You probably know Zach Cregger from comedy shows like Wrecked and Whitest Kids U'Know. He also wrote and directed Barbarian, one of the horror films of 2022. This chat from the #WeThePeople LIVE archive is a conversation we had in Puerto Rico in 2016. We spoke about the process of making good comedy, procrastination and how social media kills creativity. Enjoy!
Small town America is a hard thing to wrap your head around, and coming from DC I get it. I feel like I'm out in the sticks any time I can't see the Washington Monument. But there is something distinctive about having a decent plot of land rather than an apartment, about actually knowing who the people around you are, and also about peace and quiet and low crime. American cities are dangerous.
The other thing is that in the U.S., reasonably low gas prices and extensive roads make it possible to commute to a city, so many people try to have it both ways. A commuter rail line runs from Washington DC to West Virginia through many beautiful historic rural small towns. People commute to DC from Eastern Shore Maryland (or even Delaware), which is basically farmland. There's something quite transcendent about going from really rural to really urban in a day.
Small town America is a hard thing to wrap your head around, and coming from DC I get it. I feel like I'm out in the sticks any time I can't see the Washington Monument. But there is something distinctive about having a decent plot of land rather than an apartment, about actually knowing who the people around you are, and also about peace and quiet and low crime. American cities are dangerous.
The other thing is that in the U.S., reasonably low gas prices and extensive roads make it possible to commute to a city, so many people try to have it both ways. A commuter rail line runs from Washington DC to West Virginia through many beautiful historic rural small towns. People commute to DC from Eastern Shore Maryland (or even Delaware), which is basically farmland. There's something quite transcendent about going from really rural to really urban in a day.