Tina Fey is starring in a new book-to-movie adaptation called This Is Where I Leave You. The movie is what we call a dramedy and revolves around Tina Fey’s character, as well as those of Jason Bateman and Jane Fonda.
The movie is about siblings who gather for their father’s funeral. It sounds a little dark, but the film’s director, Shawn Levy, begs to differ.
“Tina [Fey] has said that people will describe this as a dark comedy, but it’s not dark. It’s an emotional comedy,” says Levy. “And I thought that was on point.”
Levy doesn’t normally attend events like the Toronto Film Festival, but this year he is making an exception in order to see the debut of This Is Where I Leave You.
“I don’t make festival-type movies,” Shawn Levy admitted to The Hollywood Reporter. “And I made a vow early on that I would only attend a film festival if I had a reason to be there.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cbzqco9iMtc
Now he, along with Tina Fey and others involved with the project, have a great reason.
This was a different sort of project for the cast and its director. It is one done out of passion for the material and one that demanded self-sacrifice from all involved.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOAPl7jPEcc
Levy said, “With Jason and Tina, my whole approach was, we all have done well working in comedy on a big commercial scale. I said, ‘I want to try something a little different here and I want you to try that different thing with me. None of us are going to get paid what we normally get paid.’”
He continued, “So we really linked arms in an economic model that kept the budget low and a creative aspiration that would be different.”
Good luck to Shawn Levy and Tina Fey, as well as to all the other actors and crew involved as they ramp up for the Toronto Film Festival!