Daniel Garber talks with filmmaker Pat Mills about Don’t Talk to Irene
Hi, this is Daniel Garber at the Movies for culturalmining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
Irene is an unusual girl who lives in a small town an hour north of Toronto. It’s her first day of highschool and she can’t wait to join the cheerleading team. But her mother says she’s just not 
cheerleader material. She’s chubby, plain, and has no friends; garbage is her comfort zone. And when she is bullied by a mean girl and sent to an old age home for community service, she worries she’ll never fit in. Luckily, she meets a lot of potential mentors: an ex-boxer, two elderly women, a non-binary classmate, a 
mean-ass cook, and a poster of Geena Davis on her ceiling… that seems to communicate with her. But will any of them ever talk to Irene?
Don’t Talk to Irene is the name of a new movie, a coming-of-age comedy that premiered at TIFF17 and is now playing in Toronto. It’s written and directed by Toronto filmmaker Pat Mills known for his very dark — and very funny — looks at society’s outcasts.
I spoke with Pat Mills in studio at CIUT 89.5 FM.
Daniel Garber talks with Toronto filmmaker Pat Mills about his new comedy GUIDANCE
This is Daniel Garber at the Movies for cultural mining.com and CIUT 89.5 FM.
David Gold (Pat Mills) was once a child star on a TV sitcom, but those days are gone. Now he’s reduced to voice work, recording motivational slogans. And he could certainly use some motivation himself; he’s 
underemployed, an alcoholic, has penis issues, diagnosed with skin cancer, and has a cruel landlady threatening eviction. His cure? Denial, tanning salons and self-medication (with a mickey tucked in every pocket), and 
watching VHS tapes of his sitcom from back when he was still a star. But somehow, through a combination of luck and subterfuge he lands a job as guidance counsellor at Grusin High, a Degrassi from hell, helping troubled youth by offering them his very unusual 
form of “guidance”.
Guidance is also the name of a very funny new comedy now playing at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, and opening today in select cities across North America. Guidance was written and directed by and starring Toronto filmmaker Pat Mills. This dark comedy is his first feature. He told me about the lead character, the film’s origin, child actors, losing his virginity, being mistaken for a girl, Corey Haim, mimicry, Kids in the Hall, dyslexia, bullying, Zahra Bentham, Ottawa, Degrassi, Centennial College, Disnification… and more.
I spoke to Pat at CIUT 89.5 FM.
culturalmining.com 
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