimmer Writing scripts with dyslexia Influence of 1940s screwball comedy Pitching and financing indie films Working with David Spade and Theo Von Creating character themes with music The reality of Hollywood spec deals Building the romantic media brand Disney World design and fandom culture FOLLOW THE SHOW ►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thatsoundslikealot/   ►Threads: https://www.threads.com/@thatsoundslikealot   FOLLOW MATT BUECHELE ►Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattbooshell/   ►TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@mattbooshell   ►Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/mattbooshell.bsky.social  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices