Take 150 - Writer, Director David Zucker - Airplane, Top Secret, The Naked Gun

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Any of us who've been in it for long enough, our entire career has been littered with jobs that we didn't get, projects that we thought were gonna go for sure, dozens of unproduced scripts littering the floor.

SPEAKER_03 0:13

All of us are running into both major and minor failures in Hollywood every single day.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

For every success, there is months, sometimes even years of painful failure. This is one of the only businesses I can think of where failure is the default.

SPEAKER_03 0:31

That's the normal to be able to persevere. Like everything in our business here, bounces off.

SPEAKER_00 0:41

That doesn't happen overnight. I was being told by my manager that it's yours to lose, and I promptly lost it. And I was everything like, well, that's it for me. I do my one big shot. What I've realized from that moment is it's never one big shot. There will be other shots.

SPEAKER_01 1:05

Welcome back to Streaming Into the Hollywood Abyss, a podcast about rejection, failure, and adversity in the entertainment industry, brought to you by the Emmy Award-winning annotation software Scriptation. As ever, I am Dan Rutstein, your non-entertainment co-host.

SPEAKER_04 1:22

And I am your still in the entertainment business co-host Noah Epsilon. If you know anything about me, you know I love puns and filmmaking in equal measure. And that is why, that is one of the many reasons I'm beyond delighted to introduce superstar writer, director, and producer David Zucker to the podcast. David has made some of the most the funniest, punniest, most iconic, and immensely quotable comedies in Hollywood history, including Airplane, The Naked Gun from the Files of Police Squad, The Naked Gun 2. Basketball, Scary Movie 3, 4 and 5, and many others. He's also written at least two books, Surely You Can't Be Serious, The True Story of Airplane, and Before the Invention of Smiling, the Incredible Journey of the Zucker family from horse and buggy to indoor plumbing. He also has a new spoof comedy course he's offering, which we'll talk more about later. Welcome, David.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

Thank you. That was a nice long introduction, and I deserve all of it.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

When preparing for this podcast, I was excited to ask lots of questions using puns and other bits and pieces from your various movies. And then I realized that that wouldn't be that clever or that innovative. Well, look here.

SPEAKER_02 3:01

We haven't done it in 40 years. People who try to copy the style think, oh, it's puns. Let's do puns. And that's how you get uh the the dreadful naked gun for it.

SPEAKER_01 3:18

How how often in your daily life, when you're going about your business, do people come up to you and while talking to you, do versions of surely this and you know, that sort of um you know, that sort of literal pun stuff that was the staple of the early ones?

SPEAKER_02 3:40

Yeah, they they I get that a lot, and it's it's fine. I mean, that's the iconic line. Uh don't call me Shirley. Surely you can't be whatever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:50

Does the novelty wear off when a waitress does it in a restaurant, or do you do you play along nicely?

SPEAKER_02 3:54

No, if it's wonderful, I but I I enjoy I I don't mind being recognized. I don't get recognized that much, but you know, I'm uh I I I enjoy when when people when people find out who I am, you know, then they're they're they love all this all the movies. It's great. I I I'm very happy with that.

SPEAKER_01 4:16

So where you sit today, you've got an incredible body of work. Are you Hollywood's going through a very weird times at the moment? Um do you sit there satisfied that you've achieved everything you wanted to in the world of of Hollywood, or are there of course itching that you wish you'd got out?

SPEAKER_02 4:38

No, I'm I'm very satisfied, and every project that I've really wanted to do, I've I've gotten. And so and I want to do more. You know, I want to be, I want to do original things, and that's that's what I don't want to copy other people's stuff. That's for you know Seth McFarlane to do and other other people who just do copies of things of 40-year-old ideas, but I want to do new things, and I've got uh I've got an a new script called uh the Star of Malta. That's the one I'm I'm working on now. We're actually in kind of pre-production, or at least I'm pretending to do it. And uh, you know, we're we're partially financed, we're we're casting, we're making offers to actors, and uh, you know, that'll be done at one point.

SPEAKER_01 5:28

So we will obviously ask you about that, but given you've you've managed to mention it twice in the first two or three minutes, um were you not an enormous fan of the latest edition of um the latest sequel to your movie?

SPEAKER_02 5:41

Well, I never saw it, first of all, so I can't judge it on uh I wouldn't sit through anything like that. I didn't I never saw Airplane Two, which they did as a as a copy of an old idea. Uh and so, you know, and and we would joke about it, you know, that we would get asked, did we ever see Airplane 2? And Jim Abrams would always said, say, uh, or or why didn't you see it? And Jim would say, if your daughter became a prostitute, would you go watch your work? And and and that was pretty much it. You know, I have no I don't see most movies. I I saw uh, you know, I I see occasionally a movie that I like, and uh I see a lot of movies in in my home screening room, and uh I don't I don't like to cross the 405, and I I certainly don't want to sit through a bad movie. And uh, you know the I I had written a script for Naked Gun 4, but it wasn't an LA cop station, wasn't the old stuff. I wanted to do it because it was fresh and original, and we did it. We were going to spoof Mission Impossible, Born Identity, and uh and Mission Impossible. Did I say that twice? Yeah, probably. But uh but it was it was a it was a great script, and uh for some reason Paramount, even though they liked the script, uh you know, the these other producers swooped in and they did it. So that all I can say is that's that's Hollywood. So uh I I continue to try to do original things. Hollywood is not really disposed to doing original things. They want to do these are these executives are frightened humans, and they want to do whatever's work before or go with some established really successful producer, and Seth McFarland is roughly 20 times more successful, you know, monetarily. Uh he literally prints money with Family Guy and everything, most of the things he does are successful. So, but spoof is a different thing, and you you just you have to know the rules, you have to know how to do it. So it's uh uh that that's a that's a tough thing for anybody to just go in. I mean, I live in a house that's crazy, and I have a lot of housemates, and everybody says, Oh, this is this should be a sitcom, this should be a reality show. And uh, and I say, Yeah, that's a great idea. I should we should do a sitcom out of this house, and and then I then I watch Seinfeld or uh Curb Your Enthusiasm. And these guys have it so locked in, they know what they're doing. And I I'm not gonna be have the arrogance to go in and say, well, I was successful in whatever movies I've done, and I can knock off a series. You think of Seinfeld, they did it for like eight years and maintained the quality. It's amazing.

SPEAKER_04 8:53

I want to dig into a little bit, uh I want to dig into this a little bit more because it's fascinating to me. Now, just some context on our podcast, David. I'm in the industry. I've been a writer for 20 years in Hollywood, I've seen many ups and downs. Dan comes from it from outside the industry, so a lot of his questions are you know from an outsider looking in. We talk about heartbreak and pain in the industry a lot because that's what our podcast digs into the rejection, failure, and adversity side. And here's somebody, you, who's created one of the most iconic franchises of all time. I mean, I mean, I mean multiple. I mean, from Airplane to the Naked Gun franchise to, you know, obviously you're a known entity who has, in in your own way, printed money for the studios uh who've made your work. And yet there, you know, you weren't brought on to make the you know, the fourth sequel of this sort of iconic franchise. What emotionally, what does that feel like to somebody? Because we've all we talked about people like failing pitches and whatever, but just talking about like, you know, not not the moment you got that call or realized they were going in a different direction, like how do you process that?

SPEAKER_02 9:59

Well, it it was it was frustrating, but you know, I never let these things get me down. I mean, uh I just have a great life. I mean, I just and I'm I'm still creating new scripts, you know. We our naked gun script, we repurpurposed and called it counterintelligence. Uh with spelled with one L and a J. And uh that's a bigger budget uh property, so it's not gonna be done right now. But I have my my film noir uh script that I've had for a while and I still want to get it done, and it's original and it's not what Hollywood's doing. I never have done what Hollywood is doing, which makes it it it has made all that stuff more successful because audiences actually want to see something fresh and original, also makes it harder to pitch. So uh, you know, I was just excluded from my own franchise. And that was that was tough to take. But you know, I I don't, I really, I have a nice life. I I can't complain. I'm just I'm just so happy that that I'm you know, I have you know the stuff that I've done to look back on. And uh I I'm still I still intend on getting my scripts done. So I I just work on it. And if if I can't do it, it's that's I mean, I don't want to say that's okay too, but that's it is what it is. I I'm I'm giving it my best.

SPEAKER_04 11:29

Well, let's look back a little bit then, because you know, I I opened and we talked a little bit about puns, and you talked about how you moved away from that. The for me as a writer for 20 years, the the hardest thing to land in a script is a pun, right? Because it's it doesn't often translate. It's not that funny when you think it's funny when you're saying it, and someone does it and it falls flat, and that's why people move away from it. You guys have sort of like constantly, in especially with the you know, the start of the airplane and the naked guns series, the spoof, the whole spoof world of spoof movies that people really hadn't done before. Like you re-it, you you invent, you didn't reinvent something, you invented something. And my question is, how did you get anyone to take a risk on this on these franchises? Number one. And number two, when did you know you had something? When did you know that the especially in the airplane movies that this was gonna work and and work in a really big way?

SPEAKER_02 12:22

Well, you know, first of all, airplane movie that we didn't get like you could see how sensitive I am about. This this relentless copying that Hollywood does, but uh we knew when we first thought of the concept of doing airplane, it came out of we used to do overdubs of uh serious movies. We loved serious movies more than we love comedies because serious movies were always almost always unintentionally funny. So we would redub them, and then when we saw Zero Hour, uh it was so uh so deadly serious and devoid of humor that we thought we don't forget redubbing this. Why don't we remake this and do it with serious actors? And that was the that was the big breakthrough that that we had. And I think from that moment we and we had so much fun writing it, we knew we had something. We we just we just we just knew we had it, and then and we actually wrote airplane, the first draft of airplane or the first drafts before Kentucky Fried movie. We just couldn't sell it, you know, nobody thought it was funny, and we had done the puns we had done on stage and we knew they worked. So uh, you know, we we were really confident. We were confident when we loaded up our U-Haul truck and left Madison, Wisconsin for LA. And we just we were so headstrong. People would ask, ask us, you know, what was your plan B if you didn't make it? Because like we were like these kids going off to Hollywood, and uh and we said, well, we didn't have a plan B. We just we just knew we had it. We we uh we always thought we had machine guns in the Civil War. And uh when I when I first went out, I saw the I saw the existing improv sketch groups. Like there was this group called the Committee, and there was another group called the Pitchel Players, and and we went to see them, and we thought, oh my God, this is you know, we're we're way ahead of them. So, you know, we always we always had that confidence, but we also had the confidence that we could do new stuff and it would work because you know we made each other laugh and we had our theater, we knew we could make audiences laugh.

SPEAKER_04 14:58

Uh real real quick, just want to jump in real quick, Dan. Uh one you just I want you to just uh I asked the there's one thing that I I'm still really curious about, though, is you said all the studios passed. When did they say yes?

SPEAKER_02 15:10

Uh it was a fluke. I mean, all the studios passed, and uh uh there are about seven or eight studios who which which passed, and then one day we got a call from Michael Eisner. It just it just happens. That's why you know I don't get discouraged because I know that that it'll happen again just like just like that day happened when we got the call from Paramount. And they said they they they they heard about the script, they read the script, but they wanted to have us in for a meeting. And then we were suddenly at Paramount. That's it's uh and and so and today, you know, I get I get turned down, I get rejected, you know, they did every every other comedy guy is getting their franchise made. Like, you know, Rob Reinard got uh Spinal Tap made sequel, Wayne's Brothers getting uh Scary Movie made. Uh and and so uh and Mel Brooks is getting uh uh Spaceballs made spaceballs made. So that that's what kind of that can make you think, what you know, what's going on here? I I I'm not sure. But uh I I I just I just I don't get discouraged. I never give up.

SPEAKER_01 16:40

So um you you sit here today, you're you got lots of credits, what looks like a lovely house. You're definitely a success.

SPEAKER_02 16:51

This is a lovely house, and my hobby is interior decorating. And I'm starting next, I'm gonna start on my ex-wife's house. But anyways, you you guys were you guys were saying you're you're you're obviously a success.

SPEAKER_01 17:04

Um at what point because it sounds like you had obviously incredible self-confidence at the beginning, and you you know, you you thought you were funny, you knew other people would like it, it was obviously starting to work. At what point in your career did you feel like you had made it and you were a success? Was it after that?

SPEAKER_02 17:23

Oh well, I mean, obviously, I I think we, you know, we thought we had half made it with Kentucky Friday movie, but we didn't direct it. And so we always had our eye on the ball. We wanted to do airplane. And I mean, after airplane, you know, it's like my brother once said the movie business is impossible to get into or out of. And then, and then we we were we were suddenly we were directors and and and we had no plan after airplane. So, you know, that's why we did police squad and uh and then and then we did top secret, and it was like we had some misses there, and we had to we had to get back on the horse. And and that's why we did uh Ruthless People, because it wasn't written by us. We were so clueless about what happened to Top Secret that uh, although now it's a hit. I mean, Top Secret is what everybody loves it, everything, at the time it did, it didn't perform at the at the didn't do well at the box office. But uh we didn't know, we thought, oh, maybe people didn't want spoof anymore. So that's why when Jeff Katzenberg gave us a script to Ruthless People, we thought, oh, let's do this. You know, this is this is funny. We'll use comedians like Bet and Danny and uh and Judge Reinhold, you know, and it's a comedy where the actors are funny, so it's not a spoof at all. So and then we'll once we did that, then uh not only did we split up, but uh you know, Jerry did Ghost and Jim did Hotshots and I did the Naked Guns.

SPEAKER_01 19:07

Yeah, extraordinary. But you might end up doing this whole thing where you say you can't choose between your children, but is there a favorite one of your movies? Is there one for you that is your favorite?

SPEAKER_02 19:23

Yeah, I yeah, I guess it would be airplane. Uh, you know, the whole experience of airplane, you can never you you can only come out from nowhere once. And that's was quite an experience that we we just came out of nowhere from nothing to you know, we were the the golden boys of Hollywood for a cup of coffee. And uh and so that that's that's and then I also love the the first naked gun, that was great. And the the first scary movie that I did, which was scary movie three, and uh you know, basketball is something that's always you know close to my heart. So many people, it's their favorite movie. Uh I I don't think I don't think it was a very good movie, but I don't think Top Secret was a good movie because we did they didn't obey the rules of you know three-act structure, character arc, and ending. So I have, but I I don't I don't like to badmouth it too much because it's just I I know Top Secret has the most brilliant jokes that we've ever done. So it's it's fine.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

Yeah, I I did enjoy Top Secret. Well, I enjoyed them all. I guess what you said about airplanes, so as you said, you like you know, you're the most famous people of Hollywood for a cup of coffee. I mean, what we've talked about this with other people on this show where they have a success and they've got a window, and during that window, scripts they wrote before suddenly become good, and everyone wants to meet you, and everyone wants to talk to you, and that can wear off quite quickly. Talk about what it was like in that moment. So you've just had this great success. Presume were you turning down projects? Did everyone want to be your friend?

SPEAKER_02 21:15

You know, uh that yeah, it's right. We met with everybody, you know. We met with Steve Martin, Warren Beatty, Mel Brooks, uh, you know, every everybody wanted to have lunch with us. Uh Norman Lear, just uh it's like it was uh it was quite an experience, and you know we we were uh you know a little bit clueless about you know the entirety of why airplane was successful. And that's because you know, a guy named uh Arthur Haley wrote this, wrote the script. You know, what was important in Airplane, which we didn't know at the time, was that Arthur Haley wrote it. And we just put in the jokes. You know, we we were great at doing that. And I'm very proud of us for laying off and not joking it up too much. But uh we took the wrong lessons from it. We thought you fill a movie up with 80 minutes of jokes, and that's and that's great. And so, you know, like like the rooster who thought the sun came up because he crowed, you know, so we were a little bit misled by that. And that led to to top secret. And and we didn't, we, we didn't want to, we didn't want to take any input from Paramount. And we probably could have used Tom Perry again and and had had some, but we didn't want to, we didn't want to listen to anybody. So this is this is you go through life, you know. My dad said once, I never learned a lesson that didn't cost me money. And and so, and this is this is just part of, and so what I'm trying to teach in Mastercrash is that, you know, I there's things things you can't really teach anybody to be funny, but you can teach uh how to avoid the pitfalls. There's a lot of dumb mistakes that we did that you can avoid if you if you know if you've been through it. I we're kind of saying don't do this, don't do that. So we have these 15 rules, which are mainly things not to do. And the 15th rule, of course, is there are no rules. So, you know, that's you know, so we're I'm I'm trying to, and if the people who did Naked Gun 4 had known the rules, uh they never would have done that thing. So uh, you know, I'm I know I'm tilting it will windmills here, trying to trying to keep Hollywood from doing stupid movies, but that's that's what I'm trying to do. But you know, so but I have time on my hands while I'm waiting for uh Star Malta to get going.

SPEAKER_04 24:09

Well, let us we're gonna link by the way your master we have a lot of um comedy listeners who ask us to do have more comedy people on, and we're gonna link uh we'll put a link to your new master course master uh part of the course is I actually do uh Zoom calls with master crashers.

SPEAKER_02 24:28

So, you know, there's usually about 10 people at a time, and I have you know, do personal interactions. I love doing it because the questions are great. And I love to answer the questions because I even even the people who are, you know, the professionals who are so-called people who'm supposed to know what they're doing, they don't. You know, not the filmmakers, not the executives, not the actors. They're they're all uh they're all clueless, and I have a clue.

SPEAKER_04 25:01

I was gonna say, nobody no, according to William Goldman, nobody knows anything, but I was that's right. Yeah, no great book. With the exception of David Zucker, no, nobody knows anything.

SPEAKER_02 25:09

That's right. I I at least I'm the one guy who knows what he's doing. I buy it.

SPEAKER_04 25:13

Uh I have I have an one more sort of like uh history question for you. Because you you did something that was really rare. Uh you you you paired up with two people to to write and direct uh your Zaz team of directors, uh your brother Jerry and Jim Abrahams, you know, when you at least were starting out, you mentioned you guys broke up. I think now I could be wrong in the DGA. You can't direct with three people, right? Isn't there some rules against that? Can you talk about some of the trickiness navigating a three-person team while directing some of these iconic films?

SPEAKER_02 25:46

And while you again, you know, we never give up. We never took no for an answer. Uh, we were pitching a comedy without comedians and first-time, not only first-time directors, but three of us. And Paramount tried to shine, and I'm saying, you know, Paramount was great. I I have no complaints about Eisner, Katzenberg, Diller, Manco. These guys were in comparison with today's Paramount executives, they're they're giants. And uh, and so they, but they were they were using common sense. And these first-time directors, they were gonna entrust this whole movie. We had never directed a movie. There were three of us, it was crazy. And so they tried to shop it to other directors. And uh fortunately, other producers on our team, like Howard Koch, who Paramount put on our team, would call the agents and say, uh, you don't want to do this movie, like to Bill Murray or Chevy Chase, you know that and that's that's once we we actually got to be directors. But uh finally we just refused to give Paramount the script unless we could direct. And they finally gave in uh with the provisor that Howard Koch would be the executive producer, and they could fire us in two weeks. And we said, that's fine, you know. We and we were willing again, we we just knew we could do it because we we knew we could do what John Landis did. So uh, and then the the next challenge was the DGA. And the DG is not about creativity, it's about union rules. So uh they denied us, they said you can't have you can't have three man directors credit, pick one of you. Well, that that wasn't gonna work. So we we always found creative ways to get around stuff. Uh and this is since high school. And so with the DGA, uh we uh Jerry, my brother, went down to the LA City Hall, had his name officially changed to Abraham's N Zookers. And then he had he actually changed his name. Well, we we we applied again to the DGA as Abraham's N Zookers, and the computer spat out a card. And when they when they found out about it, they were furious, but they couldn't do anything about it, and they would have been embarrassed. So they they arranged some kind of kangaroo court hearing with the DGA board, and and we we won. We got the the three-man director credit.

SPEAKER_04 28:37

Uh we I I think Dad will agree. We've had 150, you're our 150th guest, by the way, on this podcast. And and I I've never heard a we've heard we I thought I've heard all the stories, and that, but I've never heard something like that. But just a few years later, you guys mentioned that you uh after your brother changed his name, you guys then uh sort of break up because you have a production company with your brother, you had one. So you you is it was it financial? I know a lot of teams break up.

SPEAKER_02 29:05

It was financial because paycheck. We we had we had to split one director's salary, and uh and then top secret we did for directors guild minimum with a big back end deal, and that that didn't that didn't work, and then we did Ruthless People, which was a hit, but no back end. So we didn't want to direct, do all that work for uh you know for a fraction salary. So uh and also I think we were starting to have different interests. And uh I think Jim and I wanted to do spoof. Jerry wanted to, he was in the Grow and Change school at that time, and he uh partnered with Bruce Rubin and did Ghost, which was amazing, and Jerry did a great job. And it was nominated when they had five candidates uh for best picture. Jerry was not nominated for best picture because that's more craziness with the academy. They figure these movies must direct themselves. So uh, but that's why you can't take any of this seriously. So uh, but but we all did well on our own. And I directed the the first Naked Gun and the second one, and uh and Jim did hotshots, and then we remained best of friends, and Jerry and I office together, but we never we never worked together again.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

Um so slight change of take. Um I'm not sure if this makes me a really lazy bad podcaster, but um this is a podcast about rejection, failure, and adversity. Um, I feel like I've got the I feel like I have to ask you a question about OJ Simpson at some point, but I'm not quite sure what my question is. So um uh what can I ask you about OJ Simpson that you haven't already thought we'd I I I don't like to talk about it.

SPEAKER_02 31:06

The only thing I'll say is that the the in I the last time I saw him was at the uh naked gun 33 in a third rap party. I shook hands, said goodbye, sold him my knife collection, and I never ever saw him again. So that's that's the all I'll say about that. That is I'll take that as an answer. Actually, but you know, truthfully, you know, he he actually became a better actor with each movie. And uh, and it turned out his acting was a lot like his murdering. Uh he you know, he uh he nobody believed him.

SPEAKER_04 31:50

I was like, you don't even need a punchline for that. Right, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

You don't need a punchline, that's really funny. Um very good. Let's talk about your new movie. Um so obviously you're not gonna cast OJ in that one. Um, but um there are probably some American footballers who have since been arrested. You could maybe put one in. Um but but tell us about tell us about your the the project. I know you said you're waiting for it to all to move forward, but tell us sort of where this one came from, what you hope to achieve with it.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

Well, Pat and Mike and I saw a movie called Detour, famous film noir movie. Not not, I don't know why it's such a classic, it's not very good, but you know, we we thrive on not very good. Uh and so and in fact, it didn't really even have an ending. It kind of ended at the end of the second act, and they must have run out of money. It's it's so bad. But it was so interesting, the setup and everything. And we we watched about 20 film noir movies, and we used scenes from all of them to fill out this plot and make it into a love story uh with a really nice ending. And it's it's really the best, probably the best story or among the best stories that I've ever uh written for a movie. And uh, and so but again, it's it's in black and white. It's uh I I think it's it's uh it's a hard, it's a tough sell for a studio. So all studios turned it down. We're doing it independently.

SPEAKER_01 33:30

Right. Oh and what are you given where you are, is this are you doing this because you want this to turn into three of these? Is this just a you you've just wanted to do a film noir, one of these, and this is the one?

SPEAKER_02 33:45

I want to do anything I'm interested in doing. I mean, I I love to write a good I a good original idea, and so and Pat and Mike are brilliant writers, and uh and so we we crafted this, took us a year to write it, and uh and and it also took us a year to write Naked Gun 4, our our Naked Gun 4, which I think the original title was Naked Gun 4, Nordberg Did It. And uh and it didn't even have Nordberg in it, because you know, of course, we don't want to do we don't want to do the copy that that uh the the people who did the movie thought was funny. So uh uh in in answer to your question, I forgot what the question was.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

Excellent.

SPEAKER_04 34:40

Hello. Uh so okay, I'm very curious about what you think about modern Hollywood today. I we're there's I mean, for most of us who are still in the trenches doing it, it's it's about as hard as it's ever been. You obviously are sort of in a in a in a slightly different space, but I think you have a different perspective too, or maybe a similar perspective coming from you know at least 40 years of Hollywood craziness. Like where are we at now?

SPEAKER_02 35:05

And well, I you know, I haven't really been a part so much of Hollywood crazy craziness. I live on the west side. I my my mantra is I never like to cross the 405 or even leave my house. So and I don't I never went to the parties. I I actually I never did any drugs. I just, you know, we we really Pat and Mike and I were always about the work. And the same thing with with Jerry and Jim. We just we really wanted to do good work. And and uh I forgot your question again.

SPEAKER_04 35:39

No, I mean more more for me than the I mean, sure, I'm interested in the Hollywood the the craziness of Hollywood Hills and actual Hollywood, but no, the the sort of the Hollywood contraction that where the Hollywood contraction is part due to streaming, it you know, it's a lot of technical stuff.

SPEAKER_02 35:55

There there isn't the theatrical business that there used to be. And uh movies stay in the theaters for less time, and the studios don't put out as many pictures. Like in 1980, Paramount was doing, I don't know, 15 movies a year, and they could afford to roll a dice on a low-budget movie like Airplane, and and now the studios are only doing uh superhero movies, franchises, big stars, or tom cruise movies. And but I should say that I love Tom Cruise movies. And did I mention that? I thought Top Gun Maverick was great. I didn't mention that.

SPEAKER_04 36:43

You didn't mention we I love we love it.

SPEAKER_02 36:45

This is in the category of the broken clock being right twice a day. Wonderful movie, and it was so Hollywood, so Tom Cruise, so Formula, but Tom Cruise does a great job of this, and it was it was interesting, it was gripping, it was funny, funny. I mean, it's a I don't know where they got these writers to do top gun maverick, but that that was great, and then you also have smaller movies like uh The Holdovers, which if you can get through the first 20 minutes, they you know, they set up a thing, it was funny, it really made me laugh. And then other movies, and these aren't comedies, but I just saw Blue Moon, and that's a good movie. So uh Hollywood is is still doing good work, but but they're also they're also doing terrible things like ruining franchises. I won't say what what specifically I'm referring to with that.

SPEAKER_01 37:53

Well, you've already mentioned the naked gum ones, but yeah, there's I couldn't have meant I couldn't have been thinking of that. Um look, I could do this, I'd love to do this for for longer, but unfortunately that's not how podcasts work. So we are gonna have to wrap up. So um I mean surely there is more material, but I think we're just gonna have to probably go to the final question. And it's a it's a question we ask every guest, which is if you could give a single piece of advice to somebody wanting to enter the industry, and I know you've got 15 pieces of advice as part of your course, but what what would that single piece of advice be?

SPEAKER_02 38:33

Quit now, you'll never make it. And and that's the and then I think and it's such an asshole thing to say, but I always follow up with but if you can ignore that advice, you'll be halfway there. So uh I I I don't want to be responsible for anyone uh thinking they can make it because it's so impossible. It's it's impossible for me now. So it's it's really you have to I I just heard today about some guy who made a movie for three million dollars or something, and it made 17. What was his name?

SPEAKER_00 39:14

What was the name of the movie?

SPEAKER_02 39:15

A pyron lung? Oh, iron lung. And I just heard about this today. So uh this guy kind of didn't take no for an answer, he just did it. He really believed in himself, evidently so much. I don't know anything more about this, but and now he's a made guy, you know. He he's able to to make movies because he made some kind of profit. It's like when we did Kentucky Fried Movie, we you know, it was a six hundred thousand dollar budget, and it made, I don't know, 20 million. So but you know, you've only you've only proved that you can do what you've already done. So we were the proud owners of a small theater, and but they didn't they didn't think we could write a movie, and we did with Kentucky Friday movie, and then we that was a set success, but they didn't think we could direct. So now now then we directed airplane, and then now I'm fighting, I'm I'm 78 years old. Who's you know, they they just they think that talent leaves after age 50. Yeah. So you guys still have a shot.

SPEAKER_01 40:26

I hope not. Um he's too old now.

SPEAKER_02 40:30

Yeah, oh if you're over 50, that's right, you're really you're washed up and forget it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

No, well, look, um, David Zucker, this was exactly as entertaining and fun and interesting as I hoped it would be. Uh oh, good.

SPEAKER_02 40:43

We we didn't put anybody to sleep, I hope. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 40:46

We did not. Um, so it was excellent. Thank you very much indeed for your time. As Noah said, we'll we'll we'll share in the links for this um your your Master Crash. Um, and um we hope to see you start a news franchise that Seth McFarlane can ruin with your film noir project.

SPEAKER_02 41:05

I I'm going to I'm not going to let give the IP away to any studio. So the Seth McFarlane's will not be able to come in and and do it. Yeah. Super.

SPEAKER_01 41:16

Brilliant. David, thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Bye-bye.

SPEAKER_04 41:25

Thank you so much for listening, and thank you, James Watch for the music, and or watching.com. As always, each episode is brought to you by Scriptation, my favorite screenwriting annotation software. If you want to support the show, please download a copy at www.stripation.com.strip station.com slash dance. If you want to find me on social media, I'm at Twitter at night and more recently on threads.

SPEAKER_01 42:06

Talk more about me on social media because you people seem to care about social media.