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NEON releases Splitsville in select theaters on August 22nd, 2025 before opening it wide on September 5th, 2025. NYC MOVIE GURU: In the editing room, how did you find the right balance between entertaining the audience and provoking them emotionally? Which of those two elements was more challenging to tweak? Michael Angelo Covino: Provocation tends to be built into the script. We tend to know where the moments of provocation are. They're sometimes intentional. At the end, those things usually land whereas with entertainment, sometimes we go, "Oh, I thought it was going to entertain, but it doesn't. I think this is funny, but it's not landing." So then you have to either abandon it or be comfortable with it not being funny. Those are, sort of, the two things that we talk about a lot because we want to make films that are wildly entertaining, but provocative and make people a little bit uncomfortable at moments because that's why we go to the movies. We're not going to the movies to be spoon-fed; we're going to the movies to feel and to experience something that is surprising at times. Kyle Marvin: We think of provocation as a pleasurable experience that we provoke, so it's somewhat insane in a weird way. NYC MOVIE GURU: Would it be fair to say that Splitsville is cut from the same cloth as your previous film, The Climb? KM: I would say, "Same tailors, different cloth altogether." We thought that it would be interesting to explore something different in the sense that we're expanding our view on what relationships we're looking at and poking holes in. MAC: To me, it's a very different film. It feels different and we approached it differently, but it's inevitably overlapping in that we're both in it and we're playing characters who are adjacent if not similar to the characters in The Climb. I think that's up to you to decide, but I would say it's fair. We're not departing; it's not a massive departure from The Climb. I just think that it's more of a proper screwball comedy in some ways. NYC MOVIE GURU: Between Carey, Paul, Julie and Ashley, whom do you think is more emotionally mature? KM: Julie, I think. MAC: I think that Carey is the most emotionally mature. KM: Oh, wow! I guess Carey is emotionally mature in the sense that he's trying to find a solution. MAC: Carey is the only person in the film who's viewpoint on love and approach on love never really changes. He's at the same place at the beginning that he is at the end. He wants to be with her and have a baby at the beginning. He wants to go on a vacation and he ends up on a vacation at the end and all of this other stuff happens in between. NYC MOVIE GURU: How would you define the term "grown-up"? MAC: I don't know what a grown-up is in real life. I'm still figuring it out. In this film, a grown-up is a child in disguise. It's just a child whose body has aged a bit and they've come up with a bunch of words to reason with life, but underneath they still have emotions. NYC MOVIE GURU: What does the term "cinematic" mean to you? MAC: It's so funny that you ask us these questions because these are literally questions that we ask and talk about all the time. KM: But no one has ever asked us these questions. MAC: It's an actual important question. I would define cinematic as worthy of being seen in a cinema. When I think of "cinematic", I think of, "Does this justify someone buying a ticket?" That's not the contemporary usage of that, but we ask, "Is the bar high enough?" If you sat in a cinema, you'd go, "Holy shit! This is worth my time." NYC MOVIE GURU: What do you think is more cinematic, words or action? How do you see the difference in terms of being cinematic? KM: As writers, we love words. We spend a lot of time on our scripts. We spend a lot of time refining and weaving as deep a web of words and wordplay that we can. First and foremost, we start with that. I do think that there's something to be said about, "Words can only test a character so far, and action really defines character." So, we tend to utilize it because it's such a natural way that characters are exposed. People intellectualize relationships all the time until someone cheats on someone in which case it goes out the window. MAC: There's also something so beautiful about watching a character just saying stuff. You're like, "I'm watching exposition," and then all of a sudden they're doing something totally different. It's illuminating to the character and opens you up and engages you. To me, they're totally two distinctive things. Words can be used to give exposition and to move the plot along, and also can be used to completely subvert the scene in humorous ways and to illuminate character. That combination of what a character does and what a character says is, sort of, everything. We don't take that lightly. We have fun with it, I think. It's like candy for us. NYC MOVIE GURU: Between the 1st Act, 2nd Act and 3rd Act, which Act was most challenging to get right? MAC:I think that we usually have an easier time with the 1st Act because we always try to have a killer opening that just excites us about making the film. We spend a lot of time on the 1st Act so that usually turns out ok. Then we usually like to know where the movie is going and have a 3rd act. It depends on if you're talking about a traditional screenplay structure or a more fragmented one. On Splitsville, we tried not to think too much in terms of 1st Act, 2nd Act and 3rd Act. We chaptered it a little bit and then knew when we really needed to stick the landing with a build, a crescendo and an explosion at the end. So, we knew that we'd have a party at the end where everything comes crashing down and we had the opening, so then it was about, "Can we weave the story and keep people engaged through the middle section, even where there's not going to be as much slapstick comedy as those big set pieces?" It's more hinged on the emotional aspect. The 2nd Act was probably the tougher part to get through on Splitsville. KM: I feel like it depends on which part of the process, too. If you're just talking about the writing process, I feel like the 2nd Act is always the problem. That's always where you get jammed up a little bit. NYC MOVIE GURU: Would it be fair to consider some of the images, like the sinking jetski, as symbolism? MAC: To me, some of the more overt symbolism and, I might even say, direct plot, is very much there and very much commented on, so I think that that's totally fair to look at and say that's symbolism. When we write, we latch onto scenes, themes, ideas and symbols, and we find ways to bring them back, hopefully, in elegant ways whenever we can that may be saying something without having to say it. So, we communicate something without having to overtly communicate it. That's just something that excites us. KM: I also think that's part of the filmmaking process where we get really excited with visual ways to add layers, and we're always trying to add more and more---not to just fill it up with stuff, but to add layers to the visual language of the film so that, you, as someone watch it, can catch things. Like in the principal's office, the paintings behind his head are something that we loved the idea of and we had to execute it like this. It's subtle and it's there, but if you catch it, it's a joke that you've heard you've heard from across the room that maybe only you heard. We like to weave subtle things everywhere for the audience to find and discover. NYC MOVIE GURU: Would you like to be filmmakers during the 1960s and 70s back when movies about relationships, infidelity and open marriages were more in the mainstream? MAC: No, because then we would be in a crowded marketplace. Right now, it's wide open. Not a lot of people are making movies like Splitsville right now, so we can just do it. KM: Now is great. MAC: Yes, I think that now is the perfect time. In the American cinematic landscape, especially with comedy, there's just so much opportunity and we're just so excited. There's a lot of history and heritage of certain types of comedies and being made and exciting audiences and getting them fired up. We're not looking to reinvent the wheel in any way; we're just to take genres and stories and ideas that we love and, kind of, put our spin on it. We have confidence that the audience would like that sort of stuff because they have, historically, for over a hundred years. NYC MOVIE GURU: I think that flawed characters are more interesting than decent ones. Gene Jones, the actor from No Country for Old Men once told me that it's very hard for an actor to play decency. What do you think? KM: Yes, I agree with you that flawed characters are better. There isn't any person on this planet walking without flaws. The dichotomies of our conversations and our actions really are the most interesting things. When we're observing around us and we're seeing someone or something that's so unusual or different, it sort of breaks things that "should be." That's when we really get excited, leaning forward and digging in. MAC: As an actor, I'm so excited when I get to play a reprehensible character, even if there's some form of redemption. The more down-and-out a character is, the more excited I am because then it gives me somewhere to go. To get an audience on board with that character, you have to really find the humanity of that character, and there's a lot of humor in that. We tend to gravitate toward that because we're like, "On paper, these people are awful, but now let's see how we get everybody to enjoy it, watch it and laugh." Whether people want to admit it or not, they'll see aspects of themselves in some of these characters---maybe not everyone, though. Why I think we got excited telling this story in a very comedic way is because it takes a lot of the pressures away from having a serious conversation about relationships. It almost opens an opportunity for us to have a conversation about relationships because it's so farcical at times and, at the same time, farcical things can be the things that hold the mirror up. We walked a lot about The Heartbreak Kid by Elaine May as being one of the most brilliant comedies ever crafted. It's so potent, so heartbreaking and truthful, but, at the same time, it's so hilarious and absurd because it's rooted in character. Somehow, I think that that film can be profoundly eye-opening for certain people on an emotional level. Main Page Interviews Menu Alphabetical Menu Chronological Menu ______________________________________________________ |
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