Kyle Kellams: The Arkansas Cinema Society is preparing for its annual celebration of filmmaking with Arkansas connections, called Filmland. This year's Filmland is Aug. 13 through 17 in Little Rock and will open with a preview screening of Americana. The movie opens in wide release a couple days later.
This month, Tony Toast visited the Anthony and Susan Hui News Studio to talk about Americana, and with him was Kody Ford from the Arkansas Cinema Society to talk about next month's Filmland.
Tony Toast: I'm excited. You know, there's some trepidation because it's kind of going out into the world for the first time and you don't know how people are going to react, how it's going to land with folks. So, excitement, fear, honestly... but also just relief that it's finally coming out. So yeah, it's a complicated feeling.
Kellams: Kody Ford, our first chance to see it is going to be part of Filmland. Is that right?
Kody Ford: Yes, we are very excited to have Americana at Filmland. This has been something I've wanted for a while. I know it's just taken some time for them to get it out. So we're really excited that Lionsgate is letting us do this. It's really kind of a sneak preview screening, but it's going to be extra special because we're going to have Tony there and Paul Walter Hauser. So that's going to be a really big deal—to have them there, hanging out, doing a Q&A afterward.
Kellams: Tony, I’ve only seen the trailer, of course, but it looks fun. It looks like a caper.
Toast: Yeah, that's right. It's designed to be a fun night at the movies. It's a small-town caper with an ensemble cast including Sydney Sweeney, Paul Walter Hauser, Simon Rex, Zahn McClarnon, pop singer Halsey, Eric Dane... and then it kind of evolves into almost an old-school Western. That’s part of the fun—you don’t get too many Westerns these days. And to have a story set in the present day that turns into an old-school John Wayne, Howard Hawks, John Ford-type shootout... it should be fun.
Kellams: The cast looks amazing. So many versatile actors.
Toast: Yeah, no, I kind of pinch myself. For my first film to get a cast this strong... we were lucky to catch Sydney Sweeney just as her star was rising—and Paul Walter Hauser too. The whole cast is great. There are a lot of ringers. That dexterity was important. Part of the film’s charm is its tonal tightrope: it’s hopefully thrilling and exciting, but also has a lot of weird humor. So getting people who could do both was key.
Kellams: Kody, tell me more about Filmland.
Ford: This is our eighth annual Filmland at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts. It gets a little bigger and better each year. We've announced the first three films: Americana, of course; then The Threesome, which was shot in Little Rock and premiered at SXSW this year; and the third is Tow. The directors of both of those films are also attending.
Tow looks great. I haven’t seen it yet, but it stars Rose Byrne as a woman living out of her car—and when her car gets towed, it's not just about getting it back, it’s about reclaiming her independence and identity.
Plus, we’ll have our Filmland: Arkansas programming—two feature films and a lot of shorts. Hopefully, if scheduling works, we’ll also show a few films from past winners of our Panavision grant, which we give each year for favorite feature and favorite professional short.
There’ll also be workshops, happy hours, after-parties—just a fun time for people to connect with filmmakers, actors, and others in the filmmaking community.
Kellams: How can people attend?
Ford: Tickets aren’t on sale yet, but will be soon. You can go to ArkansasCinemaSociety.org and sign up for our email list to be the first to know. Or follow us on Instagram @ArkansasCinema or on Facebook.
Kellams: Tony, on the first day of filming—how do you start? What happens?
Toast: Yeah, great question. Luckily, there's been a lot of buildup before that moment. So it's not like walking on set, shaking hands, introducing yourself to everyone. Americana filmed over 26 days, and there were just as many days of hardcore prep before that.
Prep includes everything from location scouting, costume planning, working on the set and art department—plus me rehearsing with actors, shot-listing, working with the cinematographer. By day one, you’re warmed up. You jump into the scenes. Sure, there are nerves, but once you get that first scene done—I've done a lot of TV—muscle memory kicks in.
It’s like playing sports or being in a band. I was in some really crappy bands growing up—well, I was crappy, some of the people I played with were good. But it’s the same thing: you’re anxious, then it starts going and you realize, okay, I got this. And having a great cast and crew really helps.
Kellams: Is film and television similar in terms of shooting out of order?
Toast: Definitely. Some exceptions, but mostly—yeah. It's about logistics. You secure a location, you pay for it, you get all the trucks and people there. Even if you only see one or two people on screen, there are hundreds just off frame.
So when you're at a location, you shoot all the scenes set there, whether they’re from the beginning, middle, or end. That’s true for both film and TV. The only real difference is that film feels more like a sprint, and TV more like a marathon, just due to the volume.
Kellams: You said Americana is meant to be a fun night at the movies. Why was that important?
Toast: Yeah, that’s really important to me. Hopefully it resonates and gives people something to think about. It’s my modern take on the Western. There are themes—like who gets centered in a Western in 2025—but no political soapbox. No big lesson.
It’s more like: here are characters I think are interesting, here’s a story with twists, turns, laughs, “oh crap” moments. That’s what I wanted. Not a thesis on late-stage capitalism in America.
Kellams: Did you grow up watching Westerns?
Toast: Oh yeah. Very much so. I’m a small-town guy. I grew up in an abandoned mining town in Washington State, near the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation. I may have watched Westerns anyway with my parents, but that genre always spoke to me.
I was kind of a lost kid in need of a father figure, and for better or worse, Clint Eastwood and John Wayne filled that space. They taught me how to have a backbone, how to stand up, how to conduct myself.
As I got older, my taste in Westerns evolved—I started seeking out revisionist Westerns, different takes on the genre. So it’s been a big personal and creative influence on me.
Kellams: And it opens Aug. 15 for everyone?
Toast: That’s right. It’ll be in theaters—maybe not Marvel-sized release, but a pretty wide one. Hopefully in most towns. It’s a small-town movie. I’m representing my flyover-country cultural tribe with this.
My favorite review so far said it's like “Quentin Tarantino meets Smokey and the Bandit”—and that made me really happy. That’s what I’m going for.
Kellams: Tony, Kody, thank you both very much.
Toast: Thank you.
Ford: Yeah, thank you.
Kellams: Tony Toast is the writer and director of the new movie Americana, opening nationally on Aug. 15. A sneak preview of the film will open the 2025 edition of Filmland in Little Rock on Aug. 13. We also heard from Kody Ford with the Arkansas Cinema Society. More about the multi-day event can be found at arkansascinemasociety.org.
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