My Journey Co-Directing 'Hell of a Summer'

When I was eight years old my mother showed me a documentary called Nightmare Factory, a biography of the legendary special effects artist Greg Nicotero. I remember being in awe—how could he possibly make a career and life out of making puppets, fake blood, and gore with his friends?

This was the start of my love for filmmaking, and of the distraction I needed from my school life. I would cry every day before school and would have to be dragged out the door. The only way for my parents to stop me from totally panicking was to

1. Put on a film
2. For my dad to tell a joke so dirty that it would shock me so deeply that it would actually stop me from crying.

I got in trouble in class once because I yelled “Johnny Fuckerfaster!”, the punchline to an incredibly racy joke about…how should I put this…a teenager named Johnny Fuckerfaster caught having sex with a classmate, his mother screaming “JOHNNY FUCKERFASTER” in shock, and Johnny responding with “I’m trying mom! I’m trying!!”

And of course, the only other relief from my anxiety was the art of special FX and almost any comedy. In fact film not only stopped my crying, but it made me more confident. I would write short films that were ripoffs of movies that I loved and take the script to school with the intention of casting people from my class. I soon realized that no one wanted to be in a movie that couldn’t be filmed. (I didn’t own a camera, I just assumed that because I had written a movie I would get to school and a camera, slate and sound crew would magically appear.)

This shaped the next 14 years of my life—falling into writing and performing at a young age to help with my social anxiety, to build my confidence and ultimately to stimulate my passion for filmmaking.

Finn Wolfhard and Millie Bobby Brown in 'Stranger Things'CREDIT: Netflix

I was lucky enough to listen to and learn from some incredible filmmakers from a very young age. Specifically on the set of Stranger Things, after I had finished my scenes and daily tutoring, I would stay to soak up as much as I could until somebody said go home. Lessons came from everyone on the crew, and I remember Shawn Levy, the director of all of your favorite family and superhero films, advising that, “When a crew member asks you something and you don’t know the answer…lie.”

“Lie?”

“No one wants a leader who is indecisive, so even if you don’t know the answer to the question off the top of your head, give them any answer and then ask for forgiveness later.”

I remember leaving work that day feeling like I had this secret insider knowledge: the art of lying to make your crew and cast feel like things are running smoothly.

I’m 16 when I meet Billy Bryk on Ghostbusters: Afterlife. I sat down at lunch and I looked at him; “You look familiar. Do I know you?” Billy responded shyly with, “Um, I don’t think so…well one time I actually...“ and then it hit me: “You’re the Jake and Amir guy!”

Billy had come up to me in Kensington Market in Toronto the summer that Stranger Things had come out, and he knew that I was a fan of the alt-comedy duo Jake and Amir. They were foundational for my sense of humor; Billy loved them, too. He had seen that I was active on Jake and Amir’s social media.

On the Ghostbusters set in Calgary, I felt I had found a like-minded person. We were fans of all the same films, shared the same comedic sensibility—and I had never met anyone who made me laugh so much. Billy was a writer who had dropped out of film school, and he asked if he could send me some of his scripts.

After I read a short of his I realized that he had a special and strong comedic voice and it inspired me. We soon started to collaborate on a screenplay, not knowing what the intention of the finished product would be. At the same time, I had separately written a short film after encouragement from Jason Reitman to “write something short. Two-three characters. One location. Short.”

I ended up writing it for Billy and Artoun Nazareth and crowdfunding what ended up being a short film called Night Shifts.

Artoun Nazareth and Billy Bryk in 'Night Shifts'Courtesy of Finn Wolfhard

In the meantime, Billy and I toyed around with a few ideas for different features. “Is it a comedy about brothers...is it a dramedy about divorce?” (Both of our parents are still together)

I had told Billy that I wanted to write a slasher. He’s not as much of a horror guy but coincidentally he had written a slasher comedy short based on an idea from his roommate and friend Jamie Rogers. This was the first step in the writing process because now we at least agreed on the genre. We just needed characters and a plot.

Lots of sessions were straight brainstorming and during one on a weekend we both realized that we had written the same joke at different times in our lives: my version originated with a friend who had a kid at their school who made a “Kill List”, and I had made a joke about someone being so insecure that, when they discover they are not on the list, they feel left out and jealous.

Billy was stunned when I told him this—and then he showed me a notes app on his phone with a very similar joke he had written. This is what kicked us into gear:

“What if a very threatening and dangerous situation didn’t temper one’s insecurities and ego? What if it amplified them?”

We got to writing the first draft, inspired by all of our favorite teen comedy films, as well as our favorite horror films. The first draft was finished quickly and we read it with the cast of Ghostbusters: Afterlife on set. The first draft was only 70 pages and goofy, but we felt like we had something.

Finn Wolfhard, Mckenna Grace, and Logan Kim in 'Ghostbusters: Afterlife' CREDIT: Sony Pictures Releasing

In 2020 the pandemic hit. I was in Vancouver, Billy in Toronto, and we used the time to keep refining the script during nights of laughter and video games. As COVID dragged on, we both started to fall deeper into the idea that we would actually make this film.

I would think to myself, “If this pandemic ever ends, I will stop at nothing to get this film made.”

When the lockdown restrictions lifted, we spent the next year working tirelessly to try and get this film financed. With the help of our producer Michael Costigan, who I had met years earlier, we started to get meetings with independent financiers. I would be filming Stranger Things in the day, and then collaborating with Billy whenever I could on the rewrites.

We had meeting after meeting with many financiers who did not want to give us the time of day. I think they were thinking, “Who would give money to two barely 20-year-old aspiring filmmakers?” My answer was, “Well, someone I hope!”

Billy designed a great lookbook, and our pitch was simple: “Who knows teenagers better than teenagers? Shouldn’t we be able to make a film for our own generation that doesn’t pander and talk down to us?” All we needed was a financier who saw potential in that idea. I also very much realize that we had a leg up because of my acting career, but that still didn’t give adult financiers enough confidence to give money to two very young filmmakers.

Eventually, after a meeting with 30WEST, we got an offer. We were shocked that they trusted us as much as they did, and now it was the start of a new journey: actually make the damn thing.

At first, we aimed to film in California, but something happened and we lost the location. After coming home to Canada feeling defeated, Billy, his dad, and our producer Kristy Neville scouted camps in Ontario on the off chance that we would find a new location.

At this point, it felt like the movie would possibly not be made. After hours of driving, Billy went to a camp he had seen an image of online—it was a painting of the camp. Miraculously, not only was the camp a perfect location, but it was also available for when we needed to shoot. Billy called me, “Dude! We found the camp!!” It was fitting that we would be in the end be making our first movie in our homeland.

Finn Wolfhard on the set of 'Hell of a Summer'Courtesy of Finn Wolfhard

We aimed to cast as many discoveries as possible, with the exceptions being Adam Pally, the great Fred Hechinger (who also produced), and Abby Quinn.

Sara Kay, Jenny Lewis, and Carmen Cuba (who cast me in Stranger Things...thanks for starting my career, Carmen!) came on to cast the rest.

We shot the film in 19 days with an unbelievably hard-working crew and cast. Our DP Kris Bonnell was a star and gave everything to the film. Jay Van Hoy, Kristy Neville, and Drew Brennan steered us and kept us from falling apart. Quincy Fox, a childhood best friend was our rock and Swiss Army Man. Jay McCarol was a patient and brilliant composer who gave us exactly what we wanted.

We were in post for what felt like an eternity, editing from LA and Toronto. As I worked afterward in London and was unavailable, Billy and our DP did some strategic additional shooting with the enormous help of our friends from Toronto. Our cut was finally done. We submitted it to TIFF and it was accepted and premiered at “Midnight Madness”. It was second runner-up for the People’s Choice Award, which, if you watch our film, is a common theme plaguing the main character, Jason.

Months after the premiere, it was acquired by Neon who agreed to put it out theatrically—a dream come true.

Now that it’s finally coming out, six years later, everything comes into perspective a bit more. Making and writing this movie was one of the great joys of my life thus far.

It was the hardest and most stressful thing I’ve ever done.

I’m going to do it again.

Why wouldn’t I?

It gives me confidence—and it stops me from crying.

Hell of a Summer releases in theaters on April 4th, 2025.