Q & A with NEWLYWEEDS writer/director Shaka King, producer Gbenga Akinnagbe and actor Hassan Johnson, recorded September 19, 2013 - explicit

Summary: NEWLYWEEDS: Variety calls this debut feature by Brooklyn filmmaker Shaka King an “alternately romantic, comedic and melancholy look at barely functioning dopeheads.” The story of a hip young couple trying to keep their lives and relationship together while sharing a voracious appetite for cannabis, NEWLYWEEDS feels like no other stoner comedy. Set in Bed-Stuy, the film follows Lyle (Amari Cheatom) as he spends days reclaiming property for Manny’s Rent-to-Own, and nights with Nina (Trae Harris), a tour guide for the Brooklyn Children’s Museum. Their grass habit stokes an hallucinatory safe zone for them to dream of grander lives, but also provokes a series of wacky mishaps and questionable choices. Neither an endorsement nor a condemnation of marijuana, NEWLYWEEDS plays like a Spike Lee and “Louie” mashup — a subtle, nuanced and often endearingly funny depiction of struggling urban coupledom. This podcast is a recording of the Q & A with NEWLYWEEDS writer/director Shaka King, producer Gbenga Akinnagbe and actor Hassan Johnson, recorded September 19, 2013, at a screening of the film at Film Forum. Note: explicit