Nate Simon, courtesy of Nate Simon
Zach Schnitzer and Nate Simon are the cousins behind Loafers, a film that truly speaks to the heart of independent filmmaking. There’s an old adage that cautions people against going into business with friends or family, but it doesn’t really feel like business to Schnitzer and Simon. Perhaps that’s because their family may be the exception to the rule, since multiple generations have gone into business with each other. Family business is their family’s business.
Once Schnitzer and Simon had the idea to make a movie, there was still the hurdle of getting it into production. Simon had previously made a film, My Friends, while he and Schnitzer, who starred in the film, were in college.
“It was an even smaller-scale version of what we did on Loafers. Four, sometimes five cast members, fewer locations. So in my mind, I was like, okay, he's someone who knows how to do a version of this,” explains Schnitzer.
“I was about to graduate from acting school and I didn't have any gigs lined up,” Schnitzer continues. “I was like, I want to write something for me and my friends. I wrote a really loose script and sent it to Nate. I was like, hey, I know you kind of did this with your movie, what do you think about trying the Chicago version of it?”
“I'm afraid of heights,” says Simon. “I was never into jumping off the really tall diving board at the lake, but once you start climbing up the ladder, are you really going to tell everybody to get out of the way because you want to get down? It was kind of a good way of pressuring myself to just go, we're going to start shooting on this day. Now it's time to figure everything else out.”
“Maybe that's really scary to other people, but I kind of find it to be a fun challenge because it's gonna happen on this day whether we're ready or not, so I'd rather be ready,” says Simon. “Then it's tremendously stressful because you're like, fuck, why did we pick this day? We should have picked a few days later. We don't have enough time. I think that’s probably how everybody feels when they're making a movie, no matter what.”
“I watched a lot of movies and Zach watched a lot of movies,” continues Simon. “There are a lot of bad movies that get made, so it's like, well, we could probably do that too.”
Zach Schnitzer, courtesy of Zach Schnitzer
“We want the movies we make to be interesting and pieces of art that we're proud of, ultimately,” adds Schnitzer. “But at the same time, we know that the first movie we're going to make is not going to be an opus. A $6,000 character drama is not going to make our careers.”
Yes, you read that right. Schnitzer and Simon made Loafers for a whopping $6,000. Now that chunk of change would be great for most of us to find in our bank accounts, but for a film, it’s startlingly low-budget. Even something like The Blair Witch Project, which is considered a low-budget success story, cost ten times Loafers, and that’s not accounting for inflation. Schnitzer and Simon saw the creation of Loafers as a great experiment for them to undertake with their friends.
“Famously, experiments don't always succeed,” says Simon. “Look, I would rather not lose $6,000, but if we did, that would be okay. Even if it was the worst piece of garbage ever.”
“I saw this clip of Nicolas Winding Refn talking about how the first movie you make is going to be shitty and low-budget,” recalls Schnitzer, “but you’ll be chasing that on-set feeling for the rest of your life on every other set you're on.”
Loafers isn’t close to garbage. It’s about the confusing time immediately after graduation, when you don’t have a real 9-to-5 job and you’re still living with your friends, but the world has deemed you an adult. Isaac () and Cameron () are two best friends dealing with this post-grad uncertainty in different ways. Neither of them is particularly ready for what comes next, and this unpredictability puts a strain on the once-solid friendship.
People today are making a big to-do about the male loneliness epidemic and how there’s a rising feeling of isolation in men of all ages. With Loafers, Schnitzer and Simon are adding to this conversation about what it means for male friends to talk to each other. Isaac and Cameron are quite open in the sense that they’re willing to say they love each other, but they struggle with talking about heavier emotions. Simon and Schnitzer see the fact these guys are talking, even though it’s not enough, as better than nothing.
“It's interesting to read a lot of reviews from people who are older than us talking about how it's so beautiful to see men hug and say I love you to each other,” Simon says. “Not for one second did we think about that. I think we're both lucky enough to be in friend groups where that’s just part of life.”
Courtesy of Loafers
“As far as the male loneliness epidemic goes, people are always going to be lonely. People are always going to be angry,” continues Simon. “People have always said things they don't mean and aren’t able to articulate what they're trying to say. At least if they're in conversation with each other they feel a support structure, even if it's not perfectly implemented.”
In the film, Cyrus (Olemich Tugas), a friend of Isaac and Cameron, drunkenly asks, “When do you stop being young?” It feels fitting to pose the question to Simon and Schnitzer.
“Never,” Simon immediately answers.
“I mean, I think I wrote that because I was thinking about it, but hadn’t processed it yet,” says Schnitzer. “My answer is probably that being young is an attitude or something like that.”
“Actually, I have an answer,” Simon jumps in. “Las Culturistas talks about climbing cringe mountain. If you can't get past the fact that emotions can be cringey and embarrassing, you are not young. It's weird to be alive, and things are uncomfortable sometimes. Sometimes you just want to run down the street and have your Frances Ha moment. Yes, that’s cringey, but if you can't do that, then you are not young.”
Follow me on BlueSky, Instagram, Letterboxd, TikTok, YouTube, & Facebook. Check out Movies with My Dad, a podcast recorded on the car ride home from the movies.
Support your local film critic!
~
Support your local film critic! ~
Beyond the Cinerama Dome is run by one perpetually tired film critic
and her anxious emotional support chihuahua named Frankie.
Your kind donation means Frankie doesn’t need to get a job…yet.