TORONTO — Matthew Weiner is accustomed to anxiously guarding the secrecy of "Mad Men." Talking candidly about his feature film directing debut, "You Are Here," goes against his practiced paranoia.


"It's weird," he says, laughing. "I guess in this case, you really kind of want to tell people what it's about."


Then, after a pause, he's himself again. "But I do think, like all entertainment, on some level: the less you know, the better."


At the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday, Weiner premiered "You Are Here," a contemporary comedy about a Maryland weatherman (Owen Wilson) whose best friend from childhood (Zach Galifianakis) is bequeathed a lucrative country estate by his deceased father. It forces both friends to grow up and face some things in their life.


"Male friendship is so complicated and you sort of wonder: What is the purpose of it?" Weiner said in a recent interview. "That's kind of what I was writing about, these two characters who are bound together by not growing up, and what happens if somebody starts to move on?"


The film, a mix of comedy and drama, doesn't bear any of the stylish severity of "Mad Men," his AMC cable TV drama about a Madison Avenue advertising agency in the `60s. But its characters do have some of ad exec Don Draper's melancholy. However, "You Are Here" is a much more earnest story, one that Weiner first wrote (with Wilson in mind) in between his first two seasons as a writer on the mob drama "The Sopranos."


He spent years trying to get it made, then had to shelve it when "Mad Men" became an Emmy-winning sensation. But his new status also enabled him to finally get financing for the film.


"This is not a graduation for me," he says. "It's hopefully just a continuation of my work in a different form. Getting your own TV show, that is really, really hard to do. I'm greedy for even asking to make a movie."


But, like David Chase did after "The Sopranos" with the 2012 film "Not Fade Away," Weiner is in some ways going against the currents of pop culture. Because of shows like "Mad Men" and "The Sopranos," television is where a lot of movie talent is flocking, drawn by its potential for longer, more in depth storytelling, and pushed out by the recent movie industry pull back on medium-sized films for adults.


"I've never really understood the hierarchy," says Weiner. "They're very different forms to me. I had been encouraged during the many years to get `Mad Men' made to turn that into a feature, and I knew that was a television show."


For his transition to moviemaking, Weiner, as he says, "cheated a little bit." On the North Carolina shoot, he brought almost his entire "Mad Men" crew, from his cinematographer to his prop master.


"You Are Here" is seeking distribution, but meanwhile, Weiner is writing the seventh and final season of "Mad Men." For him, the difference between TV and movies is ultimately about their end points.


"It's really about how much resolution it has," he says. "Lots of movies end with a here-we-go-again or a sequel, but a lot of the movies I love – especially some of the movies I was sort of trying to emulate here, like `Five Easy Pieces,' or some of the Billy Wilder movies I love, or a lot of movies about friendship, `The Last Detail' – when you try to look at these movies, they drop you off at a very different place than where they started. TV shows can do that, but you really don't want to close any of the knots."


"As I'm saying this," Weiner adds, "I'm like, `Oh, man. I need to end my TV show.' Oh, God, I really have to."


___


Follow AP Entertainment Writer Jake Coyle on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/jake_coyle




Loading Slideshow...



  • Brad Pitt


    Brad Pitt arrives at the premiere for "12 Years a Slave" on day 2 of the Toronto International Film Festival at The Princess of Wales Theatre on Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzelloi/Invision/AP)




  • "12 Years A Slave" Premiere - Arrivals - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 06: Actor/ producer Brad Pitt arrives at the '12 Years A Slave' Premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 6, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • "12 Years A Slave" Premiere - Arrivals - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 06: Actor/ producer Brad Pitt arrives at the '12 Years A Slave' Premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 6, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • "12 Years A Slave" Premiere - Arrivals - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 06: Actor/ producer Brad Pitt arrives at the '12 Years A Slave' Premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 6, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • "12 Years A Slave" Premiere - Arrivals - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 06: Actor/ producer Brad Pitt arrives at the '12 Years A Slave' Premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 6, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • Brad Pitt


    Brad Pitt arrives at the premiere for "12 Years a Slave" on day 2 of the Toronto International Film Festival at The Princess of Wales Theatre on Friday, Sept. 6, 2013, in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzelloi/Invision/AP)




  • Brad Pitt


    Brad Pitt arrives at the red carpet at the gala for the new movie "12 Years a Slave" during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Friday, Sept. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)




  • "Hateship Loveship" Premiere - Arrivals - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 06: Actress Kristen Wiig arrives at 'Hateship Loveship' Premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 6, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • "Hateship Loveship" Premiere - Arrivals - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 06: Actress Sami Gayle arrives at 'Hateship Loveship' Premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 6, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • Kristen Wiig


    Kristen Wiig, a cast member in "Hateship Loveship," poses at the premiere of the film on day 2 of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at The Princess of Wales Theatre on Friday, Sept. 6, 2013 in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)




  • Kristen Wiig


    Kristen Wiig, a cast member in "Hateship Loveship," waves to fans before heading into the theater for the premiere of the film on day 2 of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at The Princess of Wales Theatre on Friday, Sept. 6, 2013 in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)




  • "Only Lovers Left Alive" Premiere - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 05: Actress Mia Wasikowska (L) and actor Tom Hiddleston attend the 'Only Lovers Left Alive' premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Ryerson Theatre on September 5, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • "Only Lovers Left Alive" Premiere - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 05: (L-R) Actors Tom Hiddleston, Mia Wasikowska and Anton Yelchin attend the 'Only Lovers Left Alive' premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Ryerson Theatre on September 5, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • "Only Lovers Left Alive" Premiere - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 05: Actress Mia Wasikowska attends the 'Only Lovers Left Alive' premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Ryerson Theatre on September 5, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • "Only Lovers Left Alive" Premiere - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 05: Actress Mia Wasikowska attends the 'Only Lovers Left Alive' premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Ryerson Theatre on September 5, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • "All Cheerleaders Die" Premiere - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 05: Actress Caitlin Stasey arrives at the 'All Cheerleaders Die' premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Ryerson Theatre on September 5, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • "All Cheerleaders Die" Premiere - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 05: Actresses Sianoa Smit-McPhee (L) and Reanin Johannink arrive at the 'All Cheerleaders Die' premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Ryerson Theatre on September 5, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • "All Cheerleaders Die" Premiere - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 05: Actress Reanin Johannink arrives at the 'All Cheerleaders Die' premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Ryerson Theatre on September 5, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • "All Cheerleaders Die" Premiere - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 05: Actress Amanda Grace Cooper arrives at the 'All Cheerleaders Die' premiere during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Ryerson Theatre on September 5, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • Benedict Cumberbatch


    Actor Benedict Cumberbatch attends the opening night "The Fifth Estate" gala at Roy Thomson Hall during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013, in Toronto. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)




  • Carice Van Houten


    Actress Carice Van Houten poses for photographs as she arrives at the gala for the new movie "The Fifth Estate" during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)




  • Dan Stevens


    Actor Dan Stevens attends the opening night "The Fifth Estate" gala at Roy Thomson Hall during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013, in Toronto. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)




  • Carice Van Houten


    Actress Carice Van Houten attends the opening night gala for "The Fifth Estate" at Roy Thomson Hall during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013, in Toronto. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)




  • Daniel Bruhl


    Actor Daniel Bruhl attends the opening night gala for "The Fifth Estate" at Roy Thomson Hall during 2013 Toronto International Film Festival on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013, in Toronto. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)




  • Benedict Cumberbatch


    Actor Benedict Cumberbatch poses for a photographs on the red carpet at the gala for the new movie "The Fifth Estate" during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)




  • Dan Stevens


    Actor Dan Stevens poses for photographs on the red carpet at the gala for the new movie "The Fifth Estate" during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)




  • Benedict Cumberbatch


    Benedict Cumberbatch walks on the red carpet at the gala for the new movie "The Fifth Estate" during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)




  • Alicia Vikander


    Alicia Vikander poses for a photograph on the red carpet at the gala for the new movie "The Fifth Estate" during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)




  • Daniel Bruhl


    Actor Daniel Bruhl walks the red carpet at the gala for the new movie "The Fifth Estate" during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)




  • Daniel Bruhl


    Actor Daniel Bruhl, right, poses for photographs on the red carpet at the gala for the new movie "The Fifth Estate" during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Nathan Denette)




  • Benedict Cumberbatch


    Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, right, poses for photographs on the red carpet at the gala for the new movie "The Fifth Estate" during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival in Toronto on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Frank Gunn)




  • Glenn Close


    Glenn Close, a cast member in the 1983 film "The Big Chill," poses for photographers before a reunion screening of the film at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at The Princess of Wales Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013 in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)




  • Mary Kay Place, Kevin Kline, JoBeth Williams


    Mary Kay Place, left, Kevin Kline, center, and JoBeth Williams, cast members in the 1983 film "The Big Chill," pose before a reunion screening of the film at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at The Princess of Wales Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013 in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)




  • Glenn Close, Mary Kay Place, Kevin Kline, Meg Tilly, Tom Berenger, JoBeth Williams


    Cast members, from left, Glenn Close, Mary Kay Place, Kevin Kline, Meg Tilly, Tom Berenger and JoBeth Williams pose before a reunion screening of the 1983 film "The Big Chill" at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at The Princess of Wales Theatre on Thursday, Sept. 5, 2013 in Toronto. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)




  • "The Big Chill" 30th Anniversary Screening - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 05: Actress Meg Tilly arrives at 'The Big Chill' 30th Anniversary screening during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 5, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • "The Big Chill" 30th Anniversary Screening - 2013 Toronto International Film Festival


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 05: (L-R) Actors Mary Kay Place, Kevin Kline and JoBeth Williams arrive at 'The Big Chill' 30th Anniversary screening during the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival at Princess of Wales Theatre on September 5, 2013 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • NEXT: TIFF Most Memorable Red Carpet Looks




  • Kristen Stewart - 2012


    (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • Tilda Swinton - 2011


    (Photo by Aaron Harris/Getty Images)




  • Kate Hudson - 2012


    (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)




  • Carey Mulligan - 2010


    (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • Keira Knightley - 2011


    (Photo by Toby Canham/Getty Images)




  • Keira Knightley - 2012


    TORONTO, ON - SEPTEMBER 07: Actress Keira Knightley attends the 'Anna Karenina' premiere during the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival at The Elgin on September 7, 2012 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • Emma Watson - 2012


    (Photo by Jerod Harris/Getty Images For Vitaminwater)




  • Rachel McAdams - 2008


    (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • Drew Barrymore - 2009


    (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • Angelina Jolie - 2011


    (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images)




  • Maggie Gyllenhaal - 2005


    (Photo by Donald Weber / Getty Images)




  • Jessica Chastain - 2011


    (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)




  • Julianne Moore - 2012


    (Photo by Mark Davis/Getty Images)




  • Julianne Moore - 2009


    (Photo by C.J. LaFrance/Getty Images)