Only those in the know know Star and co-creator Zach Woods speaks lovingly about his new Peacock comedy. “I think it's a very strange show, and I think it's quite human,” he says. result. “It's satirical, but the people who made this show love the characters, and they protect and like each of them, even if they do some inherently very unpleasant things. They're hurt, they're full of longing, they want to do a good job…It's a strange thing.”
Perhaps that's odd given the context, since the characters Woods is talking about are puppets brought to life through stop-motion animation. Only those in the know know feature is office and silicon valley He plays the voice of a public radio host, but his awkwardness extends beyond his interactions with his officemates (voiced by J. Smith-Cameron, Charlie Bushnell, Carl Tartt, Caitlin Riley, and Mike Judge). and even interviews with people like Mike Tyson and Ken. Burns, Tegan and Sarah, Hugh Laurie and more.
Woods traces its origins Only those in the know know Co-producer Judge observed his habits on set. silicon valley: “I think I'm usually shy and curious about other people. I often ask a lot of questions in conversations and I always end up interviewing people.”
On top of that, the judges knew that Woods was “basically the nightmare of NPR's coastal elite,” so the producers decided to use Woods as an NPR host to interview real guests in stop motion. – Proposed an animation series. Woods agreed, saying, “His name should be like NPR's name. So I thought, what if his name was Lauren Caspian? His girlfriend too. Her name is Lauren, and she's a DACA Dreamer, but she's actually an illegal master's student from Montreal.'' From there, Lauren's dense and bizarre backstory was developed, and Woods' writing partner Brandon Gardner As a co-creator, he helped bring ideas to the series.
The choice of guests was directly driven by the idea, “Who would Terry Gross talk to?” (especially fresh air The host interviews a wide range of people) — Woods will be joined by senior talent booker Hilary Kuhn (previously daily show) yields an equally impressive range. Only those in the know know.
“[Kun] “They did a great job,” he says. -motion gives you no control over editing. That was a big ask and she got all these people to sign on. Thanks to Hilary, we really punched above our weight. ”
Only those in the know (Peacock)
Here's how to film the interview: Gardner said he was on a Zoom call with his interviewee and said, “And he said, 'Right now, you're going to see a picture of Lauren.' Treat it like an NPR interview. The funny thing is… Feel free to laugh, but don't worry about whether it's funny or not. That prelude is followed by an hour-long interview in which the subject never sees Woods' face, but rather a photo of Lauren in all her doll-like glory. only was visible.
“I had the questions the writers helped me prepare on my iPad so I could refer to them,” Woods says. “And Brandon can also update his iPad in real time, so he can pitch, 'Oh, listen to this right now, try telling this joke.' But mostly it's an impromptu interview. .”
There were two exceptions to improvisation. A late-season interview featuring UFC fighter Jorge Masvidal included scripted elements, but “to be honest, he improvised a lot of it,” Woods notes. And for a story point in the episode featuring Tegan and Sarah, producers asked Canadian music artists to pretend to be feeling nauseous at one point.
This is a good time to mention that Woods praised the way Tegan and Sarah interacted. “They were really clowns and funny and wonderful. It made everyone love Tegan and Sarah even more. The staff, the writers, all of us said, 'They're the best people we've ever met. They're cool people.'' When I grow up, I want to be Tegan and Sarah. ”
The interviewee who most surprised Woods was author and intellectual Roxanne Gay. “She's writing an editorial.” new york times“And when she was on the show, she was so hilarious and funny and kind of dirty and just fun,” he says. What a stupid Billy she is. I didn't expect that because she has such a great voice. But she was so fun and so sweet. I just liked it. ”
Woods admitted that if he had been thrown something similar, “I probably wouldn't have done it.” But these guys did it, and it was amazing. '' Does he think it will be easier to book people for a potential second season? “Maybe, or maybe even harder?'' Woods says with a laugh. “It depends on how people feel about the show.”
Only those in the know know “Mike loves stop motion, and he never really had a chance to play with stop motion,” Woods says. And also, if you were to make a show about people like me, you could use these delicate, precious dolls as a medium, easily broken, possessed by users, and controlled by forces of which they are unaware. I felt that it was happening. It's like the perfect medium. ”
He also added: “I wanted to add a satirical element to the show. And I think with stop motion, it's nice to have a little bit more of a long lead in terms of how far you can go satirically. Even if it's funny with stop motion. , which can feel mean in live-action. That was another reason we were excited about this production.”
Another advantage: other mostly animated series such as Adult Swim. Space Ghost Coast to CoastWe featured interviews with live guests. However, Woods felt that “his three-dimensionality while conversing with other three-dimensional real people was better than two-dimensional. And there's a warmth to stop motion.” Because it's happening in a real space with real light, real yarn, and real little shoes.”
Woods had a lot of input into Lauren's design. [director of character fabrication] Georgina Haines. I'm very excited. I thought, “I'd like him to have a weaker chin,'' and that came back to me, and I was able to do it. “I wish he had a longer forehead.” That's great. It's like being a geneticist or something. ”
For the record, Woods doesn't currently own any Lauren dolls, but “I really want one.” However, he says: For example, the dolls are all designed that way, including the eyes…weird. They have a kind of witch energy. So it's a big deal to have, but I want it. Get spooky, baby.”
Only those in the know (Peacock)
Only those in the know know Although this is the first time Woods has taken on a true leadership position behind the scenes of a television show, he has worked with many powerful creators over the years, including Judge, Armando Iannucci, Pamela Adlon, Christopher Miller, and Robert & Michelle. I have been working on a program that I lead. king. Here's what Woods learned from these experiences: “I think flexibility is a true sign of confidence. The most confident, most accomplished, most talented showrunners I've ever worked with are open to the contributions of others. When you get someone with half-assed confidence or half-way talent, they pay attention to every little syllable and make it exactly how they want it to be. They need it, and they have a fragile obsession with how to do it. ”
So Woods says: “People will try to give you gifts in the creative process. Don't be too weak to accept them. Don't get too attached to your own idea of 'this is it.' Assumption When you do that, you miss out on the actual beauty. I think that's the big thing I've gotten from different people. ”
And working in stop motion emphasizes that idea even more. “Underlying everything I create is the idea that people are multiple things, and that we are contradictory and have millions of different and often irresolvable aspects to ourselves. I think so. One of the great things about the stop-motion process is that we have voice actors and 30 different people animating each character. Each animator brings their own quirks and preferences. So a kind of multidimensionality is built into the process.”
Woods continued, “It's so overwhelming to me how much love and care and going above and beyond goes into the process to make it work.'' There is something incredibly moving about loving and being present.”
Only those in the know know is now streaming on Peacock.