'New York Nico' On the Big Screen

The film premiered at the Tribeca Festival last Thursday, June 11th. Office sat down with the pair to talk about their new project among other things.

What came together first, the story or the cast?

Nico: The cast always comes first in everything I do. 

Are there any New York Nico characters you didn’t include that you wish you had?

Nico: Yes definitely. I didn’t want to blow my load on my first film though. Have to save some of my aces for the feature. 

Kareem: The NCU (Nico Cinematic Universe) is very, very powerful and ever expanding. There are a few that didn’t exist in the NCU yet…notably Bobby and Cuge. They would have been really amazing to have in the film.

Were there any films that inspired Out of Order?

Nico: I had Kareem watch After Hours and Good Time before he set out to write the film. I wanted something with the energy of those films, but with a more silly sense of humor. 

Kareem: I had never seen After Hours but Nico referenced it in our first conversation about our film. He told me to watch it so I did, and boy was that a perfect reference for our film. I absolutely loved it and agreed with Nico that a stupider, more slapstick version of that film would work and play well to audiences and the type of comedy / filmmaking that we are both interested in.

What did you enjoy the most about making the film? 

Nico: Being able to work with my friends who were acting on screen for the first time ever. 

Rank the boroughs. 

Nico: I can’t answer that question on the record because it will make a lot of people angry. But we all know the best and worst borough in nyc…

Kareem: Look, I enjoy vacationing in the West Village as much as any other tourist but Brooklyn is hands down the best borough.

Now that you have a short film under your belt, is the next step a feature length? 

Nico: 100% percent. It’s all I can think about. 

Which member of the cast surprised you the most in terms of acting? 

Nico: Tiger Hood. He crushed it. Took him a minute to remember his lines, but once he did, he was golden. 

Kareem: Yo Chill and Big Time Tommie we’re really surprising scene partners for me. They’re both super authentic and knew their lines but also improvised heavily based on their own personalities. I think they both took the roles seriously enough to memorize the lines but also knew how to make their scenes better.

Are New York Nico and Nicolas Heller the same person? 

Nico: More or less. Although, Nicolas Heller has more of a private life that NY Nico.

View the trailer for Out of Order here