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It’s rare that you get the opportunity to talk with someone at the end of a film festival and have them close the interview by telling you that they’ve told you a lot of things they haven’t said to other interviewers. This is the situation that I was presented with when I chatted with HIGH School director John Stalberg, whose film brought the house down as part of Sundance’s Park City at Midnight category. In my review, I called the film worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as both Dazed and Confused and John Hughes.

In the following conversation, which was conducted casually at the Yarrow Hotel with the soothing sounds of Paula Cole playing in the background, we talk about stoner comedies, what it took to bring some big names (Adrien Brody and Michael Chiklis) to this little drug-infused movie and what we might see in a sequel and on the DVD. It’s perhaps my favorite interview of the festival, and well worth your time.

Watch the very long, but very entertaining conversation below. You can also read more coverage of Sundance 2010 here.