Judd Apatow and Justin Nappi Honored at San Diego Film Festival

Photo by Michael Bitanga

Judd Apatow, Justin Nappi, and Chris Brinker were the men of the night at the San Diego Film Festival held at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. The night was filled with humor, and a pure love of cinema that radiated throughout the auditorium.

Michael B. Jordan, star of the critically acclaimed Fruitvale Station, honored Nappi, and David Koechner, star of Anchorman and Anchorman 2, had the pleasure of honoring Apatow. The San Diego Film Festival also introduced a new award: the Chris Brinker Award for the first directorial debut. Brinker, who passed earlier this year, was the talented producer of the cult classic, Boondock Saints. Troy Duffy, the director of Boondock Saints, honored the late producer.

The night started off with the very talented Jordan honoring Nappi, a young and extremely talented producer who’s responsible for bringing some amazing films to the screen, such as Arbitrage, and All is Lost.

The night rolled along when Duffy shared some kind, funny, and heart-felt words about how him and Brinker started out at a restaurant, and how they came about immersing themselves in the world of Indie cinema.

“I was a line cook, he was a bartender. And by restaurant I mean strip bar, but it was a nice one,” Duffy said.

Duffy later explained that they parted ways, and when they reunited, Brinker was an assistant at New Line Cinema: “A bartender and an assistant are just a dynamic duo of filmmaking prowess.”

Duffy, trying to contain his emotions, shared some dear words about Brinker as well.

“How he died was the smallest part, how he lived was what was important. He wasn’t just physically big, he was big in his life, and his personality.”

Judd Apatow and Jeffrey Lyons

The main man of the night was presented by Koechner, better known as Champ in Anchorman and Anchorman 2, with a hilarious speech.

Koechner was joined by Kathryn Hahn, and Will Ferrell, who was in character as Ron Burgundy.

“Judd, congratulations my friend. You’ve done it, you’ve climbed the top of the mountain. You’ve made it to the world famous, regionally famous, semi-regionally famous San Diego Film Festival,” Ferrell said. “You’ve got creative juices flowing out of your butthole.”

After Apatow accepted his award, he had a one-on-one with Jeffrey Lyons, and spoke about many stories from his career, including one when he was thirteen years old, trying to get Steve Martin’s autograph.

“ I said ‘Mr. Martin, can I have your autograph please?’ And he said ‘I’m sorry, I don’t sign autographs on my house.’ And I said, ‘will you sign it in the street?’ “

He even talked about his TV show Freaks and Geeks, explaining what it was to be a freak or a geek in high school.

“You felt like down deep, maybe there’s something special about me that no one seems to notice.”

Apatow truly makes comedies that we can all relate to, and he finds humor in all the difficult situations in life, and speaks about the main villain in his films.

“I love movies with villains, but when I’m writing I never think of villains because I think life is the villain. It’s hard enough. It’s hard enough to get through school, it’s hard enough to just try and get along with your spouse, or have sex adequately.”

The San Diego Film Festival continues today with amazing films on deck, such as 2 Jacks, and the German Doctor. Grab your tickets or VIP passes for an amazing few days of beautiful cinema.