Exclusive Interview: Director Andy Palmer Talks The Re-Education of Molly Singer

Andy Palmer is an award-winning filmmaker who is best known for projects including Justice for Vincent, Camp Cold Brook, and The Funhouse Massacre. His latest film, The Re-Education of Molly Singer, is a must-see comedy starring Britt Robertson, Jaime Pressly, Holland Roden, Ty Simpkins, and Nico Santos.

In college, attorney Molly Singer (Robertson) was the life of every party. Now, she’s about to be fired because she can’t leave her partying ways behind. Molly’s boss, Brenda (Pressly), tells Molly there’s one way to save her job: re-enroll at her old alma mater, befriend Brenda’s socially awkward son, Elliot (Simpkins), and take him from zero to campus hero. Aided by her best friend (Santos), Molly goes to battle with stuck-up hall monitors, boozed-up frat brothers, and her old archenemy in a hilarious quest through the past to save her future.

Pop Culturalist was lucky enough to speak with Andy about The Re-Education of Molly Singer, his first venture into a full-fledge comedy, and more!

PC: You’ve said in previous interviews that you know you have a good script in hand when you’re able to read it through in one sitting. What was it about Todd M. Friedman and Kevin Haskin’s writing and these characters that resonated with you?
Andy: It was such a throwback. I’m a ’80s and ’90s nerd. When I was reading it, I was like, “This is Weird Science. This is Back to School.” It had all of those elements to it. It felt very me.

This movie was written quite a few years ago. Back then, it was called The Re-Education of David Singer, so it was a male-driven comedy. I pitched the idea of flipping it and making it a female-driven comedy and updating the humor a bit. They were totally game for that. We had such a blast reworking it and making it feel more modern with that retro vibe still in there.

PC: You got your start in editing. How have those experiences shaped your work as a director and the way that you approach features like The Re-Education of Molly Singer?
Andy: I feel so blessed. It’s so random how things happened because I went to college knowing that I wanted to make films. My senior year was right around the genesis of digital video. The idea that you could take a DV camera and with FireWire plug it into your computer and edit something was mindblowing. Now, you can do that on your phone. But at the time, it was mindblowing. I learned how to edit on VHS and three-quarter-inch tape.

So I did a short film during my senior year. We shot every weekend for ten weeks. I had mountains of footage. When I started editing, I was like, “Man, if I was a better editor, I wouldn’t need to do all this directing.” [laughs] As you start to cut it together, you see all these elements that you need and what’s missing.

That’s really what editing does. It’s made me such a better storyteller, especially in reality TV because you don’t have a script. You’re given an outline and you work with the story producers to craft a story. That translates to set when you’re able to say, “Maybe that isn’t working and not feeling like you have to adhere to the script.” The story is what dictates the movie, not the script.

PC: As a director, you’ve made quite a name for yourself in the horror genre. How different is that filming experience compared to a comedy?
Andy: They’re very different, mostly in comfort level. I always wanted to do a comedy. Comedy is my favorite genre. Horror came out of the idea that we could make a scary movie for very little money. We don’t need big names and we can sell it. Hopefully, we can make another.

What ended up happening is I fell in love with the challenge of making something scary and also fell in love with the horror community. They’re the best fans and the coolest people. I got to meet amazing people and work with guys like Joe Dante, who is a master at this stuff.

I did notice on Funhouse Massacre and Witness Infection, which are horror comedies, that I would lean heavily into the comedy. I knew that was where I wanted to go. So with Molly, it just felt like I was doing what I should have been doing the whole time.

PC: Trust is such a key component in filmmaking, especially when you have characters like Elliot who is struggling with grief and trying to find his place in the world. How did you build that trust with your actors, especially as they tackle those more vulnerable moments within the script?
Andy: The number one thing in filmmaking is having that level of trust with your actors. What it comes down to is them trusting you that you know what they’re doing and also them trusting in you that you’re not wasting their time. You have control of not only the story but also the set.

Our sets are very calm. They’re very casual. Like any other movie set, it’s controlled chaos the whole time. [laughs] But we never let our talent feel like that. It’s all happening behind the scenes. When they arrive, everybody’s prepared and we’re ready to go. Then they have the freedom to create. Once they see that there’s no drama and that everything is prepared then they start to trust you and the process. That’s so important. After that, you’re golden. You’re just playing.

PC: Time is also never a luxury when you’re working on a film, but you have a cast that’s well-established in the comedy genre. As a director, how were you able to create the space for your actors to improvise and make these characters their own while juggling those time constraints?
Andy: I sat down with Filip Vandewal, our DP. We talked about how we were going to shoot this. I told him, “We need to approach this from the perspective that comedy plays wide. We don’t need to worry about doing a ton of close-ups unless it’s for comedic purposes.” We shot with two cameras. We shot on zoom lenses, so every time that we were changing focal lengths, we could do it on the fly. Because of that, we could give the actors a lot of rep. I wanted them to be able to play and try different lines. I wanted to throw them a line. If they wanted to try something, we had that freedom. That’s really what we did. We had limited setups so it gave them a lot of takes.

PC: The film tackles a lot of universal themes that are going to hit home with audiences. Why do you think comedy lends itself to this type of storytelling?
Andy: Because it’s like a sugar pill that helps the hard stuff go down. Laughter is completely involuntary. It’s something that’s in our nature. If somebody fake laughs, you know it immediately. But a genuine laugh is guttural. It’s a natural emotion. So when you take things that are hard to wrap around your head or hard to comprehend/talk about and you wrap it in this layer of laughter, it goes down easier. You can start talking about uncomfortable things because, at the end of the day, the ridiculousness of it is really funny. Jimmy Buffett just passed but he said, “If we couldn’t laugh, we’d all go insane.” I love that idea.

PC: When the film is released on September 29th, is there a scene in particular that you’re excited for audiences to see? What do you hope they take away?
Andy: There are so many things that I love. The Sully kidnapping scene is hysterical. There’s a fun surprise when they rip off the mascot’s head and you see who is underneath. I absolutely love that scene. But the scene when Molly and Ollie show up on campus for the first time and think they’re going to own the place is hilarious. Nico with his cigarette in his mouth is just hysterical. Their arrival is the image that I had the whole time that we were making this film.

PC: What’s next for you? What’s left on your bucket list?
Andy: I’m one of those guys who doesn’t have any kids. Movies are my kids. So I’ll never quit making them. I have a movie that’s near and dear to my heart that my dad told me to write fifteen years ago. I hope it’s my next one. It’s a comedy, but it’s about a family that’s driven apart and comes back together, all set against the background of professional bass fishing.

To keep up with Andy, follow him on Instagram. The Re-Education of Molly Singer is available wherever you stream movies on September 29th.