Mother of All Shows
Summary
Mother of All Showsis an ambitiousmusicalmovie from Canadian filmmaker Melissa D’Agostino . write by D’Agostino and David James Brock , Mother of All Showstakes place largely in the creative thinker of its primary character , Liza . Attempting to cope with the imminent last of her alienated mother , Liza construct a 1970’s - dash variety show in her mind — one host by her female parent , Rosa . relieve oneself the most of its variety show data format , Mother of All Showshas tattle , saltation , asides , advertizing , and more , all in help of its emotional mother - girl history .
In addition to directing and co - write both script and song for the film , D’Agostino stars inMother of All Showsas Liza . Opposite her as Rosa is the versatile Wendie Malick , whose farseeing list of CRT screen credits includesBoJack Horseman(she represent BoJack ’s caustic mother , Beatrice),Night Court , andYoung Sheldon . Together , D’Agostino and Malick expose the fraught kinship between Liza and Rosa , at times interrupted only by other anatomy from Liza ’s past .
Musical celluloid are almost always a dainty and a handful have gone on to be considered the capital ever , peculiarly when looking at Letterboxd review .
Screen Rantspoke with Melissa D’Agostino over Zoom , and Wendie Malick over e - mail , about their roles onMother of All Shows . D’Agostino detail the amount of work ( and coaction ) that went into wearing as many hat as she did throughout the production of the celluloid , and Malick reflected on how the ambitious project fits into her storied career , which continues in fall 2024 withNight Courtseason 3 . The duet also extend to on the physical process of go together and merging their talents to bringMother of All Showsto life .
Melissa D’Agostino & Wendie Malick On Realizing An Emotional Mother/Daughter Story
Screen Rant : Melissa , I do n’t know how autobiographical this is , but I feel like it ’s always unvoiced with personal stories to toe the line between divvy up a personal experience and villainizing somebody . Then , there ’s knowing that it ’s going to be meet by people familiar with everyone involved . How much did that weigh on you as you were writing and making this ?
Melissa D’Agostino : I like to say that it ’s not autobiographical because so much of it is fictionalized by innovation and on use , but it was very much a personal situation and news report . I am not in physical contact with my female parent , but while my authorship married person , David James Brock , and I work on it , we were very measured about not make it about my home .
[ That ’s because ] I think making a retell interpretation is far more interesting than just enjoin you about my living in a movie , but also because of sensibility toward the people involved . I had no interest in out people or denigrating hoi polloi or their behavior , maybe even especially my mammy . The interest for me was trying to take this very intimate process of what it feels like to be no contact and then have to be confronted with your parent , or choose to go see them , and make it cinematic .
Also , I think there ’s genuine time value in telling these stories because disgrace subsist in coloured places . When you glint luminousness on post like this and de - stigmatise the idea of have a complicated relationship with a family member , more and more hoi polloi can embrace complicated kinship . Maybe that helps them serve those situations , and perhaps that helps them be able to be in contact — or not — and make that choice freely .
So , I was very concerned with [ that ] , and it matter quite heavily on me . Having David there was very helpful , because he bring in so much of his own experience and his own beautiful writing to the project , and he kept me in check . We did n’t require to make Rosa into a villain , and purely a baddie , and so we were very careful to try and balance the story .
Wendie , I ideate this is an interesting role because you ’re playing someone ’s mental mental image of a person who is also the emcee of a show . Where did you find inspiration in how to play this version Rosa ?
Liza, grappling with the impending death of her estranged mother Rosa, escapes into a vivid fantasy where her mother hosts a 1970s-style variety show. As Rosa leads a colorful cast from Liza’s past and present, their tumultuous relationship is reimagined through song and sketch, blending humor and emotional depth.
Wendie Malick : I ’ve always been grip by the idea of public and private personas . Rosa was such a fat dichotomy of the disappointing female parent she was , and the glamourous character she would have loved to be — a fable in her own mind , and that of her daughter .
What was your way into encounter compassion for Rosa ?
Wendie Malick : As an actor , I am draw to slightly damaged human beings , who often overcompensate just to get by . I have sure as shooting been in that seat where I had to act as if I knew what I was doing , when I did n’t have a clue … I call back we all have those day , no matter how older we are , where it feels like the first day in a new schoolhouse , and you have no one to have lunch with .
And how did this film make you reverberate on your own experience as a parent ?
Wendie Malick : As a parent , there were multiplication I felt I was perfectly betray – especially when my daughter was 13 to 15 . The notion that “ It takes a village ” , is one I perfectly pledge to . We are all work in progress , no matter how honest-to-god we are . I am so thankful to my friends and extended family line for mistreat in and facilitate me navigate the challenge of motherhood .
D’Agostino Discusses Creative Risks & The Unique Structure Of Mother Of All Shows
Melissa , I was constantly surprised by where the script fit . There are ads , interludes , and even animation . You did so many cool things in help of this social structure . How much of that were your and David ’s first instinct , and how much were you constantly look for ways to one - up what you were write ?
Melissa D’Agostino : That ’s a really coolheaded way to put it . In some slipway , I think my writing mate and I were always trying to one - up what we were doing creatively just out of sheer joy and the pleasure of surprising each other and ourselves as we compose and gear ideas . But the way we amount up with the types of sketches and storytelling was really … it was Covid , so we sat down in my backyard , socially distanced , and had a display panel , and wrote out all of the sketches on variety show that we loved rise up . Then , we [ thought about ] , “ What are all the aroused beats we want this mother and girl to go on ? What are the places that they ’re go to stop for a second and confront each other , and how will that go ? ” Then , we thought , “ Well , what ’s the best form of sketch to lodge that ? ”
Melissa D’Agostino : I always live there would be animation in it because we grew up with so much spiritedness integrated into everything . Saturday Night Live and kid ’ shows had a mix of it . We have sex that , and I imagine David always knew he want a land song in there . There were a couple of things where we were like , “ These are thing we want to do as artist , ” and then we were like , “ What import would those have in this relationship ? ” It was always [ about ] link up the Transportation that fashion , and then it just expose itself to us . The social organisation build very organically .
Was there a specific part of it that felt like the biggest peril as you were writing it , or the scary thing to commit off ?
Melissa D’Agostino : The life fit , for sure , was very scary . I prevent doing draught of that scene and writing around the theme of the film , and David , one day , was like , “ I think we just have to say things . I remember we have gone into this deeper part of this person ’s psyche , and we just have to say things . ” He said something that really cracked it open . He was like , “ One version of you is asking questions to the other version , but they ’re the wrong query . So , what if the picture is about how that ’s not the doubt , and you never really do the questions ? ” It felt very risky to just lay it all out there , but it also matte up very freeing to say , “ You know what ? We keep dancing around this . We ’re just run short to do it . ” So , the creative peril of it was very satisfying .
Malick & D’Agostino Reflect On Taking On Unique Projects Like Mother Of All Shows
Wendie , one of my preferred shows is BoJack Horseman , which you were awe-inspiring in , because it feels like a serial publication of creative peril . This film does too , in the best style . Are you always looking for the opportunity to do something dissimilar in that means ?
Wendie Malick : patently , I love funniness , but I especially love how “ comedy ” has evolved . I think , particularly with the introduction of streaming , the continuum between funniness and drama has blurred . When you ’re invest in characters , you ’re more uncoerced to empathise with them when they falter , and root for them when they hang in .
Melissa , I feel like this movie is bluff , creatively , in a way that ’s going to pep up people to make their own thing . In that feel , how firmly was it to get this made ? How did you push this through to the finish line ?
Melissa D’Agostino : I hope it pep up mass to make their thing , because it was hugely satisfying to do . For me , part of what made this potential [ that ] was my partner and I , Matt Campagna — who also co - directed the film , was one of the DOPs , and edited the motion-picture show — had built a streaming website in Canada called Highball TV . Having that troupe enabled us to access some financing and practice the tax credit rating in Canada , and so we were very golden that we had the financial mechanics because we had work up this entity . That ’s one of the major hurdles—“How are you going to fund it ? ” So , we were very lucky that we were in an ecosystem where that was already fall out for us and we could get at it .
In term of what it take in creatively , receive a team together , and how much effort everyone put into it , it was such a marathon . I do n’t think I was really prepared for the marathon that it would be . Making a movie in any constellation is a miracle , but when you ’re making an indie projection and it ’s also profoundly personal and emotional and everyone is very invested , it also means that everyone ’s really pushing . It was four workweek we really agitate , but I had such a great squad , and I was so energized by the process , and then station was just … I had to get quick for every new phase of it . It ’s like [ I ’d ] come up up new DOE , [ but ] I do n’t think masses understand how many time you have to view the movie you ’ve made over and over again in post . When it ’s very personal , there was a little bit of a time when I was like , “ I do n’t know how many more time I can keep an eye on this and be objective . ”
It was a endurance contest , but it was also the most substantial metre of my liveliness . I am exceedingly majestic of it , and I really do hope it encourages masses to mine the things in their life that are exciting to them and try and put them on CRT screen .
D’Agostino & Malick Enjoyed A “Seamless” Collaboration
Melissa , you ’re working with Wendie Malick , who ’s a caption . How do you draw near form with somebody like that ? Did you ever cite her own work back to her ?
Melissa D’Agostino : We tattle a spate about her old roles because we ’re all such fan . In the 1990s I was such a fan of Dream On , it was one of my favorite show on HBO . I was too young to be watching it , looking back on it , [ but ] I had watch it and I loved it . David and I utter about it a lot in the writing room because it ’s a similar mechanism . [ With ] Brian Benben ’s character , when he has an home intellection , it run to something he see on television system or an old black-market and white movie . Then , we talked a lot about BoJack Horseman because I ’m such a fan of that show . She voices his female parent , and it ’s devastating and such a character . She and I peach a lot about those two thing . We talked about them the first phone call we ever had , and certainly on set they came up .
When we were working on set , we would sometimes utter about the references for the scenes . For case , when we were fritter the soliloquy , we talked about Phyllis Diller and Johnny Carson . The Shame Flakes commercial , that ’s Lynn Redgrave in every WeightWatchers commercial I grew up watching . We did speak about divvy up references , but mostly she get along so ready to dive in with such a robust performance already there , so it was really just about take heed to her and watching her gambling and then evoke lilliputian thing , and then giving her as much margin and exemption to wager and go as big or as niche as she desire to . [ We ] just sort of let her go and watched her dazzle . And acting opposite her was the easiest , and so moony .
Wendie , you and Melissa obviously had to work incredibly closely , as both role player and director and as scene cooperator . What was the operation like on Seth ? Did it take you two a minute to find the right rhythm ?
Wendie Malick : The experience was unlined . I ab initio inquire if Melissa could pull of the threefold challenge of author / managing director / star , but she had built such an awing support team , who always had her back , I pull in immediately I was in very good hands .
Wendie Malick Reveals Filmmakers Have “Toyed With The Possibility” Of A Just Shoot Me Reboot
You ’ve been a part of so many well - know and long - running projects — Young Sheldon and BoJack just to name a few . Is there a human race you ’ve get to playact in that you ’d be most eager to return to , given the chance ?
Wendie Malick : I am thankful for all of it . I hear something on every projection I was privy to , even the gnarled ones . We ’ve toy with the possibility there could be a reboot of “ Just germinate Me” … but George Segal is run , and we had such a sweet run , I think we all prefer to honour what we did together , and have that utter for itself . As for the residual , I have no plans to retire … bring it on !
About Mother Of All Shows
compose by Melissa D’Agostino and David James Brock , Mother of All Shows follows Liza ( D’Agostino ) , coping with the impending death of her estranged female parent , who retreats to a 70 ’s change show in her mind where the all - powerful innkeeper is Liza ’s own mother , Rosa ( Wendie Malick ) , who take an all - singing , all - dancing cast of players from Liza ’s past and present . Scene by view , song by call , Liza works through character of their past during an attempt to visit her mother without recede herself in the process .
Mother of All Showsis available on digital platforms now .
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Cast
Liza , grappling with the impending dying of her estranged mother Rosa , escape into a intense fantasy where her mother hosts a 1970s - style multifariousness show . As Rosa leads a coloured cast from Liza ’s past and present , their troubled relationship is reimagined through song and sketch , intermingle sense of humor and excited depth.
