Zack Pearlman on Virginity Hit, Catfish and Blockbuster Filmmaking in the YouTube Era

Could the film have been marketed better? I know it started out on college campuses; would it have been better to just release it wide?

I think right after that initial buzz, because of the "Are you a virgin?" thing, I think more people would have been interested. Because it's also capturing the five second attention span of America. And I'm dead serious most people don't watch YouTube videos for more than five or 10 seconds. So what you need to do, in five or 10 seconds, you need to get people into a theater. In all honesty, I have no idea how to market the movie. I have ideas, but who knows if those are going to work? I think everyone gave it their best try. Maybe people will find it on DVD. Hold on (sneezes). Sorry, I had to sneeze.

Bless you.

Thank you.

I always feel weird saying that. I think that came from the middle ages when people could possibly have the plague if they sneezed. I'm fairly certain that you don't have the plague.

It's just like the reason we put "In God We Trust" on our denominations. What the f*ck are we thinking? All religion aside, why would we put "In God We Trust" on all of our dollars. It's so stupid. It's almost fear of the inevitable. "Oh, God, thank you. I will not die now."

It's the fear of what might happen to them after they die if they do things to themselves like you did in your video.

That's true. You know what's really funny? Can you imagine a really anxious person who always needs to hear "Bless you" after they sneeze, and they're alone?

People do get mad if you don't say it. I suppose it's the courtesy factor which people get upset about.

But even on that courtesy, more people say "Bless you" than hold the f*cking door open. If someone is like, "Well, that wasn't very courteous," that's great, man -- next time you have a door and there are people behind you, hold it open for 10 seconds. I don't understand it at all.

That can be tricky, too. Some people hold the door open when I'm too far away and I feel I need to hurry my pace as not to be rude. I'd rather they just not hold the door open.

Oh, yeah, there's a buffer.

Some people don't get the buffer. If it's more than 10 feet, there's no need to hold the door open.

(Laughs) Yes! I'll give it 15, unless they're moving very slow.

When you see something like Catfish, does it piss you off that these guys are trying to pretend their movie is real, as opposed to yours where there's no such claim, but it also didn't get the buzz of Catfish?

If for some reason we marketed ours as a suspense or horror film, which theirs is not -- I'd say it's a black comedy. I think the end is so tragic but funny because these guys are not bewildered at all. I don't mean to speak out, but it surprises me that people think that's a real movie. It's kind of weird to me. And the thing is, if we marketed ours as a horror movie, we would have made crazy amounts of money.

There's your lesson for the next time. Speaking of, what do you have coming up?

I'm writing a movie called Pranksters with my friend Matt Bennett. And I'm writing two TV shows and I honestly do have some suff down the pipeline that I can't talk about. But good stuff coming soon. And everybody go out and see Jackass 3D.

A plug for something you're not in? That's great.

Listen, I want you to put that. [With] the donkey, Ehren was shaking so much. I have to say, with 3-D, the butt volcano was insane. I'd say my favorite one was probably "Bee Tetherball." So everybody go see Jackass 3D.

I feel during every interview a plug should be thrown out for someone else's film.

Hey, that's how our industry grows.

[Top photo by Eric Charbonneau/WireImage]

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