A Conversation with Jody Hill

Michael Tully sits down (using something called "a phone") to talk with Jody Hill, director of Observe and Report, which is coming out on DVD.

To wit:

It’s the story that every aspiring filmmaker dreams of, though it only ever happens to a very precious few: realizing that Hollywood isn’t going to save the day, a young writer/director saves up some money, returns to his hometown, takes the plunge with a group of friends, gets into Sundance, that tiny-movie-that-could is seen by the right people, and pretty soon he’s directing his next feature for Warner Bros. while developing an original series for HBO. For Jody Hill, that’s not a pipe dream. That’s his bio. Three years after premiering the raucous Tae Kwon Do comedy The Foot Fist Way, which helped launch his longtime friend Danny McBride into the Hollywood stratosphere, Hill finally delivered his follow-up this past spring, the outrageous and deceptively subversive action-comedy Observe and Report. At the same time, his next McBride vehicle, Eastbound and Down, made in collaboration with film school buddies Ben Best and David Gordon Green, found a devoted fan base on the small screen. On the eve of Observe and Report’s official home video release, I talked to Hill about his career trajectory, the differences between directing a studio film and an ultra-indie, and the “date rape” controversy surrounding his sophomore feature.

H2N: I wanted to start with The Foot Fist Way. Did you decide to make that with your own money, completely outside the system, out of necessity? Had you even tried to shop the script around and play the Hollywood game?

JH: It was totally out of necessity. When I came out to LA, I pictured myself as selling screenplays and taking meetings, but honestly none of that stuff happened. I didn’t know how to get my foot in the door. I didn’t have any contacts. I didn’t even know how to get into a studio to walk around the lot or anything! (both laugh) It really just was one of those things where I was depressed for a lot of years thinking I was never gonna make a film. While I was going through that, I was saving money from working these crappy reality television jobs. With that money, it eventually got to a point where one job was ending and I knew I couldn’t take another one, so I just took whatever little money I saved and went back to North Carolina and made The Foot Fist Way. That’s how it came about. It was completely necessity! (JH laughs)