Nicholas Stoller
Nicholas Stoller
Nicholas Stolleris an English–American filmmaker. He is known mainly for directing the 2008 comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, its 2010 spin-off/sequel, Get Him to the Greek, and co-writing and executive producing The Muppets and Muppets Most Wanted...
NationalityEnglish
ProfessionDirector
Date of Birth19 March 1976
writing thinking direct
When I write something, it's usually 'cause I think it's funny or I have a way in, but when I direct something, I really need to be close to it.
direct
All of the things I've directed, I'm really emotionally close to. That's why I choose to direct them and spend years on them.
praying
As a comedy writer, I'm always praying for the day I can tell a self-aware/break-the-fourth-wall style of joke.
parent england muppet
I was born in England - though both of my parents are American - and there's something about the 'Muppets' where they have this combination of English and American humor.
writing guy greek
When I was writing the script I thought he is this guy. I really hoped...I kept imagining him as that guy. And then he came in to audition and I was really nervous because I really wanted him to do Greek, you know? And he...I didn't know who else I could cast. And he was amazing in the audition. Really funny.
elude-you laughing small-moments
Sometimes a scene can elude you, and then, you also learn that the small moments are really what you're after. A big broad moment that gets the crew laughing, usually isn't going to translate to an audience.
digital
I like digital because you can shoot for longer.
editing watches want
And I watch all the dailies and I grade the jokes or the moments, you know, on a scale from... so I know exactly what we have. And so I can then go into the editing room and be like "I want you to do this moment, this moment, this joke, that joke. I'd like to see 3 versions."
editors giving perspective
Every day is still exciting. I have like a very good system worked out with my editor. Some directors are in there every day, sitting there in the room with the editor. I lose perspective incredibly quickly, and so what I do is I watch...I come in the room and give very specific notes and then I go back to my house or in my office and I watch the dailies.
writing college focus
And writing comedy and it really taught me how to kind of like craft jokes, it sounds like weird but really focus on crafting jokes and trying to make the writing really sharp. At the same time I did improv comedy in college, and that helped with understanding the performance aspect of comedy, you know, because it's different when you improv something vs. when you write it and they're both kind of part of my process now.
writing creative cracks
When I just write something, it's usually because I love it, I love the material, but I feel like I really need a creative partner to crack it. And I certainly need and have a lot of creative partners as a director.