AND HERE’S MODI
AND HERE’S MODI is an inside look at the man behind the microphone. Hosted by comedian, Modi (@modi_live), AHM features a raw and unfiltered side of the comedian rarely seen on stage. He always finds the funny as he navigates the worlds of comedy, trending topics, his personal life and spirituality. AHM is co-hosted by Periel Aschenbrand (@perielaschenbrand) and Leo Veiga (@leo_veiga_).
AND HERE’S MODI
Gillian Laub
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Episode 118: Photographer and director Gillian Laub returns to the podcast to discuss her latest projects. Follow Gillian on Instagram @gigilaub.
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Survivors Project With Jillian Laub
Speaker 1Welcome to , and here's Modi . We are back and here's Modi , and the conversation , as we were setting up for the podcast is Jillian Laub is uncomfortable being on camera . She's an insane , amazing photographer who puts everybody on the spot and she now realizes who's alive . Uh , filming , and you're .
Speaker 2I have so much empathy for the people who I photograph because I realize how difficult it is when you know it's the worst . It's . I really , really don't like it .
Speaker 1To me it's the second worst thing I've been doing standup comedy . First is to travel , Second is doing the promo pictures . Mine is the guest list .
Speaker 3That's the worst thing about doing comedy .
Speaker 1Yeah , no , but you . It's so funny how you almost had this panic when you realized the camera with angles .
Speaker 2When I come . I didn't realize when you come in for a podcast . Thank God I had a meeting before this Cause I would have come in like a total hot mess hello , look at me I'm just saying you know , she looks like all right like the head counselor at some jewish camp .
Speaker 1She's adorable , cut off jean shorts and a gilbert godfrey shirt . We are in the studio with jillian lab and let me just tell you your name is something I look at almost every night . Your coffee table book is on our coffee table .
Speaker 1And it's like in my level when I'm laying down on the sofa looking at the television . It's there and it's such a beautiful color . It matches this beautiful objet I have on top of it and it's underneath . Underneath . That is Annie Leibovitz's book . It's the same color and it's a very nice piece on our coffee table . So I see your name almost every day , wow , and the coffee book is amazing . Those of you who haven't gotten it and it was an amazing project you did .
Speaker 2Family Matters , family Matters . Thank you , it was sold out . It just got reprinted by the publisher Mazel Tov .
Speaker 1Put the microphone closer to your mouth .
Speaker 2It just got reprinted . I didn't you know , sorry , it just got reprinted with an additional quote from Amy Schumer .
Speaker 3Speaking of which , what did ?
Speaker 2Amy say Something really nice .
Speaker 4But I don't know it off the top of my head . I also love that you're on top of Annie Leibovitz . Oh my goodness .
Speaker 2Wow , wow , what an honor .
Speaker 1Her book is right underneath yours .
Speaker 2What a true honor .
Speaker 3Welcome back to the show . We just had to redact a whole moment because Jillian got too excited about a Bork project that she probably signed a lot of NDAs for , so she probably signed a lot of NDAs for you probably signed a lot of NDAs for that right I did .
Speaker 2I don't know about a lot , but it's definitely not a public event .
Speaker 1We're excited for the project for you and we'll get right back into the podcast and we'll cut that out .
Speaker 2I couldn't hold myself . That's amazing . Good for you , I have so many questions when it premieres can we come ?
Speaker 1Please , premieres , can we come ? Because please , no , really , though . Okay , for real , leo gets very upset when we're not invited to things we should be invited to .
Speaker 3He gets very , very upset . Even if I don't want to go , I want to be invited , right ?
Speaker 4I can say no , given that you're the person who's constantly putting everybody and their mother on a guest list yeah , yeah , I just mean .
Speaker 3Sometimes I see events that are like on brand and I'm like how are we not invited to this ? Although I did get invited to a thing .
Speaker 2What was the last thing that you were upset that you weren't invited to ?
Speaker 3The Israeli Day Parade . No one reached out to me .
Speaker 2That's a public parade , though .
Speaker 3No , but you were on a float last year , yeah .
Speaker 1Usually I was on a float year . Yeah , usually last year I was um . You please ask me . I think it . I I don't know what . What's your theory ?
Speaker 3first of all , we were we were away , but it's just um .
Speaker 1But they should still reach out to me yeah , you should have been on a float right
Speaker 2I gotta see a picture of you on the float I have a .
Speaker 3he was shirtless , with little pasties , no speaker um that . That's a different parade , a different parade .
Speaker 2But meanwhile everyone is such a I've been trying to get my family , it just hasn't worked out . But everyone that I've I don't know I've come in contact with so many people that are like oh , because I guess I've been just more curious about comedy and I ask what comics people are into and your name often comes up .
Speaker 1That's amazing , mashiach Hanonji comics people are into and your name often comes up . That's amazing , thank you , that's all leo . Leo puts me . Leo has gotten me into everybody's phone everybody . Leo has put like it's like into everybody's phone a good virus . It's all in there , yeah good virus , it's a good virus .
Speaker 1It's , yes , it's great , thank you . The special is out , know your audience and so people have been watching that and sharing it . And then we've been chopping it up and just little clips here and there which are doing insane and that , um , and so I'm glad to hear that that's so exciting and good and please bring your family to a show I know , oh my god , I'm gonna be at the beacon in december oh , okay that's the new hour family will plots
Speaker 2die no , I know , I know , mike laub , I know , okay , I want to make sure to get that date now and I'll when will die ? No , I know , mike Laub , I know . Okay , I want to make sure to get that date now and when tickets go on… .
Speaker 3The tickets are on sale already for December 19th at the Beacon Theater everyone .
Speaker 2December 19th Ali , white-jules , mark and Carol , we're there , get them , yeah .
Speaker 1But be the one that buys the tickets and invites them . We'll get you your own ticket .
Speaker 2I like to support . I don't like , I don't . I'm not one that likes to get free . I I like to support artists .
Speaker 1Okay , good , good , we'll take the support um and support you and your amazing project that you just did with amy schumer oh come on , you were in the .
Speaker 2You were in the audience with Rachel . Oh are you talking ?
Speaker 4about the no , that was a different thing , okay . I was with Rachel , I was , yeah , no Go .
Speaker 2Okay , sorry , I thought you meant the Rachel Feinstein's .
Speaker 1You were the director of her .
Speaker 2Special , special . Amy was the executive producer .
Speaker 1Okay .
Speaker 4Which Mazel Tov , we love you , rachel . Mazel Tov to Rachel . Which Mazel Tov , we love you .
Speaker 1Rachel Mazel Tov to Rachel , mazel Tov to Amy and Mazel Tov to you for that .
Speaker 2But I was more blown away by your project with the… oh , with… the Survivors .
Speaker 1The Survivors yes .
Speaker 4She's like that wasn't me . You're like I have too many projects going on right now .
Speaker 1I'm so sorry . Okay , thank you she has a cookbook coming out , recipes of the laub recipes .
Speaker 2Oh goodness um the survivors yeah remember that remember those guys I'm , I'm still .
Speaker 4I just filmed um helena's 100th birthday wow so um okay , so a few months ago there was a huge project called live to tell , in which which Jillian Laub photographed 200 Holocaust survivors .
Speaker 2Yes Wow .
Speaker 4Would you like to ? Could you tell us a little bit about that , Sure ?
Speaker 2Okay , I'm very emotional right now , so Okay . That was my daughter's last day of school , so Today , yeah , oh , wow , high school . No , she's moving school . So it was just , it was yeah , sorry . Okay , I digress . So , as we were all shook after October 7th I guess you know I can't even really describe the feeling of just helplessness and despair that I felt and then I saw that statistic of 20% of young people don't believe the Holocaust happened .
Speaker 3They think the Holocaust is in the air . I think it's more than 20% , but keep going .
Speaker 2So that was disturbing to me , obviously , and at the same time it's really crazy . I got this phone call from the head of the AJCF , which is the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation , ajcf , and they were doing an event at the Jewish Museum of Heritage downtown . Okay and where they were doing an event for survivors . So he said , three days before the event was happening , I need you to shoot 250 survivors . And I said , okay . He said I'm told that you're the person to go to .
Speaker 1Photoshoot , just so we understand . Oh my goodness , yes , Photoshoot oh God , we did not need you finishing the work of the Nazis .
Speaker 2So in a few days I had to figure out how can I photograph over 200 survivors who the median age is like 90 .
Speaker 1Yes .
Speaker 2And I didn't know what health they were in , and so I just said a group portrait is just not going to be possible . I can't do that . So I enlisted Kira Pollack , who I've worked with for many years . She was at New York Times Magazine and Time and Vanity Fair I'm sure she's a photo editor . So we decided that , you know , we had to figure out how am I going to photograph over 200 Holocaust survivors . So we built , we were inspired by the murals of Avedon Richard Avedon , yes , and the family photographs that . There's the sorry I'm like are you going to be able to edit my shit ?
Speaker 4You're good , you're fine , you're fine .
Speaker 2No , this is like please be able to edit . You're good , you're fine . You're fine . No , this is like . Please be able to edit , like to edit what you're killing it .
Speaker 4You're great . Oh god , I just take a deep breath .
Speaker 2Yeah , god , okay , you're fine photographing 250 holocaust survivors .
Speaker 4That's just insane to begin with now that you say that it was inspired by Avedon , I so see that like so clearly .
Speaker 2Well , I'm not a it's funny , I'm so not a studio photographer , so I had to kind of figure out and really his murals . I mean , if there's any pictures to be inspired by , they're his portraits . Wow , that's incredible and I just really wanted the people to come alive . So the day was , if you can imagine , completely insane and hectic .
Speaker 3Did you travel to them ?
Speaker 2No , we set up a studio . So they all came to you , so they all came with their helpers family .
Speaker 3Yeah , logistically that's hard , logistically it was a really , really complicated production .
Speaker 2But what I realized ? I was so focused on making the pictures in such a short amount of time because they came in on buses and they had to leave at a certain time altogether , at least not on trains . Oh gosh Folks .
Speaker 3Inappropriate . You both have a checkmark . That's striking in this episode . Keep going .
Speaker 2So I had to work very fast , so there was no time I like to really interact with people that I'm photographing with , and it was hard . But what I can say is that it felt so . Every single person who was in front of the camera was just so emotional about the time that we were living in , and the anti-Semitism and the different anecdotes from the day just felt so , so , so powerful .
Speaker 1What anecdotes .
Speaker 2So well , I mean , they're very sad . So it's not like they're funny anecdotes , it's just . You know , there was one woman who said that she was supposed to go to a wedding of her niece and instead she went to two funerals because her niece and her fiance were killed at the Nova Festival .
Speaker 1Oh , wow .
Speaker 2So it just felt jarring . You know that we were in this moment in time and people who had survived the hardest and like seeing the worst of humanity were now in a moment where they're seeing it again they were seeing . Just you know , know , atrocities happen .
Speaker 1The one Holocaust survivor I deal with often said it was like watching the continuation , it was like the next episode .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 1Like watching the next . Here's the next season of the show . Here's the next season of the show is how he said it .
Speaker 2Yeah , and I also just like , wanted to know . It was a moment of like I was feeling helpless . Where do you find ? Give us some wisdom , please .
Speaker 1No , but it found you , you found where to help . It came to you . You had a desire to help and however , this project came into your life , it came into your life . You put that desire out there . I desire to do something and make something meaningful , and here you did . Yeah , you did you collaborate with Amy Schumer , right ? Well she , how was this ? Yeah ?
Speaker 2She was . I mean , I go to Amy , for you know we were both , you know , in the same headspace and I Amy is kind of like the person that I bounce ideas off of and so she was kind of a creative partner and she's .
Speaker 4Did you know when you were photographing them that they were going to be projected onto the Brooklyn ?
Speaker 2Bridge , no , so tell us how that happened so that's also kind of like amazing about I don't mean to sound corny , but like the creative process , because I had no idea what we were going to do . At the end of the day I just said , oh my God , there is something so powerful here . I don't even know what to do with it . It's hard to even process it all . So I kind of had this like dream that how we should make a larger than life mural , um and of all of the people , full scale , um , and wrap it around , do a public art project and wrap it around a synagogue on the Lower East Side , like I kind of envisioned that . And then a friend of mine was like you can't do that , they're going to be defaced . So she was .
Speaker 2Actually
Survivor Stories Projections Project
Speaker 2. It was so many like meetings of creative minds because a friend of mine said no , we need to project them off of , on landmark landmarks all over the city . They need to be . You know no one can touch them , or no one . The city . They need to be . You know no one can touch them , or no one , no one can tear them down . So that's where it came into my head oh , we have to do that . How we're gonna do it , I have no idea , but that is really how did you get permission to do it on the bridges ?
Speaker 2we did not get permission it was a gorilla thing , we would never get permission , yeah .
Speaker 1I don't think you need permission to project something onto something .
Speaker 2It depends there is a gray area . But because this particular friend worked with this production company who do guerrilla art projects , projections , they were this like amazing renegade team .
Speaker 4Wow , I love that yeah .
Speaker 2Production Triangle that's their company name and we worked with them and I set up more shoots . And what I did also is so important I wanted to know everyone's name and story . So we had to work backwards and I got my friend who had worked for the Shoah Foundation for seven years and had been had the experience of photograph , of interviewing survivors started . We got , we started to get all the names and numbers and she started to interview the survivors because it was so important to me that they weren't just faces . I wanted to know . I wanted to know all of their stories . They weren't just faces , I wanted to know all of their stories .
Speaker 2So then the next few months we were just collecting interviews , doing more shoots and doing video interviews . Wow , and the goal was , with the projections is that you know ? And every detail was important , Like , do we want to say that they're Holocaust survivors on the projections ? But ultimately I said no , I want people to walk by and just feel like , oh , that could be anyone's grandma . And then you get you the projections would call . It was called live to tell . And then we built out a whole Instagram page which was , to me , the way to . I'm like how do I reach young people . How do I ? So it was like social media , and that's the only social media that I use and I'm familiar with , so I was like we have to do this on Instagram , so it's shareable , so all young people can be able to share these stories . So that was the goal , was that the projections would be the call out to then go to the Instagram page to learn about people's stories .
Speaker 1So is there an Instagram page for all the photos now ?
Speaker 2Yes .
Speaker 1What's the Instagram page ?
Speaker 2Live to the number two Live to tell .
Speaker 4And you had like a quote from each survivor .
Speaker 2Yeah , so that was also we wanted . I really thought that it was important to not just have their faces but also have their quotes . And also you have to assume when you're doing a projection it was a new medium . It's not like a magazine or a book Somebody is walking by . You need to have that very , very short , to the point . So that was also a process to get the right quotes . So that was also a process to get the right quotes . Some people I loved their portrait , but they didn't have the quote that actually fit on the projection . What ?
Speaker 1was one of your favorite quotes from the survivors .
Speaker 2Um . Every okay hold on . Every person saved is a whole world Right .
Speaker 1Wow .
Speaker 2I loved that one . Um , that's from the Torah Saved is a whole world .
Speaker 1When you save one person , you save the entire world .
Speaker 2Yes , Um , yeah , there were , just there were . Incredible . It was , and I and I'm continuing to work on the project since then people , we also had a page where you could if , if you knew of anyone that would want to be part of this project , so so many people reached out to us and I've been photographing um survivors since then this only in the new york area yes , but we're expanding yes , you need to need to go to Florida . Oh , yes , yes .
Speaker 1I have people for you .
Speaker 2Really yes , okay , okay , great , so yes , miami , then California .
Speaker 4I'm going to Israel .
Speaker 2I have people for you Like amazing that's amazing you do Okay , because we're doing a shoot in Israel the first two weeks in July .
Speaker 4Oh amazing . Two weeks in July , oh , amazing . Yeah , my uncle , oh great . Where is he located ? Right outside Tel Aviv . Okay , he was a kid in the camps . Wow , his story's incredible . Yeah , I mean everybody's story's incredible , and my very good friend Dina .
Speaker 1Her father was bar mitzvahed in Bergen-Belsen . Stop it .
Speaker 4Yeah .
Speaker 2Wow , incredible stories .
Speaker 1Yeah , he's one of the most incredible survivor stories you can ever . And the stories keep coming out of him . It's just insane .
Speaker 2Where is he in Israel ?
Speaker 1He's in Miami and he's a part of a lineage of the Karestir Rebbe . He's the oldest living great grandchild of this Rebbe and we go with him to the grave once a year and he's 93 now and , God willing , next year we'll be going for the 100th anniversary of his great-grandfather to Karestir and he's- .
Speaker 2When are you doing that ?
Speaker 1It's like the week after Passover next year . Okay .
Speaker 2Yeah , can you connect me with the family ? I'd love that you are .
Speaker 1I am the family , I am the family .
Speaker 4You're connected , maz . I'm the family . I am the family . You're connected , mazel tov . Yes , we are the family .
Speaker 2Yes , Okay , wow yeah .
Speaker 1So it's amazing . The stories that they have are insane and they keep popping up and they remember stories and other things that happened .
Speaker 2But that's the thing . They're not going to be here . I mean not to be dark , but they're not going to be here for that much longer to be the first person oral history , you know . So it is the responsibility , like they're passing the baton to you and the children and grandchildren , but still their stories firsthand are not going to be , they're not going to .
Speaker 1It's not going to be a firsthand story , it's going to be . My father was a survivor . But you have a project to send them to . You have somewhere , somewhere for them to go to and look it up . Yeah , you know , and that's very important .
Speaker 2That is really . That's what like kind of kept me sane throughout this time , because I felt I had a purpose in this time . I mean , you were so active and you've been doing so much .
Speaker 4I mean I don't . I mean I think everybody has done something . You know , everybody does the thing that they do and I think that's really what's been keeping a lot of us yeah talk about that .
Speaker 1on stage , everybody's doing their thing , whether they're going on a mission , or whether they're going sending things or doing your project , or you know providing laughter to people .
Speaker 1Something happened right away . People just felt they had to be there . Even though the war was in full , full bloom , they felt they needed to be there . They just flew . They just it was like we have to go . It is we just have to . Even if we just stay in a hotel , we just have to be in israel to show their support . It was an insane . I talk about that on stage . People felt a need to be there .
Speaker 4Yeah , it's incredible .
Speaker 1What other projects have you got going on ? What else is happening besides ?
Speaker 2Oh goodness . Well , there is a big project that is happening that is very top secret , so I'm sorry , but I can't talk about it , that's okay .
Speaker 4Tell us one that you can talk about . You've been really into comedy lately , yes .
Comedy Special Direction and Editing
Speaker 3Have you directed Rachel's special ? I don't think I knew that , so tell us what that actually means , because you know I also have a director's credit and I don't think it's accurate . I don't think what I did was directing . I think you did more than direct . What do you ? What goes into directing a comedy special .
Speaker 2Look , I don't . I can't really take credit for much . I have to be honest with you , amy . It was here's the thing . It was really great to work with Amy , because she is she does everything .
Speaker 3She's shot a bunch . Yeah , she knows how to .
Speaker 2She just does .
Speaker 3How to make the sausage .
Speaker 2Yes , and so what I cared about is how it looked right , so I'm not going to give notes on somebody's . You know it's .
Speaker 3No , not on what Rachel's performed . Rachel Feinstein , she's hilarious .
Speaker 4So her special's on Netflix . It's called Big Guy .
Speaker 3So yeah , you weren't giving notes on like the content or how she was delivering it , but I . Visually .
Speaker 2Vis , I'm giving notes on like the content or how she was delivering it , but I Visually , visually , it was really important to me .
Speaker 3You shot at Sony Hall .
Speaker 2Yes , yes so we chose that venue , so it was just everything . From where are we going to shoot ? What is she going to wear ?
Speaker 1You know the lighting , the you know , keep going , keep going . Just so he hears , just so Leo hears .
Speaker 2The cameras .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 3I didn't do any of that .
Speaker 1Yeah , yeah , you did all of that . No , I didn't choose where the cameras were .
Speaker 3That was the producers . I didn't choose , I didn't design the lighting you designed the lighting . You designed the stage the color I mostly did the editing which you didn't get a credit for in the editing .
Speaker 1I mostly did the editing which you didn't get a credit for in the editing , which is one of the most genius editing I've seen in comedy specials and I mean like Netflix Big Budget Mulaney's . What Leo worked with was hands tied behind his back .
Speaker 3Yeah , but I just got the multicam view and then I did the time stamp . Sorry , you directed his I technically directed Bodhi's special .
Speaker 1He was involved in what I was wearing when I was shooting . Also , he was involved first of all , punchlines and second of all , the way I structured the set . Oh , a hundred percent . He doesn't take any credit . You're doing Wait hold on .
Speaker 2I'm not finished yet .
Speaker 1But I'm talking about when you watch a comedy special and the guy's delivering a joke , the setup , and then the bang , bang and Leo . At one point I saw him looking at all of the cameras and saying , and it hit him , he didn't need me . He's just like no 1.01 , cut two on this word . And then if even the clips we have on Instagram , it's all Leo's cuts and they're amazing . He not only edited , he directed it and he produced it .
Speaker 2So wait , I'm confused . So is it because you didn't get credit but you did the work ?
Speaker 3No , no no , I'm listed as the director of the special , but when I saw that , I was like I don't think that's what I did .
Speaker 2I think I did something . I think my role was beyond that . You should not undersell yourself . I know when I see other people's specials .
Speaker 3It usually says written , directed and performed by the artist .
Speaker 2No , first of all , I love that you are like you wanna give , like that's so beautiful he's very nice , but you should .
Speaker 3You are like you want to give , like that's so beautiful , he's very nice .
Speaker 2I saw it , but you should , that is .
Speaker 3But I wanted to know what your definition of a director of a comedy special is , because Well , I didn't know .
Speaker 2So that's the thing . It was the first time I did that , so I didn't know I was I really I wanted to take Amy's lead because this is what she does and it was really . I appreciated the . I was so grateful for the opportunity and also to learn from her . So it it really what you ? There's there's limitations to what you can do as a director for a comedy special right , so you it sounds like you did everything that a director does yes .
Speaker 3I don't know't know .
Speaker 2The answer is yes .
Speaker 3I think I just did like the editing , maybe like .
Speaker 2But that is .
Speaker 3That's the editing .
Speaker 2Editing is directing .
Speaker 4I mean editing is directing .
Speaker 1He did the editing too . Where . Why are you yelling ? Because I want it to be known and I don't want you to be all the shy thing . You edited the whole special . No , I special , genuinely , asking genuinely , and you generally , when we got there , you how you wanted the letters . There was a problem with the letters , my moody name was problem and he fixed that . And then we and then um , where the ? From where the stool , where I'm walking to , where I'm , my angle ?
Speaker 2he directed me why are you not taking ownership ?
Speaker 1because I don't really remember all of it , that stuff I just remember doing the time stamps like and then on this backstage also watching what I'm doing and words I missed that we had to pick up afterwards .
Speaker 3Be proud of the work ? No , I didn't mean to hijack this . I was trying to ask I'll hijack it again , leo so nice .
Speaker 2I have to say , there's something so refreshing about this , and I don't mean to , but this is usually a woman who is second guessing herself . There's something . I'm sorry , there is something , really .
Speaker 1no , there's something really she's a lady . She's not a woman . She's a lady , but she's very .
Speaker 2But I'm saying like this is something that I feel it's just to have this beautiful man sitting in front of me and seeing you second guessing yourself .
Speaker 1that's so human 100% he has no idea . He has no idea what he does . That's not what I meant she's fine no , no , I'll take the opportunity .
Speaker 1I will promise you my special that anybody has seen . It know your audience available for everybody on YouTube . If you have parents or grandparents that don't know how to access things , a mitzvah , go to your grandparents and make sure they set up to watch my special , and Leo made that happen . That was literally . You know there's an expression yesh me'en . From nothing came something , from finding someone to direct . We were tight . The material had to get out . We found someone to tape it and then we were almost left alone and Leo took care of everything . We were , there was situation . We had a very good producer helping us .
Speaker 1Yeah , again .
Speaker 4Yeah .
Speaker 3Okay , matt Shuler did a good job . Yes , did Leo Vega do a good job , but the editing the editing was a hot mess .
Speaker 1The editing was a hot mess . You had to take care of all of it , did Leo ?
Speaker 4Vega do a good job , yeah , and on top of that , he also you know the special .
Speaker 1Okay , showing the special and watch a special , but the clips that he also cut out that are now having views of four to five million some of them .
Speaker 3Leo , it's a special that's own . When you directed rachel's special , you had never done a comedy special before but , you had directed like video content yes , yes , like what did you do ?
Speaker 2before that documentary , I directed a film called Southern Rights , that's on .
Speaker 3HBO . Oh , yes , about the voting .
Speaker 2No .
Speaker 3I watched it when we did your last episode , which was a long time ago .
Speaker 2It was about ? Well , it started out being about the last segregated prom .
Speaker 3Yes , yes , yes , yes , yes , yes , yes . So you directed that
Transitioning From Photography to Video
Speaker 3documentary , yes .
Speaker 2Okay , so you directed that documentary .
Speaker 3Yes , okay so when you were enlisted to do Rachel's special . It's not like you had never directed video . No , because you were going for photographer .
Speaker 2Oh yeah . Because I know a lot of people don't cross that line . It felt like a natural . You know I direct and you know , as a photographer , you're constantly . You know that You're constantly directing .
Speaker 1There are people who have an eye for what the right thing is . You have it , leo has it . People see things and say this is how this could be better , this is how this should be . You have that , obviously .
Speaker 4I think the interesting thing about photography that I have learned from basically being a fly on the wall for so many years with so many great photographers is that , unlike video , they have one frame to tell an entire story .
Speaker 3Wow , yes .
Speaker 4Which is incredible . Now it's different because it's digital , so you can click , click , click and then you pick one , but that only changed very recently . I mean , you guys have been working in film for years and even when you select the final image , you have one frame to tell an entire story that we tell in .
Speaker 2You know , 30 seconds or a minute . You have to capture the essence in one moment . Well , that's the goal , that's the goal , that's the goal . So , but it's definitely working . Two different like two totally different ways .
Speaker 4So I mean , there are a lot of very well-known and famous and world-famous photographers who didn't ever work in video media .
Speaker 2It's hard to make the transition . It took a while , for sure , and you know the the first footage that I look at is like unwatchable . But then you know you try the . The goal is to try and make it like it's seamless , like the storytelling is seamless , whether it's a still photograph or moving image .
Speaker 1Yes , leo , edited between two shows .
Speaker 3And I was taking the setup from one show and the punchline from another , and that's how tight the times were .
Speaker 1Well , that's why editing is directing .
Speaker 2Because you're telling the story . So much of the final product is in the editing . So editing is so critical .
Speaker 1It is , but in stand-up there is a special hush , there's a special knack for it and you see it and I've seen after I saw Leo Dumont , I've seen the mistakes in others- Huge .
Speaker 3Can I say the one thing that drives me crazy about your special ? Yeah , you can bleep this out if you don't like it . Can I talk about the baseball hat guy that , yeah , go ahead . So we taped two seatings at the Grand Merced .
Speaker 2Theater .
Speaker 3I didn't realize because there's so much going on . We did two seatings in one night . I'm running around crazy . In the second show there's a guy like very visible wearing a baseball hat .
Speaker 2Mm-hmm .
Speaker 3Like a very distinct baseball hat .
Speaker 2So you had to take yeah .
Speaker 3And so a lot of the shots we wanted to use when we were like going through , like the multicam view , when we were like transitioning between shows I'm like this baseball hat keeps appearing and disappearing . So that is what our main limitation was , because it drove me insane . I was like how did I not catch this guy when they were being seated ? How did I not tell ?
Speaker 2him to take his hat off . That is a key thing . So that's what the front row and the continuity between the two shows .
Speaker 3So there's some shots that are like the same camera but like cropped in . Yeah , and those are the shots , if you're watching at home , where the baseball hat guy was visible , because there's some shots that don't make sense , where it goes from , like here , and then we kind of like crop in , because you have to get rid of the baseball hat guy , but it's not like a normal crop , like you'll see , like it'll be like from your ankle .
Speaker 1One of the cameras was on a tilt . There was a whole . I'm telling you . He did it with his hands tied behind his back and it was . I think it's a great special . It is a great special , it was a great special . That , literally , is what you know . I say be true to your audience . The rest will follow . This show is it's made for Jews , and I'm explaining the whole show to a non-Jew that's in the audience .
Speaker 1Oh , wow so that's the whole , this entire show . I'm explaining what's happening . It's what's happening . It's literally , it's a window into the Jewish world through laughter and pride , and and it's brought us people . We now have Goyim , gays and theys as fans , and that's , and that's what that special did you know what ?
Speaker 2you know what film you should see if you haven't seen it yet . Do you know and I feel like the two of you would be friends Do you know ? Amichai Laulavi .
Speaker 1I know so many Amichais , I mean I literally my entire .
Speaker 2So Amichai Laulavi is the head of Labshul and he was . He's the his lineage . He's like the rabbinical lineage , like they're you know royalty Okay . Lineage um , like their you know royalty , okay , and um , he had a . Um , how do I say ? He had a , another person who was esther , queen , esther , do you know ? Okay , anyway , the point is is that his story has now been made into a film , um called sabbath queen , made by by . Sandy Dubowski , who followed him for 21 years .
Speaker 4Wow .
Speaker 2And the film just premiered in Tribeca and it's amazing and I feel you would just Sabbath Queen .
Speaker 3See , that's something we should have been invited to you must , because so much of his alter ego was performance .
Speaker 2He , he basically took um . He's reinventing judaism okay through . It's called storytelling . So he's reinvented storytelling hilarious no , he's brilliant , he's really brilliant , he . I just think that you would appreciate him and this film so much . You must see it .
Speaker 3Absolutely . I love when Rachel does her mom with the men in polka cape . Oh God , her mom , I'm sure whatever you're doing in your craft room in Bethesda . I didn't watch it yet , but I've seen her like working out this material for the last year or so .
Speaker 2Oh my goodness , the material with her family , I mean her husband Was it so fun for you Like .
Speaker 4I know you personally , so I know that you have a great sense of humor . But was it ? It's not usually what you're in .
Speaker 2Well , amy , I had never . I had never . I didn't know about her except that she was Amy's friend . So Amy had called me last summer and was like , would you be , would you ever be interested in directing this ? And I was like , okay , well , if she's funny . But of course Amy has the best taste . So she sent me one of the specials . I was like , oh , I'm in , she is so funny .
Speaker 3Yeah , she's funny . I haven't seen the special , but I've seen her doing this material at the cellar for a while .
Speaker 1Yeah .
Speaker 3But I'll go watch it .
Speaker 1Amy , since we're giving plugs , amy also did , I believe Keith Robinson's .
Speaker 4Yes which Keith Robinson's , I believe , comes out today . It just came out Today . Yeah , yes .
Speaker 1Also great specials to watch . Send them to your friends . Make sure pause for laughter , Make sure you find time and things to laugh at .
Speaker 2I haven't seen Keith's yet , but Amy is so proud of Keith's special . It's called Different Strokes .
Speaker 4Okay .
Speaker 1Oh wow , Because he had a stroke . Because he had a stroke .
Speaker 4He's had more than one stroke Right , right , right .
Speaker 3Yeah .
Speaker 2So where can people find you ? Where can people ?
Speaker 3find me Instagram so what's your Instagram ?
Speaker 2G-G-L-A-U-B G-I-G-I-L-A-U-B .
Speaker 3And the live2tel .
Speaker 2Live at live2 , number 2 , tel .
Speaker 3That's where they can find the projects about the survivors .
Speaker 2And my website , Jillian Laub .
Speaker 3Don't whisper it and my website Jillian Laub G-I-L-L-I-A-N . There you go .
Speaker 2L-A-U-B as in boy . Okay , there you go .
Speaker 1We want to take this moment to thank A&H Provisions . That is who we collaborate with to make these episodes happen and bring people like you onto the camera and into the audio . Best hot dogs you'll ever eat in your life . Mike would love them .
Speaker 2Okay .
Speaker 1And A&H Provisions Glock Kosher Meat . That's on another level , and kosherdogsnet is their website and if you put the promo code MODY you'll get for 30% off of your first
Upcoming Shows and New Features
Speaker 1order . Thank you very much , seth at A&H , for being a part of this . Thank you for being here .
Speaker 3Wait , I have one more thing to say . There's a new feature . If you listen on Buzzsprout or if you listen on Spotify , there's a link in the description of the episode that says send us a text message . So you can send us your thoughts , feedback , questions , keep it nice . So you have the option to send us a text message and we also have information on our PO box that we just opened in case you want to send Moody mail .
Speaker 1Yes , and we have shows coming up . Some of them are sold out , some of them aren't . Nashville is not sold out . There are a few seats left in Nashville . There's a few seats left in St Paul . There's a few seats left in Sydney , Australia and Melbourne . Two sold out shows there . One of the shows still has a few seats . The Beacon almost sold out too . That's in December . Go to modilivecom . Find a show near you . Find a show near no . Find a show near you . Find a show near no . Find a show near one of your friends and send them a link to whatever If I'm near there and , of course , be the friend that brings the friends to the comedy show . Get a few tickets , Invite a few friends . It's the best way to spend time with your friends and find time for laughter . Thank you very much for coming on .
Speaker 2Thank you One thing there are crazy , oh my oh we're still on .
Speaker 1Do you want to do another hot out ? Don't say another thing that you want us to edit out ? Is this redacted ? Should we ?
Speaker 2end now . Oh yeah , we should end . Okay , all right .
Speaker 3Thank you very much , the mysterious Julian Laub everyone .
Speaker 2Okay , but that one thing .