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How did you approach getting the tone right for the movie?
When putting this together, the first person I wanted to do this with was Jon.
and How do you make a movie about comedic people and situations, but youre telling a dramatic story?
Some of the things were we wanted to be a little fearless in breaking some tropes of movies.
It really informed a lot of the tone of these scenes.
But we also wanted to own that by putting it in the movie.
Doug and Henry, our main characters, theres very little in terms of actual videotape or even photographs.
How difficult was the casting process, and how did Forte come aboard as Kenney?
We didnt necessarily want to go for look-alikes.
Peter,Central IntelligenceandKeanuwere arguably the two biggest comedies of 2016, and you produced both.
What was that year like for you personally, and how did you plan to build off of it?
Im just really proud of both of those movies.
Is that significantly different when producingFutileor much of the same?
Stern:Thats an interesting question.
ProducingThe Tenwas a crossroads in that thats when I realized and started focusing primarily on just comedy.
I came from the indie film world where I did all sorts of genres.
It took this project and Peter putting it together and getting me involved because films are a different thing.
I mean, I had episodes of digital series that had more viewers than any feature I produced.
Youre not waiting to see what happens in the next season.
If it isnt, why?
How do we improve on it?
What are some jokes?
This joke isnt hitting.
Find a joke here.
That works on a dramatic level too.
Stern:That was the first movie I ever did.
I read the script and Im like Wow.
I took a leave of absence from work and that was the first thing I worked on.
It was so hard.
I had lost my voice.
I held onto my vocal chords until the very last minute and then my body just… everything went.
Stern:Ill point to two hard-to-find things, I love this question.
About 12 years ago, A.D.
It was basically a soap opera parody, but a very twisted version and I loved it.
Neither one of those is going to change society, but I never get tired of watching them.
And on the movie front, believe it or not, I wish more people would seeKeanu.
Stern:I saw it.
I went to the premiere!
I thought it was terrific.
Actually one more thing, it just went up on NBC.com, is a show calledShrink.
It was originally on Seeso but they went out of business.
Really after 500 times you might stop discovering things, but at least you dont want to shoot yourself.
Im predominantly a guy that works in comedy, these things are all equally important to me.
A way of looking at the world that turned it on its ear.
That couldnt take it so seriously.
Going about it in a way thats telling something meaningful while adding real-life humor to these situations.
It was a lesson in getting back to those basics of really looking for those types of people.
