I mean have you seen how meta his stuff gets?
December 30th is the limited release, with a wider release in January 2016. and Spencer Crittenden as the Dungeon Master.
Additionally, we touched on season three ofRick and Mortyand the future possibility of aCommunitymovie.
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Hi, Dan.
Dan Harmon:Its good, its good, thank you.
You were just in New York, right?
Youre back in LA now?
Dan:Yeah, back in LA.
Was I on the phone with you yesterday?
[laughs] Well, thats all right, thank you.
No, I talked to you and Justin[Roiland]some time back.
We talked almost entirely about trigger warnings.
Dan:Yes, yes.
I do remember that.
[laughs]
So well avoid that topic just for varietys sake.
But now Im thinking its probably because he knows Dino[Stamatopoulos].
Dan:Thats exactly the case, yeah.
Dino and Charlie, I believe they went to college together.
They came out of Chicago and have known each other a long time.
So Charlie and Dino have maintained a relationship the whole time.
So it wasnt likethis is a funny questionbut it wasnt like Charlie Kaufman was having trouble selling this script.
It was more you guys thought this is an opportunity for us and he agreed to it.
Dan:Well, I dont think there was anything being done with it.
It was one of his things that was laying around because it was originally just a radio play.
And it also wasnt feature length.
It was this beautiful piece that he put on with the same cast from the movie at UCLA.
And it was just mind-boggling.
How long ago was it performed?
Dan:Gosh, when was that?
Im so bad at that.
you could look it up, it was the Theater of the New Ear.[Ed.
note: It was September 2005.]
People were rolling in the aisles.
And a lot of people would say Are you crazy?
Its so cynical and dark.
And so the fact that there was love in that movie, the fact that people loved each other…
I walked out ofEternal Sunshinegoing, That was incredible.
Im bored to tears with her.
I hate the way she slurps her cereal, etc., etc.
And were trained, very justifiably, to shove that stuff down because thats our definition of romance.
Maybe my thoughts about my significant other are just part of what makes usus.
I have not gotten a chance to yet, no.
Dan:In my personal opinion, theres a lot of darkness toAnomalisa.
I can understand why people that are seeing it are uplifted by it as a result.
Personally, when I watch it, its more of a catharsis.
So, I guess thats the best I can do to answer that question.
I guess without spoiling it, do you thinkAnomalisahas similar themes?
Or is it extremely different and how does it deviate?
Its more an exploration of whats going on in that guys life.
Its a really ingeniously crafted portrait of what we do to ourselves and each other.
Youre going to walk out of there thinking the people were real and having looked at yourself.
Do you think there are elements of romance in this one?
Dan:[laughs] Yeah, I mean theres elements of romance.
By the way, youre talking to a very recently divorced man.
Dan:So my take on romance itself is going to be polluted and twisted and subjective.
[laughs] Im not too pro-romance as a general rule, so its all right.
And certainly Charlies one of them.
That was almost specifically what I was going to talk about.
But, to me,Eternal Sunshineis very much just about that, about a romance.
Dan:Yeah, the exceptions are Charlie Kaufman and the Coen Brothers.
Movies about two people just falling in love or falling out of love, back in again.
Yeah, the Coen Brothers, Scorsese when hes directing anything, Tarantino, Charlie Kaufman.
So, thats definitely the exception to my dumb, whiny opinion.
So you met Charlie through Dino as well?
Was that back aroundCommunity?
Well, I met Charlie for the first time at that UCLA thing, just backstage.
So that wouldve been 2010, 2011?
And really thats about it.
When Charlie Kaufmans asking you questions you immediately become terrified that hes sizing you up.
He needs no help.
All he needs is a safe place to do his work uninterrupted.
I guess you didnt get to give Charlie Kaufman script notes or anything like that.
Dan:[laughs] Yeah, executive producer means far less in movies than it does in TV.
Yeah, Im very, very proud of how little I did onAnomalisa[laughs].
Duke directed theCommunityChristmas episode and I collaborated with him very closely on that.
We were writing it as he was shooting it.
Do you mind if I mentionHarmonQuest?
Dan:Oh, no, of course not.
Dan:Well, it is, I mean Spencers doing all the writing.
Theres a bunch of what would be called, I guess, improvisers.
But all we had to do was show up and have fun.
Hes the one whose stomach muscles had to deal with that stuff so its definitely his show.
So hes an executive producer on it and makes just as much as I do on it.
Spencers kind of a great phenomenon of a person.
So is that like the easiest thing you have going right now?
Its just fun for you?
I mean, I dont really trust myself in the visual realm.
I just dont have confidence in myself in those areas.
I dont need it because Im plenty cocky in the other areas.
Its supposed to be the stage where youre noticing and nipping all of the problems in the bud.
So it should really just be a bouquet of mess that you trim and prune and fix.
But the thumbnails forHarmonQuestare actual entertainment that I was very happy to watch several times.
I know youre crazy early into the season and, I guess, hows it going?
Did you fix all the problems at the end of season two?
Dan:You mean in terms of the story?
Yeah, with what happened with Rick.
Its all good now?
Its all worked out, I assume.
Dan:[laughs] Well, well keep you posted on that in the form of our cartoon.
So, I think thats a non-spoiler way of saying things should be okay pretty quickly.
[laughs]
Okay.
But I guess its going well.
Dan:Well, thats high praise coming from the Caesar of bad days.
Guterman knows a bad day.
Hes the Anthony Bourdain of day qualities.
No, its been great.
We hired a bunch of new writers.
Im gonna submit something.
It was probably a combination of all those factors.
Because I think the important thing about gender in the writers room is not representation, its balance.
Real people dont run around representing the things that they are, they represent themselves.
And you know that, automatically, youve solved a problem if there was one.
Sort of like the Keith David situation in season six ofCommunity.
Dan:Yeah, dont everybody look at me because someone said the word black, c’mon.
Im not taking that responsibility of, like, my humanity for an hour.
Ill ask one more thing aboutAnomalisa.
I assume you just, like, endorsed it.
Dan:Yeah, Ive never understood the range of Kickstarter.
I offered some reward tiers that Im woefully derelict in.
Theres a couple of rewards I still gotta see to.
But yeah, I certainly didnt do the nuts and bolts.
I dont know how great a job we were doing for the Kickstarter donors.
And the difficulty there was what was going on was secret.
Charlie doesnt like the open source, let-me-know-how-Im-driving process.
Lets double-check this thing gets the reception it deserves.
So that was awesome.
If Paramount comes in I guess its a very different situation.
Because Kickstarter is quite a daunting notion because youre beholden to the fans in such a different way.
Dan:[laughs]
I dont know, what do you think?
Im sure theres nothing yet.
Well, maybe it was more Paul Feigs fault.[Ed.
note: Paul Feig also had a Yahoo original series calledOther Space.]
Dan:Yeah, lets just blame Paul Feig for things.
[laughs] Hes doing well enough that hell take it with his usual smile in his sharp suit.
But, no, its been a relief to not think aboutCommunity.
I dont want to make anybody upset saying that because its not the same as saying I dont likeCommunity.
I made no bones about ringing that dinner bell and going Guys, this is your show.
This is a show for you.
I am one of you.
Sony hates nerds, lets get em.
So, those people not getting everything that they want is a terrible thing.
They dont even have to do that, but they did so much more.
You get into a relationship where you feel responsible for peoples feelings.
It can be a messed-up thing when youre not the most attentive, intimate guy.
I dont have instincts for base-level friendliness and stuff.
I just know how much I owe that legion.
Id rather work with what weve got.
Well, I did just want to say theCommunityfinale was fantastic.
Dan:Well, thank you very much.
And thanks a lot!
Weve talked a long time.
Dan:Well, thank you.
Yeah, sorry we only talked about trigger warnings last time.
I hope you were able to put a trigger warning warning on that article.
We did not do that.
[laughs] We shouldve, in retrospect.
Dan:All right, thanks, my friend.
Ill talk to you another time.
Thanks so much for your attention and break a typewriter.
[laughs] Absolutely.
Thank you very much, Dan.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
