The true story of the undoing of a presidential candidate is retold in Director Jason Reitman’s new biographical drama, The Front Runner.
Reitman’s film takes us back to a more innocent America in the late ‘80s and recalls how Gary Hart, the former senator from Colorado, became the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination just to have his campaign come crashing down after allegations of an extramarital affair surfaced in the media.
Following the DGA membership screening in New York on November 14, Reitman sat down with Director Barry Levinson (Paterno) to discuss the making of The Front Runner. Reitman had previously discussed the film in a conversation moderated by Director Jon Avnet (Three Christs) after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles on November 11.
In addition to The Front Runner, Reitman’s credits include the feature films Tully; Men, Women & Children; Labor Day; Young Adult; and Thank You for Smoking; the pilot for the series Casual; and episodes of the series The Office. Reitman was nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures and the Academy Award for Best Achievement in Directing for his 2009 feature Up in the Air. He also garnered an Oscar nomination for his directing on his 2007 feature Juno. A DGA member since 2000, Reitman also serves on the Western Directors Council and the Independent Directors Committee.
You can listen to Reitman's Q&A by clicking the podcast episode embedded below. You can find more DGA podcast episodes here.