We all have things in our lives that have brought us to our knees, and with time, we find a way to stand back up. What are you hoping audiences take away from this? I'm more willing to say out loud ‘I don't know the answer.’ Being a director is about fielding questions nonstop. How have you changed as a director since then? When you wrote and directed ‘Garden State,’ you were in your 20s. I'm 47 now, so I'm trying to really be mature about it and put systems in place that actually get me to do the work it's challenging to stare at a blinking cursor. Getting over procrastination is my process.

Do you have a certain process when you're writing? To be included in the catalog of MGM is quite an honor. To have that lion growling at the beginning of your film, it's magical. I just feel so lucky and, of course, there’s the storied history of MGM. That was a metaphor I wanted to play with in the film. There are some people that will get on the train … and go on and do things beyond that small town, and there are some people that will always stay.

It runs through the town, and it'll take you into Manhattan in 25 minutes. Even as a child, it was meditative in a certain way … I liked that idea for Morgan Freeman's character.Īlso the commuter train in my hometown is a bit of a character. I was a pretty anxious kid … And I think that I was drawn to it because it's so tiny and meticulous. I had a model train set when I was a child. Of course, it's an intense story, but there's humor in it as well. I attacked this film like, how do you tell the story like this, but also make sure it's not too heavy. And someone made some joke that wasn't even that funny, but we all were in such need of a belly laugh that you just start laughing, and there's tears from laughter replacing your tears from sadness. I have a memory of being in the ICU waiting room with my family, and we were waiting to see what was gonna happen with my sister. When I've gone through grief and hard times, I'm so grateful when there's a release of humor.

Stories and Scripts by Zack Love