Where does one begin with Tyler Davidson? I mean truly, where can one begin? Yes I can absolutely talk on and on about someone who I love and am very lucky enough to call a personal friend, someone who I met about 12 years ago when introduced through mutuals. I can talk on and on about how kind and generous he is, from just being hospitable while having dinner and a movie night hosted in his home or connecting me with his friend, Academy Award Nominee, Justin Henry (an interview I was granted for this wonderful website). He even allowed me pitch ideas for scripts and audition for his latest movie. Eventually, I was even able to be on set ironically the day my character I auditioned for was filming his death scene ( the timing was great).
Luckily I get to talk not only about Tyler here because he was generous yet again to sit down with me for about 45 minutes and talk his latest film, Buddy- but I will also be reviewing the movie as I was able to see it in April of this year at the Cleveland Film Festival right after Sundance and I have been sitting on this review for months, so let’s get the review out first and then I’ll be able to share my sit down below with Tyler Davidson, producer of films like Take Shelter, Emily the Criminal, The Land, The Signal, Swedish Auto and now the horror film- Buddy.
Note: This review is spoiler-free
Buddy is coming out in a year when horror movies are truly having a MOMENT and honestly it’s a welcome addition to the slate of original and fun horror.
The film is about a children’s TV show that harbors a dark secret, a unicorn that is “friends with everyone,” a unicorn that lives within a kids show and yet when the kids start to disappear one-by-one, our favorite unicorn, Buddy, insists that everything is a-ok to our main protagonist Freddy. Is this reality? Is this a fantasy?
Now when I tell you that trying to sum up this movie in a “quick” explanation is hard, I truly mean it. It’s difficult, not because it’s not truly unexplainable, but because I think the best way to talk about this movie includes giving full spoilers and obviously as stated above I said it’s gonna be spoiler free, so I’m going to review this movie as my experience with it rather than a “regular” review.
So, I had the privilege of not only knowing about this project for a while before production was even getting started but also to audition for a role in the film as “Mailman Miles.” On top of that, I was able to be on set for filming and yes again, the producer is a friend of mine so I am grateful for the experiences with this film that I have had. This includes watching it with a packed house at the Cleveland International Film Festival in April of this year- where not only was a giant chunk of the cast and crew there but so was Tyler along with director, Casper Kelly. Going into the screening all I kept thinking to myself is “how was this going to translate on screen?” What I mean by that as someone who has been on many movie sets of various budgets, not only do I know first hand how fake everything is in the movies but when I say to you I was on set for this during filming of being in the Buddy TV show this set was FAKE and I’m like- wow, so intriguing cause, what?
So there I am at the screening and the movie starts and I am instantly hit with everything I saw in real life and I think to myself- “goddamn, wow”. Not only was my curiosity of how this was going to translate absolutely obliterated but everything just worked so well in only a way that Casper Kelly could make it work. The comedy hit and hit so well with watching with a giant group of people, but the horror aspect was so camp and almost everything about this movie just was near perfect.
Almost? Near perfect? Lucy, ‘splain!
Okay, so one thing I am is honest and I’m never afraid to back down on anything as long as there is constructive criticism, that includes work of my friends as I expect the same thing back from them and this film is no different. Earlier in June of this year, Tyler had hosted myself and a friend for dinner at his house where we got to talking about Buddy because we hadn’t had the chance to speak after the screening and outside of a few texts there wasn’t any real time to talk about the film. So I mentioned to him all I said above- how the casting was great was also included and how much fun this movie really is- but ( and I said this to him) “for being a horror movie I find it to be tame on not only blood but scares.” That’s why I said it’s near perfect, for me as a huge deeply rooted horror fan I need a horror movie to have more horror elements, but I also understand how and why this movie doesn’t have that. It’s a fantasy horror, it’s camp and either way I am here for it through and through.
Buddy is an absolute wild ride of WTF and I love it so much.
So eventually I was able to talk to Tyler and we sat down for an interview a week back to discuss everything about the film and what exactly he does- it went like this.
Joey Gentile: Tyler, thank you so much for taking the time to sit down with me and talk all things Buddy.
Tyler Davidson: Thank you so much for having me.
JG: Wild to have you across from me for the first time in this type of work zone.
TD: No, truly. But I am looking forward to it.
JG: Same, so let’s dive right in. One of the first things I always do when I interview talent is a fun ice breaker- but this is the first time I’m interviewing a producer and not an actor so you actually get an icebreaker in the form of not one, but two questions.
TD: Oh, boy!
JG: Tyler, if an investor came to you and said- “Here’s a $100 million dollar budget for you to revisit a single film you’ve made and make a sequel, which world do you want to spend the time in again and revisit for said sequel?” Second part of your ice breaker- because this is a horror film and Buddy is a slasher movie to an extent under the giant umbrella of horror- “as a producer, you now have access to any existing IP, so in horror you are offered the chance to make a sequel or remake to any horror movie that’s come before, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre etc. Which film are you making?”
TD: (Laughs) Oh wow, So first of all I technically do think that Buddy is a slasher which is wild because I’m not really a slasher kind of guy- because to me what is scary about Buddy is the psychological horror of it all. I love that it can deliver some of the gore for that audience in that way- so regarding the second question- I have to come back to you on that. But very easily the answer to the first question would be doing a sequel to Buddy. There is so much more I want to explore so honestly, that one was easy to answer- but yes, lemme think on the other question.
JG: Welcome to my ice breakers. – so Tyler, for those who may not know- tell me what a producer does. What is your job when you yourself are making a film?
TD: So I think of producing as a job of putting all of the elements together and then managing the process once all of those elements are in place. What we do and what producers do typically vary from project to project. What we do, (and when I say we I am speaking on behalf of my production company Low Spark Films) we are unique to some extent in that we are both creative producers who are very hands-on in the actual steps into making the movie. From the development of the script to the casting, to the hiring of the key personnel to just being on set everyday, but we are also a part of the financing. Typically producers focus on one or the other but we have always done both.
JG: So the absolute blast I had with this film also had me wondering since April when I had seen the film- something I have been absolutely wracking my brain on is how in the hell was this movie pitched to you? Because I truly cannot figure out how to explain this movie to people without spoiling anything or how I would’ve pitched it. So how was this brought to you and what were your initial thoughts?
TD: It was pitched to us by one of the principals at Boulderlight Pictures. My producing partner Drew Sykes and I had met with Rafi (Raphael) Margules in Los Angeles in October of 2024 and we had had a few beers before we got to the “Buddy of it all”. At the end of the conversation Rafi said “ hey we have a script that is completely unhinged. It is from the creator of Too Many Cooks and he said this movie is essentially about a Barney the dinosaur type that goes off the rails.” Frankly that type of less is more framing is what we’ve gone with throughout the whole process, from submitting to festivals to even gearing up for its general release. It’s a movie that is hard to capture in a logline, so if audiences are going in without knowing about the multiple layers of the film it’s a better watch. So Drew and I read the script and we thought it was just such a unique and unhinged idea so we went with it.
JG: Unhinged is a great way to describe this movie for sure. As someone like myself who specifically comes from theatre and comedy, I was genuinely shocked and pleased with how funny this movie was and how theatre-like camp it comes off as it does. But also someone like myself who is in love with all things horror, was it always intended through Casper Kelly to be as truly funny as it was? Or was it like throwing spaghetti at the wall and just seeing what sticks when it came to balancing the horror and the comedy so well? Because I don’t think as a viewer there is really a way to comprehend what you’re watching until the movie is fully over and you have time to soak it in.
TD: A lot of what you see in the final film is what you saw on the pages of the script. So sitting with Casper and having the many conversations we had with him, we really started to get a really solid sense of what this was going to be. The full feeling of the film doesn’t hit until you get through the entire thing, you are absolutely right there- this movie exists at least partly in this world of this children’s television show from the 90s and if the audience watching it is feeling partly unsettled through the experience of the watch, but with that the goal has been landing that feeling of unsettlement with our audience no matter how over the top it needs to be.
JG: Alright Tyler, I got a personal one for you on this- 2026 has been ridiculously successful for horror and the box office pedestal is set. From Obsession to Backrooms and especially with the ages of these directors, does that make you nervous or excited with how horror has been set up this year and if this can reach the same platform for people?
TD: We see the trajectory for 2026 with horror as a positive for us and the film. For us you know this movie was conceived and shot before Obsession and Backrooms came out, so the fact that we are fitting into that continuum as the next in line is just a testament that this type of filmmaking is playing into the zeitgeist right now. We are ready for that, we want audiences coming riding that wave, audiences right now are looking for bold and original film making that aren’t necessarily CGI or AI and that feels tangible and that can deliver an experience.
JG: Funny you mention CGI and AI because I was going to bring both of those up, so perfect segue there. One thing I mentioned to you last summer with being on set with you was how this was going to translate on camera because I was genuinely so curious because everything I saw while on set was practical effects and as someone who loves horror more than anything I miss when we got really good practical effects and holy hell does it work here. So as a producer what is your take on films going from practical effects to the last 25 years or so with CGI developing and now there’s all this AI talk going on and using either one of those techniques over using practical effects?
TD: Well we always want to go practical first. In any situation where practical is an option we want to use that because not only is it a better viewing experience but it can look better too. I have no issue using CGI when it’s needed and an effect absolutely cannot look correct without the use of it. I don’t subscribe at this point to the use of AI (and we used none in Buddy). First of all, there are people with jobs who can truly do it better and second, audiences are wanting something real in the face of this onslaught of AI where we are being force fed in every point of our lives.
JG: This is not your first horror film, you’ve produced others like The Beach House, Compliance and The Signal– so what is it about this genre that keeps you coming back? Because it seems to be outside of drama the most returned to genre for you thus far.
TD: You mentioned it earlier that horror is such a large umbrella and I think the horror I love most being psychological horror from the 60s, 70s and 80s like Rosemary’s Baby & Jacob’s Ladder where you really get to have the experience of these characters. So it’s funny when Boulderlight Pictures has been delivering these new favorites like Barbarian they’re talking to Casper Kelly about delivering that type of experience and I’m over here like “hey remember, when Mia Farrow is being gaslit by such and such character” these are the blended conversations we would have for something like Buddy. When it all comes together I just love making audiences feel uncomfortable, subverting expectations from things that can be seen as comfortable and making them feel the opposite.
JG: Ready for the most cliche question in this whole interview? What do you hope audiences take away from this film?
TD: I just really hope audiences have fun with this, like this is a movie that is meant to be seen with an audience in a theatre, that was our goal from day one. It’s a fun theater watch because it’s a movie that is so unexpected in so many ways.
JG: Bring back the icebreaker- Have you figured out which IP you want to make a sequel or remake with yet?
TD: So just to be honest I loved so many of the franchises I never really connected with any of them like I had with A Nightmare on Elm Street.
JG: Well you know..-
(Tyler and Joey smile at each other and laugh at inside information)
TD: Oh, I know.
JG: Wonderfully full circle and ironic.
TD: Truly.
JG: Tyler, this has been a genuine blast to talk shop with you on the record for the first time. I know we talk a lot off the record when we are together but I am honored and thankful you were down for this interview for InSession.
TD: I had a really good time, thank you so much for having me.
Buddy hits theaters August 28th, 2026 nationwide. Go have fun with this movie, it’s an absolute blast.
