It’s a rad #BTLRadioShow this week as we take a step back in time to the “awesome” 80s – those days of big and bigger hair, ruched puffy satin, high waisted jeans, Tom Cruise in his underwear, and Top 40 needledrop heavy John Hughes movies filling the movie screens – with LATER DAYS thanks to our special guests, co-writers/co-directors BRAD RIDDELL and SANFORD STERNSHEIN as well as actor MAJANDRA DELFINO.
A coming-of-age tale of a 40-year-old stay-at-home dad who wants to throw a 40th birthday surprise party for his workaholic attorney wife and decides to toss an 80’s themed prom bash, inviting everyone they knew – and didn’t know – in high school. The problem is that his wife didn’t want any kind of party and the glory days of high school were his, not hers. Adding insult to injury, he produces an old ruched satin dress of hers that he had altered to now fit her that she must wear. Ouch.
Take a listen to all the fun and laughter about bringing the 80s to life, from Brad and Sandy’s own less than successful party hostings as inspiration for the story to crafting characters to casting to capturing the spirit (and embarrassment) of high school days gone by through costume and production design to cinematography to editing and finding comedic and emotional tone to score and one of the greatest gifts of the film – a killer soundtrack featuring 19 Top 40 hits of the 80s with everyone from Bowie to Tears for Fears to OMD to John Lennon and more. So important to any film, but particularly indie projects, the gentlemen have much to say about their music supervisor and licensing the songs for the film. LATER DAYS is also a love letter to the Chicago suburbs and the wealth of comedic talent in the area, something key to the heart of the film and to Brad and Sandy, with location and weather challenges alco becoming a part of the production process.
Midway into our conversation, actor MAJANDRA DELFINO joins the mix talking about her experience as an actor, the appeal of this script, working with her husband David Walton who also plays her husband in the film, finding her own 80s mojo (she was only 8 or 9 at the time), comfortable costuming, being a part of onscreen hijinks – especially toilet papering a front lawn, and more.
