WEBVTT
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Hold your ears, folks.
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It's showtime.
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People pay good money to see this movie. When they
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go out to a theater, they want cold sodas, hot popcorn,
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and no monsters in the projection booth.
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Everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring.
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Turn it off.
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Turn it off.
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70 miles west of Baltimore sits Hagerstown, Maryland. You can
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get drugs there in 60 seconds flat.
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What's up, pig?
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That's my daughter, Brooke. Don't believe a word she says.
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That was a good one, babe.
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Thanks, Dad.
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I love you.
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Love you.
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Be safe.
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Hagerstown is the major stop on the heroin highway. Go
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take our city back.
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Let's go clean up these streets! Let's go!
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I don't care if it's 10 kilos or one needle.
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If they're breaking the law, we book them.
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But do everything by the book.
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Clean hands make cases.
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There's a lot of work you should be proud of, Kev.
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You've been using for a month. Can you help me
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or not?
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You fight in here. Stay sober. And I'll fight out there.
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I'm gonna go get him.
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By the time you get out, Hagerstown's gonna be clean.
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You two are addicted to each other. She runs away
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so you can save her.
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I lost a nephew a few years ago.
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Died alone in a hotel room.
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I will not let that happen to her.
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A hero is someone you can count on.
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Every time I broke his heart, he never left my side.
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Hey folks, welcome to a special episode of The Projection Booth.
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I'm your host, Mike White. On this episode, I am
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talking with Jake Allen. He is the writer-director of the
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new film Clean Hands. The film stars Zach Braff and
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Esther McGregor. The film is all about a drug cop
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who has an addict for a daughter and the struggle
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that he and she and their family went through to
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try and help her out. I had a wonderful time
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talking with Jake. I hope you have a great time
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listening to this interview.
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Enjoy.
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Tell me a little bit about your career, and especially
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when it comes to directing, because this is, what, your
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second full-feature film that you've directed?
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Second directing job, yeah. I moved to Los Angeles just
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wanting to be an actor and a writer. I was
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very nervous to become a master of none and become
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endless multi-hyphenate. And of course, that's what ended up happening.
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And I really directed my first movie... I don't want
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to say by accident, I think it was by fate,
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but it wasn't going to get made if I didn't
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direct it. And I ended up falling in love with directing.
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And that was right around the time that I found
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this true story for Clean Hands, the movie that we're
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going to talk about. And I saw that story. It
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came to me and I was like, I don't want
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to tell this story. I have to. It's so real.
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It's so true. It's so powerful. I became really good
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friends with the couple that the movie is about, and
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they're like second parents to me now. And I just
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couldn't let anybody else have that movie or tell their story.
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This is not your first rodeo, because even before you
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were directing stuff, you were producing, you're writing, you're acting.
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Like you said, you are a multi-iphonet. Can you talk
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a little bit about some of the movies that you
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helped produce and have been a part of that way?
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Ultimately, if you're a writer in the independent film space,
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there's just no way those movies are going to get
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made if you're not also producing, at least to some extent.
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You have to be able to raise money. You have
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to be able to coordinate people and push the ball
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up the hill, push the rock up the hill. And
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so the first movie I ever really made was a
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movie called No Man's Land that was a modern Western
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on the Texas-Mexico border that... My brother and I produced,
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I wrote and acted in, and he directed. And then
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I took the next step. I added another multi-hyphenate with Ride, which,
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to your point, that was my first rodeo, which was
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a modern Western as well and really centered on amateur
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rodeo in Texas. And that one, yeah, I wrote, directed,
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acted in, and produced. So this one was a walk
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in the park, man, because all I did was write,
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direct and produce.
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Oh, that's all. Didn't even have to be in front
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of the camera.
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Yeah.
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I tell you what, though, I'm really happy that I
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didn't act in this one. I mean, it was a
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true story. So like the roles were the roles. And
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I wanted to honor that as opposed to like finding
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a way to force myself in as an actor. And
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quite frankly, the fact that it was a true story
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and a true story that didn't take place that long ago.
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This only happened. 11 years ago, I think, which in
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the scheme of things, it's just not that long ago
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to tell a true story about. And the real couple
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was so involved. All the police officers that served with
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Kevin were involved. They were all there on set. Brooke,
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the main girl that the movie's about, her drug counselor
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was on set every day. She was in the movie, actually.
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And if I had been trying to act while navigating
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all that, I think it might have been too much.
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So how did you find out about Kevin and Brooke's story?
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It's a great story and a weird one I found
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on YouTube. It was during COVID. I'm doing research just
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about our country, about what I wanted to talk about
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next after I had dove into the border. And it
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was during COVID. Police in America was a very talked
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about subject. And addiction in America was very much at
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the front of people's minds. And then I found this
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story that had both just clashing with each other. A
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father and daughter who were also a cop and an
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addict and a drug cop nonetheless. He wasn't just a...
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Kevin Simmers wasn't a beat cop. He was running a
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drug task force. He was a celebrated narcotics cop. And
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he had this amazing relationship with his daughter that was...
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beautiful and tragic and funny and wild and everything that
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as a filmmaker you want in a story and as
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a father you don't want. And I was just so
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lucky that he trusted me to tell this story. As
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you can imagine, it was quite a thing to hand over.
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Tell me about your casting process and how closely did
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your actors work with the actual people, with Kevin and
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Brooke themselves?
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Very closely. That was a gift that I was so
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eager to give You know, Zach Braff, Esther McGregor, Abigail Spencer.
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I remember Zach in the beginning was like, oh, is
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he going to be on set? Can you give me
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a couple of days to kind of warm up? And
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like by week two, Zach would be like, where's Kevin?
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I need Kevin. You know, I'm like, you told me
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not to have him. So that was a tremendous gift,
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especially for Zach, who was stepping into a different lane,
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you know, playing. I think it was the first time
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he played a real person. And the first time he
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was playing a cop, you know, so to give him
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that support system, I thought was huge. And then for Esther,
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that was a big weight for her to carry because
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Brooke really stands, I hope stands for all women in
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recovery and all the Brooks house girls. And she knew
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that weight, which was beautiful, but also pressurized. And so
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to be able to give her kind of this force
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field of support around her with Irene, Brooke's real drug counselor,
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all the women of Brooke's house, all the people that
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work at Brooke's house, Kevin and Dana Simmers. I mean,
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that for an actor is uncalculatable.
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How was the shoot itself and when did it take place?
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It was hard and amazing and wonderful and all the things.
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We shot it in 20 days in Atlanta and in
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Hagerstown where the story took place. And it was beautiful, man.
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I mean, some really tough days, you know, it's a
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harsh subject matter that we were tackling. And there were
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plenty of scenes that I remember being like, oh man,
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why did I keep this in the script? Like, this
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is brutal to shoot, you know, but it was like,
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we have to do it for them. We have to
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do it for these women that face this, for these
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parents that face this. I mean, this movie is equal
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parts about what addiction does to the whole family as
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it does to the one individual. I really tried to
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keep that as my North Star. It's like, just remember,
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some dad is going to see this and not feel
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so crazy, you know, about his kid that maybe is
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going through it. And maybe some kid will see this
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and not feel so alone. I mean, we had a
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screening two weeks ago in Hagerstown and three women after
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the movie played came up to the booth where we
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had a table set up and they were like, we
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made a pact after this movie to go get help.
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What can we do? We use drugs way too. We
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want out of this life. And they got sick and
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we took them straight to health services. Now you talk
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about wanting to make an impact. I'm like, it was
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only three people. Those are three fricking human beings whose
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lives might be saved. the whole movie's worth it. For
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Kevin and Dana to be on set was really an
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opportunity for them to take their story back. These years
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of their lives that we were telling was, it was
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an incredibly traumatic moment in their lives that probably gave
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them PTSD and is something that they've blacked out certain
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parts of it. And so to be able to, even
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though it was tough to watch, sometimes they told me
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it was a way for them to finally grieve properly.
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And again, for me as a worn down filmmaker, that's
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been working on this for six years, that gives you
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so much energy.
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Were you with them the first time they got to
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see this film about themselves?
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Yes.
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I showed them the movie here in Nashville where I
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edited it and, uh, I let them watch it alone. Uh,
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the couple, Kevin and Dana Simmer's, And I paced around
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the hallway for like two and a half hours. And
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the movie's only an hour and 47 minutes. And then,
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because I know every bit, you know, so I know
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what parts what. And I remember the movie ending and
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I kind of put my ear up against the door
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and it was just silence. And they needed about 20
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minutes in there by themselves after the movie before they
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could kind of open the door and let me in.
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And we just kind of sat there for a little
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while after. As you can imagine, this movie is very
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bittersweet for them. Ultimately, they wish none of it had
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ever happened. But in the same token, they know that
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all this happened for a reason and for a bigger purpose.
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And so they're very proud of their daughter's fight.
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What's next for the movie and what's next for you?
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The movie comes out Friday, October 16th, wherever you can
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rent movies. My job right now is releasing this film
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and getting it into as many hands as I can get.
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You know, I'm really proud we structured the film financially
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so that one third of the movie is owned by
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Brooks House. So every time someone rents this movie, every
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time someone buys this movie or tells their friends, they're
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not just getting me a rental, you know, they're supporting
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this house, they're supporting women in recovery, they're supporting recovery
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as a whole. So really my full-time job right now
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is making sure as many people get to see this
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movie as possible. You know, like I said, if I
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can get one more person to go to health services
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because of this movie, any of these conversations are more
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than worth it. And I love it. I love my
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own movie. And I want people to watch it.
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Is there a good place for people to go to
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keep up with the film, maybe make donations to Brooks House?
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Anybody can go to brookshouse.org. That's their website. And again,
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every time you rent this movie, you send a dollar
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to Brooks House. I think the... The biggest place for
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people to rent the movie will be Amazon and Apple.
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It'll be in theaters as well. I think in Detroit,
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I want to say. But definitely Amazon and Apple tend
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to kind of dominate those on-demand numbers. And then we
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have an Instagram page, Clean Hands Movie. And I'm posting
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there rapidly. And yeah, I'm just going to keep it going.
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Jake, thank you so much for your time. This was
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such a pleasure talking with you.
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Absolutely. I could talk all day about it. So I'm
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sorry if I take you for too long.
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No, this was great. I really appreciate it. It was
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so nice to meet you, too.
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Yeah, nice to meet you, man. I appreciate your support.
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Have you ever found anything so pure before? I touched
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your head You.
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Lost control.
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Do you really want me to break down and cry?
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She was just a little girl She didn't know how
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to say stop She was just a little girl Please
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raise your hand when you had enough. She was just
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a little girl. She didn't know how to say stop.
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She was just a little girl. Where do all the
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little girls go? Take your time. Look into my eyes.
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Have you ever seen anything.
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So pure before? She was just a little girl She
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didn't know how to say stop She was just a
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little girl Please raise your hand when you had enough
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She was just a little girl She didn't know how
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to say stop She was just a little girl.
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Little girls go when they're in safe at night Where
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do all the little girls go when Wrong's.
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Done by Mr.
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Right Where do all the little girls go when there ain't.
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Safe at night?
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Where do all the little girls go when wrong's done
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by Mr.
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Right?
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Say stop, I, I, had enough, stop
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Hold your ears, folks.
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It's showtime.
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People pay good money to see this movie. When they
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go out to a theater, they want cold sodas, hot popcorn,
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and no monsters in the projection booth.
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Everyone pretend podcasting isn't boring.
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Turn it off.
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Turn it off.
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70 miles west of Baltimore sits Hagerstown, Maryland. You can
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get drugs there in 60 seconds flat.
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What's up, pig?
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That's my daughter, Brooke. Don't believe a word she says.
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That was a good one, babe.
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Thanks, Dad.
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I love you.
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Love you.
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Be safe.
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Hagerstown is the major stop on the heroin highway. Go
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take our city back.
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Let's go clean up these streets! Let's go!
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I don't care if it's 10 kilos or one needle.
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If they're breaking the law, we book them.
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But do everything by the book.
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Clean hands make cases.
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There's a lot of work you should be proud of, Kev.
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You've been using for a month. Can you help me
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or not?
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You fight in here. Stay sober. And I'll fight out there.
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I'm gonna go get him.
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By the time you get out, Hagerstown's gonna be clean.
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You two are addicted to each other. She runs away
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so you can save her.
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I lost a nephew a few years ago.
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Died alone in a hotel room.
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I will not let that happen to her.
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A hero is someone you can count on.
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Every time I broke his heart, he never left my side.
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Hey folks, welcome to a special episode of The Projection Booth.
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I'm your host, Mike White. On this episode, I am
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talking with Jake Allen. He is the writer-director of the
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new film Clean Hands. The film stars Zach Braff and
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Esther McGregor. The film is all about a drug cop
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who has an addict for a daughter and the struggle
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that he and she and their family went through to
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try and help her out. I had a wonderful time
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talking with Jake. I hope you have a great time
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listening to this interview.
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Enjoy.
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Tell me a little bit about your career, and especially
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when it comes to directing, because this is, what, your
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second full-feature film that you've directed?
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Second directing job, yeah. I moved to Los Angeles just
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wanting to be an actor and a writer. I was
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very nervous to become a master of none and become
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endless multi-hyphenate. And of course, that's what ended up happening.
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And I really directed my first movie... I don't want
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to say by accident, I think it was by fate,
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but it wasn't going to get made if I didn't
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direct it. And I ended up falling in love with directing.
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And that was right around the time that I found
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this true story for Clean Hands, the movie that we're
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going to talk about. And I saw that story. It
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came to me and I was like, I don't want
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to tell this story. I have to. It's so real.
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It's so true. It's so powerful. I became really good
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friends with the couple that the movie is about, and
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they're like second parents to me now. And I just
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couldn't let anybody else have that movie or tell their story.
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This is not your first rodeo, because even before you
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were directing stuff, you were producing, you're writing, you're acting.
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Like you said, you are a multi-iphonet. Can you talk
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a little bit about some of the movies that you
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helped produce and have been a part of that way?
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Ultimately, if you're a writer in the independent film space,
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there's just no way those movies are going to get
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made if you're not also producing, at least to some extent.
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You have to be able to raise money. You have
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to be able to coordinate people and push the ball
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up the hill, push the rock up the hill. And
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so the first movie I ever really made was a
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movie called No Man's Land that was a modern Western
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on the Texas-Mexico border that... My brother and I produced,
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I wrote and acted in, and he directed. And then
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I took the next step. I added another multi-hyphenate with Ride, which,
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to your point, that was my first rodeo, which was
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a modern Western as well and really centered on amateur
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rodeo in Texas. And that one, yeah, I wrote, directed,
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acted in, and produced. So this one was a walk
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in the park, man, because all I did was write,
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direct and produce.
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Oh, that's all. Didn't even have to be in front
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of the camera.
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Yeah.
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I tell you what, though, I'm really happy that I
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didn't act in this one. I mean, it was a
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true story. So like the roles were the roles. And
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I wanted to honor that as opposed to like finding
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a way to force myself in as an actor. And
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quite frankly, the fact that it was a true story
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and a true story that didn't take place that long ago.
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This only happened. 11 years ago, I think, which in
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the scheme of things, it's just not that long ago
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to tell a true story about. And the real couple
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was so involved. All the police officers that served with
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Kevin were involved. They were all there on set. Brooke,
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the main girl that the movie's about, her drug counselor
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was on set every day. She was in the movie, actually.
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And if I had been trying to act while navigating
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all that, I think it might have been too much.
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So how did you find out about Kevin and Brooke's story?
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It's a great story and a weird one I found
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on YouTube. It was during COVID. I'm doing research just
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about our country, about what I wanted to talk about
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next after I had dove into the border. And it
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was during COVID. Police in America was a very talked
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about subject. And addiction in America was very much at
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the front of people's minds. And then I found this
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story that had both just clashing with each other. A
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father and daughter who were also a cop and an
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addict and a drug cop nonetheless. He wasn't just a...
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Kevin Simmers wasn't a beat cop. He was running a
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drug task force. He was a celebrated narcotics cop. And
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he had this amazing relationship with his daughter that was...
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beautiful and tragic and funny and wild and everything that
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as a filmmaker you want in a story and as
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a father you don't want. And I was just so
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lucky that he trusted me to tell this story. As
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you can imagine, it was quite a thing to hand over.
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Tell me about your casting process and how closely did
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your actors work with the actual people, with Kevin and
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Brooke themselves?
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Very closely. That was a gift that I was so
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eager to give You know, Zach Braff, Esther McGregor, Abigail Spencer.
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I remember Zach in the beginning was like, oh, is
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he going to be on set? Can you give me
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a couple of days to kind of warm up? And
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like by week two, Zach would be like, where's Kevin?
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I need Kevin. You know, I'm like, you told me
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not to have him. So that was a tremendous gift,
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especially for Zach, who was stepping into a different lane,
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you know, playing. I think it was the first time
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he played a real person. And the first time he
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was playing a cop, you know, so to give him
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that support system, I thought was huge. And then for Esther,
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that was a big weight for her to carry because
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Brooke really stands, I hope stands for all women in
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recovery and all the Brooks house girls. And she knew
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that weight, which was beautiful, but also pressurized. And so
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to be able to give her kind of this force
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field of support around her with Irene, Brooke's real drug counselor,
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all the women of Brooke's house, all the people that
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work at Brooke's house, Kevin and Dana Simmers. I mean,
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that for an actor is uncalculatable.
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How was the shoot itself and when did it take place?
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It was hard and amazing and wonderful and all the things.
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We shot it in 20 days in Atlanta and in
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Hagerstown where the story took place. And it was beautiful, man.
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I mean, some really tough days, you know, it's a
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harsh subject matter that we were tackling. And there were
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plenty of scenes that I remember being like, oh man,
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why did I keep this in the script? Like, this
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is brutal to shoot, you know, but it was like,
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we have to do it for them. We have to
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do it for these women that face this, for these
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parents that face this. I mean, this movie is equal
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parts about what addiction does to the whole family as
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it does to the one individual. I really tried to
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keep that as my North Star. It's like, just remember,
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some dad is going to see this and not feel
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so crazy, you know, about his kid that maybe is
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going through it. And maybe some kid will see this
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and not feel so alone. I mean, we had a
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screening two weeks ago in Hagerstown and three women after
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the movie played came up to the booth where we
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had a table set up and they were like, we
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made a pact after this movie to go get help.
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What can we do? We use drugs way too. We
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want out of this life. And they got sick and
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we took them straight to health services. Now you talk
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about wanting to make an impact. I'm like, it was
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only three people. Those are three fricking human beings whose
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lives might be saved. the whole movie's worth it. For
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Kevin and Dana to be on set was really an
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opportunity for them to take their story back. These years
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of their lives that we were telling was, it was
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an incredibly traumatic moment in their lives that probably gave
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them PTSD and is something that they've blacked out certain
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parts of it. And so to be able to, even
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though it was tough to watch, sometimes they told me
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it was a way for them to finally grieve properly.
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And again, for me as a worn down filmmaker, that's
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been working on this for six years, that gives you
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so much energy.
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Were you with them the first time they got to
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see this film about themselves?
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Yes.
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I showed them the movie here in Nashville where I
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edited it and, uh, I let them watch it alone. Uh,
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the couple, Kevin and Dana Simmer's, And I paced around
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the hallway for like two and a half hours. And
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the movie's only an hour and 47 minutes. And then,
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because I know every bit, you know, so I know
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what parts what. And I remember the movie ending and
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I kind of put my ear up against the door
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and it was just silence. And they needed about 20
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minutes in there by themselves after the movie before they
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could kind of open the door and let me in.
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And we just kind of sat there for a little
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while after. As you can imagine, this movie is very
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bittersweet for them. Ultimately, they wish none of it had
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ever happened. But in the same token, they know that
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all this happened for a reason and for a bigger purpose.
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And so they're very proud of their daughter's fight.
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What's next for the movie and what's next for you?
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The movie comes out Friday, October 16th, wherever you can
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rent movies. My job right now is releasing this film
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and getting it into as many hands as I can get.
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You know, I'm really proud we structured the film financially
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so that one third of the movie is owned by
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Brooks House. So every time someone rents this movie, every
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time someone buys this movie or tells their friends, they're
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not just getting me a rental, you know, they're supporting
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this house, they're supporting women in recovery, they're supporting recovery
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as a whole. So really my full-time job right now
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is making sure as many people get to see this
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movie as possible. You know, like I said, if I
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can get one more person to go to health services
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because of this movie, any of these conversations are more
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than worth it. And I love it. I love my
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own movie. And I want people to watch it.
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Is there a good place for people to go to
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keep up with the film, maybe make donations to Brooks House?
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Anybody can go to brookshouse.org. That's their website. And again,
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every time you rent this movie, you send a dollar
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to Brooks House. I think the... The biggest place for
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people to rent the movie will be Amazon and Apple.
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It'll be in theaters as well. I think in Detroit,
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I want to say. But definitely Amazon and Apple tend
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to kind of dominate those on-demand numbers. And then we
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have an Instagram page, Clean Hands Movie. And I'm posting
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there rapidly. And yeah, I'm just going to keep it going.
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Jake, thank you so much for your time. This was
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such a pleasure talking with you.
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Absolutely. I could talk all day about it. So I'm
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sorry if I take you for too long.
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No, this was great. I really appreciate it. It was
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so nice to meet you, too.
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Yeah, nice to meet you, man. I appreciate your support.
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Have you ever found anything so pure before? I touched
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your head You.
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Lost control.
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Do you really want me to break down and cry?
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She was just a little girl She didn't know how
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to say stop She was just a little girl Please
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raise your hand when you had enough. She was just
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a little girl. She didn't know how to say stop.
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She was just a little girl. Where do all the
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little girls go? Take your time. Look into my eyes.
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Have you ever seen anything.
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So pure before? She was just a little girl She
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didn't know how to say stop She was just a
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little girl Please raise your hand when you had enough
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She was just a little girl She didn't know how
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to say stop She was just a little girl.
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Little girls go when they're in safe at night Where
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do all the little girls go when Wrong's.
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Done by Mr.
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Right Where do all the little girls go when there ain't.
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Safe at night?
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Where do all the little girls go when wrong's done
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by Mr.
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Right?
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Say stop, I, I, had enough, stop
