Judd Apatow
Judd Apatow
Judd Apatowis an American producer, writer, director, actor, and comedian. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and developed the cult television series Freaks and Geeks and directed and produced The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Funny People, This Is 40, and Trainwreck...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionFilm Producer
Date of Birth6 December 1967
CitySyosset, NY
CountryUnited States of America
kings creativity people
At network television you could make a show like Freaks and Geeks, and even though 7 million people watch is every week, you were considered a terrible failure, and they got rid of you and staff. Now ... It's like a world where the replacements are the biggest fans in the world. It's, the Elvis Costellos of television are the winners. Creativity is king and it's very very exciting.
creativity economic-models people
We are at this weird moment where there's an economic model that supports creativity. People are demanding something new and fresh.
creativity
If you work on network TV, they want to pick your casts, dictate your story and how your show works. It just becomes creativity by committee, which is never good.
dating hate hilarious hired letting people sit women
I like letting people in on the process. When we did a speed-dating scene, we hired all these hilarious women ... and let them go off on Steve. ... If something's funny, I hate for it to just sit in a basement.
asked ideas movies obvious shooting star stealing steve
It was obvious while shooting 'Anchorman' that Steve was stealing many a scene. So being a wily producer, I asked him if he had any ideas for movies that he could star in.
audience audiences head terrified
We wanted to show how over his head he is, ... We were always terrified of that scene. The audience is so uncomfortable.
became clear cut early joke notes people
What became clear very early is that people wanted the story, ... They didn't want a joke fest. All the notes were: You can cut the jokes.
comedy freaks geeks since worked
I've worked with him since he was 16 on Freaks and Geeks and always thought he could be a big comedy star.
chance comedy nice premise shows since strong studios worked
I've worked with him since he was 16 on 'Freaks and Geeks' and always thought he could be a big comedy star. The nice thing about 'Virgin' is that it shows the studios that if the premise is a strong one, you can take a chance on a new actor in the lead.
ask audience helpful incredibly laughing movies screen screwed testing
The thing that is incredibly helpful is that we screen the movies and we ask the audience if they like it or not and we ask a lot of questions and do testing on the movies. For comedies, at least, it's very helpful. If they're not laughing and they don't say that they loved it, then I have screwed up.
chance comedy nice premise shows strong studios
I've ... always thought he could be a big comedy star. The nice thing about 'Virgin' is that it shows the studios that if the premise is a strong one, you can take a chance on a new actor in the lead.
ended
My first thought when 'Wedding Crashers' ended was, 'Oh, my God. We are so much dirtier than they are,'
It just frees you to be more honest.
achieved chosen situation stay
And I have achieved everything I have ever wanted to do. You don't need a better situation when you're doing very well. I've chosen to stay with the agency, not the agent.