We have so many SXSW previews to get through in the next week leading up to the fesitival that some days, you just might get two. Today we’ll first take a look at Craig Johnson’s Narrative Competition entry True Adolescents, which is notable on paper for two reasons: it co-stars recently Oscar-nominated Melissa Leo, and it’s the film on which Mark Duplass and Lynn Shelton first discussed working on the film that would become Humpday. Answering The 5 Questions We Ask Everyone, Johnson marvels at comparisons to Kelly Reichardt, makes a blow job joke about Joe Swanberg, and names the two films that make him want to die.

Tell us about your movie. Who did you work with, why did you make it? Give us the reductive, 25-word or less, “It’s like [pop culture reference a] meets [pop culture reference b]!” pitch, then explain what the quick and dirty sell leaves out.

True Adolescents is a coming-of-age story about a drifting Seattle rocker dude who takes a couple of teenagers on a fun but somewhat harrowing camping trip. It stars Mark Duplass (Humpday, The Puffy Chair), Bret Loehr, Carr Thompson and Melissa Leo. It’s funny and irreverent but hopefully a little moving by the end. Someone described it as “like You Can Count On Me but younger and edgier”–which is immensely flattering since I think You Can Count On Me is one the better films of the last decade. What’s weird is that people have likened it both to Kelly Reichardt’s work (Old Joy, Wendy & Lucy) and to School of Rock! So I guess if Kelly Reichardt directed “School of Rock”, it may have looked something like True Adolescents –if you believe that kind of hybrid could exist.

Do you have a day job/a non-filmmaking occupation that raises money for your filmmaking efforts? Tell us about it.

I have a number of different day jobs. I teach filmmaking to teenagers, edit short films and videos, edit photos–though I did not put any of my own personal finances towards the film. I’m in enough debt from film school as it is. I just had a tremendous producer, Thomas Woodrow, who managed to raise enough money so that we could do it the way we wanted to do it. But believe me, I was ready to run out with a video camera and a microphone and shoot it myself if I had to.

Have you been to SXSW before? If so, tell us about your funniest story from the experience. If not, what are you looking forward to re: the festival and/or the city of Austin?

I have never been to SXSW or Austin before and I’m super excited. I’m from the Seattle area and people tell me Austin is a lot like Seattle–with better weather and even mellower people. I think SXSW is a the absolute perfect place for True Adolescents. The film has a strong music component that jives with the festival’s spirit and it stars Mark Duplass who is a SXSW veteran. I’m really excited for people to see Mark’s performance in this film-it’s unlike anything he’s ever done before. I think people will be blown away by him.

Let’s get hypothetical: You’re on death row. The night of your execution, you’re allowed to watch any two films of your choice. What would you pick for your last-night-on-Earth double feature?

Yikes. That’s a creepy question. All I can think about is what I did to get my ass on death row. I’d probably start with something wonderful and life-affirming like “Mary Poppins,” one of my all time favs. But then I’d be overwhelmed by the beauty and goodness in humanity and would want to live, so I’d have to wipe that feeling clean with “Salo” or “Funny Games.” Then I’d want to die, for sure.

There’s been  some criticism that the only way to get into SXSW is by being a part of an “incestuous scene where everybody knows everybody.” So who did *you* have to sleep with to get in? (Metaphorically or literally: are there any SXSW filmmaker(s) past or present that you’re close with personally and/or professionally, and how have those relationships helped or hurt the process of producing your film and getting it seen?)

So I gave Joe Swanberg one little blow job, so what? A guy’s gotta do what a guy’s gotta do.

Just kidding. I’ve never met Joe Swanberg. You know, I’ve heard that criticism and I just think it’s silly. I don’t personally know any of the SXSW programmers, past or present, I’ve never been to the festival before. I cast Mark Duplass because I rented The Puffy Chair from Netflix and thought he would be perfect for the film, not knowing he was a SXSW rock star. For any festival, there is a certain amount of “name recognition”-whether it be actors, or the director or producers– that may or may not cause programmers to give your film a closer look when making their decisions. But, ultimately, I think programmers choose films because they think they are interesting films, regardless of who made them. I’d certainly like to think my film got in on its own merits.