This is STARTER PACK, a column from CULTURED that spotlights your favorite figures at a turning point in their careers, as well as the little rituals and holy grails that have helped propel them to this moment.
Filmmaker Justin Tipping’s big break has come coated in blood, footballs, and Marlon Wayans. It’s an unusual mix, but Tipping has embraced an experimental take on the horror genre with the help of producer extraordinaire Jordan Peele. Tipping’s new film, Him, was put together by Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and is led by Wayans, young upstart Tyriq Withers, and the ever-beguiling Julia Fox.
In the film, Tipping channels the intensity of contemporary sports culture into something far more sinister, reframing the athlete not as a hero but a cog in a twisted system. The leap from football to can’t-look-away shock, he explains, felt like a natural one: “Violence is already inherent in the game. It’s militaristic, combative.”
As Him hits theaters, we caught up with the director to explore the intersection of play and brutal intensity, uncover what keeps Tipping sharp, and learn how small habits can feed major creative leaps.
How Justin Tipping Gets Started:
What’s your favorite way to start your day?
My favorite way to start my day is doomscrolling with a pour-over.
What’s your signature way to start a sentence?
Someone else could probably answer that better, but I’d say furrowing my brow, looking lost in the distance, avoiding eye contact, and just staring into the sky.
Where do you start an outfit?
In the mind.
And what piece?
I start with the pants.
What’s a book you bought but never started?
I’d have to check my Amazon orders, but probably Guns, Germs, and Steel.
Who in your life would you start a band with?
[Him composer] Bobby Krlic. We actually kind of did. We kind of maybe are.
Maybe are?
It’s called Tan Noise. It’s experimental. But you know brown noise [low frequencies often used for relaxation or sleep]? We would make music, but that’s the inspiration. It’s like, brown noise, but tan noise. It’s lo-fi, pop, with me rapping, distortions, and synths.
Who would you start a cult for?
Wow. I was going to say [Love Island USA winner] Amaya Papaya, but she already has a cult. So I’m going to say that there’s this guy that went viral. He’s a Filipino guy who just says something crazy, and then he goes, jokes only.
How do you kick-start a party? How do you ratchet it up?
I’m going to ratchet up a party. Then I’m going to take the turntables, and I’m probably going to play [E-40’s] “Tell Me When to Go.”
When was the last time you started a fight?
Probably this morning, when my dog wouldn’t get off the bed. Her name is Pepsi Spaghetti. She might have a UTI, and earlier she peed on the bed, so I couldn’t let her stay up there. That was probably my last fight.
What’s the last series you binged from start to finish?
Love Con Revenge. It was like two days ago. It’s this Netflix show where they casted girl who was the victim in The Tinder Swindler. They gave her a platform to help other women bring their own con men to justice.
What’s the first thing you do when you get on set?
I think I usually sigh. Actually, this is funny. I’m such a low talker that the AD department has figured out that they should bring a microphone to set for me, so that people can hear me.
What’s something that Jordan Peele said to you during filming which has stuck with you since?
After one of the first test screenings, [Peele] said something to the effect of, “If you can keep that feeling of when it cuts to black, people are going to be talking about this movie for a very long time.”
Justin Tipping’s Starter Pack:
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Espresso tonic
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Serato
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A Frantz Fanon book
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Lumpia
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A ballpoint pen
in your life?
