Episode Details

How Does Living in Oblivion Take All the Glamour Out of Filmmaking? 

Writer/director Tom DiCillo's Living in Oblivion is an independent 1990s cult classic comedy about the perils of making films.

Starting off as a tipsy rant by DiCillo, then written into a script, then to a short made by DiCillo and his actor friends, the jokes kept flowing so well it rolled into a three-part takedown of the industry.

The movie nailed the absurdity and challenges on set so well that rumor has it the movie is shown in film schools as a warning of frustrations to come.

But don't worry: this isn't some annoying meta piece you won't understand unless you're in the industry, and it's not filled with high-brow jokes that only stuck-up assholes will chuckle at. It's accessible and relatable, whether you make movies or not.

So listen in to learn about Peter Dinklage's film debut, why recording room tone is the weirdest 30 seconds of your life, and the film's lasting legacy.

Written and Directed by Tom DiCillo. Starring Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Danielle von Zerneck, and James LeGros.

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