‘Flock Of Dudes’ Director Bob Castrone On Shooting A Movie In 18 Days And ‘Saved By The Bell’ Fandom

Friendship and breakups are common cinematic themes. They can be found in such films as The Break-Up, Simon Birch, and also literally almost every film ever made. But in Bob Castrone’s entertaining new comedy Flock Of Dudes, the director decided to deftly combine those two subjects as he set his gaze on a subject far less prevalent in film: the plight of the male friendship breakup.

The genesis of the film began almost a decade ago when Castrone and his friend and fellow Flock Of Dudes producer Brian Levin told their tight-knit group of NYC male friends that they were taking the night off from their usual bar routine. In reality, the two had hatched a plan to sneak off to Pianos on the Lower East Side in an attempt to meet girls. Why the subterfuge? Surprisingly, it’s difficult to meet women when you’re out on the town with eight to 10 dudes.

Who knew this little white lie would lead to a nine-year odyssey that would culminate with the release of Flock Of Dudes.

“What would you do if you decided that this was the moment that you had to grow up? It’s growing up by accident,” Castrone told Decider about Flock Of Dudes, which is currently available to rent on Amazon and iTunes. “I think a lot of these moments in your life where you do grow up, you don’t realize that it’s happening until afterwards.”

A delightful blend of humor and heart, Flock Of Dudes follows the story of Adam (Chris D’Elia), a rudderless 30-something who decides to break up with his group of best friends in an attempt to finally grow up. Castrone, who previously worked on Best Week Ever with Paul F. Tompkins and is the current head writer for Not Safe with Nikki Glaser, recently documented the film’s incredible nine year journey from script to screen for Decider. Not only is the behind-the-scenes story of Flocks an inspirational tale of devotion, the making of the film was also no easy task.

“The interesting thing about making the movie was that we shot it in 18 days, and we had no rehearsal time. We had no chemistry reads; we had no auditions. So people were showing up to set and we were having to figure out their character, and how their character feels about certain things or would say a certain thing,” Castrone said. “We were just rolling and doing the scenes over and over and picking out the moments that worked and figuring out the characters as we were shooting, which was definitely, I think, my hardest job; kind of getting that all on the screen.”

Eighteen days with zero rehearsal time may have sunk an average cast, but the collection of star power in this film can be described as ARE YOU KIDDING ME? The Flock Of Dudes ensemble has enough comedic talent to field the funniest intramural softball team of all time. Joining D’Elia is Skylar Astin, Hannah Simone, Brett Gelman, Eric Andre, Kumail Nanjiani, Timothy Simons, Hannibal Buress, Jeff Ross, Melissa Rauch, and Marc Maron.

Leading this illustrious collection of talent is the unquestionable star of the film, Chris D’Elia, who delivers a breakout performance as he effortlessly toggles between comedy and drama as the wayward protagonist. While D’Elia initially read for the character of Barrett (Bryan Greenberg), Castrone was so sure that the actor was going to be a superstar that he reread the script with D’Elia in mind as the lead and immediately realized that he was the perfect choice for the role. D’Elia is the emotional anchor for a film that doesn’t shy away from embracing the emotional intricacies of adult relationships, which is a direct result from Castrone’s affection for Judd Apatow and films like The 40-Year Old Virgin and the Farrelly brothers classic There’s Something About Mary.

“I love these kinds of comedies where there’s a love story. I think, secretly, guys aren’t allowed to say it, but I think we kind of love that stuff,” Castrone told me. “You know, I think there’s an aversion when you’re making a dude movie to admitting that you’re kind of telling a love story. But those are the best ones.”

And while Flock Of Dudes certainly has heart, comedy is what’s most prevalent in its DNA. One of the most inventive subplots of the movie deals with Adam’s ex-girlfriend dating Mario Lopez, who plays himself. While the role was originally written for renowned musical lothario John Mayer, Castrone was elated to work with the man who will forever be known as A.C. Slater.

“Mario Lopez was like a dream come true for me because I was a dorky Saved by the Bell fan growing up,” Castrone said. “When he agreed to do it, I was geeking out so hard. I creeped him out on set because I told him, we have the line in the film where Chris says, ‘I can’t believe you’re dating A.C. Slater,’ and [actress Jamie Chung] says, ‘Actually, his name is — ‘ [and then Chris says] ‘Albert Clifford Slater, I know!’ When Mario Lopez was on set, I told him that I didn’t have to Google that when I wrote that line. And he just looked at me like, ‘Oh boy.'”

But even Mario Lopez isn’t immune to the irresistible allure of Saved by the Bell jokes. In the film, Lopez has the line, “Well, I did steal Kelly Kapowski away from Zack Morris,” but it was his ad-lib (which unfortunately didn’t make the film) that demonstrates Lopez’s surprising improv chops.

“Once we stopped rolling, Mario was like, ‘Hey, should I have said, And I’m not talking about on screen.’ I was like, ‘Yes! You should have done that!’ But we had already moved on.”

Even without the killer Lopez quip, Flock Of Dudes is a must-stream indie comedy.

[Where to stream Flock Of Dudes]