Why Are You Like This? (2025)

It's all fun and games... unless you're Kara.

Starring: Melanie Thompson, Marisa Hood, Nate Hapke,

Shiva Ayama, Kelsey L. Moore, Javier Prusky,

CB Mullen, Niya Wright, Daniel Koren, and Whitney Montgomery

Directed by Nate Hapke

Written by Rosie Grace & Nate Hapke

Produced by Rosie Grace & Nate Hapke

Director of Photography Nicholas Ferreiro

Gaffer Eddy Scully

1st Assistant Camera Sean Singer

Camera PA Maclaine Dirksen

Production Designer Daniel Koren

Costume Designer Rosie Grace

Makeup Department Head Lian Uritsky

Makeup Artist Daniela Babcock

1st Assistant Director Sarah Soderquist

Script Supervisor Caroline Kauffman

Key Production Assistant Hayward Crawford

Production Assistant Alisia Gutierrez

Production Sound Mixer Sandra Joen Perez-Tejeda

Edited/Colored by Nicholas Ferreiro

Re-recording Mixer Justin Lebens

Score by Caleb Parker

Artist’s Statement:

I get inspired to create by a lot of things and I am grateful for all of them.

1) Friendship or kinship with people you actually like spending time with and, furthermore, who like doing what you like doing (making movies, watching movies, playing games, see also etcetera). When you find your people, your team, your fellow creatives who want to make stuff with you, it's really special. And inspiring. And fulfilling. Melanie Thompson and Marisa Hood are these people for Rosie Grace and me.

2) Producibility. Available locations we can use for free? Check. Talented friends who can stretch a dollar in front of and behind a camera for the sake of creativity? Check. A fun concept that is contained, builds on what you explored in your second feature film and your last short ensemble comedy? Check.

3) Fun. This project was a lot of fun to make. It's the first time in a while where we got to say "Based on a true story." One of our leads, not naming names but Melanie, is an incredibly sweet person who happens to take games quite seriously and personally. Even the slightest misstep by a competitor might be enough to set her off. It's one of the many things that makes friendship with her so special. We had heard stories about this, and even witnessed it in a small sample ahead of a game night earlier this year when one of us said - this could be a movie.

That's all Rosie and I needed. We knew we had to make something this year. We wanted to stay in the same narrative space as our second feature film Surprise! with the ensemble comedy nature. We had our concept as a jumping off point, and used the structure of Ride Share as a starting point for the writing. From there, what's the story? A person who takes games too seriously? That's a character. When that compulsion threatens friendships and a relationship to the point that a couple needs to attend therapy in order to move forward? That's a narrative. Okay so there's a therapy session and maybe that can be the framing device, and the different game nights can be flashbacks used as supporting evidence for one of characters to help the other realize and accept that they have a problem. So it's really about someone admitting they have a problem? Yup.

I loved making this movie. I loved making it with my friends. I loved making it producible. And I loved having fun while making it.