INTERVIEW: Filmmaker Justin Johnson's Nipple Factory

His documentary covers the C word with surprising humor and heart.

I’ve known Justin Johnson (AKA JUSTINSUPERSTAR) for close to 15 years now. I met him in the early days of the internet, the pre-YouTube era, when a handful of young filmmakers posted short films online. We were “online friends” for a while until I moved to NYC, and he invited me to work for Next New Networks, a pioneer in short-form internet video. It’s where I won two Webby awards and became a D-list internet personality!

But listen, this isn’t about me.

It’s about Justin, who had a large hand in my D-list internet celebrity! And who has been making documentaries since I’ve known him. His second feature-length film is MOM & DAD’S NIPPLE FACTORY.

The film follows Justin’s conservative Christian parents' secret prosthetic nipple business for people who have gone through breast cancer.

And listen, jerks, it’s one of the year's best documentary films. That’s right. It’s getting the coveted Bobby Miller seal of approval. A concept I may or may not have just made up.

Watch the trailer below and join me for a friendly interview.

Years ago, you pitched me the idea for your doc. Even back then, you knew it would called "Mom and Dad's Nipple Factory." I remember you asking if you should make it, and I said, "Dude, you have to, based on the title alone.” Can you talk about its beginnings? I feel like you had some resistance to making it at first.

Yes. It's a very personal story that started as a short film. As a short, it was a lot easier to pitch to my parents because I told them it'd be five to eight minutes and would just take a few weekends. Really, because my dad is so quiet and so shy, I didn't expect him to even talk.

And I shot a little bit with my parents and I just couldn't figure it out and I think that Bobby, our conversation, I'm sure was early on. And I remember being at film festivals in 2015 talking about this... In 2017, I was at film festivals talking about this. And people... Same thing. I tell them the pitch, I tell them about my parents' business, and then they would be like, "Oh, you have to do this, you have to finish this."

Once I figured out that it was really about my parents' love story, I cracked the code, and it became something bigger and more universal.

But I was probably, I guess a little bit reluctant. It's hard to remember because that was 2015. So, gosh, almost 10 years ago. And I was nervous to talk about it for sure, but I think I hadn't found the heart of it yet and so once I found the heart, then it was a lot easier.

When you mention the C word, a lot of people tense up, either because cancer has affected them or because they just don't want to think about it. Your documentary does the tricky thing of presenting this story with tremendous heart and humor. It never feels heavy. In fact, it’s really aspirational. Knowing your work, this doesn't surprise me, but did you have any trouble finding the tone or deciding what to keep in or take out? 

Initially, it felt more art house, and I would do these things called video blogs, which would be arty with lots of slow motion and electronic music. So, I had some early cuts that were a lot more vibey, I think. Once I started working with this great producer, Jason Cohen, one of the things that he really recommended to me was, "Hey, people are going to make assumptions about Wisconsin. We really got to have a country influence." He also wanted to push the humor of the situation a little bit more.

And I think from a musical element, it was important to have something that felt a little bit country. And honestly, the soundtrack part of it was one of my favorite things because we were able to build this soundtrack that has guitar and theremin, which is this quirky electronic music instrument, and so theremin represented my dad's experimental side, and then the country was this backbone of Midwest, what people would expect of it.

The soundtrack is available on Spotify for free BTW.

I admire documentary filmmakers because, for me, the question is, when are you done? Like, when is the movie done? With narrative, there are all of these pragmatic considerations, things that need to be done by X date. But, with a documentary, you could still be shooting this thing. I saw a cut of the film, pre-pandemic, that I thought was pretty damn strong. And yet, you still went in and kept shooting and retooling. Can you talk about that process? When the heck do you know when you're done?

I'm sure that, Bobby, you probably saw a more vibey cut of it, honestly, because that would've been before Jason was really super involved. I always had a particular vision of what the film was, and there were a few pieces that really were the last pieces of the film that I think were really important, and that was the interview with Dr. Curry, their doctor who was in Florida, and he was really hard to track down.

We tried for years to get him to respond to emails, and he is a busy guy. And finally... I was like, "I'm just going to try one more time to get ahold of this guy." And we finally did, and it was amazing. We had a remote crew go down to Florida to film with him, and the amount of energy that he brings to the film just because you have this stoic Midwestern characters, and then you have this guy who's bigger than life, and he's in Florida, and it really brings that element of, "An expert is weighing in and saying it's good."

I knew it was going to be really tough to have a full film without that expert voice saying, "Yep, they knew what they're doing. This is good. I was impressed." So that was a big part of it, and it took a while.

And then the other part was these before and after type scenes of my parents' customers. I think we put up some postings in Los Angeles. It's a strange ask, but once they knew the heart behind the film, it really made a big difference.

With those two additional elements, I felt like we had a full and rounded story.

Your folks are conservative, and I found how you handled their faith very refreshing, especially at a time when the country is so divided. How did you approach this aspect of the film?

I wanted it to be very light touch, and I didn't want it to seem like I was making fun of them because I really think, of course, my parents' faith is such a huge part of their lives, and I never wanted to be mocking or poking fun at it. For this film to succeed, it really needed to be something that could be appreciated by both sides, and I think there is an interesting aspect where I definitely get some questions at Q&As where people say, "Oh, well, what's your spiritual journey like, Justin?"

And so I like the fact that people think that maybe I would go back to the faith as a part of this, but I'm glad it's ambiguous. I wanted it to be a celebration of Midwestern people who get stuff done and don't ask for a lot in return. And I wanted it to be something where, "Hey, there's parts of it that I think are funny," Like my mom singing Happy Birthday to Jesus on Christmas. I think that's funny, and I laugh a little bit, but different audiences react in different ways, and I think that's just a really important line for us to tread.

Honestly, I think art that treads this line may be the most interesting at this juncture in time.

You've toured the film nationwide at many wonderful film festivals. What’s been the reaction to the film? Did certain states react in different ways?

I found that it was less about different states acting in different ways. I think if we would've screened in Europe, it would've been a really interesting reaction, because obviously their attitude towards the female nipple and toplessness and that kind of thing is a lot different in certain parts of Europe, of course, than America.

We screened in San Francisco and we've screened in Milwaukee and all over the place, and I really think that the reactions are pretty consistent, which I think is nice. We did get a pretty incredible response in Milwaukee because it is this hometown story.

We’ve also been able to do screenings with cancer foundations, and those were some of the most powerful reactions that I've ever heard to the film. I think it was very cathartic for them.

But I'm thankful that generally we get laughs and we get tears and pretty consistently, no matter where it's at.

It’s a great film and I encourage everyone to check it out. You can rent/own it on all platforms. Check NippleFactoryFilm.com