Julie Klausner is the creator, writer, producer, and star of HULU's one of the first original comedy shows, DIFFICULT PEOPLE. Her series about brilliant, acerbic, self-defeating best buds on the fringes of stardom is tailor-made for the YouTube era, when artists and entertainers act as their own agents, publicists and managers and watch their colleagues’ successes and failures unfold in real time, with envy or glee, depending.
She set a path for original comedy shows on digital platforms. The show is in its third seasons and it keeps getting funnier and better. And most of the credit goes to the wonderful and talented Julie Klausner. Julie was at the Split Screens Festival 2017, being held at IFC Center in NYC. Here are some of her wonderful insights:
Julie Kalusner (DIFFICULT PEOPLE) on "self indulgence" as writer/actor, and DIVERSITY
DIFFICULT PEOPLE is it improvised or scripted?
What works in comedy on TV?
Julie Klausner talks about the writing process for DIFFICULT PEOPLE
Characters & character-rules on DIFFICULT PEOPLE
About DIFFICULT PEOPLE
Julie (Klausner) and Billy (Billy Eichner) keep hatching schemes like a couple of Lucy Ricardos, even though their quest is motivated less by a burning urge to express themselves than a lust for fame and comfort. They pop others’ delusions and preserve their own, but even at their pettiest, there are moments when they speak the truth, and some of their most penetrating insights have to do with the show you’re watching and the medium that spawned it. One of Difficult People’s fiercest convictions is that a sitcom’s first obligation is to be funny and engaging, a surprisingly contrarian point of view now that every form of scripted entertainment is striving to subvert rather than embrace proven formulas. “When did comedies become 30-minute dramas?” Billy asks, with an aghast tone that suggests Difficult People is not interested in becoming one.
SPLIT SCREEN FESTIVAL at IFC
(Friday, June 2 - Thursday, June 8, 2017)
Split Screens is festival is a new, annual event celebrating the art of television.
Curated by one of television’s biggest fans, author and critic Matt Zoller Seitz, the festival’s inaugural edition takes place June 2-8, with exclusive screenings and vibrant panel conversations featuring the biggest and boldest names in scripted content.
Stars, producers, directors and showrunners appear in person for in-depth discussions with audiences. Festival guests include Hank Azaria, Sarah Violet Bliss, Lilly Burns, Asia Kate Dillon, John Fawcett, Nelson George, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anthony Hemingway, Aisha Hinds, Lodge Kerrigan, Julie Klausner, Brian Koppelman, Rami Malek, Tatiana Maslany, Michelle MacLaren, Graeme Manson, Michael McKean, Amanda Peet, George Pelecanos, Charles Rogers, Amy Seimetz and others.
For the festival lineup, tickets and additional information, visit
splitscreensfestival.com
http://www.ifccenter.com/series/split-screens-festival/