‘The Dink’ Director Josh Greenbaum Wanted to Make the ‘Best in Show’ of Pickleball

The mainstream sports comedy, like many of the protagonists in earlier sports comedies, is making a comeback. Netflix just launched “The Hawk,” a new comedy series that stars Will Ferrell as a has-been golf pro. And this week Apple TV has “The Dink,” a new comedy from director Josh Greenbaum that stars Jake Johnson as a former tennis star who pivots to the world of pickleball. Ed Harris and Mary Steenburgen also star. And even if you don’t know a thing about pickleball, there are still plenty of laughs to be had. “The Dink” is a deliberate throwback to the kind of movie that would regularly enchant moviegoers – a little bit of “Caddyshack” here, a dash of “Major League” there – but are now relegated to the streaming ecosystem. It’s full of heart and humor and humanity, with some lovely bits of gentle absurdity and a genuinely rousing climax. It helps that it was helmed by Greenbaum, who has made some of the funniest comedies of the past few years (“Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar” and the woefully underappreciated “Strays”) and some of the very best documentaries (“Too Funny to Fail,” about “The Dana Carvey Show,” and the deeply moving “Will and Harper”). TheWrap spoke to Greenbaum about what it was like putting together “The Dink” with producer Ben Stiller, making sure the characters were using Apple Music and what we can expect from his next project – and it’s a doozy – “Spaceballs: The New One,” out April 2027. Where did “The Dink” come from? It was put together independently before going to Apple right? We were fortunate enough to have some financiers who believed in the movie and obviously had worked with Ben Stiller before, which was helpful. They had made a film, and so we didn’t take it out. We said, Let’s make it ourselves, make it the way we want to and then we’ll take it out to market. And then we’re very lucky and fortunate to partner with Apple, who saw the film and loved it and we’re going to give it this great global release where people can see it all over the world. We felt very fortunate that we landed there. But you know we took the gamble. I should say our financiers took the gamble. This feels like the kind of thing that big studios would be making in the 2000s. Were you worried at all about somebody picking it up? Luckily I didn’t have to make much of a choice when it came across my desk. It was already financed, so I didn’t have to say, “Hey, should we take it to market or not?” which was nice. I mean, this is no knock to any studios. I’ve worked with most all of them in town, and have had good experiences with most all of them in town as well. But look, whenever you can make something within a bubble, and you can make it with the least amount of interference possible, in my opinion, you get something a little more pure. You get something that is a bit more of a singular voice. I’ll always take that path if it’s given to me. And in this case, it was given to me, including the only thing Jake and I requested slash stipulated was we’d really love to shoot it in Los Angeles. Obviously we live here, our families are here, but it felt like the right home for the story, and it felt like I already knew some places both in Burbank where I live and in Altadena where we thought, Oh these would be great locations. And so we were fortunate enough to get to shoot it in Los Angeles. Which obviously, the more of that we can do, the better. When Apple took it over, did they request anything? No, they got it right away, and that was really great. It was also such a great synergy because music’s a big part of the movie and Candice’s country music — she’s got playlists, and so the only thing I remember was we had to update the phone screens to make sure that they were the right operating system which I totally get. The movie was shot a year-plus ago, and so we updated those. But you had to make sure it was Apple Music and not Spotify? Correct. But luckily enough, I’m an Apple Music guy because I was that guy who had all those CDs years ago, ripped them all, and then they were in my Apple library, and so I’ve stayed loyal. Jake Johnson and Ed Harris in “The Dink” (Apple TV) You seem to always be juggling several projects at once. Was it hard to find time for “The Dink?” It’s a challenge of any director – you want enough things in the hopper where you can keep working and you’re busy. But there are moments where you go, Oh, all of it at once. I remember I was busy. I was finishing up the awards campaign for “Will and Harper” and that was new to me. I had not done any kind of Oscar and awards campaign, and so I remember every other night after I would wrap on set of “The Dink,” I was driving to some screening or Q&A or Academy event. At one point, we shot down in Carson at this really cool giant tennis court for some of the flashback stuff, and I had to get up to Hollywood. And at one point the studio behind “Will and Harper” was like, “Maybe we’ll get you a helicopter.” I was like, “This is crazy, a helicopter?” They’re like, “Because we’ve got to get you up,” and then I was like, “I’ve got to get back. We have a shoot that night with Ed Harris and Ben Stiller.” That was a challenge. But you figure out ways to make it work. I think I was also directing another documentary in the background. But ultimately, once I’m on board a project, that is my sole focus. In the case here, it was such a joy to shoot it in Los Angeles, with an unbelievable cast. We really formed a beautiful family, the whole team. Everyone in “The Dink” has such distinct – and different – comedic stylings. How did you get that to harmonize? It’s always the challenge as a director. I think tone is everything and tone is the job that falls on my shoulders more than any anyone’s. I’ve got to protect the story and the performances. But ultimately all these disparate elements need to live together in the same ecosystem, and that can be challenging. You do it through a lot of different techniques. I think I do it through rehearsals – so everyone in table reads, where everyone can feel like they’re in the same movie. Obviously, music plays a big part, so you feel like it’s all of the same whole, the look and the style. But I’m also a fan of bringing a lot of different flavors into the stew. Aaron Chen is a very different actor than Mary Steenburgen, who’s a very different actor than Ed Harris, who’s very different than Andy Roddick, who hasn’t acted before. And then Ben Stiller and Patton Oswalt and Chloe Fineman. You bring all these ingredients in, and sometimes the goal is that the whole is better than the sum of the parts, and I think that’s my favorite thing as a director is to bring all those elements together and let these creative people do their own thing within the boundaries of the film. Aaron is such a great discovery in this. I love Aaron so much, and he’s a guy who an Australian director friend of mine had turned me on to probably a decade ago. I saw a short film of his, and Jake Johnson, we’re both friends with the same director. We had seen this short, and both of us were like, “We’ve got to get this Aaron guy in something.” And this project came along, and we were like, “Wait, what about Aaron Chen for PJ?” Once he came in and read those lines, it was like, “That’s the guy.” And he is, to your point, he is just so funny. He’s so specific. He’s not a character you’ve seen before, even though you’ve seen the comedic sidekick. It’s like, Well, not this version of it. This comes from a great lineage of sports comedies. Were there things you were leaning into and things that you were purposefully avoiding? I think having Ben Stiller as our producer, you think about films like “Dodgeball” right away, which is an incredibly funny film, but also admittedly a very different film from “The Dink.” They share in the fact that they have ridiculous characters who take the world very seriously, but I think films like “Dodgeball” and “Happy Gilmore” live in a heightened reality, a world that maybe isn’t quite real, whereas ours was much more grounded. But I pulled absolutely from “Dodgeball” and “Happy Gilmore” and thought about those films. I also thought about a film like “Best in Show,” where we’re taking our audience into a world, this weird specific subculture of pickleball, the same way that film did with competitive dog showing. Mary Steenburgen and Jake Johnson in “The Dink” (Apple TV) But a couple other films as references that came to mind were “Little Miss Sunshine,” which is one of my all-time favorites, where you’ve got this underdog ensemble, there’s a lot of heart, and our characters are trying to reclaim their dignity, reclaim their identities in unexpected ways, in places they never thought they would find it. And the last film I remember referencing when I first met with Ben Stiller and talked to Sean and Jake was actually “The Wedding Singer.” And the reason I pitched that and brought that film up was when you think about early Adam Sandler films, you think of “Happy Gilmore,” but you forget that he also had these character-based comedies that had a little bit more heart or were a little more grounded. And sure, there was still totally heightened characters, and it’s very funny. But that was a touchstone for me. You’ll be at San Diego Comic-Con for “Spaceballs.” How is that coming? I’m really excited. It’s weird since the movie’s not coming out till next April, so it’s an odd feeling where I’m so excited, and we just were recording our score at Abbey Road Studios, but because we’ve got 1,500 visual effects shots, they won’t come in till the latter part of the year, all the way into the end of the year. So we won’t really be done done until the end of the year and then we’ll come out next year. But I’m so thrilled, and obviously such an honor to work with Mel to carry on his legacy. He just turned 100. It’s wild to be part of it, and I’m really proud of the film. Also last year it was announced that you were working on a “Care Bears” movie. Where is that now? It’s still super early but I’m excited. The idea is a live-action movie, and other than that, I can’t really give away too much. But it’s early stages. We’ve got a script that I’m excited about, and we’re working towards it. And hopefully I’ll have more next time I talk with you. But back to the question about being busy, you always have a few different projects at different stages, and this one’s at early stages. I’m very excited about the possibility of doing something very funny, but also obviously has a lot of heart. And to be honest, my daughter who’s obsessed with Care Bears wouldn’t let me not make that movie. It’s good you’re finally entering the based-on-a-greeting-card phase of your career. I would like to make that joke but I won’t be able to make that joke. “The Dink” premieres Friday on Apple TV.