Nicholas Stoller Discusses Comedy and Directing

(Nicholas Stoller): Well I started as a comedy writer.  Actually, you know, originally in college I worked for The Harvard Lampoon, and then I did advertising for a year as a copywriter and then moved out to LA and started to do comedy writing.  Then I worked on Judd Apatow's show called "Undeclared," it's a college show, all about college.  And then from there I wrote screenplays with Judd and then started screenwriting, and that turned into directing "Forgetting Sarah Marshall."

MO: When you initially met Judd did you know that you both were looking to transition from television into film?  Was that very much kind of out there and a part of your discussions?

(NS): Well when I first met Judd I was like, 24, and so thankful to just have a TV job (laughs) so there was real talk about like 'I'm now gonna become a director and screenwriter.'  And he had already written screenplays, as he was kind of a big screenwriter at that time, so it certainly was something that he had already done.  I think, obviously, he directed episodes of "Larry Sanders" and he had directed an episode of "Undeclared," and, I think of "Freaks and Geeks."  So he had designs to become a director and movie producer at that time.  But at that time I was just very excited to have a TV job.

Once "Undeclared" was cancelled I started writing...Judd hired me to write a screenplay with him and then we wrote "Fun With Dick and Jane" together, that Jim Carrey movie that Dean Harisode directed, and that turned into just a screenwriting career.

MO: How does that process happen, for someone that maybe doesn't understand how the industry works?

(NS): Often times a star, like a movie star, will have writers that they work with and Jim Carrey and I have worked together now twice, and I love writing for him and he likes having me write stuff, but that actually happened.  Warner Brothers had this book called "Yes Man."  It's a memoir that just seemed like an interesting idea for a movie.  They were looking for a writer and I responded to it and wrote a draft of the screenplay basically.  This was right before "Sarah Marshall" got greenlit.  And then I wrote a few drafts of it and then Jim Carrey like the drafts and attached himself to it, and then also Payton Leed, the director, off of those drafts liked it and kind of, attached himself to it.  Then I ended up going to "Sarah Marshall to direct it, and then these other guys jumped on and rewrote what I had written.

MO: And how is that part of the process?  Is that difficult as a writer, or do you understand that every script is going to end up having a lot of different versions?

(NS): Yeah, those guys are named Jared Paul and Andy Mogul.  They're a really hilarious writing team.  I mean, it's really collaborative.  I think that all movie making is essentially a collaborative medium.  So, you know, I always say if you want to just write and have no one touch it, write a novel, because this is just a collaborative medium.  And I think comedy honestly benefits from that.  I think that the more voices you have...obviously you need a strong voices, and that generally is the director, to kind of guide everything.  But the more voices, I think, the funnier it is.

MO: How many drafts do you think on average do you think most writers, or do you feel that you go through when you're on a project?

(NS): I depends because you do a few drafts to get a movie green lit.  You know, "Yes Man" I probably did three drafts, not that many drafts.  But then once it went into production and I didn't work on it anymore I'm sure they did like 40 drafts.  And you start to lose track of what the drafts are, even, because you're just writing, rewriting, and rewriting.  Especially with comedy, and this is probably true of most movies, you're really writing and rewriting through production.

It depends, you know, the Cohen brothers, who are like the greatest filmmakers ever, I've heard they figure out their script and really lock it down and that's the movie, that's it.  And you can feel it in their movies, they're very stylized, and it's a different kind of thing they're doing.  And they're also geniuses.  I'm not a genius so I can't do that.

MO: What part of the process was the most challenging for you?

(NS): I literally didn't know how to make a movie.  So the most challenging part for me was like the actual coverage aspect of it.  Coverage, I found it very complicated and hard to understand, kind of in a really fundamental way.  So that first week...and I certainly studied it, and I watched like, I sat in the editing room of "Knocked Up" and watched all the dailies of scenes of "Knocked Up" to really understand it.  So that to me was really the most complicated part of "Sarah Marshall" was figuring out the coverage aspect.

MO: Are there tips or tricks to comedy that you can share with our audience?

(NS): Every script is different and every story is different but, I think the important thing is...I think most great comedies are essentially dramatic stories...and to not start with a joke, you know, to not start with a joke.  To start with a character and the story and to make sure emotionally every scene makes total sense.  And if that means throwing away jokes, or throwing away comedy set pieces that's the least important part.  The most important part is that it all come from the characters, and that it be emotionally logical and if it's not, it won't be funny.  Even if it's the funniest set piece of all time it won't be funny.

MO: What advice would you have for someone who's looking to get into filmmaking?

(NS): Watch a lot of movies.  Watch old movies, new movies, watch everything.  Whatever genre you're interested in.  Read a lot of books, read, you know, Sidfield's screenplay...but I would also read novels and short stories.  And if you're still in high school or college do English classes and learn how to write essays.  So much of story writing and writing screenplays is about picking a theme, and the structure of the screenplay, and the structure of the story, and I learned a lot of that writing essays.

MO: I've heard that you're already at work on "The Muppets."  Can you talk a bit about that project and where it's at, and what you envision it'll end up looking like?

(NS): I'm writing that with Jason Siegel and James Bowman is going to direct, who directed "Flight of the Conchords" and who is just a fantastic director.  It's set to shoot in September and we had a table read actually in New York with all of the muppets, a week ago I believe.  I was on the press junket for "Greek" so I couldn't go, but I heard it went great.  And Jason's starring and it's really exciting and it's kind of tonally like the original movies..."The Muppet Movie," "The Great Muppet Caper," "Muppet Sequinat," and we're trying to capture that tone, the tone of that show, "The Muppet Show."

MO: And then so what else do you have going on?  What's next for you?

(NS): I wrote "Gulliver's Travels" for Rob Letterman, who's directing, and that's Jack Black, and jason Siegel, and Emily Blunt, and Chris O'Dowd, and Amanda Peete.  And that's like a big fantasy comedy adventure movie that I'm really excited about.  I saw a rough cut of that and it's awesome.