About

Writer/Director David E. Talbert joins host Jenny Curtis and guest co-host Nik Walker to discuss his spectacular new holiday film, JINGLE JANGLE: A CHRISTMAS JOURNEY.  0:30 - Nik Walker’s introduction, discussion of HAMILTON, his podcasts THE CHAOS TWINS & LITTLE JUSTICE, the experience of playwriting, and who he is as an artist.  4:37 - David E Talbert joins the conversation 5:22 - Nik and Jenny’s impressions of JINGLE JANGLE 6:04 - The initial idea of JINGLE JANGLE being thought of for theater and how it became a film.  7:22 - David’s son’s seeing himself in JINGLE JANGLE, representation, and creating a universal story.  9:45 - The movies that inspired the innovation aspect of the film 10:20 - Creating beautiful songs that move the plot with Philip Lawrence and John Legend 12:33 - The 11 o’clock hour song, ‘Make It Work’ and how that number broke the form.  15:55 - Deciding to cast Phylicia Rashad 16:48 - Meeting Forest Whitaker at a vegan restaurant to discuss the film and casting him as someone he could trust to be a strong #1 on the call-sheet 18:33 - The professionalism of Madalen Mills and her ability to light up the camera.  19:58 - The amazing experience of Forest Whitaker singing live on set.  21:24 - Keegan-Michael Key nailing his challenging song.  22:30 - Discovery on set, costuming and detailing in the design.  24:13 - Inspiration pulled from HUGO.  24:59 - Nik’s impression of the imagery in Journey’s song and David’s decision to put her (safely) on the roof.  27:29 - The choreography in the film 28:27 - the animation for Ricky Martin’s role 28:45 - Doing pre-records of the song and being able to break the rules by not knowing them 29:47 - Changing the first song a week before shooting.  30:40 - Adding to the shoot while filming.  32:26 - What the concept was when JINGLE JANGLE was going to be a piece of theater and bringing it back to the stage in the future.  35:25 - Being ‘The Christmas Movie’ guy by accident 36:31 - Remembering the dichotomy of the holidays  38:47 - David’s connection to Jeronicus Jangle and his parallels to JINGLE JANGLE 40:39 - The creation of Ms. Johnston’s background trio.  43:30 - A life in storytelling ----------------- Learn More: Hollywood Unscripted Follow Us: Instagram | Facebook | Twitter Hosted and Produced by: Jenny Curtis Guest Co-Host: Nik Walker Edited by: J Whiting Executive Producer: Stuart Halperin Theme Music by: Celleste and Eric Dick A CurtCo Media Production See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.