Over the course of 235 episodes, Jordan Brady’s RESPECT THE PROCESS has welcomed luminaries from advertising, commercial filmmaking and entertainment, providing a warm, welcoming environment in which to share insights and anecdotes about their process. Brady’s latest guest is Writer/Producer/Director Judd Apatow, and the timing is apt: the two men have known one another for nearly three decades, dating back to their early days in standup comedy. Now, the hitmaker – both as director (Trainwreck, Funny People, Knocked Up, This is 40, 40 Year Old Virgin) and producer (The Big Sick, Superbad, Bridesmaids, Pineapple Express, Anchorman: The Legend Of Ron Burgundy, Talladega Nights: the Ballad of Ricky Bobby) – reclaims the stage in “Judd Apatow: The Return,” which debuts tonight on Netflix.
“Having come up in the comedy club boom of the 80's alongside Judd, I've always admired his stratospheric career behind the camera,” Brady related. “My appreciation for his films and the way he nurtures talent is compounded by my love of stand up comedy. So to see an accomplished friend and filmmaker come full circle and do a Netflix special is very rewarding. I’m humbled he's doing the podcast.”
For many, standup is the stepping stone to broader opportunities, and the ubiquitous Apatow has certainly evolved into a master of the comedy domain: his resume extends to TV, spanning a wide range of projects, from “Freaks & Geeks” to HBO’s “Girls” and “Crashing,” and the Amazon Original comedy, “Love.”
So, why, after 22 years away from standup, has Apatow returned to his roots?
This question and more are covered in the sprawling one hour and forty-three minute podcast interview, which dives into Apatow’s method of extracting the most from his entire filmmaking team of actors, writers, directors and editors. The relentless comedy miner never stops until the project is at its funniest, and his own process is distinguished by a tendency to encourage his collaborators to write his or her own stories.
“I’ve renewed my commitment through episode #300,” mused Brady of his popular podcast, which has been described by Special Teams film editor-turned-director Mark Nickelsburg as “The Rosetta Stone of filmmaking.” “In all seriousness, the show is a lot of work, but it is also immensely gratifying to compare notes with so many revered colleagues.” In addition to Apatow, Brady’s guests have included Adam McKay, Morgan Spurlock, Mike Bigelow, Bobcat Goldthwait, John Gammatico, Ric Cantor, McCann Worldwide Global ECD Bill Wright, LaneTerralever ECD Ian Barry, and Doner Detroit ECD Chuck Meehan.
Listen to or download Jordan Brady’s RESPECT THE PROCESS podcast interview with guest Writer/Producer/Director Judd Apatow here: https://jordanbrady.com/2017/12/06/so-why-is-super-producer-director-judd-apatow-doing-a-netflix-stand-up-comedy-special/
About Jordan Brady
Jordan Brady began as a stand-up comedian, touring nightclubs and colleges in 49 states across America. His true passion is commercials, and he has directed over more than 1000 national TV spots to date. Through his commercial production company, Superlounge, he directs ad campaigns for brands and agencies all over the world, recently working with Will Ferrell, Kathryn Hahn, Kevin Hart and Keegan-Michael Key.
In 2017, Brady completed his trilogy of documentaries on stand up comedy, comprised of the 2010 cult hit I AM COMIC (Netflix, Showtime), 2014’s follow-up I AM ROAD COMIC (Netflix, Hulu); and this year’s I AM BATTLE COMIC, which followed Brady and a squadron of stand-ups to Afghanistan, Kuwait, Bahrain and Iraq, where they performed for troops serving in the US Armed Forces. To date, that film's theatrical events have raised over $30,000 for charities helping active duty military & veterans.
