Yeah, I mean, again, I think the tone of the movie is very unusual, right? Like, it's a comedy, but it's a thriller. So that, I think, gets seeped into everything. So it was really fun to go through each scene and be like, you know, what kind of camera technique or what are we nodding to? You know, the idea that Rita has never had these iconic shots, like the Marlina Daytrip, like slash over her eye shot or the thing or nodding to Spike Lee or you know when he comes when Connor comes into the house it's definitely like the vertigo you know

walk like so I think it was just us watching a lot of movies being like oh what kind of things

can we pull and put in each little scene that is like a little Easter egg for someone that's paying

attention.

Yeah. put in each little scene that is like a little Easter egg for someone that's paying attention. Hello and welcome back to the director's cut, brought to you by the Directors Guild of America.

In this episode, an overachieving high school senior and his carefree best friend take revenge on their physics teacher in director Maureen Baruchas' comedic thriller, The Prank.

The film follows Ben and Tanner, two seemingly ordinary high school seniors, but when they both fail a physics test, they decide to exact revenge on their teacher by framing her for the murder

of a missing student. In addition to The Prank, Baruchas' other directorial credits include the feature film

Golden Arm and episodes of the series Grand Crew, Saved by the Bell, Drama Club, and segments from

Jimmy Kimmel Live. Following a screening of the film at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles,

Baruchas spoke with director Lena Kahn about

filming The Prank. Listen on for their spoiler-filled conversation.

I wanted to express my admiration for something that's like the filmmaker dream right now,

which is you achieving across-the-country theatrical release, not even day and date.

So very excited for you.

It gives us hope for a movie that is not a superhero movie.

So thank you for getting that done.

We're going to have a cool conversation.

This is a weird, nasty, dark ride.

And so I was like, you know, I wanted to get to the heart

at something sort of serious before we get into it,

which is, when did you realize you had this evil inside of you?

...