On January 16, 2013 the Arizona State University English Department hosted a Q&A for the romantic zombie comedy movie, Warm Bodies, featuring Director Jonathon Levine and Actor Dave Franco. The tiny room was packed and humid in contrast to the frigid temperatures outside. The cause could’ve been the large amount of people in close proximity, but my bet was on the raging hormones of every female present in the room. The majority of the audience weren’t even film majors. We could’ve cared less about the film; all we wanted was the once in a lifetime opportunity of meeting a star. As I look back now, this motive and other factors made the event less meaningful than it should have been.
To start, Levine and Franco were 45 minutes late, which cut the Q&A in half and shortened the opportunity for deep questions to be asked or meaningful answers to be produced. Secondly, the questions were less revolved around the movie and the art of directing, focusing more on Dave Franco himself. I could only imagine how annoyed the film majors were – to finally get the opportunity to ask a professional about the movie industry, only to have the avid fan girls dominate the session with their pointless questions. Finally, by trying to come off as a normal guy, Dave Franco, with his So-Cal beach accent and crude language, appeared very unprofessional.

However, I don’t think I should put too much blame on Franco. It was more of the department’s fault. If they had reserved a bigger room and made the event longer, it would’ve been more organized and meaningful. Franco did provide some insight on directing. For example, because he eventually wants to quit being an actor and focus on directing, he stressed the importance of collaboration.
“Working with people,” he explained, “reveals a lot about yourself starting with what you know and what you need to improve on. Sometimes, it could even give the push you need to take risks, especially in video making. Before you know it, your group’s video could be the biggest hit on YouTube. Or, if it ends up as a flop, it’ll just be a good laugh. As far as I’m concerned, you don’t lose anything. ”

Huh, so maybe Dave was actually more than I gave him credit for. At the risk of sounding hypocritical, I confess to enjoying the experience of being in close proximity with a star. Despite some of the annoyance I felt, I left the event with two free tickets to the Warm Bodies premiere. Not a bad ending at all.