I definitely tried to skateboard in middle school, and being from San Diego, surf and skate culture is a big, prevalent thing. But I was not that good - I was kind of a chubby kid and didn't totally master skating.
A lot of my characters are people who are, in essence, lying to themselves. They present one thing, when in reality they're another thing. Maybe they're not as tough or as cool as they want to be.
The Christian kids' movies are fun because so many of them are made with low production value, but they're still trying to appeal to a broad audience like a Sesame Street or something. It's always fascinating to see how hidden or obvious they want to make their message. Also, the acting in them can be pretty fun.
Growing up in San Diego, my main interests were the Beatles, Louis Armstrong, 'Star Wars,' baseball cards, and drawing.
I am generally a nostalgic person and super into the pop culture that I grew up on - I've got a framed ALF poster above my bed and a Mickey Mouse poster, and I've got this big VHS collection.
With 'SNL,' it's such an iconic institution. Throughout my 20s or maybe even in middle school or high school, it never felt like a real thing. It felt so distant, and I never imagined I could do that.
My VHS collection certainly contains videos that I've had since childhood, and also tapes that my mom had taped off of the Disney Channel or HBO - you know, blank tapes with the 'Care Bears' movie or whatever is on there - but I feel like that collection started for real my freshman year of college.
'Nathan for You' was my first time being in a writer's room, really.
I studied film studies at USC.
I feel like I've got a pretty relatively extensive Christmas sweatshirt collection.
I'm pretty deep into '80s nostalgia, specifically children's entertainment, so a lot of California Raisins, Garfield, Alf - that's kind of a lot of the clothes I have and cherish the most.
I don't write political stuff. I'm sure I've made attempts, but I don't tend to write very topical things, either. I admire those people who do because it's a talent I don't have.
When I was a kid, I was really into the shows my older brothers were into. I got all the action figures handed down to me, but I couldn't go to the store to buy new ones because they were discontinued; they didn't exist anymore.
I immerse myself in things that meant something to me while I was growing up.
A lot of the characters I play seem to be lying to themselves in some way. They maybe present themselves as confident or good at something, but in reality, it's clear that they don't know what they're talking about.
I've always been kind of deep into thrifting and secondhand clothing.
Human interaction is awkward and weird, even if it happens without a microphone or camera.
Generally, I'm attracted to videos that hit me some way nostalgically.
It's always exciting to create a character that people can relate to, where people are like, 'Oh, I know this dude,' but maybe you've never actually seen this type of character on TV.
When you're making an independent feature, there are so many difficult stages. One, just writing the script is difficult on its own. Then, when you get it to a place where you're happy with it, great - but then you need to find persons who are willing to produce it, who like the script.
