BYOD: Bring Your Own Doc
Episode 232
DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD with Director Douglas Tirola
DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON is the new documentary that explores the influential comedy magazine that helped launch the careers of John Belushi, Bill Murray, Chevy Chase, and indelibly shaped American comedy. How the incubator for SNL, Animal House, Caddyshack, and more came to define satire and bridge the counter culture with mainstream entertainment is explored with director Douglas Tirola, and we look at footage from the film in this uncensored BYOD interview, hosted by Ondi Timoner.
Episode Breakdown
00:01 Welcoming DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON director Douglas Tirola.
00:52 The brilliant moment in time that was THE NATIONAL LAMPOON.
01:40 An unlikely start at Harvard through Mademoiselle.
05:09 Brilliant talent allowed to express itself, satire, censorship & lawsuits.
08:20 Animal House and the inspiration for the film.
11:52 The off-broadway show that changed the natural order, and different eras.
14:45 The birth of a genre-Animal House and Caddyshack.
16:32 A testimonial on National Lampoon’s Vacation.
17:15 Art & art direction of the magazine-visual satire.
19:17 Hitler on the beach & Chevy Chase interviewed.
22:50 Where to see the film.
23:15 DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON, clip: Beverly D’angelo.
Guest Bio
Director Douglas Tirola’s documentary DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON - tells the story of its rise and fall through fresh, candid interviews with its key staff, and illustrated with hundreds of outrageous images from the mag itself (along with never-seen interview footage from the magazine’s prime). The film gives fans of the Lampoon a unique inside look at what made the magazine tick, its key players, and why it was so outrageously successful: a magazine that dared to think what no one was thinking, but wished they had.
Douglas Tirola is an award-winning director whose documentaries have been distributed around the world and have premiered at prestigious film festivals including Sundance, Tribeca, Berlin, HotDocs, Full Frame, Edinburgh, True/False, and SXSW. His documentary HEY BARTENDER was nominated for a James Beard Award, and released theatrically in 2013 before being acquired by Showtime; preceded by the award winning ALL IN: THE POKER MOVIE in 2012, which was acquired by Showtime and Netflix. Douglas’ first feature documentary, AN OMAR BROADWAY FILM premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival where it was acquired by HBO Documentary Films.
As a producer, Douglas’ films include the critically acclaimed documentary ACTRESS (Cinema Guild), which was nominated for an IFP Gotham Award, the award-winning MAKING THE BOYS (First Run Features) which told the story of the groundbreaking play and film “The Boys in the Band” and FAKE IT SO REAL, both were NY Times Critic’s Picks.
Douglas’ latest film DRUNK STONED BRILLIANT DEAD: THE STORY OF THE NATIONAL LAMPOON premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and will be released theatrically by Magnolia Pictures this fall.
Douglas has also worked as a screenwriter for Paramount, Universal, Fox, Warmer Brothers and Sony. Earlier in his career he worked on films with directors, Woody Allen, Robert Benton, Mike Nichols and Penny Marshall – his first job in the business was as a production assistant.
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