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[0:04] Robert Bannon: Are you ready? It's the Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:09] Robert Bannon: Welcome to the Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon. You're listening to this on Broadway World, the Broadway Podcast Network, iHeart.

[0:16] Robert Bannon: And I have somebody here who was a director who co-wrote a movie who's coming out. And I've seen the trailer, I've seen part of this movie. What a wacky nutcase, amazing person do we have for you now? Because he's gonna put you on some wild crazy ride with this new film that you need to check out called Tony Odyssey. I want to say your name. Will you say your name right and then I'm gonna repeat it properly?

[0:39] Thales Banzai: Yeah, sure. My name is Thales Banzai.

[0:42] Robert Bannon: Thales Banzai, which is the coolest name I've ever heard in my entire life. So are you where are you from, Thales?

[0:51] Thales Banzai: I'm from I'm Brazilian, but I'm living here in Los Angeles right now.

[0:55] Robert Bannon: Do you like Los Angeles more than Brazil?

[0:58] Thales Banzai: More than Brazil is difficult, but I like it differently.

[1:02] Robert Bannon: Alright. I wanna go. I want to go to Brazil. What have you learned Brazilian about art and culture? And how did you bring that all of the beautiful heritage and history of that culture to this film?

[1:16] Thales Banzai: I think it was like I moved here four years ago, and this film was born when I was here. Like right after COVID, people were starting to work out again, and I started developing it with my friend Cal Song, who is from Rio. Uh online in Zoom calls. We haven't even met each other like physically before that. So it was it was kind of it felt kind of like a memory film, like a memory letter, something that I was writing for Brazil because I was missing it here. So there's a lot of music and the sense of community that I think it's present on the film, and also a lot of the chaos from São Paulo, which is part of the surreal trip. If you go to Sao Paulo, you're going to feel just like Tony does.

[2:05] Robert Bannon: Well that's what I love about it is the energy and the passion and what you feel when you see this movie. It's unlike something I've ever seen before. When how long have you been working on it?

[2:16] Thales Banzai: We started working like in mid 2023 for the film and like in six months we wrote the first draft of the script and made an official reading with some of the cast, some friends, everyone loved it and then we decided to do a couple rewrites and give it a go start to produce it.

[2:39] Robert Bannon: Now what you say is that it's an ode to the you know the more provocative films of Brazil in the 60s and 70s. If you're from the states and we don't know what that means, we haven't seen these films, what does that mean? How do you describe the genre of film that the six?

[2:51] Thales Banzai: Yeah, it's it would be the Brazilian novel vague like in France when you imagine Jean-Luc Godard films it would be that but tropical Brazilian kind of dirtier. So this was a it's a kind of cinema that happened a lot in Brazil, was kind of the moment that Brazil went to big film festivals in the past like in the 60s and 70s and most of it was really really low budget shot with very small crews mostly black and white. So I feel that our film connects to it not only like on the social themes and some of the uh the way that we shot it like guerrilla style but also in the i it wasn't like our our intention to connect with it but during the mid in the middle of the film in the middle of shooting we were in some of the same locations in Sao Paulo in the streets where they used to shoot a lot in a lot of streets in in Sao Paulo so we understood that was kind of a bridge that we were building between these two two eras.

[3:54] Robert Bannon: That's awesome. So you got to shoot the film is shot in partly in Brazil or solely in Brazil?

[3:54] Thales Banzai: Yeah, it's so yes solely in Brazil mostly in Sao Paulo and some other like small cities around it.

[4:04] Robert Bannon: So you come this is your first feature you come from doing a lot of shorts experimental shorts. It has you've been in a bunch of film festivals and lauded as your filmmaking abilities what's the difference between besides the time and the money for you to put together a feature versus a short?

[4:04] Thales Banzai: I think is the it's a marathon and the short is like a sprint that you're doing and because I'm uh like we're still working on the film and being like a small crew so you have to be able to be not only a hundred I think a thousand percent dedicated to your film not only during shooting but afterwards and I also edited the film so it was like non-stop up until today basically and I know that's this is going to keep keep on moving forward so I feel that the stamina you have to have I feel this is the main difference I would say.

[4:55] Robert Bannon: What I love about you is that you've done documentaries you've done shorts now you've done features so what is your goal as an artist, as a filmmaker? What leads you to the stories that you want to tell? What is in common?

[5:11] Thales Banzai: Yeah I feel that since I started like really early as a kid doing VHS short films when I was like nine, ten years old with my friends. A little bit later, I understood that I wanted to work mainly in narrative. But like as in Brazil, we don't didn't really have like a very strong industry or many film schools. Uh I started working in different projects, and that was actually right now. I look back, it was the best thing that I could do, like shooting skateboard videos, fashion films, advertising, documentaries, editing for other people, and trying to do it all. It's something that really helped me be able to shoot this film in 17 days and make it happen with the small budget that we had. So I feel that is all connected.

[5:57] Robert Bannon: Yeah.

[5:58] Thales Banzai: 17 days.

[5:59] Robert Bannon: The film 105 minutes.

[6:02] Thales Banzai: That's yeah.

[6:03] Robert Bannon: You all hustled, you all were working.

[6:05] Thales Banzai: Yeah, we were.

[6:07] Robert Bannon: So I have to thank Mike Real for that. Now, when I think of Brazil, I'm not trying to stereotype you.

[6:12] Thales Banzai: Okay.

[6:13] Robert Bannon: No worries. When I think of Brazil, I think everybody is beautiful. It's just full, it's a whole, it's like the third largest country in the world, and everyone's just beautiful there. So you got some beautiful people, beautiful scenery in Brazil, incredible actors. Tell us about the cast of this movie.

[6:31] Thales Banzai: The cast is the cherry on top of this film, I think, because we knew since the beginning that Kelson, who co-wrote the film, who he's the actual writer of the film. I developed the story with him. But he comes from theater. So he acts, directs, produces his own plays in Brazil, and it's a very specific uh kind of theater that he does. So when we were starting writing the film, we knew that we wanted to bring this theater energy into the film. That is something that also connects to the Brazilian Novel Vag that I said before, the kind of acting non-naturalistic that went in a different way. So when we were trying to think about who would be the cast, the ideal cast for the film, we thought that people should have like uh theater formation or be working in plays, or at least have done some plays in their life.

So most of the casts had had a lot of experience with theater, which we felt was great because we wanted also this energy and this ability to maybe improvise during the set or suggest a lot of things and be like really connected to not only to me but to everyone on set, and I feel that we were kind of like a family, and I always felt that theater projects big they they become a family easier than cinema projects. So I feel that we were able then to connect with like legendary Brazilian actors and also actors that didn't have even made any thinking in cinema, so it was the perfect blend. I feel I love it.

[8:05] Robert Bannon: Wait till you see this cast, wait to see the story. So this is what I got for you. You rob the you rob where you work. Okay, I mean, who hasn't done that?

[8:17] Thales Banzai: Well, everyone, no kidding.

[8:17] Robert Bannon: And before the police come to my house, you rob where you work, you take some drugs, and then you go on a wild ride and find Jesus God, something is where is this inspired by anything? Are you out robbing people and just taking drugs?

[8:30] Thales Banzai: No, um what what where did you come up with this idea?

[8:36] Thales Banzai: I think I when I came to Kelso, I I brought him the first part of the film, which is the robbery, the the drugs, and then they go in. We only wanted an excuse to go into uh interior trip inside the head of the character.

[8:51] Robert Bannon: So you're saying he came up with the finding god part, you brought all the sin and all the drama and chaos.

[8:57] Thales Banzai: He brought the robbing and the drugs, everybody. He he brought the drugs, the the trip because I really don't do drugs. I'm like a really grounded guy. He brought the actual experience. So it was nice because we really complimented each other on that uh that part working in the script.

[9:15] Robert Bannon: And who is Tony? Tell me what it what who is Tony Odyssey. And is it what is what what is he based on anyone in particular, or is this from the imagination of you all?

[9:24] Thales Banzai: Well, uh it's it's interesting because when we started creating, we already had the name of the film like since the beginning, not knowing exactly what it was going to be. But when I started writing with Kelso, I didn't tell him that he was going to be Tony, because otherwise he might be like too concerned about the acting and would write in a different way. So he didn't knew that. So as we were writing and I was like doing the Zoom calls with him every day, I saw that he was the character. And there was a lot of Tony in him and a lot of him in Tony. So it was something that I kept to myself for uh when we were developing it, and when we did our first reading, I said to him that it was going to be him and that I saw him in the character and that he's he because in his place he portrays always like a different kind of guy. And when we were doing the Zoom calls, I said it's actually it's not even the guy that you want to play, it's you. It you are the character. So I think this was the the goal finding in the film.

[10:30] Robert Bannon: Well, if you're in love with this idea of this film, which I can't wait to finish it, uh I gotta s I have a sneak peek. Um the world premiere is February twenty-third at eight o'clock, right at the summer and chasing and David Pierce Theater at DGA Theater, which is right in LA.

[10:44] Robert Bannon: And the DGA's not in New York, the one in LA, everybody. So if you're not in LA, I'm sorry. And then on February 24th at Landmark 4 and Sunset Boulevard, which is a beautiful movie theater, actually, and out there in LA. And what's it feel like to be able to be picked up and be a part of the festival?

[10:58] Thales Banzai: Oh, it's great because Land Dance was on the top of our list, and we had this punk rock energy in the film, and the festival also had it, so I feel it was the perfect place to premiere. It's going to be our world premiere. After here we go to some other festivals and probably in Brazil in the first semester, also.

[11:15] Robert Bannon: So excited. Well, we gotta stay up to date. We gotta follow you and stay up to speed with all the things that are happening with the film because after these festivals, it may come to a festival in your neck of the woods and then wait for it to be distributed. I'm sure it's just the beginning uh for this film. Though there'll be a a lot of life to Tony Odyssey, uh, more so than just this. So you gotta stay up to date and follow what where is the best place we could stay up to date?

[11:36] Thales Banzai: At Tony Odyssey's Instagram, which is at Tony.odyssee.

[11:41] Robert Bannon: And you could get we're gonna put the link right below us. So if you're watching us or listening to us right now, make sure you click it and we'll be there.

[11:46] Robert Bannon: I'm so jealous of you because you're uh wherever you are right now, your house, your apartment, your you were ever you're you're wherever you are, it looks so LA over your shoulder. I see the umbrella, I see the sun shining, the LA greenery. I am in freezing cold tundra of Detroit today. It is 22 degrees, and I am Jew. I'm angry.

[12:05] Thales Banzai: So Yeah, so be angry at this t shirt that we made also for the film.

[12:11] Robert Bannon: I love this t shirt. Come on now, you need to sell it. You need to be out here on the carpet for the film festival in the t-shirt.

[12:20] Thales Banzai: Yeah, well, I think I'll do that. Everyone that I showed the the t-shirt, they love it.

[12:25] Robert Bannon: So I'm obsessed. It is hysterical. It's the upside down that is the killer. It's perfect.

[12:30] Thales Banzai: Yeah.

[12:30] Robert Bannon: Congratulations, Tony Odyssey is coming to LA. You make sure you get your tickets, click the link below, and then stick around for when it's when you're neck up the woods. You don't want to miss it. It's a wild it put you on a wild ride, y'all. It's gonna be a wild ride. Congratulations, the best is yet to come. I can't wait to see what's next.

[12:44] Thales Banzai: Thank you, Robert.

[12:45] Thales Banzai: Thank you so much.