With the 40th anniversary of Woodstock right upon, us there is currently a great deal of looking back in time and remembering the culturally defining event that was the Woodstock Music and Art Fair. Amidst the emphasis on the center of the festival itself comes a subtle and unique comedy that takes a deeper look into how the festival came to be and how it changed the lives of the people who were affected by it. Based on the memoirs of Elliot Tiber, a key player in the festival's evolution, Taking Woodstock tells the story of one young man on the brink of a great change in his life and the journey he takes with his family as the one of the most significant events of our time takes over the place where they live. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with a few other bay area journalists and listen to some inside perspectives on how this film came to be.

Stand-up comedian Demetri Martin makes his feature starring debut as Elliot Tiber in this film and spoke with us a little bit about his background, his development of a character and the unfamiliar process that it was to him, and some of the parallels between the youth movement portrayed in the film and the changes occurring today.

When you see this film it reminds us of a time of youthful recklessness and whimsical behavior. What in your life would you describe as reckless and whimsical?

"Well, when I was in 5th grade I was really into break dancing. That was my first kind of passion in a weird way," said Demetri Martin. "Then I got into skateboarding starting in sixth grade and I built half pipes for that in my backyard. That was a little more reckless than whimsical. I just loved, I still like skateboarding. I just love any activity that you're just passionate about and it doesn't really have a discernable goal or endpoint. It was just like a fun way to apply yourself and learn how to do something better and better hopefully. Those are the two things that I was really into. Then I started doing stand-up when I was 24, years later, again I don't know how reckless it was. I guess in answering your question I'm realizing that I'm not a very reckless person because that's really the closest I can get to it. I have a lot of food allergies and I don't do drugs and stuff because I'm probably genuinely afraid that I'd have an allergic reaction to something like I'm afraid to try too many new substances or anything so I don't end up being that reckless."

You spent a week with Henry Goodman and Imelda Staunton to try to form a little family. How important was that week and how did you get into forming that bond?

"That was during rehearsals where we were in our production offices not far from where we were shooting in upstate New York," said Martin. "Before I met them I thought, 'Oh wow, these are going to be really experienced actors here and I'm not, at all, so I hope I don't mess up too many scenes.' Those apprehensions aside, just meeting them, I was immediately put at ease because both of them were very warm and seemed excited to be working on the film. We talked about our characters quite a bit.

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