You introduced the film, and Bill Murray bound onstage.
He wasnt portrayed in the movie because he didnt replace Chevy Chase until the middle of Season 2.
He only says what he means, and he certainly meant that.
Jason Reitman; (L to R) Garret Morris (Lamorne Morris), Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn), Jim Belushi (Matt Wood), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), Jane Curtain (Kim Matula) and Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien) in “Saturday Night’Sony
LikeThe Social NetworkandElvis, this was the splitting of a cultural atom.
My colleague Pete Hammond saw you wandering around after the Telluride premiere.
He said you looked a bit lost and overwhelmed.
Diretor Jason Reitman on the set of Columbia Pictures’ ‘Saturday Night’Sony
What was going through your mind?
REITMAN: It was my fifth movie to play Telluride, and Ive had it go both ways there.
Ive been there when they love it, and Ive been there for… not so much.
We didnt plan any of that.
He said, Hey bud, should I go up there with you?
I said, okay, whos introducing who?
And he goes, why dont you introduce me?
That way I could say nice things about you.
I had no idea what he was going to talk about, and he was really lovely.
The moment where an atom is split.
For me, culturally, thats whatSNLis.
It defines my sense of humor.
It defines the way I look at the world.
The screening went great, the audience really went for it in a way that I hadnt experienced before.
I stepped out of the theater and the first thing I thought about was my dad.
I went for a walk and I started crying.
I was very lucky that I ran into Pete and Madelyn because they feel like family to me.
Ive been seeing them at film festivals for two decades now; I get their Christmas card every year.
They gave me a hug and I really needed it.
I could feel my dad next to me, cheering me on.
DEADLINE:Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd didGhostbusterswith your dad, John Belushi didAnimal House, which Ivan produced.
Harold Ramis wasSCTVnotSNL, but he co-wroteAnimal House.
Howard Shore and my dad did a musical together in the early seventies.
DEADLINE:What sparked you to co-write this and direct?
One of the great weeks of my life.
You pore over every detail.
And at what point do they finish painting the sets on Saturday morning?
We just obsess over it.
That was the beginning.
Films like Michael RitchiesThe Candidate, or the German FilmVictoria, or a lot of Inarritus work.
Certain directors focus on the immersive experience and it feels like the camera is another person amongst the crowd.
Ive always loved these films and Ive been chasing this for a while in a few of my films.
And one day it coalesced.
They were up against a generation that did not want things to change.
DEADLINE:Theres this great moment involving Milton Berle, Chevy Chase and his girlfriend.
And this seemed like the perfect moment for that.
Milton had famously pulled his penis out in front of many people.
And hes like, Well, all right.
Well, Ive got this superpower and Im going to use it to take your girlfriend.
You showed us a version of Lorne Michaels we dont often see.
Evil, and how he inspired other caricatures.
You wonder how hes going to survive the next crisis.
It was remarkable he got that show on the air, and that nobody died.
REITMAN: I love theAfter Hoursreference.
And thats what I kept getting from him.
But he didnt know how to actually articulate it until he could just do it.
DEADLINE:It is almost a running joke in the movie.
He is asked what the show is, and he can never answer.
REITMAN: Well, its a feeling.
Gil and I spent months batting it back and forth, what the hell is this show?
Its not a variety show.
They had an idea of what it would feel like.
DEADLINE:There are so many moments where you go, could that have really happened?
REITMAN: I wish I could boil it down into one thing.
Its him looking for Belushi, whos in hiding and wont sign his contract.
I guess the visual metaphor that I love most were the bricks.
They were going to literally lay bricks on the eighth floor.
It just made no sense.
But it spoke to so many things.
The bricks spoke to Lorne, chasing reality.
He wanted the show to feel real, and everything in television up until then felt like bullshit.
And he wanted this to show to feel real.
The bricks represented the way this crew needed to come together.
They were literally saying, I dont know why youre laying bricks.
Youre going to be gone in two weeks.
And then they laid that floor together.
It was that last second.
DEADLINE:It felt like 1975.
How did you shoot to get that specific look and feel?
REITMAN: I wanted this to be an immersive roller coaster.
I know what it feels like to be on the floor of 8H as they do the countdown.
I would begin each day at home base with a giant whiteboard, like a football coach.
I would draw out the plays, where every character goes, where the camera goes.
It was the only way to actually make sense out of all the chaos.
REITMAN: So much.
I was like, really?
And he goes, three locations.
Are you kidding me?
We dont have room for one set, let alone three.
I was like, oh.
It didnt even get close to making it to air.
And then the sound boom actually has its own wheeled platform and it looks like ballet.
There are four cameras on camera pads, all moving together.
And they do these movies in 60 seconds during a commercial break.
And every time youre like, theres no way theyre going to make it.
To watch that is genuinely like going to the ballet.
DEADLINE:You got one on the air.
What was it about and who was in it?
REITMAN: My sketch was fucking insane.
I cant believe it got on.
I said, I dont know if you remember that week.
And she was very sweet.
Shes like, remember Death by Chocolate?
How could I forget?
It made me feel very loved.
Death By Chocolate was about a killer chocolate bar who has a taste for murder.
Ashton Kutcher played this chocolate bar and he killed various people on the show.
Jason Sudeikis was in it, Andy Sandberg was in it.
It was just nutty.
And I still cant believe that I have that.
DEADLINE:Did it kill?
REITMAN: It did.
OK … it didnt kill.
Thats walking on the moon.
DEADLINE:Which of those original cast members were most helpful sketching in details of that first night?
REITMAN: They were all generous in different ways.
The funniest person in the group was Rosie Schuster, by a country mile.
The real Rosie made Gil and me laugh, constantly.
Rosie wrote lines on the spot that are in the movie.
She is a sharp comedian.
Dan Aykroyd gave us access to voices from 1975.
When we interviewed him, he would tell the story in the voice of the person he was portraying.
It was as though it happened yesterday.
They had never done television before because they were in their twenties.
And because for the most part, NBC didnt want them there.
Others are fresh faces.
Who was toughest for you and your casting director John Papsidera to find?
REITMAN: Hardest to cast was Dan Aykroyd.
I feel like we spent a year looking for Dan.
I thought, this is going to be easy.
And then Gilda was hard, and Chevy was hard.
We got lucky on Billy Crystal.
Nick Podany just came in and crushed it.
And simultaneously, surprisingly handsome and romantically charismatic.
Dylan OBrien walked in and saved us.
I know Dan really well.
I know his voice well enough.
DEADLINE:Aykroyd was unsung considering he came in with Chevy, Belushi, Gilda Radner.
What is Dans superpower?
REITMAN: Its a few things.
Honestly, one of Dans superpowers is hes so lovable.
Hes brilliant and bizarre, but most importantly, hes lovable.
He was giving you the final sketch right there.
Belushi was the opposite.
Belushi would famously give you 10% all the way up through rehearsal.
And then when he went live, its like someone lit a fuse and he would explode.
So much of what made Belushi exciting is how dangerous he was.
It was what he was doing physically that was so unpredictable and dangerous.
For a writer, thats really frustrating.
DEADLINE:That combustible mix often makes for a greatSNLcast.
Chris Farley seemed the closest cousin to Belushi.
Not so with Farley and Belushi.
REITMAN: I think Lorne Michaels created an orphanage for wayward comedians.
These unique voices of comedy who literally, otherwise I dont know where you could launch these people.
Then you had Adam Sandler, Eddie Murphy, Farley, Norm Macdonald, who made it quicker.
Who was your favorite Not Ready for Prime Time Player?
REITMAN: I feel like every generation has a cast that means something to them.
Again, its similar to being kind of a sports fan.
Your favorite is always going to be that guy who is the captain of the team.
And in that year, 92, Will Ferrell, Cheri Oteri, Ana Gasteyer, Chris Parnell.
They were all Groundlings.
I got to see Will Ferrell do the cheerleaders sketch at the Groundlings, in front of 99 people.
My favorite sketch, the sketch Ive probably rewatched the most is Steve Martins very special Christmas wish.
Or Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who did this game show sketch called Meet Your Second Wife.
That sketch murders me every time.
Massive Headwound Harry, which Dana Carvey would play… That was Adam Sandler and Rob Schneider who wrote that.
REITMAN: Jack Handey with his Deep Thoughts.
He did one about taking your kids to Disneyland.
REITMAN: The shows in incredible shape and its one of the number one comedies on television.
The current cast is fantastic, and so are the writers.
The way that they screw with each other is great.
I think the c’mon Dont Destroy Videos are spectacular.
Every generation thinks that their cast is the ultimate cast of all time.
So theres a group out there that says, no one can touch the Adam Sandler cast.
For you and I theres that Phil Hartman, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers moment.
Theres a group thats like Lonely Island or Pete Davidson.
Lorne Michaels doesnt have a rear-view mirror.
He only looks out the windshield.
He only is thinking about next Saturdays episode.
Any other human being would be settling in and enjoying their legacy.
He just refuses to do that.
Theres nothing like it.
Yeah, every generation is going to be critical and be like, this is not mySaturday Night Live.
And its like, youre right.
It isnt yourSaturday Night Live.
DEADLINE:One last question.
You took the mantle on Ghostbusters.
Any chance this would figure into your plans?
REITMAN: You started this conversation talking about passing a baton.
I wasnt ready for it the first time he brought it up.
What I didnt realize at the time was I was actually receiving the baton at the last second.
And nothing will ever touch that.
And I cant imagine attempting something like that again without him.
Now when I work onGhostbusters, I am obviously thinking about him all the time.
And then theres the work I do onGhostbusters, which feels like this connection to my dad.
And I think its the primary reason why I keep doing it.
