Jack Dylan Grazer and Rob Rice Talk ‘Ponderosa,’ Indie Filmmaking, and Finding the Menace in Comedy (INTERVIEW)

Ponderosa is a surreal dark comedy written and directed by Rob Rice, starring Jack Dylan Grazer as Zeke. The film explores a bizarre dynamic where Zeke’s unwavering passivity drives his counterpart, George, to the brink of desperation. We at FandomWire sat down with Grazer and Rice to discuss the leap from massive studio projects to unsupervised indie films, the challenge of balancing shifting tones, and why the first cut of the movie was entirely too funny.

Ponderosa Tribeca Interview

Bill Camp in Ponderosa, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 6, 2026.

FandomWire: Jack, you have had massive roles very early in your career, but lately you’re taking big swings with surreal dark comedies like this. How do you approach your roles now in your early twenties?

Jack Dylan Grazer: I’m actually not a calculated guy. It just happens circumstantially. I believe things happen serendipitously, and if I’m moved or compelled in any way, I’ll go towards it. All I want to do is play strange, meaningful, and compelling characters. When I read this script, I understood parts of this disease that I could relate to. It was just something interesting that I wanted to unpack, unravel, and play on the screen.

FW: Rob, you’re tackling so many weird, surreal elements. Is that harder to write than something normal, and how did you bring it all together?

Rob Rice: I’ve never written anything normal, so I don’t know. For me, that synthesis is what’s motivating about it. Everything is fair game and invited in. You have to balance all these different tones in a kind of bizarro land, and it just all had to be there.

FW: Jack, you’re playing a character perceived from many different angles because the tone constantly shifts. How did you work with Rob to nail that, and Rob, how did you direct to get the exact tone?

Grazer: I feel like we always kind of had a trick up our sleeves. The film set is the only place where a writer or director can positively manipulate reality in a way that isn’t exploitative because it’s for the best. I wanted everything that could happen to happen, and I completely trusted his creative intuition.

Rice: There’s a way that Zeke has a throughline that allows the tones to alight around him. Most studios want you to have change and an arc, but the point of this film is that the duration of Zeke’s passivity is insanely frustrating to George. George’s arc is only possible because Zeke won’t change. As George tried harder and got nothing, he became more deranged. George flailing is funny and scary, and Zeke’s consistency allowed it to happen.

Jack Dylan Grazer in Ponderosa, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 6, 2026. – Ponderosa

FW: Jack, what are the main differences between working on a project strictly determined by a studio versus working with a director who has much more creative control?

Grazer: I prefer experiences like Ponderosa where I’m working on movies I’d actually want to watch. I love being on a soundstage when there’s money and it’s easy, but a lot of the time they never finish their days. On this, it was a triumph every single day. We worked really quick, and it was a beautiful crew. I just like feeling unsupervised.

Rice: The financing for the film comes from outside of the film industry. We were totally creatively unsupervised, so whoever was in the room was making the film. There’s a thrill to that because there isn’t a net under you, but there’s also no net above you telling you how it should be.

FW: A film like this really comes together in the edit. Rob, walk me through sitting in the editing room as it developed. Jack, what was it like finally seeing the cut?

Rice: We had too much fun while we were making it. We all loved each other. The first cuts were too funny. The editor got the footage, and the most attractive initial footage is inherently funny and full of joy, so the first cut was just a romp. We had to do a lot of darling-killing and shaping back towards that undercurrent of eeriness and menace. We had to work against the humor to keep that horrible seed in there.

Grazer: The first time I watched it, I was completely rattled. I thought, “Does Rob hate me?” and I actually texted him that, which I regret. But I love it. I’ve watched it eleven times, and it only gets better for me. It gets brighter, more round, and all-encompassing. It’s almost like reading a poem where you find all these metaphors you didn’t expect. There are so many great little things to find throughout.

Ponderosa premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, which runs from June 3 – 14, 2026.