And speaking of Peter Atencio, he was interviewed on the most recent episode of a very neat new podcast program by a commercial director named Ron Small, who invites a guest commercial director each episode to talk about how they work, how they've learned, what they've learned, and why they work in the short short form.
The first guest on the show was me, in a two-parter that was really one of the most fun interviews I've ever gotten to do. In the first ten minutes, I talked about being a VFX assistant on the movie “Torque” (2004) and how the director Joseph Kahn has a larger than average-sized head. Subsequently, Joseph Kahn heard the episode and defended his head size on Twitter, blaming it on the head of his beautiful Korean mother. I also talk about cameras and doing what you love and finding God in the music.
But in Peter's interview, rather than commercials, he talks all about what it's been like making this incredible show Key & Peele for Comedy Central. At about 50 minutes in, the discussion turns to what ended up being a pretty giant struggle with the network to keep a laugh track out of the show, even getting into some of the psychological implications of the decision, and the sisyphean task of convincing Comedy Central to fight their instincts and preserve the show's integrity. Spoiler: he won the battle and thank the lord.
Anyhow, if you're into this sort of thing, I think you'll enjoy Spotcast. Other guests have been my friend the VFX maven and author of The DV Rebel's Guide that changed the filmmaking game for so many of my generation, Stu Maschwitz. And Vince Laforet, who basically got the world excited about shooting movies on DSLRs. And hopefully soon, Joseph Kahn himself.
