Comedian Mike Birbiglia's new film is about improv, friendship and the struggles that go along with striving for your big break; "The Wolf of Wall Street" producer Red Granite Films is at the center of a federal complaint alleging that the film was financed with embezzled funds from Malaysia; We look into the history of pop song usage at political conventions.
'Don't Think Twice': Mike Birbiglia's love letter to friendship and the art of improv
“Don’t Think Twice” is a new film about an improv comedy troupe written and directed by comedian Mike Birbiglia. But it’s not all laughs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUm2DXeEXr4
Birbiglia, Gillian Jacobs, Tami Sagher, Chris Gethard, Keegan-Michael Key and Kate Micucci are members of an improv troupe that eats, lives, plays and performs together until one of them — played by Key — lands a spot on a late night sketch show. He’s excited, but also feels guilty about leaving his colleagues behind.
When Sagher and Birbiglia joined The Frame host John Horn in studio, we began with the script, which — despite being about improvisors — was actually heavily written.
Interview Highlights:
What was the process for writing the script?
Birbiglia: I wrote 10 or 12 drafts of the script over the course of 18 months, and I would have readings at my house with writers and actors like Tami and Chris Gethard as well. Often, Craig Mazin would come if he were in town, or Brian Koppelman.
These are all screenwriters?
Birbiglia: All screenwriters and filmmakers. The script early on was really bumpy. I remember a lot of readings where Ira Glass, our producer, would be like, Mike, it's not a movie. I don't understand what you're making. It's not a movie. And he wasn't even signed on as a producer at that point. He was just a friend. Ira's a very blunt person and so for the first five or six readings, he would say, It's just not a movie. That's actually not the worst voice to have in your head somewhere. It really does put your feet to the fire.
Did you always want to make a movie about an improv group or were you trying to make a movie about a group of people trying to figure out their future as artists and that improv was the natural way of doing that?
Birbigilia: I just had written and directed this film called "Sleepwalk With Me." That was my first feature film. When you direct your first feature film, you don't know how to. You can go to film school or you can make short films, but there is nothing that's the equivalent of directing a feature film. It's madness, it's so difficult. It doesn't make any sense. Anyone who's been involved with feature films knows there's a lot of irrationality involved. Afterwards I sort of took inventory about what had gotten me through it and I realized that I had studied improv when I was in college, from my freshman year on. I had done it on and off over the years and I realized that the principles of improv had gotten me through directing the film because — Tam tell me if you agree with this — I feel like improv really taught me how to do that.
Sagher: Oh, absolutely. So much about improv is just working in an ensemble and so much of friendship and growing up is working in an ensemble. And I feel like when you started up doing improv again just a couple years ago ... I feel like I was there when I saw the spark for the movie happen.
Birbiglia: So what happened was, when I had this revelation that improv had gotten me through directing this film, I was like, I want to do improv again, and more full-time. I had been doing stand-up for so many years and focused on that and filmmaking. So I started doing this weekly show. It was called "Mike Birbiglia's Dream" at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York. So Tam and Chris and I spent a ton of time together. These guys, Chris Gethard and Tami Sagher, are credited in the film as consultants in addition to being actors in the film.
Sagher: I think we were in a cab ride home and you were saying you had this idea for a movie and [saying], Yeah, absolutely. That sounds like a movie. And also my life. So good luck writing it because it sounds very ... true to life.
Is it something that people in the performing arts struggle with, where someone else is taking your job?
Sagher: Absolutely. Coming from The Second City you would see people get auditions for stuff that the rest of the cast wouldn't get, or getting asked to submit stuff. Before I went into improv I was in mathematics. That's what my degree was in. My father's a mathematician and my mom's a scientist. What's crazy to me too is that I've also seen it happen in academics. It happens with graduate students who are best friends. It happens in every field where that one person gets singled out. And how do you deal with that and how does it affect the friendship? It will affect it even if you don't want to be the jealous person or the bitter person. It still contaminates things.
Birbiglia: The idea of the movie was partly sprung from an observation my wife made when she came to see our group perform at the Del Close Marathon. She said, "It's so funny because your stand-up friends are so mean to each other and your improv friends are so nice to each other." I was like, "Yeah, but it's more complicated than that." It's subtler. People are mean, but it's very subtle. That was definitely a balancing act for this movie: How do you show resentment but have it not be cartoonish?
“Don’t Think Twice” opens in theaters on July 22.
Feds move to seize 'Wolf of Wall Street' assets from Red Granite Pictures
While accepting his Golden Globe award in 2014, Leonardo DiCaprio thanks "Joey, Riz and Jho" from his "Wolf of Wall Street" production team.
https://youtu.be/0E1gaVl99AQ?t=2m17sNow, the movie about duplicity in the financial markets is itself targeted in a lawsuit titled: The United States of America versus “The Wolf of Wall Street.” And the three men DiCaprio thanked during the Golden Globes are at the center of the legal action.
The U.S. government is seeking all future income from the film. The Department of Justice alleges that Red Granite Pictures, which made “The Wolf of Wall Street,” used more than 100 million dollars of funds unlawfully diverted from the Malaysian government to make the Martin Scorsese movie.
The U.S. government says the movie was part of a more than $3 billion misappropriation of money that was supposed to develop Malaysia's business profile.
The Department of Justice singled out Red Granite principals Joey McFarland and Riza Aziz — who is the stepson of the Malaysian Prime Minister. It also named is Jho Low, a Malaysian financier. None have been charged, and Aziz and Low have denied any wrongdoing.
For more about this complex case we dialed up Eriq Gardner, senior editor for the Hollywood Reporter for an explanation of the US government’s claim.
Listen to the interview to hear more, and read the full complaint below:
http://www.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/1MDB-Filing-07-20-2016.pdf
Donald Trump and the GOP's controversial convention playlist
The Republican National Convention is underway and, on top of Melania Trump stealing portions of her speech from Michelle Obama, the GOP has also received complaints from two bands for using songs at the convention without their permission.
On Monday night, Donald Trump walked to the podium with Queen’s “We Are The Champions” playing in the background.
That band made its displeasure known, saying it doesn’t want the song to be used "as an endorsement of Mr. Trump and the political views of the Republican Party.”
Then, on Tuesday night, Earth, Wind & Fire tweeted about the use of one of its songs.
Another unauthorized use (September) at the Republican Convention, against our wishes - Earth, Wind & Fire
An unauthorised use at the Republican Convention against our wishes - Queen
— Queen (@QueenWillRock) July 19, 2016— Earth, Wind & Fire (@EarthWindFire)
Another unauthorized use (September) at the Republican Convention, against our wishes - Earth, Wind & Fire https://t.co/GV48JxcbGz
— Earth, Wind & Fire (@EarthWindFire) July 20, 2016
The Frame's John Horn spoke with Alex Pappademas — executive editor at MTV News — about how Trump and the GOP can get away with using songs without permission, and what other memorable songs have been used at past conventions.
INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS
How is it possible that Donald Trump can continue to use songs during his campaign without the rights and permission from the bands?
Any venue large enough to have a major party's political convention in it, such as the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, they all have ASCAP and BMI licenses, which entitle you to use anything in the ASCAP and BMI catalogs.
If they pay a fee, right?
Yeah, but it's a blanket fee. You have to pay ASCAP, but it's never a transaction with the band. It's always with those two publishing companies.
So the real issue is whether or not the bands can claim trademark, if there's some sort of implied endorsement. I guess if Donald Trump is using "We Are The Champions" in a television ad he'd be in hot water, but if it's background music or introduction music at the convention it's okay?
They can sue for false endorsement and I imagine it's a fairly complicated process, but you can't just shut it down by saying, Stop using my song. Technically, Donald Trump doesn't have to.
So let's talk about a president who actually did get rights to use a song in his campaign. Bill Clinton used Fleetwood Mac's "Don't Stop" during his 1993 inaugural ball.
What does a campaign song choice say about a candidate?
What these songs really do, aside from getting everybody pumped up in the arena, they send a message about what kind of person the candidate is, almost demographically. We love when a candidate seems to have human qualities like having a favorite song that they would plausibly and actually enjoy.
For Clinton, that was a generational statement. It showed that it was somebody who lived through the '70s rather than the '50s and this was the music of his youth that he was bringing up.
If you look at a lot of Obama's choices, that's the same thing. There's something exciting about that where it seems like it came off his actual iPod.
What are the kinds of things that he likes that he has used?
There's soul music [like] Aretha Franklin and Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher."
He also used the indie-rock band The National, so he has very broad taste.
Yeah, and I think it's plausible, like when he's pulled out his iPod in interviews about what he's listening to, it seems like, Oh, this is actually a person with musical taste.
Here's another one about somebody using a piece of music that is almost so spot on that it's a little creepy. I'm talking about Ross Perot who was the third party candidate who ran in 1992. A lot of people thought his whole campaign and his attempt to be a president was a little nutty. So he personally chose the Patsy Cline 1961 ballad, "Crazy."
Ross Perot and "Crazy" seems like a pretty good match.
Yeah, and didn't he dance with his wife to that song in this kind of Texas wedding dance? It's perfect because it's human and homey and it says something about where he's from. But then, it's a comment on the absurdity of the campaign itself. I always enjoyed that. I thought it was witty even if I didn't really understand why you want to make that comment if you're running for president.
Assuming if he could get the rights, if Donald Trump is going to use some iconic rock song going forward, what do you think is a good match?
I think "Elected" by Alice Cooper. I'm going metal right there, like "Billion Dollar Babies." Something from that era — the real theatrical Alice Cooper stuff, because I feel like there's a real sort of theatrical horror show vibe to Cleveland right now.