The tumultuous first broadcast of the iconic sketch show Saturday Night Live is recounted in Director Jason Reitman’s comedic docudrama, Saturday Night.
Reitman’s film takes us back to the evening of October 11, 1975, when a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers would change television forever and the madness that ensued behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to that first broadcast.
On October 20 after the DGA membership screening in Los Angeles, Reitman discussed the making of Saturday Night during a Q&A moderated by Director Guillermo del Toro (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio).
During the Los Angeles conversation, Reitman spoke about how planning on directing the movie in one shot shaped the story he told.
“The movie was originally intended to be one shot. No stitches. We were going to rehearse it every single day and shoot it every single day and we we’re going to keep doing it every day until we got it right. As a result of planning it that way, the movie is built around geography. He’s on 50th street. He’s in the lobby. He’s in the elevator. He’s on the 8th floor. He’s in the hallway, he goes to the control room. I’ve never structured a movie this way. I’m thinking about where he physically has to go. Then we are trying to add four or five storylines to every room, every time he goes somewhere. The opening shot, no stitches, is five minutes. The success of that shot and the success of the movement of the film comes down to a few things. One, we shot the movie twice. We shot the movie on phones through prep as they built the sets around us. So, the second team starts three months before we begin the movie.”
Reitman’s other directorial credits include the feature films, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Front Runner, Tully, Labor Day, Young Adult, Thank You for Smoking and Men, Women & Children; 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 currently serves as an alternate on the DGA National Board and as a member of the Western Directors Council and the Independent Directors Committee.