Unlike many celebrity-driven documentaries, Morgan Neville's Steve! (Martin): Documentaries about writers and comedians were not intentionally made as marketing tools tied to new TV series or movies. Also, this two-part doc about him is not a traditional career-spanning overview of Martin's life. Instead, Neville, who won an Oscar for 20 Feet from Stardom in 2014, created a feature film called “Then” and “Now” that uses two different formats and is told from two perspectives. did. 'Then' chronicles Martin's early struggles and his meteoric rise to revolutionizing stand-up until his departure at age 35. “Now” focuses on Martin's current life and traces the changes that have brought new happiness to his art and personal life.
Neville began filming “Steve!” In the spring of 2021, after meeting with Martin for lunch to discuss possible documentation. “We had a great conversation,” Neville says. “I think one of the benefits of making films for so long is that he's seen a lot of my films. Years ago, I wrote about the birth of the modern art scene in Los Angeles in The Cool I made a documentary called 'School' and he had seen it. So we ended up talking a lot about art. It was a sniff test – you can believe me. At the end of the first meeting, he said, “Let's do it.''
variety I told Neville about “Steve!” (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces” will premiere on Apple TV+ on March 29th.
Did Steve Martin serve as a producer on this doc or did he receive a fee to participate?
He wasn't getting paid and wasn't a producer. He had no editing rights. He then distributes all the profits made.
Later in the documentary, Martin becomes very candid and even emotional at times. Did you show him the cut to see if he was okay?
I only showed him the movie when it was almost finished. At one point he said: “I'm afraid there's something really hurtful in there, and I just want to know.'' I said, “So what if you and I showed this movie to a director friend of mine?'' ?” Someone fair. ” Steve said, “The thing is, they’re going to have an opinion, and all I care about is your opinion.” I'm really glad to hear that.
Martin said in the doc that he wanted to make the documentary because “I think it's an antidote to the kind of boring interviews and general things that I've said a million times.” Says. Do you think he also wanted to create this work as a legacy or historical document that he could show his young daughter?
I didn't think he had any agenda about it other than what he was saying. I mean, his career was so disjointed that he didn't even have a chance to process it and put it together into something meaningful. . My sense is that when you reach a certain age, you start looking back and thinking about everything you've done. Steve has a daughter, how will she understand everything I've done? In fact, another part of that was due to the new coronavirus. That's when the idea for this documentary came to me.
When was the structure of the film developed?
When I started the movie, it was about what[this project]wanted. And basically, I continued down these two different paths. One path was his entire stand-up career, and I was obsessed with it and kept finding great archives. So that story was like this high-speed archive train, and the next thing that happened was I was hanging out with Steve and filming something, and all of that was very emotional and relaxing. That's what I did. The energies and emotions of these two paths of his were completely different. So I thought, why not just let it all be what it is, instead of just trying to put it all together, as documentaries often do?
In his review of the document, variety Critic Peter DeBrugge writes, “Cultural tastes change so quickly, especially when it comes to what makes people laugh, that the challenge of summarizing a comedian's early career is built in. This is why Neville… This definitely explains why I avoid “King Tut” (a song that may be problematic for younger listeners). Do you agree with this assessment?
To bring it up requires a modern discussion of what Steve was trying to say with that. That would be the quicksand of the story. The reason Steve wrote that song and its context completely was because he was actually making fun of the consumerization and fetishization of ancient Western culture. That's another documentary. But I was again curious about his stand-up story and where he was at that time. In contrast, what would things be like back then in 2023? So to be honest, King Tut wasn't at the top of my list of things I wanted to see in this movie. Even before the internet, this scene never appeared in the movie (controversial).
It looked like a fun shoot, but being a celebrity is tough. They have crazy schedules and often have a large number of handlers. Was it difficult to produce?
I've done a lot with celebrities, but it could definitely be more difficult. But the relationship that Steve and I ultimately had had nothing to do with celebrity in some ways. Steve, as a storyteller, he understood where he had to go to tell the story, and he understood that that's what I needed. There was never a handler, assistant, or publicist on any shoot.
Martin Short, who plays a key role in “Now,” is also the subject of an upcoming documentary directed by Lawrence Kasdan. Where do you think celebrity couples are heading? Are viewers getting tired of them, or is the genre only going to grow in popularity?
It's not going away, but it feels like we're coming off the peak of production for everything. It felt a few years ago more than it does now that it felt like every band, every celebrity had to have a documentary. That's when people and their reps started feeling like, “This is going to be good for our new album, tour, or brand.” That's when documentaries are seen as an extension of the brand, and that's when you should run away.
That wasn't something Steve was invested in. He wasn't selling anything. I took this (project) seriously. Because it was more of a psychological journey that he wanted to go on.
