Variety co-Editor in Chief Ramin Setoodeh tells all in our Cover Story segment about his sit down with Julia Roberts and the cast of Luca Gaudagnino’s provocative new film “After the Hunt.” And chief music critic Chris Willman revisits a moment in time that defines an era: Lilith Fair.
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Speaker 1 (00:15):
Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and
analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Thursday, September eighteenth, twenty
twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Lyttleton. I am co
editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm in
LA He's in New York, and Variety has reporters around
the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,
(00:39):
we'll hear from Ramin Setuda on his sit down with
Julia Roberts and the cast of writer director Luca Guardino's
provocative new film After the Hunt. And Chief music critic
Chris Willman revisits a moment in time that defines an
era Lilith Fair. There's a new documentary out on Sarah
McLoughlin's nineteen ninety's all female touring Summer Music Festival. But
(01:04):
before we get to that, here are some headlines just
in this morning that you need to know. Truthfully, there's
nothing people are talking about more right now than Jimmy Kimmel.
The situation with his show getting yanked from ABC happened
with shocking speed on Wednesday afternoon. The news is still
flying as we record this morning, Variety's team is doing
(01:25):
a ton of reporting to understand what's going on and
why it's all happening. We will have an update, perspective
and analysis in Monday's episode of Daily Variety. I suspect
the story will evolve quite a bit between now and then.
Until then, keep your eyes on Variety dot com, where
we are watching this very live story with great intensity
(01:49):
about what it signals for media, for television, and for
our culture. Now we turn to conversations with Friday journalists
about news and trends in show business. Ramin Setuda joins
us to give us the backstory on his starry sit
down with Julia Roberts, Io Adebris, Andrew Garfield, Chloe Savigni,
(02:14):
Michael Stolberg, and director Luca Guardaninho for his for Ramine's
cover story for the Variety cover story on their new
movie After the Hunt. The subject matter of the movie
is very serious, but as Ramin explains, this troop had
a lot of fun making the movie. Ramin Setuda, co
(02:35):
editor in chief of Variety. I hear that's a pretty
good gig.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It is a good gig.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I think we share it for a reason because it's
such a good gig remin.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I was so excited when you landed Julia Roberts for
our cover. She's part of this very provocative new movie
from director Luca Guaraninho called After the Hunt, and it
made waves in Venice, and Julia is an object of
fascination everywhere she goes. She I certainly grabbed attention in
Venice and you got the chance to sit down with
(03:04):
her tell us everything.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
For me, we're very lucky.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
We did the first cover story for this movie with
Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Io ed Abiri and they
were joined by Chloe Sevani and Michael stoolbarg and Luca
also joined. When I talked to journalism students where I
talk about the craft of interviewing, people often want to know,
what is it like talking to actors? Was it like
(03:27):
sitting down with an actor? And you and I have
talked about this before.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
We often will keep our cool. It's a job. We
go in there with our questions.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
But there are situations and instances where you grow up
loving someone so much that it's like your heart grows
because you love them so much.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
And for me, growing up and watching.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Movies and loving movies Julia Roberts was my favorite actor.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
She was the best movie star.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
I saw all her movies in the nineties, even the
ones that weren't well reviewed. It was just to go
into a movie theater and to watch a Julia Roberts
was a real part of my upbringing and my love
for movies and my love for romantic comedies. So to
be in the same space as Julia Roberts was a
little bit of a.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
My heart's racing experience.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
It was a little bit of an out of body experience,
but we had a great conversation. I'm really really proud
of this cover story. I hope everyone reads that Julia
Roberts is very fun and very funny in person, and
she still is a true movie star. She radiates a
movie star glow when you're in her presence.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
She's playing a flinty college professor, very ambitious, who gets
involved in a big scandal that involves Andrew Garfield and
her star student played by io Ed Barry. It sounds
like a very needy discussion of very contemporary themes about
accusation and the lines of consent and just all kinds
of very difficult issues, the kind of things that you
(04:50):
don't see so much on big screen movies the kind
of things that have been like the province of limited
series tell us about the movie after the Hunt, and
how you think that going to be received.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
So this movie will be opening the New York Film
Festival next week. It is being distributed by Amazon MGM.
It opens in theaters on October tenth. And you described
it very accurately, Cynthia. It is a movie that is
very contemporary. It has a rip from the headlines feeling
to it, given everything that we've gone through. Luca specifically
said he doesn't like that this is described as a
(05:22):
movie about the Me Too movement because it's about these characters.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
But it certainly is set.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Against the background of me too, and it is about
what happens after there is this assault allegation on campus.
It's certainly it's not a lighthearted film. And one of
the things that was hard for Julia was getting into
the headspace of the character that she plays, Alma and
playing this professor. But it reminded her very much of
working with Mike Nichols, and she misses Mike.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Nichols very very much.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
They work together on Closer at Charlie Wilson's War, and
there is a period in Julia's career after winning the
Oscar where she and Mike collaborated on these two projects,
and I do think this is a return to form
for her of that period of her career. And she
and Luca just love each other. It was a total
love fest. They admire each other so much. Brian Lord
introduced them. He represents both of them, and they it
(06:11):
was like there were cinematic soulmates, and even in our
conversation they were finishing each other's sentences.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
They were having a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And Luca actually volunteered to direct Julia in My Best
Friend's Wedding Too if that happens, which I'm not really
sure if that movie's up her grabs because Sealine Song
is writing the screenplay. But it was a lot of
fun and they clearly clearly really love each other.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
The Guadanino take on My Best Friend's Wedding Too, that
is just worth the price of admission right there. It's
a very interesting choice for her. This is the first
time in a while that we've heard the words Oscar
buzz around.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Julia asked her why she chose this role. It was interesting,
is she read the script.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
She liked the script, but for her, it really is
about working with the right director that she feels comfortable with,
and she feels that she's going to be connected with
on set, and so she said she was interested in
the role, but she didn't make the decision to take
on this project until she and Lucas had together.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
They were at a friend's house.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
They were sitting together, and then they just started talking
and they couldn't stop talking. They talked for hours together,
and they really really were connected, and that's what inspired
her to make the role, which I thought was very
interesting because a lot of actors will choose a director
based on what they see on screen, but for Juliet
really is about the personal connection.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Your story does a great job of weaving in many voices,
and you feel like you really have a sense of
the making of this movie. And although as you said,
it is not a comedy, these are not light subjects,
the whole troop seemed like they just had a blast together.
They describe a lot of fun things, and a certain
star's banana bread gets a lot of discussion in your story.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
So Julia invited everyone to her beach house and they
rehearsed as if they were rehearsing a play, and she
made them banana bread. She's a very good cook, according
to Luca, and Luca took a loaf of the banana
bread on a trip he was taking and he was
at the airport and the staff at the airport tasted
the banana bread and they fell in love with the bread.
You and so, yeah, this cast is very close together.
(08:03):
Even though this is a very difficult subject matter that
they're playing on screen.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
In person, they really love each other. They were cracking jokes.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
And what was also interesting is that Luca he moved
very quickly. They shot this movie in twenty eight days.
This surprised me because I've seen a lot of his films,
but he doesn't ask for a lot of takes. So
he said, he comes from the Clint Eastwood school of filmmaking,
where he only asks for one or two takes, and
he makes movies very quickly, very economically, and he wants
to stay under budget, which was also.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
A very interesting thing that I learned while talking to
them for this story.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
And I'm sure those words are going to warm the
hearts of studio executives everywhere. On time and under budget.
Thank you for bringing Julia Roberts to us. We have
that incredible smile and that Julia Roberts gaze on our cover.
Dear listeners, run to get your print copy of Variety.
Go to wriety dot com and look through all the photos.
(08:52):
They are fantastic. It's so much more to come on
after the hunt and Julia here this award season. Thank
you for taking time to chat. We'll end here with
a clip that captures the camaraderie among this cast. It's
from the cover story video that accompanies Remins great reporting.
This clip starts as Michael Stolberg is talking about working
(09:15):
with Guadaninho, Timothy Charlomay, and Armie Hammer on the twenty
seventeen drama Call Me by Your Name, and then Chloe Savigny,
Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield chime in.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I got to live with it for about two months
before we threw it in to be shot.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
I got to know Timmy, and I got to know Army,
and I got to know.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
I like to get.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Sorry you had if us out thoughts thoughts it out
loud with Chloe.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
The wow, the magic, because a walking magic. They don't
even smell like for another time. It was a nazy wow.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
It's all right, will you ask? And now Chris Willman
joins us to talk about the new Hulu documentary Lilith
Fair Building a Mystery, which premieres September twenty First, Chris
gives us his first hand account of what was so
groundbreaking about the all female tour that Sarah McLaughlin led
(10:21):
in the late nineteen nineties. But first, here's a clip
from the trailer.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Singer Sarah McLaughlin has launched an all female tour.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
This was the first time you'd seen anything like its
finding out that all of my favorite artists had played
at this event.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Alila fair Bill is incredible. Paula Cole, Who's Agad, Erica.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Podus, she Naede O'Connor, and this is Elliott, Sara McLoughlin,
Joe Crowth, Jewel.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
I was in disbelieved that I'd never heard of it before.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Promoter said, you can't have put two women on the
same bill. People will come. That's complete bullshit, and it
put a huge fire under my bout to prove them all.
Chris Willman, thank you for doing me a pleasure. Chris,
you are our chief music critic, and you are also
our chief reviewer of music documentaries. There's a new documentary
(11:16):
coming out, Lilith Fair, Building a Mystery, and it's a
deep dive back into the nineteen nineties festival that in
my memory ran longer than it actually did. It was
led by Sarah McLachlin, who was an incredible artist and
really was at the peak of her popularity and success.
Her sound really defines that late nineties era very well,
(11:39):
and she used her clout to put together a touring
lineup of female musicians. And although the nineteen nineties wasn't
that long ago, it is true that that felt like
a very radical move at the time. Let's start with
Chris having covered it in the moment back then? What
was so different? So what stood out so much about
(12:01):
the Lilith Fair and what Sarah McLaughlin was trying to
do with this tour.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Even today there will be occasional all women bills and
it still seems as novel as it did then. I mean,
this past year I went to Brandy Carlile's Girls just
on a weekend festival in Mexico, which is her annual
attempt to basically revive Lilith fair for one weekend as
opposed to a whole summer. What Sarah McLaughlin did back
(12:27):
in the nineties, the spirit of it lives on, but
it's still a radical idea to package women together. What
Sarah McLaughlin was dealing with was she went out on
tour I think ninety four ninety five, as she took
Paula coll Out as her opening act, and she became
aware that this was like stunning to people, that you
(12:48):
would think that people would come see a woman opening
for a woman, and that you didn't need the so
called variety of throwing a man in there.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
And why that idea.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Has persisted is is kind of a mystery, speaking of
building a mystery. But so Sarah said, you know, I
don't want to do just too. I want to do
a bunch. So the following year she did a few
test dates. Not all of them were even called Liltz Fair.
It was still coming together. But then by the summer
of ninety seven, it was like, Okay, we're going to
(13:19):
do this full scale. We're going to go out to
like every big amphitheater in the country with a somewhat
rotating cast of characters.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
But ninety seven ninety eight ninety nine.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Those were the three main years for Liltz Fair where
they really went out. I was covering it for Entertainment
Weekly at the time, and we did cover stories back
to back a couple of years.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Obviously it made a big impact if they're making documentaries
about it in twenty five years later.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
And in the documentary they had within the first few minutes,
Olivia Rodrigo On was the young expert witness who testifies
that she had no idea there was such a thing
as lilth Fair until fairly Rea, even though these are
all her favorite artists. This will be an education for
some younger people as well as the salgic trip for
(14:09):
the elders who were there.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
How do you think the music holds up?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Well, it was very well curated.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
When you've got people like Bonnie Raitt, you're on the
right track. The second year they knew they had a
diversity problem, and so they brought in artists like Erica Badou,
who is about to play the Hollywood Bowl.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
She's still around. All these people are still around.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Fiona Apple is not that active, but she is remains
one of the most respected artists in music. Cheryl Crowe
is still a superstar. We don't hear as much about
some of the others, like Natalie Merchant or Paula Cole,
but bind and large Liz Fair, people like that. The
Dixie Chicks were on it the third year. After they
(14:53):
started thinking they should have black people and brown people,
they thought, hey, why not some country artists too, So
in a way it was also pioneering. I think the
multi genre festival. Now it's common to see I think
multi genre bills, and with Coachella you see literally everything represented,
but Lilith Fair. It's like, Okay, the common denominator is
(15:16):
not the music. It's not even the attitude so much.
It's the common denominator is the gender, and so there's
so much you can put under that umbrella. As they
eventually figured it out, it was exciting, especially that second
year when you could hear some great R and B
singers as well as pop singer songwriters and rockers, and
they really mixed it up. So I think it was
(15:38):
influential in that way, which might not get as much
credit for it.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Chris, what would you say about the documentary itself? Does
it work in terms of putting it into historical context
and leaving you with appetite to learn more.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
I think it does.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
You know, I was so immersed in Lilith's Fair and
It's Lore that I wanted it to be three hours long.
But I think the documentary does a really good job
covering a lot of basis. It's very celebratory, as you
would expect, but it doesn't completely gloss over some of
the thorny issues. And then when it comes to the
issue of should there be a Little Fair revival today?
(16:13):
I think everybody who starts to watch this stock better
will go, hell, yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Do you think there's a need for a little Affair today?
Speaker 4 (16:19):
I mean it's a good question, and one that the
movie raises at the end because they do make the
point that Taylor Swift goes out and has almost exclusively
female opening acts, so there are sisters who are doing
it for themselves, so to speak, and elevating other women
in those support slots. On the other hand, there is
a Instagram account I forget the name of it, but
(16:42):
they track all the festivals that are happening in the nation,
and they do two versions of the poster, one with
all the names and then one that only has the
female names, and then in most of those festivals, the
entire poster art is blank except for a couple names,
especially if its genres like a country or hip hop
or something.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
You know, singer songwriter festival might be a different deal.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
So when you see that altered image where all the
male artists have been taken out and you just see
one or two lone female artists, you start to feel, man,
we have not come a single inch in the twenty
eight years since L's Fair started, so there is a
place for it.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
You can only imagine the lineup, but the incredible artists
that are out there now and again, so many of
the top hit makers are women. Well, Chris, thank you
for helping us put music and pop culture and the
role of it all into context. I'm really eager to
see this documentary, so thank you for previewing it.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
I think you'll enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
As we close out today's episode, here's a few things
we're watching for. Variety is getting ready to host its
annual Entertainment and Technology Summits September twenty fifth in Los Angeles.
We have great speakers lined up. More to come on
that next week. Next week, Variety will be globe trotting again,
we'll produce digital dailies out of the Busson International Film
(18:06):
Festival in Korea, the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain,
the Finished Film Affair in Helsinki, and the Zurich Film Festival.
Two TV premieres on our radar next week are season
two of Doc on Fox and The Low Down on FX.
That's the new series from Reservation Dogs creator Stirlin Harjoe.
Both shows land on September twenty third. Before we go,
(18:29):
congrats to Julie McNamara. She's partnered with Matt Lockshare winner
Jenny Snyder Erman to ramp up development and Urban Sutton
Street productions. McNamara spent many years in programming at CBS,
and she most recently headed podcast content for Spotify. Thanks
for listening. This episode was written and reported by me
Cynthia Littleton, with contributions from Ramin Setuta and Chris Wilman
(18:53):
sticks Nick's hick Picks. Please leave us a review at
the podcast platform of your choice, and please tune in
Monday for an other episode of Daily Variety
Welcome to Daily Variety, your daily dose of news and
analysis for entertainment industry insiders. It's Thursday, September eighteenth, twenty
twenty five. I'm your host, Cynthia Lyttleton. I am co
editor in chief of Variety alongside Ramin Setuda. I'm in
LA He's in New York, and Variety has reporters around
the world covering the business of entertainment. In today's episode,
(00:39):
we'll hear from Ramin Setuda on his sit down with
Julia Roberts and the cast of writer director Luca Guardino's
provocative new film After the Hunt. And Chief music critic
Chris Willman revisits a moment in time that defines an
era Lilith Fair. There's a new documentary out on Sarah
McLoughlin's nineteen ninety's all female touring Summer Music Festival. But
(01:04):
before we get to that, here are some headlines just
in this morning that you need to know. Truthfully, there's
nothing people are talking about more right now than Jimmy Kimmel.
The situation with his show getting yanked from ABC happened
with shocking speed on Wednesday afternoon. The news is still
flying as we record this morning, Variety's team is doing
(01:25):
a ton of reporting to understand what's going on and
why it's all happening. We will have an update, perspective
and analysis in Monday's episode of Daily Variety. I suspect
the story will evolve quite a bit between now and then.
Until then, keep your eyes on Variety dot com, where
we are watching this very live story with great intensity
(01:49):
about what it signals for media, for television, and for
our culture. Now we turn to conversations with Friday journalists
about news and trends in show business. Ramin Setuda joins
us to give us the backstory on his starry sit
down with Julia Roberts, Io Adebris, Andrew Garfield, Chloe Savigni,
(02:14):
Michael Stolberg, and director Luca Guardaninho for his for Ramine's
cover story for the Variety cover story on their new
movie After the Hunt. The subject matter of the movie
is very serious, but as Ramin explains, this troop had
a lot of fun making the movie. Ramin Setuda, co
(02:35):
editor in chief of Variety. I hear that's a pretty
good gig.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
It is a good gig.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
I think we share it for a reason because it's
such a good gig remin.
Speaker 1 (02:43):
I was so excited when you landed Julia Roberts for
our cover. She's part of this very provocative new movie
from director Luca Guaraninho called After the Hunt, and it
made waves in Venice, and Julia is an object of
fascination everywhere she goes. She I certainly grabbed attention in
Venice and you got the chance to sit down with
(03:04):
her tell us everything.
Speaker 2 (03:05):
For me, we're very lucky.
Speaker 3 (03:06):
We did the first cover story for this movie with
Julia Roberts, Andrew Garfield and Io ed Abiri and they
were joined by Chloe Sevani and Michael stoolbarg and Luca
also joined. When I talked to journalism students where I
talk about the craft of interviewing, people often want to know,
what is it like talking to actors? Was it like
(03:27):
sitting down with an actor? And you and I have
talked about this before.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
We often will keep our cool. It's a job. We
go in there with our questions.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
But there are situations and instances where you grow up
loving someone so much that it's like your heart grows
because you love them so much.
Speaker 2 (03:42):
And for me, growing up and watching.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
Movies and loving movies Julia Roberts was my favorite actor.
Speaker 2 (03:49):
She was the best movie star.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
I saw all her movies in the nineties, even the
ones that weren't well reviewed. It was just to go
into a movie theater and to watch a Julia Roberts
was a real part of my upbringing and my love
for movies and my love for romantic comedies. So to
be in the same space as Julia Roberts was a
little bit of a.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
My heart's racing experience.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
It was a little bit of an out of body experience,
but we had a great conversation. I'm really really proud
of this cover story. I hope everyone reads that Julia
Roberts is very fun and very funny in person, and
she still is a true movie star. She radiates a
movie star glow when you're in her presence.
Speaker 1 (04:27):
She's playing a flinty college professor, very ambitious, who gets
involved in a big scandal that involves Andrew Garfield and
her star student played by io Ed Barry. It sounds
like a very needy discussion of very contemporary themes about
accusation and the lines of consent and just all kinds
of very difficult issues, the kind of things that you
(04:50):
don't see so much on big screen movies the kind
of things that have been like the province of limited
series tell us about the movie after the Hunt, and
how you think that going to be received.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
So this movie will be opening the New York Film
Festival next week. It is being distributed by Amazon MGM.
It opens in theaters on October tenth. And you described
it very accurately, Cynthia. It is a movie that is
very contemporary. It has a rip from the headlines feeling
to it, given everything that we've gone through. Luca specifically
said he doesn't like that this is described as a
(05:22):
movie about the Me Too movement because it's about these characters.
Speaker 2 (05:24):
But it certainly is set.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Against the background of me too, and it is about
what happens after there is this assault allegation on campus.
It's certainly it's not a lighthearted film. And one of
the things that was hard for Julia was getting into
the headspace of the character that she plays, Alma and
playing this professor. But it reminded her very much of
working with Mike Nichols, and she misses Mike.
Speaker 2 (05:47):
Nichols very very much.
Speaker 3 (05:48):
They work together on Closer at Charlie Wilson's War, and
there is a period in Julia's career after winning the
Oscar where she and Mike collaborated on these two projects,
and I do think this is a return to form
for her of that period of her career. And she
and Luca just love each other. It was a total
love fest. They admire each other so much. Brian Lord
introduced them. He represents both of them, and they it
(06:11):
was like there were cinematic soulmates, and even in our
conversation they were finishing each other's sentences.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
They were having a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
And Luca actually volunteered to direct Julia in My Best
Friend's Wedding Too if that happens, which I'm not really
sure if that movie's up her grabs because Sealine Song
is writing the screenplay. But it was a lot of
fun and they clearly clearly really love each other.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
The Guadanino take on My Best Friend's Wedding Too, that
is just worth the price of admission right there. It's
a very interesting choice for her. This is the first
time in a while that we've heard the words Oscar
buzz around.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
Julia asked her why she chose this role. It was interesting,
is she read the script.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
She liked the script, but for her, it really is
about working with the right director that she feels comfortable with,
and she feels that she's going to be connected with
on set, and so she said she was interested in
the role, but she didn't make the decision to take
on this project until she and Lucas had together.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
They were at a friend's house.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
They were sitting together, and then they just started talking
and they couldn't stop talking. They talked for hours together,
and they really really were connected, and that's what inspired
her to make the role, which I thought was very
interesting because a lot of actors will choose a director
based on what they see on screen, but for Juliet
really is about the personal connection.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
Your story does a great job of weaving in many voices,
and you feel like you really have a sense of
the making of this movie. And although as you said,
it is not a comedy, these are not light subjects,
the whole troop seemed like they just had a blast together.
They describe a lot of fun things, and a certain
star's banana bread gets a lot of discussion in your story.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
So Julia invited everyone to her beach house and they
rehearsed as if they were rehearsing a play, and she
made them banana bread. She's a very good cook, according
to Luca, and Luca took a loaf of the banana
bread on a trip he was taking and he was
at the airport and the staff at the airport tasted
the banana bread and they fell in love with the bread.
You and so, yeah, this cast is very close together.
(08:03):
Even though this is a very difficult subject matter that
they're playing on screen.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
In person, they really love each other. They were cracking jokes.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
And what was also interesting is that Luca he moved
very quickly. They shot this movie in twenty eight days.
This surprised me because I've seen a lot of his films,
but he doesn't ask for a lot of takes. So
he said, he comes from the Clint Eastwood school of filmmaking,
where he only asks for one or two takes, and
he makes movies very quickly, very economically, and he wants
to stay under budget, which was also.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
A very interesting thing that I learned while talking to
them for this story.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
And I'm sure those words are going to warm the
hearts of studio executives everywhere. On time and under budget.
Thank you for bringing Julia Roberts to us. We have
that incredible smile and that Julia Roberts gaze on our cover.
Dear listeners, run to get your print copy of Variety.
Go to wriety dot com and look through all the photos.
(08:52):
They are fantastic. It's so much more to come on
after the hunt and Julia here this award season. Thank
you for taking time to chat. We'll end here with
a clip that captures the camaraderie among this cast. It's
from the cover story video that accompanies Remins great reporting.
This clip starts as Michael Stolberg is talking about working
(09:15):
with Guadaninho, Timothy Charlomay, and Armie Hammer on the twenty
seventeen drama Call Me by Your Name, and then Chloe Savigny,
Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield chime in.
Speaker 2 (09:26):
I got to live with it for about two months
before we threw it in to be shot.
Speaker 3 (09:33):
I got to know Timmy, and I got to know Army,
and I got to know.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
I like to get.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Sorry you had if us out thoughts thoughts it out
loud with Chloe.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
The wow, the magic, because a walking magic. They don't
even smell like for another time. It was a nazy wow.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
It's all right, will you ask? And now Chris Willman
joins us to talk about the new Hulu documentary Lilith
Fair Building a Mystery, which premieres September twenty First, Chris
gives us his first hand account of what was so
groundbreaking about the all female tour that Sarah McLaughlin led
(10:21):
in the late nineteen nineties. But first, here's a clip
from the trailer.
Speaker 3 (10:28):
Singer Sarah McLaughlin has launched an all female tour.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
This was the first time you'd seen anything like its
finding out that all of my favorite artists had played
at this event.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Alila fair Bill is incredible. Paula Cole, Who's Agad, Erica.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
Podus, she Naede O'Connor, and this is Elliott, Sara McLoughlin,
Joe Crowth, Jewel.
Speaker 3 (10:50):
I was in disbelieved that I'd never heard of it before.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Promoter said, you can't have put two women on the
same bill. People will come. That's complete bullshit, and it
put a huge fire under my bout to prove them all.
Chris Willman, thank you for doing me a pleasure. Chris,
you are our chief music critic, and you are also
our chief reviewer of music documentaries. There's a new documentary
(11:16):
coming out, Lilith Fair, Building a Mystery, and it's a
deep dive back into the nineteen nineties festival that in
my memory ran longer than it actually did. It was
led by Sarah McLachlin, who was an incredible artist and
really was at the peak of her popularity and success.
Her sound really defines that late nineties era very well,
(11:39):
and she used her clout to put together a touring
lineup of female musicians. And although the nineteen nineties wasn't
that long ago, it is true that that felt like
a very radical move at the time. Let's start with
Chris having covered it in the moment back then? What
was so different? So what stood out so much about
(12:01):
the Lilith Fair and what Sarah McLaughlin was trying to
do with this tour.
Speaker 4 (12:05):
Even today there will be occasional all women bills and
it still seems as novel as it did then. I mean,
this past year I went to Brandy Carlile's Girls just
on a weekend festival in Mexico, which is her annual
attempt to basically revive Lilith fair for one weekend as
opposed to a whole summer. What Sarah McLaughlin did back
(12:27):
in the nineties, the spirit of it lives on, but
it's still a radical idea to package women together. What
Sarah McLaughlin was dealing with was she went out on
tour I think ninety four ninety five, as she took
Paula coll Out as her opening act, and she became
aware that this was like stunning to people, that you
(12:48):
would think that people would come see a woman opening
for a woman, and that you didn't need the so
called variety of throwing a man in there.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
And why that idea.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Has persisted is is kind of a mystery, speaking of
building a mystery. But so Sarah said, you know, I
don't want to do just too. I want to do
a bunch. So the following year she did a few
test dates. Not all of them were even called Liltz Fair.
It was still coming together. But then by the summer
of ninety seven, it was like, Okay, we're going to
(13:19):
do this full scale. We're going to go out to
like every big amphitheater in the country with a somewhat
rotating cast of characters.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
But ninety seven ninety eight ninety nine.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Those were the three main years for Liltz Fair where
they really went out. I was covering it for Entertainment
Weekly at the time, and we did cover stories back
to back a couple of years.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
Obviously it made a big impact if they're making documentaries
about it in twenty five years later.
Speaker 4 (13:47):
And in the documentary they had within the first few minutes,
Olivia Rodrigo On was the young expert witness who testifies
that she had no idea there was such a thing
as lilth Fair until fairly Rea, even though these are
all her favorite artists. This will be an education for
some younger people as well as the salgic trip for
(14:09):
the elders who were there.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
How do you think the music holds up?
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Well, it was very well curated.
Speaker 4 (14:15):
When you've got people like Bonnie Raitt, you're on the
right track. The second year they knew they had a
diversity problem, and so they brought in artists like Erica Badou,
who is about to play the Hollywood Bowl.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
She's still around. All these people are still around.
Speaker 4 (14:33):
Fiona Apple is not that active, but she is remains
one of the most respected artists in music. Cheryl Crowe
is still a superstar. We don't hear as much about
some of the others, like Natalie Merchant or Paula Cole,
but bind and large Liz Fair, people like that. The
Dixie Chicks were on it the third year. After they
(14:53):
started thinking they should have black people and brown people,
they thought, hey, why not some country artists too, So
in a way it was also pioneering. I think the
multi genre festival. Now it's common to see I think
multi genre bills, and with Coachella you see literally everything represented,
but Lilith Fair. It's like, Okay, the common denominator is
(15:16):
not the music. It's not even the attitude so much.
It's the common denominator is the gender, and so there's
so much you can put under that umbrella. As they
eventually figured it out, it was exciting, especially that second
year when you could hear some great R and B
singers as well as pop singer songwriters and rockers, and
they really mixed it up. So I think it was
(15:38):
influential in that way, which might not get as much
credit for it.
Speaker 1 (15:41):
Chris, what would you say about the documentary itself? Does
it work in terms of putting it into historical context
and leaving you with appetite to learn more.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
I think it does.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
You know, I was so immersed in Lilith's Fair and
It's Lore that I wanted it to be three hours long.
But I think the documentary does a really good job
covering a lot of basis. It's very celebratory, as you
would expect, but it doesn't completely gloss over some of
the thorny issues. And then when it comes to the
issue of should there be a Little Fair revival today?
(16:13):
I think everybody who starts to watch this stock better
will go, hell, yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Do you think there's a need for a little Affair today?
Speaker 4 (16:19):
I mean it's a good question, and one that the
movie raises at the end because they do make the
point that Taylor Swift goes out and has almost exclusively
female opening acts, so there are sisters who are doing
it for themselves, so to speak, and elevating other women
in those support slots. On the other hand, there is
a Instagram account I forget the name of it, but
(16:42):
they track all the festivals that are happening in the nation,
and they do two versions of the poster, one with
all the names and then one that only has the
female names, and then in most of those festivals, the
entire poster art is blank except for a couple names,
especially if its genres like a country or hip hop
or something.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
You know, singer songwriter festival might be a different deal.
Speaker 4 (17:06):
So when you see that altered image where all the
male artists have been taken out and you just see
one or two lone female artists, you start to feel, man,
we have not come a single inch in the twenty
eight years since L's Fair started, so there is a
place for it.
Speaker 1 (17:22):
You can only imagine the lineup, but the incredible artists
that are out there now and again, so many of
the top hit makers are women. Well, Chris, thank you
for helping us put music and pop culture and the
role of it all into context. I'm really eager to
see this documentary, so thank you for previewing it.
Speaker 4 (17:40):
I think you'll enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
As we close out today's episode, here's a few things
we're watching for. Variety is getting ready to host its
annual Entertainment and Technology Summits September twenty fifth in Los Angeles.
We have great speakers lined up. More to come on
that next week. Next week, Variety will be globe trotting again,
we'll produce digital dailies out of the Busson International Film
(18:06):
Festival in Korea, the San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain,
the Finished Film Affair in Helsinki, and the Zurich Film Festival.
Two TV premieres on our radar next week are season
two of Doc on Fox and The Low Down on FX.
That's the new series from Reservation Dogs creator Stirlin Harjoe.
Both shows land on September twenty third. Before we go,
(18:29):
congrats to Julie McNamara. She's partnered with Matt Lockshare winner
Jenny Snyder Erman to ramp up development and Urban Sutton
Street productions. McNamara spent many years in programming at CBS,
and she most recently headed podcast content for Spotify. Thanks
for listening. This episode was written and reported by me
Cynthia Littleton, with contributions from Ramin Setuta and Chris Wilman
(18:53):
sticks Nick's hick Picks. Please leave us a review at
the podcast platform of your choice, and please tune in
Monday for an other episode of Daily Variety
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