S04.E04: Duly Noted

[Tara Ariano]

The Farrelly brothers consider their place in the project; Jason takes his concerns about digital directly to Ben; the search for a perfect location continues, causing drama amongst members of the team; the cast assembles for a table read.

[Primetimer]

Sarah D. Bunting asked John Ramos to put his producer hat on for a Greenlight discussion. Related: John's billing for a new caps lock key.

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[asha]

I've changed my mind about this whole show. It is brilliantly infuriating. I just can't tell if this is by design or not. Are they trying to point out how ridiculous the film industry is, or are they actually catering to this manipulative director with unrealistic expectations and no experience?

[Erin Withans]

Effie Brown is a goddamn national treasure.

Jason Mann is an asshole.

This show is driving me insane.

[diggle]

I am falling in love with Effie Brown.

[calliope1975]

I don't know. This show is beginning to make me feel really uncomfortable, and I don't quite know why. But goddamn is Jason supremely punchable, and I hope his career crashes in burns in such a way that he ends up no where near the creative arts.

[clack]

Effie makes my skin crawl when she adopts that sing-songy, affected voice.

[Racj82]

I continue to think Effie is great for putting up with Jason and that's about it. She can truly irritating as well. There are plenty of faults to go around. Looking at the show, there is no way this show is interesting without Jason here. I often hear the results desire for a flat out reality show with the baked in drama but that almost always leads to nowhere interesting. I can't believe this fucker is still talking about film. He doesn't seem to understand the time crunch or budget at all.

[asha]

I see what you're saying about the baked-in drama aspect, and undeniably without Mann in there driving everyone insane, it probably would not be as trainwreck-watchable. On the other hand, it's then annoying that Damon and others are always proclaiming that they're picking 'the best' person as the winner of their contestant.

[Racj82]

I see what you're saying about the baked-in drama aspect, and undeniably without Mann in there driving everyone insane, it probably would not be as trainwreck-watchable. On the other hand, it's then annoying that Damon and others are always proclaiming that they're picking 'the best' person as the winner of their contestant.

That's true. With this show the reality is they want to find a quality director that is best for the show first and foremost.

[OptimisticCynic]

I thought Effie was acting a little childish at the beginning of the episode in her gleeful reaction to Peter Farrelly quitting. Also why instigate with the "I want you to say something."

I have been in agreement with her on the more practical, logistic, and budgetary elements but I really was on Marc's side the entire episode. He seems to have the right balance of practicality but also basic interpersonal skills to know unnecessary confrontation serves no one. Treat everyone with respect and put your ego aside. I think that applies to both Jason and Effie at times.

But Jason is definitely the most insufferable. They weren't forcing Pete to leave. They did you a courtesy by letting him stay to work with you. But as a writer director you shouldn't need his crutch if you have such a "fantastic vision." Also there are guild and contractural requirements that aren't feasible in that time frame. For someone who went to film school, he has no fucking idea how filmmaking and the real world actually works.

Nice to see that Ben Affleck was actually willing to fork over the money for film (but probably was never an earnest attempt.) somehow I don't think HBO would have any issue with them putting up money for the budget themselves.

I want this film to crash and burn to see Jason's massive ego handed to him. And I like Ed Weeks and want to see him a great leading role.

Edited October 5, 2015 by OptimisticCynic

[lidarose9]

That was nauseating. I am so grateful I don't have to work with those people. Effie FTW. 

[taragel]

I think it's no coincidence that the two people being run-around in this episode were both the only women: Effie and Allison. Speaks volumes about what a complete boys' club it is. Never did I think we'd be looking to Pete Jones as the voice of reason and respect. Go figure.

I was hoping Effie would put a spreadsheet in front of Jason and say "Okay, since you chose to sacrifice three days for film, you're going to have to figure out where those days will come from. Write me up a production schedule that stays in budget!" He'd be so clueless.

[hacman00]

IMO Effie failed. Jason's demand for film wasn't unrealistic because HBO caved in. He was able to persuade the PTB and if Effie was doing her job she could have too.

And who cares who shows Jason the locations as long as he finds one in the end.

For what it's worth, I've seen all the entries as well as Jason's short that this feature is going to be based on and Jason IMO is by far the most talented and not just there for drama.

I think it's no coincidence that the two people being run-around in this episode were both the only women: Effie and Allison. Speaks volumes about what a complete boys' club it is. Never did I think we'd be looking to Pete Jones as the voice of reason and respect. Go figure.

I was hoping Effie would put a spreadsheet in front of Jason and say "Okay, since you chose to sacrifice three days for film, you're going to have to figure out where those days will come from. Write me up a production schedule that stays in budget!" He'd be so clueless.

Jason didn't give up less days for film. It was always a 20 day shoot. The option was 2 EXTRA days to shoot.

[OptimisticCynic]

I think it's no coincidence that the two people being run-around in this episode were both the only women: Effie and Allison. Speaks volumes about what a complete boys' club it is. Never did I think we'd be looking to Pete Jones as the voice of reason and respect. Go figure.

Oh I definitely picked up on that too. Also, wasn't the director of the original digital studio Effie took him to a woman as well? It may be subconscious, but he doesn't seem to respect the women at all as experts at what they do.

I also cringed at one of the lines from the table read where I believe it was "girls come downstairs, get naked and lick each other's assholes!" (I'm paraphrasing) This is the brilliant script? Ok.

I did like Effie a lot more once she backed off and is letting Jason ruin himself. Fine, this is what you want? That's what you're going to get and I am not going to fix it up for you. It's clear he doesn't respect her so why drive herself crazy over it? She won't get the credit either way.

If I was the location manager I would have quit. And I would have had a lot more justification than Peter Farrelly.

[taragel]

Jason didn't give up less days for film. It was always a 20 day shoot. The option was 2 EXTRA days to shoot.

 

 

Duly noted. ;) Regardless of the hair-splitting, it's days they desperately could use because of all the other drama he's caused by not being willing to make any decisions that would require one iota of compromise from him. What other director would get the option?

 

And I don't think Effie got the chance to argue her case to HBO. That we saw anyway. They're all indulging him for the sake of the show, without anyone giving much of a rat's ass about the actual shooting of the movie because...none of them have to be on set dealing with the problems he's causing.

[hacman00]

I think they are indulging him for the sake of the film. His demands at least are coming from a place where he thinks it will make the film better. It's not like he's demanding caviar from crafts services.

And what problems has Jason caused big picture wise? They are still on schedule to begin shooting when they planned. He eventually compromised on the location. Seems like he just wanted to make sure they left no stone uncovered.

Edited October 5, 2015 by hacman00

[OptimisticCynic]

I think they are indulging him for the sake of the film. His demands at least are coming from a place where he thinks it will make the film better. It's not like he's demanding caviar from crafts services.

Personally I think it is from a very inflated sense of ego. He wrote it and he thinks he has the perfect version in his head and he seems unwilling to take any notes or ideas from anyone else aside from one of the Petes.

He seems like a director that really does not respect his crew. At all. He has issues taking women seriously. He doesn't respect his crew to make a fucking decision to save his life or to give them ample time to give him the best they can in the constraints they have. He doesn't respect them enough to keep them in the loop or include them. Why not bring the location manager or mention he found a place? The production designer should have approached the location manager if he didn't. He's fostering a really unhealthy atmosphere where the crew members who are working longer and more diligently than anyone else and are the backbone of making your days distrustful of each other. He is just incredibly stupid, short sighted, stubborn, and self involved.

Why was he procrastinating the shot list? He has no sense of urgency and then undermines those who are breaking their backs trying to get things on time.

[hacman00]

Totally agree he's a pain in the ass but then again that's pretty common trait with all great film makers.

Not saying Jason is great. That remains to be seen. I gotta respect him for standing up for his vision. In the end he'll make the movie he wanted to make, and if it turns out to be a turkey its on him.

[OptimisticCynic]

Totally agree he's a pain in the ass but then again that's pretty common trait with all great film makers.

Not saying Jason is great. That remains to be seen. I gotta respect him for standing up for his vision. In the end he'll make the movie he wanted to make, and if it turns out to be a turkey its on him.

And there also fantastic filmmakers who are known for their ability to collaborate.

[hacman00]

Not to come off as a dick but can you give me examples of directors who were fantastic AND are pleasant to work with?

[jRoxy13]

I HAAAAAAAATE HIM. This is the most delightful season of Project Greenlight yet.

I think in large part it's because I can see that Jason has some measure of talent. In the other seasons (I didn't see the third), where many times the poor decision-making came from other voices in the director's ear and/or inexperience, I always felt bad for the winner even when I was delighting in the compounding disaster. With this season, I feel free to completely revel in what a dick Jason is, and how much he is hurting this project by burning off all good will from the crew.

And I have to say, despite some annoying mannerisms, Effie is a much much much better person than I am. Because she's actually doing her job, trying to give Jason the options to succeed, and letting his own actions shoot him in the foot. Whereas I, were I in her position, would be actively trying to sabotage his every wish and desire because HAAAAAAAATE.

[lidarose9]

They immediately all turned it into a "personality conflict" between Effie and Peter F. Even thought Peter was theone who did the big Diva move ("screw you guys, I'm going home"), she was the one who was "difficult". 

 

Honestly I feel like I was watching people in 2 different worlds describing two different realities. It was surreal.

 

They all want Effie to quit. She's not going to. 

Edited October 5, 2015 by lidarose9

[Julia]

I'm kind of perversely fascinated by the mulish look that flickered across Jason's face every time he started to disrespect Effie to one of the other producers and they shut him down. It must have been quite a shock to him when he saw the show and found out how much Farrelly disliked him.

There is no amount of talent that justifies being that spectacular an asshole, and certainly not the amount the man who made his audition has. All the same, whoever his connection is, I can't imagine they have enough juice to get him work after this. I feel like I can hatewatch in peace.

I'm also a little fascinated by the show's facebook page. Nobody seems to be managing comments - there's been a link to a torrent site up for almost a day now - and the overwhelming majority of the comments supporting Jason address the aspect of Effie's performance where she's a girl producer who is not white. It's kind of hard to imagine that nobody involved in this show has noticed how terribly bad this is making them look.

[biakbiak]

Not to come off as a dick but can you give me examples of directors who were fantastic AND are pleasant to work with?

There are many directors who qualify, or at the very least weren't asshole out of the gate. Admittedly, the problem is we don't see footage of them filming their first films but Sorcese, Coppola, James Cameron and Ron Howard all got their starts working for Roger Corman the king of low budget b-movies and ruling the budget with an iron fist. Even on the first PG, Kevin Smith tried to get Pete Jones to slow his roll on a variety of things saying once you get money attached your vision isn't the only one who counts.

I thought Effie was acting a little childish at the beginning of the episode in her gleeful reaction to Peter Farrelly quitting. Also why instigate with the "I want you to say something."

Completely agree. Marc didn't even ask her to apologize just call and do the "hey heard what happened can we make this work."Nome apology. Also, she didn't bat in eye when the production designer went "out of his lane," taking up time showing Jason a location without her, Marc or the location managers knowledge which probably ended up eating as much time as a digital vs film demo with Farelley and his DP.

Marc' s complete lack of agency fascinates me he is the day to day creative producer on the movie but also has the role on the show.

From a show perspective I think there is no Chris Moore. He would want to punch the shit out of the directors they chose but he would also mention occasionally that as a producer he would allow stupid decisions because of the contest.

He still ended up hating all the directors they chose!

Edited to Add I still think Jason needs to be punched repeatedly in the face!

Ps: glad jason wanted a more sophisticated comedy that includes a father calling his daughters downstairs so dudes can strip and lick each other's asshole!

Edited October 5, 2015 by biakbiak

[terrymct]

Effie Brown is a goddamn national treasure.

Jason Mann is an asshole.

This show is driving me insane.

 

 

I don't know why Effie hasn't quit and taken most of the professional staff with her.   Leave Affleck, Damon, and Farrelly to handle their special snowflake a$%hole of a newbie director.   I detest Jason, from his squinty affected staring at the horizon to his juvenile running to Daddy to overrule Mommy.  During last night's episode, I kept thinking about the other directors who made the short list who could have taken advantage of this opportunity, learned something about the business from professionals, and made a good film.   Any of them should have been given this chance, rather than Mann.

 

Oh, and the bits we're hearing from Jason's script don't actually sound funny.

 

Did Farrelly really quit if he's saying that he'll still be available to advise Jason, review the script, etc?  All he's basically saying is that he'll only interact with Jason, not the professional staff of the movie.

 

I really would like to see interviews with the pretty much everyone involved with this except Jason immediately after they view the episodes.  

Edited October 5, 2015 by terrymct

[terrymct]

Not to come off as a dick but can you give me examples of directors who were fantastic AND are pleasant to work with?

 

The Coen brothers come to mind.  Wes Anderson?  Scorsese?  Spielberg?  Lucas?  Ron Howard?  Kevin Smith?  All seem to have reputations as being grown ups and have staff and actors who stick with them.

Edited October 5, 2015 by terrymct

[OptimisticCynic]

Scorsese especially. I remember watching the Casting By documentary and how supportive and complimentary he was to Marion Dougherty and he talked about working with different departments to make a great film.

Great directors who are able to COLLABORATE are important. That doesn't mean they are never focused, steadfast, or opinionated. It does mean they are willing to listen and treat their collaborators and crew with respect. They may not agree with every idea or proposal, but they approach it with an open mind rather than shut it down immediately like Jason does. And if they are very specific about what they want, they communicate that up front or it's clear in the script from jump so the department heads and crew can deliver.

Like take for example the shot list. As a director with a strong vision that SHOULD be a top priority for Jason. That communicates to your DP and your camera operators exactly what you want ESPECIALLY since he pushed for fucking film and not digital. Why is he procrastinating that when he says it's the most important of the film. It would be one thing if he is more experimental and but 1) he isn't the type based on every stubborn decision he's made and complete lack of compromise, he's a control freak and 2) that's suited for digital where you have much more available footage time than with film.

I guess I would have more respect for him if I got the sense he is working his ass off as much as everyone else to pull this together. He seems way too chill right now. I can get behind meticulous if I really believe he's putting in the effort. Instead he is letting everyone scramble, come to him, and then he can reject it for not reading his fucking mind.

This laziness is going to bite him in the ass on a 20 day film schedule. He's going to get to set the first day and have to explain or backtrack when his DP is not on the same page as him or he doesn't automatically love every take.

Developing a shot list actually allows for more room to experiment because you are scheduling what you need or initially thinking and then you have time to experiment after rather than just wing it. He may have every frame mapped out in his head but he's got to provide a blue print for the DP, camera operators, lighting, gaffers etc in order to pull it off.

Edited October 5, 2015 by OptimisticCynic

[Latverian Diplomat]

And what problems has Jason caused big picture wise? They are still on schedule to begin shooting when they planned. He eventually compromised on the location. Seems like he just wanted to make sure they left no stone uncovered.

 

They are not really on schedule. They are starting shooting because they have to. Not because they are ready. Pre-production is way behind, there's no shot list yet. Even Jason thinks the script needs more work (that it won't get). And it's almost certain to go over budget because of insufficiently planned things going wrong and they don't have enough days.

 

All of this comes from Jason's poor decision making. He has prioritized nothing and stretched himself too thin with things he should have delegated or trusted others more on. How much time did he waste scouting locations only to go with one of the first ones his location manager suggested. 

 

Among other things, a director is a decision-maker, and a boss. Which means he has to delegate <i>something</i>, prioritize some things above others, and make tough calls (compromises) or he is not doing his job.  

[Cramps]

I think Peter Farelly saw that Effie was spoiling for some on camera fights and realized he didn't want to be part of that kind of reality show. That's why he started advising Jason off camera.

[RemoteControlFreak]

So are they paying for shooting on film with the money saved by Farrelly quitting?

 

Judging from the two lines of the film we've heard so far:  "Someone defecated on your Bentley" and "Two girls get naked and lick each other's assholes,"  this film has more problems than whether it's shot on film or digital, and where.

 

Who thinks this shit is even remotely funny? 

Edited October 5, 2015 by RemoteControlFreak

[Surrealist]

My favorite part of this episode is when Effie said in her TH that Jason's never held a real job. There's no way he lives like that in New York City, unless his parents are paying for it or his girlfriend is. He's never discussed doing anything else outside of filmmaking.

 

An awkward moment for me was during the table read. There's a line in the script about "licking each other's assholes"? Oh, yeah. That's brilliant comedy right there.

Edited October 5, 2015 by Surrealist

[OptimisticCynic]

They are not really on schedule. They are starting shooting because they have to. Not because they are ready. Pre-production is way behind, there's no shot list yet. Even Jason thinks the script needs more work (that it won't get). And it's almost certain to go over budget because of insufficiently planned things going wrong and they don't have enough days.

All of this comes from Jason's poor decision making. He has prioritized nothing and stretched himself too thin with things he should have delegated or trusted others more on. How much time did he waste scouting locations only to go with one of the first ones his location manager suggested.

Among other things, a director is a decision-maker, and a boss. Which means he has to delegate <i>something</i>, prioritize some things above others, and make tough calls (compromises) or he is not doing his job.

THIS. His only priority thus far has been to shoot on film. But between battling that, maybe work on other aspects of the production in the interim.

By waiting this long he gave his production designer minimal time to dress the location he could have picked a month prior. That's going to mean overtime expenses and half hazard work he will likely berate for not being perfect.

At the bare minimum finish the fucking script and put together your shot list.

[terrymct]

My favorite part of this episode is when Effie said in her TH that Jason's never held a real job. There's no way he lives like that in New York City, unless his parents are paying for it or his girlfriend is. He's never discussed doing anything else outside of filmmaking.

 

An awkward moment for me was during the table read. There's a line in the script about "licking each other's assholes"? Oh, yeah. That's brilliant comedy right there.

 

On Jason Mann's wikipedia page, it says that he was in his fourth year at Columbia University School of the Arts when he was selected for Project Greenlight.  He must have family money because there's no way I can imagine him working typical college student jobs to get through school.

 

Yeah, that line is horrible.

 

As for what he's been doing when he's supposed to have been setting up his shot list, selecting locations, etc, I think other than making life hell for everyone else, he's mainly been working on the script with Pete.  I suspect that his insistence on keeping Pete around round came from two things, the deep down knowledge that the script still needs a lot of work AND a need for Pete to serve as his writing training wheels and fix whatever issues with the script emerge as they move forward.

Edited October 5, 2015 by terrymct

[MrWhyt]

Jason didn't give up less days for film. It was always a 20 day shoot. The option was 2 EXTRA days to shoot.

 

IF Damon/Affleck/HBO hadn't ponied up the extra $300K, he would have had to sacrifice something (like shooting days) to go with film. 

And what problems has Jason caused big picture wise? They are still on schedule to begin shooting when they planned. He eventually compromised on the location. Seems like he just wanted to make sure they left no stone uncovered.

He compromised by agreeing to a location that was proposed months ago that he rejected without ever seeing.

 

edited: He's a first time director with a $3M budget and a big Corporation expecting a product, you don't get to put your artistic vision ahead of HBO's monetary concerns without a more impressive track record. As Affleck was saying, if Jason has any more budget problems HBO could simply pull the plug on the project instead of sending good money after bad.

Edited October 5, 2015 by MrWhyt

[MerryMary]

I can't believe Jason is being this picky about a movie based on a script that has a licking assholes joke in it.  Seriously?  At best, Jason might be a great visionary and a horrible manager.  He doesn't seem to care what he puts the crew through to get what he wants.  As I explained to my seventeen-year-old son, this is why group projects are a pain in the ass.  The petty jockeying about who talks to who, going straight to Matt and Ben and whatnot, is typical.  For a guy who has never held a job, he sure knows how to work the org chart.

Edited October 5, 2015 by MerryMary

[Racj82]

They immediately all turned it into a "personality conflict" between Effie and Peter F. Even thought Peter was theone who did the big Diva move ("screw you guys, I'm going home"), she was the one who was "difficult".

Honestly I feel like I was watching people in 2 different worlds describing two different realities. It was surreal.

They all want Effie to quit. She's not going to.

And I don't understand not seeing Peter and his position. He doesn't need to do this. He was doing it as favor. He also wanted to mentor a young talent.In turn, from his side of things, he got his head bitten off. If he doesn't want to deal with that, he doesn't have to. Instead of it being called a diva act, I call it mature. You don't want to deal with what you feel is negativity, walk away. No harm no foul.

[Julia]

I'm starting to get a creepy feeling about the wtf decision to show the Damonsplaning incident when it made Matt Damon (who I generally like) look so very, very bad. And the creepy feeling is that nobody in a decisionmaking capacity realized how bad it made him look because they actually thought what they had here is an angry black woman narrative, or at least that's what they decided to go with. It sounds so much better than "We let the project get out of control while we were cheering on the creepy pretentious man-boy for having the monster brass balls to ignore the authority we gave the line producer."

Only, it really doesn't.

It would explain a lot about the way this thing was cut together.

[MrWhyt]

IMO Effie failed. Jason's demand for film wasn't unrealistic because HBO caved in. He was able to persuade the PTB and if Effie was doing her job she could have too.

HBO "caved" because Jason ran to Ben, who ponied up some of his and Matt's own money and convinced HBO to kick in the last $100k. It is not Effie's job to raise money, her job is to budget based on what funding HBO originally agreed to provide.

[blixie]

My favorite thing about the show so far is Jason, the snobbish artiste just LOVES Pete Jones, Peter Farrelly, and Matt n Ben, all of whom he mostly looked down his nose at, and he's at war with the only woman on the show who works in indie film and repeatedly say she cares about the WORK and doesn't want to put the kind broad misogynist-sexist comedy that all those dudes were hanging on Jason from the start. 

 

I'm glad Effie has just washed her hands of Jason to some extent and is just trying to keep the train moving, and whatever will be will from there.

[Julia]

If the physical production of the movie implodes: that's on Effie.

 

Is it, though? She did what she could to keep the film she was tasked to make on track, and she was repeatedly bigfooted by the EPs treating Jason as though he had a valid concern and it was a valid concern which could and should be addressed by Effie.

 

Basically, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon told him it was her job to give in to him - and even if they've never made a true independent film, they should know more about the finances of the one they're producing than that - and then didn't talk to Effie about it, or tell the 'mentor' there was an ongoing problem and have _him_ talk to Effie. Because despite what Jason had to say about it this week, Farrelly's job was not simply to advocate for Jason. It was to teach Jason how a real film is made.

 

And I'm sure that Affleck, Damon and Farrelly can behave just like Jason and get whatever they want, but that's because Affleck, Damon and Farrelly have an armful of Oscars™ and billions of dollars in receipts from big-budget tentpole pictures shared between them.

 

AAR, Effie was tasked with a job, and not offered any kind of flexibility in getting it done. The film money, now that they have it, pays for film. All the rush work that needs to be done so Jason can even have a shot at what he wants now that he's successfully played chicken with HBO and won is going to be done with the same budget he had for doing it right. 

 

So, no, if production implodes I think Jason owns a big chunk of that too, and so to a lesser extent do the EPs and the Farrellys..

Edited October 5, 2015 by Julia

[terrymct]

I'm hoping you all can help me to understand this.   I saw a photo online of Jason Mann with Damon and Affleck at the premiere of The Leisure Class, so I googled to see if there was a review of it floating around despite the probable HBO embargo until the release date.

 

An IMBD entry for the Leisure Class showed up in the search results that has it coming out in 2012 with Jason Mann as one of the writers but not the director.  I thought this was a new, unfinished script from which he'd written and directed a short.  Why isn't he the director of the (what I'm assuming is) the short listed in IMDB?  Most of the actors are listed as co-writers, I'd guess from their ad libbing lines while working on the short.   He didn't say he directed the short, did he?  Just that he was the writer?

[lidarose9]

It's pretty basic to be confused about whose responsibility is this or that. If these people don't know who is ultimately responsible for what, of course it's going to implode. Everybody here seems to be walking around with different job descriptions for each other. The only unusual role is the "mentor" role and that should have been more clearly understood by everyone from the get-go. That's the source of the conflict with Farrelly.

 

I love how Farrelly goes from hero (yay we have Pete Farrelly on board!) to expendable (he hates Jason but who cares) to the valued voice of experience (he can help me get $ to use film!) to prima donna (he's not down withe hostile vibes, man) to now again essential (I need him to help me with the script!). Whatever, man.

[Sarah D. Bunting]

The Pete Jason wanted to help him with the script is Jones, not Farrelly.

[LisaBLingLing]

So are they paying for shooting on film with the money saved by Farrelly quitting?

 

Judging from the two lines of the film we've heard so far:  "Someone defecated on your Bentley" and "Two girls get naked and lick each other's assholes,"  this film has more problems than whether it's shot on film or digital, and where.

 

Who thinks this shit is even remotely funny? 

 

Pun intended?  ;-)

 

I don't think it sounds remotely funny.  I told my film-maker brother that I just couldn't with this show anymore after Episode 2 and he made me continue.  He even made me watch Jason Mann's short.  And I'm still completely mystified that they picked this guy to direct a comedy.  Mystified. 

[Julia]

And I'm still completely mystified that they picked this guy to direct a comedy.  Mystified. 

 

I wonder how much this had to do with it.

[terrymct]

I wonder how much this had to do with it.

 

That's interesting.  Maybe some others backed out, but I do really think Jason Mann was selected because Affleck and Damon developed serious man crushes on him.

[lidarose9]

The Pete Jason wanted to help him with the script is Jones, not Farrelly.

 

My bad.

[RemoteControlFreak]

My favorite part of this episode is when Effie said in her TH that Jason's never held a real job. There's no way he lives like that in New York City, unless his parents are paying for it or his girlfriend is. He's never discussed doing anything else outside of filmmaking.

Didn't Jason essentially admit to this in Episode 3 when he whined that his parents have given him freedom to be as creative as he wants and he now he's stuck reporting to a bean counter who's stifling his creativity?

 

I interpreted that as Jason saying his parents have bank-rolled his every whim.  And the way he's played the adults on the project off against each other by running to another when the first doesn't give in to his incessant pleading is a classic spoiled child play.

[John Ramos]

This show is seriously reaching Breaking Bad levels of tension and fucked-up-ness. For someone who has literally done nothing but make films for his entire adult life, Jason is astonishingly blind to which elements are and aren't important to the final product. And yet, once again, I have to put part of the blame on Effie for not being able to bring him to heel. That is perhaps THE most important responsibility of a producer, especially when she's in charge of a film made by a first-time director. As soon as it became clear that she wasn't capable of shutting him down, she should have been running that issue all the way up the flagpole early and often. *She* should have been the one reaching out to Daffleck and HBO for help, because she's the one who knows from experience exactly how fucked up shit will get if those issues aren't resolved. The director is supposed to be the one who throws up his hands and acts passive-aggressive when he doesn't get his way: let Jason complain that the film is going to come out shitty; he's the one who has to take creative responsibility, so he's going to be fully motivated to work as well as he can within the confines that have been set.

TL;DR: If the movie isn't funny, is badly acted or weirdly paced or whatever: that's on Jason. If the physical production of the movie implodes: that's on Effie.

 

@Nick, I would absolutely agree if I were sure what we've seen so far is the whole story. But I'm wondering if Effie really had the open line of communication you're suggesting. It seems too odd to me that experienced producers (I'm counting Joubert as well) would let this director run roughshod over them. It just feels to me like the normal rules are out the window here.