Rainn Wilson:
Further blurring the line between the real, the online and the imaginary, Wilson said that his interviewer persona was meant to parody typical entertainment journalist banter. Except that what he thought was outrageously dopey was all too real.
(Kyle Christy / IFC)
The Oscar nominee and past Spirit Award winner will also present at the star-studded event.
Indie host gets 'down and dirty'
Rainn Wilson doesn't do stand-up but he does do Youtube.
By Mark Olsen, The Envelope
February 21, 2008
You may have noticed a new Internet chat-show that popped up a week or so ago – "Rainn On Film." As a preview/teaser for this Saturday's Film Independent Spirit Awards, the show's host, actor Rainn Wilson, asked a few questions of some of the nominees.
Among his queries, he asks "I'm Not There" director Todd Haynes what it's like being married to Julianne Moore. (Answer: He's not.)
Wilson also asks "Juno" director Jason Reitman how often he calls his dad Ivan for advice while shooting.
Jason Reitman: Part 1
There is also a Q&A with "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" director Julian Schnabel, except the Schnabel Wilson interviews is an impostor.
Julian Schnabel
"Rainn On Film" – try to keep Duran Duran tune "Girls On Film" in mind when you say it – was taped a few weeks ago. While working on some pre-taped segments that will air during the awards broadcast, Wilson pulled his guests aside to shoot one-on-one interviews.
Haynes and Reitman did not know in advance what Wilson would be asking. Haynes' refusal to promise to make more straightforward films is, those behind the enterprise say, entirely genuine.
"We wanted to change the show up and do things we've not done before," said Diana Zahn-Storey, executive producer of the Spirit Awards, regarding the decision to make some "down and dirty" videos to post online.
"We wanted to create some stuff both for the show and clips that could be viral, that we could send out in advance to get people interested in watching the show."
"When they asked me to host the show," explained Wilson, "I said, well, I'm not really a stand-up comic. I can say some funny things, but I'm not really that great at just getting up and telling jokes. And they said, well maybe we can just do some comedy segments. And that was what really interested me, the pre-taped comedy bits that will interweave throughout the show."
Some of the results – including at least one out-take that won't make the show's television broadcast – are currently available on the IFC website, Film Independent's website and on YouTube.
As whenever something from the physical world interfaces with the Internet, the question for producers is whether they are trying to bring the show to the Web, or to bring the Web audience to the show's television broadcast.
"A little bit of both," said Zahn-Storey. "We don't stream the show live yet, but that's the wave of the future -- that the show will end up online. Things are moving in that direction and we want to too. I think that's the way the world is going, and independent film needs to be in the forefront of all that. We wanted to be as cutting edge as possible."
Further blurring the line between the real, the online and the imaginary, Wilson said that his interviewer persona was meant to parody typical entertainment journalist banter. Except that what he thought was outrageously dopey was all too real.
"I just really love the idea of being the stupidest, most insensitive movie interviewer known to man," said Wilson.
"But my questions are not that far removed from what it's like when you do some of those junkets, it's not that far from the truth. Jason Reitman, when we were doing it, said he has been asked all of my questions."
