“Criminally underrated” is what one Letterboxd critic called Irving Franco’s second feature, ADAM THE FIRST (2024). The film stunned me. The logline: “after finding a list of names and addresses, 14-year-old Adam sets out across the country to meet a series of men who could be his father.” It’s a hero’s journey, well-acted, and the last few scenes will crush you. Irving also scored the film, which you don’t see very often. 

So why is it misunderstood? We talk about it in this episode with this two time feature writer-director-composer, Irving Franco. 

In this episode, Irving and I discuss:

• Does he check his Letterboxd reviews?
• How he got started in filmmaking;
• The lost art of DVD commentaries;
• His scrappy start to CHEERLEADER (2016) and how he was able to jump straight to a feature without making a short or proof of concept;
• Did his sales background help him with his pitching and his ability to raise funds for his first film?
• What he took out of his first film to making his second feature, 8 years later;
• Should you crowdfund at the end of the project?
• The inspiration for the writing of his films and the joys of including a hero’s journey in a film;
• The casting of David Duchovny and what that means for indie filmmakers;
• The range required by Oakes Fegley and how he saw that in casting;
• Did he know that he had something great?
• The rarity of writer-director-composer; what should indie filmmakers know about scoring their film;
• The ending of ADAM THE FIRST and the power of a forceful conclusion;
• What’s next for him and how we hopefully don’t have to wait another 8 years between features, along with love for NYC (of course).

Irving's Indie Film Highlight: GOOD TIME (2017) dir. by Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie

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