I spoke to Sam Dunning and Stimson Snead via Zoom on March 12, 2024, about TIM TRAVERS AND THE TIME TRAVELER'S PARADOX, a fiendishly clever sci-fi comedy about identity, reality, and the travails of getting a cup of coffee that had just had its world premiere at Cinequest. In it, the title character, played by Dunning, attempts to solve the eponymous paradox only to find himself surrounded by many versions of himself from slightly different time frames. It’s the sort of film that proves the proposition that time is an illusion, and reality, when you get down to particle physics, can do some very odd things, and I was delighted that Snead, who wrote, directed, and co-stars, had included a healthy dose of real physics, and some speculation that might turn out to be solid theoretical thinking someday. This is, after all, a guy who created a semi-dystopian 2026 for his film and filled it with screamingly funny thought experiments come to life, and a very serious consideration of how hard it can be to genuinely love yourself.

I will let the orgy speak for itself.

I did get around to asking about why he specifically chose 2026, but before we got there, I needed to know if there were psychological/cathartic implications to writing (Snead)/acting (Dunning) the many facets of one deeply flawed character; how they did the flawless special effects that brought multiple Tim Travers to startling life; and the rasp in co-star Joel McHale’s voice.

The film co-stars Danny Trejo, Felicia Day, Keith David, David Babbit as many, many people, and Nicole Murray as the bartender whose French braid evokes unwarranted animosity.

Snead directed from his own script (based on his short film of the same name; and also made the effects so spiffy.