Latest news with #Pennolino
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver' director Paul Pennolino has to ‘land the plane on the Hudson' each week
'I've been making my bones in late night comedy for a long, long time now,' reflects Last Week Tonight with John Oliver director Paul Pennolino, who started out as a page working for David Letterman. He adds, 'That was before the internet and cell phones and cable news channels. We're now in the squabble culture.' Watch our full interview above with Pennolino joining our Gold Derby "Meet the Experts" directors panel. Pennolino has worked on the HBO variety series since 2016. In what seems like a precarious time for late night franchises, the director explains, 'My job is to execute content and not opine on stuff like that. Although I will say, I think this broadcast is unlike any other. It is really smart and has evolved into a space where we can spend 40 minutes talking about an issue. I think it has a heck of a role. You know, my goddaughter, who's a student in college, actually watched the show in their classroom.' More from Gold Derby TV Directors roundtable: 'Adolescence,' 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,' 'The Pitt,' 'Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story' 'Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story' director Ian Bonhôte learned that 'strength lies in you' This year, Pennolino has received his ninth Emmy nomination. It's his eighth for working with Oliver in the variety series directing category. However the director has never won. On pulling together an episode of the show, he says, 'I care about the people I work for. I've known a lot of them for four decades. My job is when the inevitable bird strike is going to happen, I have to land the plane on the Hudson. Inevitably sometimes things will go wrong. Technology is not perfect. I feel like my role is to get it right and be in line with the comedic tone of the jokes within the headline.' While Pennolino is still waiting to win this big award, Last Week has been an Emmy darling. It has won either the award for Best Scripted Variety Series or Best Variety Talk Series for the past nine years. Pennolino admits, 'I don't think I've ever worked with a talent that worked this hard and was committed to the message. You gotta be consistent and you have to have your habits. And I certainly have my rituals. And John isn't just sitting at a desk reading a teleprompter. It's performative. Sometimes, very rarely, I'll have to go to his dressing room before the show to give him a note. I'll walk by and he's in that office reading and pacing and performing that script in his own head. He's almost whispering it.' This article and video are presented by HBO Max. Best of Gold Derby 'Australian Survivor vs. The World' premiere date and cast photos: 'King' George Mladenov, Cirie Fields, Parvati Shallow … 'Five new life forms from distant planets': Everything to know about 'Alien: Earth' as new trailer drops Everything to know about 'The Pitt' Season 2, including the departure of Tracy Ifeachor's Dr. Collins Click here to read the full article. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
TV Directors roundtable: ‘Adolescence,' ‘Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,' ‘The Pitt,' ‘Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story'
What's the greatest joy in directing an Emmy-nominated project? How do directors get the best out of actors? And what's similar between making a documentary, drama series, and late night variety show? These were some of the topics discussed by four top television directors when they recently joined Gold Derby's special 'Meet the Experts' roundtable. Our guests are (Adolescence), (Last Week Tonight with John Oliver), (The Pitt), and (Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story). Watch our full group panel above. Click on each name above to view that person's individual interview. More from Gold Derby TIFF reveals its compelling documentary slate featuring Paula Deen, champion whistlers and balloonists 'Deliciously twisted,' 'murderously enjoyable': 'Wednesday' Season 2 reviews surpass Season 1 by double digits Bonhôte says that the most important thing when directing is that 'the story needs to be extremely emotional. We need to have a narrative and emotional arc as strong as possible. That's the base of everything.' Pennolino agrees and says, 'You've gotta be able to tap into something inside people and make them walk away and either cry or be elated or inspired or a zombie. That's the whole purpose of what we do. Yeah, emotion is everything.' Marsalis reflects, 'It's interesting, like, I'm not a writer, right? I'm a director. I have done most of my work coming onto existing shows. Sometimes beggars can't be choosers. And I keep joking being nominated for an Emmy is one step away from homelessness for me. I just want to make something entertaining that doesn't cause destruction in this world. But then also there's that magical storytelling part of our jobs.' With past work in front of the camera, Barantini appreciates how actors can enhance a scene. He explains, 'Sometimes an actor will do something completely different and it will have an immediate effect on you. And it might not have been what you're looking for, but it might be better. That is so joyful and terrifying.' Marsalis adds, 'You have your script and then, when you choose an actor for a job, it becomes something else. Because it's a living, breathing organism if you're doing it right.' Barantini replies, 'I always say to actors, look, did you believe that? Because if you didn't, the audience won't believe it either.' Bonhôte admits, 'It's very different for me in a sense. In documentaries, the films have to have like an impact in the world. I think some of the shows you guys are discussing do that as well, which is very strong. But, we talk about laws of the issues of the world. We use Christopher Reeve as a magnet to talk about disability.' Pennolino reflects 'As a director there's so much magic that has to happen. We do these occasional enders that have moving parts, and explosions, and giraffes coming from the ceilings, and all kinds of craziness. And a lot of times I'll have an A-list camera person that's available that I've worked on other projects and I'll be like, 'nah, just not gonna play well in this sandbox.'' Barantini admits, 'We live in a world where it's terrifying and I think we watch TV to ultimately be entertained. To make something heartfelt which can be sad with hope at the end means we're onto a winner. That's what always drives me.' This article and video are presented by Netflix and HBO Max. Best of Gold Derby 'Australian Survivor vs. The World' premiere date and cast photos: 'King' George Mladenov, Cirie Fields, Parvati Shallow … 'Five new life forms from distant planets': Everything to know about 'Alien: Earth' as new trailer drops Everything to know about 'The Pitt' Season 2, including the departure of Tracy Ifeachor's Dr. Collins Click here to read the full article. Solve the daily Crossword
