What Is ‘Bulldozer’s Pilot About?
“It was inspired by true events.”
COLLIDER: First of all, congrats on the pilot, but no one will have seen it yet.
Image via Sundance Institute
Whos going to bite the bullet, and explain how you’ve been describing it to friends and family?
ANDREW LEEDS: She’s going to bite that bullet.
JOANNA LEEDS: It’s me, but heightened 11%.
Image via Sundance Institute
[Laughs]
ANDREW LEEDS: Or heightened 5%.
It’s inspired by true events.
ANDREW LEEDS: Then it goes off in its own direction, but it was inspired by true events.
Image by Photagonist
How much was that the inspiration?
I want to write something just to show what I can do because I’m funny.
JOANNA LEEDS: It’s funny, I don’t know that I even had that endgame in mind.
Image by Photagonist
It was just, Ihadto make this.
I had to write it.
I had to make it.
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ANDREW LEEDS: I have a question for you.
JOANNA LEEDS: after you grab some distance from things, it’s kind of funny.
ANDREW LEEDS: That’s true.
Image by Photagonist
In your pilot, your character is going through a relationship breakup and stuff like that.
How much is everything in it really stuff that happened to you?
So, that’s good.
Image via Sundance Institute
It’s a combination of all of these men.
Mental health in cinema usually focuses on one bang out of mental illness.
JOANNA LEEDS: And why life is so hard.
Like, it’s so hard and it’s exhausting.
[Andrew], you have worked as an actor on 1,000 things.
ANDREW LEEDS: I also want to touch briefly on her writing this thing.
She’s also a great director, and she’s directed her own stuff before.
This cast is amazing.
And she wrote a great script and people were like, I’ll show up.
We’re very lucky to have a ton of amazing people.
Just name-drop a few of the people.
As I was watching, I was like, Oh, Jesus.
JOANNA LEEDS: We were so lucky.
It was like a murderer’s row of people in the pilot.
ANDREW LEEDS:They all just basically volunteered.
They showed up.Mary Steenburgen had her own wig.
She was like, I’ll do it, but I want to wear a wig.
Can I have one made?
And I was like, Well, I feel bad.
She’s like, No, I want to do it.
And she did it.
Theyre trying to kick us out.
They’re trying to bust down the door.
Eventually, we did get kicked out.
He goes, “She’s hot.
I was like, Oh, well, if we let you talk to her, could we stay?
and he’s like, No.
I have to ask, what happened?
Did you rent something on Airbnb?
JOANNA LEEDS: We actually had all the correct permits.
We weren’t gonna be able to get her back.
JOANNA LEEDS: Actually, in that scene, all of my coverage is to no one.
ANDREW LEEDS: From another day because we had to go back.
I wish more people understood movie magic.
ANDREW LEEDS: Totally.
She came out, and she was like, What’s going on?
We’re like, Oh, the police came, they shut us down.
We’re going to go shoot down the street at this flower shop.”
She’s like, Okay, well, let me know where to go.
Why did you decide to let that entire scene play from 200 feet away?
I wasn’t quite as ballsy as perhaps he was in that show.
We wanted to deliver something that felt fresh.
I’d argue thatBarryhas its own unique style and that style would not fit withBulldozer.It’s two different worlds.
ANDREW LEEDS: Totally.
But that was always the question in making this was, How do you know?
Because this is the first episode.
So, how do you know?
Should it be handheld?
Should it not be handheld?
You give a shot to guess and hope for the best.
We learned some things.
We did some reshoots, and you learn as you go.
Let’s talk about the financing and getting this off the ground.
It’s impossible for everyone to get money.
How was it for this?
Who was the miracle person that came in and said, “I’ll help you?”
JOANNA LEEDS: We have Rhett Reese.
We have Rhett Reeses brother, Caleb Reese, and then the two of us.
We each did a third of our own money.
ANDREW LEEDS: Basically Rhett wroteDeadpool.
He’s made at least $5 in profit from theDeadpoolmovies.
JOANNA LEEDS: He’s never put his own money into a project.
We had obstacle after obstacle.
We were about to make it.
I was like, Okay, don’t worry about it.
We’ll just close it.
ANDREW LEEDS: There was a studio that was going to give us some money to make it.
JOANNA LEEDS: Originally.
So, I was like, No worries.
And then three days turned into a year and a half of COVID where nothing was being made.
ANDREW LEEDS: Then the studio was like, Actually, we can’t do it anymore.
And all those things.
Rhett, I think we can all agree that he’s pretty stupid.
JOANNA LEEDS: I don’t think it’s stupidity.
I think he’s just so nice.
He is the nicest human being I’ve ever met.
ANDREW LEEDS: Just very supportive.
I think we all just know how talented she is.
It’s such a hard industry and it’s so random.
As he says, Put my money where my mouth is."
I believe in her and I believe in the script and I believe in the show.
He’d probably be like, Alright.
And I’d be like, No, Rhett!
Don’t do that, Rhett!
It’s really funny, though,Helen Harperishere, and they shot an eight-episode series independently.
The show is for sale here, and they’ve already shot all eight episodes.
Everyone worked for scale, every single person, but they all owned a piece of it.
When it sells here, they are going to get money.
ANDREW LEEDS: Oh that’s cool.
I didn’t realize that’s how that worked.
That’s really smart.
We’re talking about how to do something similar now and make a season of this thing.
She’s writing additional scripts.
How much now have you been writing?
Did you decide, “I think I could do a six-episode season or an eight-episode season?”
Because it takes time to write.
What happens if someone here is like, Oh, that was really good.
Let us make a season.
Where are the scripts?
Are you thinking six or eight episodes?
JOANNA LEEDS: I’ll do whatever the people want.
Ill do three episodes and be content.
Whatever you guys want.
ANDREW LEEDS: I think six would actually be a great starting point unless someone said they needed eight.
Especially because we would obviously be doing this on a budget in some way.
I don’t know that we could physically…
JOANNA LEEDS: It depends on how much time.
These people, like Nat Faxon, are the most wonderful.
He was just like, I’ll be there.
Whatever you guys need.
We felt so bad because we made him come back and do reshoots.
He’s like, “I love this.”
ANDREW LEEDS: It’s a good lesson for us.
JOANNA LEEDS: That was going to be scary.
She got hurt pretty badly.
JOANNA LEEDS: I did get hurt.
JOANNA LEEDS: Oh my gosh.
I need back surgery.
Well, I do, but probably not because of that.
But it was awful.
I’m not a stunt person.
ANDREW LEEDS: You know whats funny about when you tackle someone on a mat?
JOANNA LEEDS: We need a mattress.
ANDREW LEEDS: A mattress would have been great.
Anyway, it was just a hard-hitting mat.
But we did that in the last day.
Also, working together with your sibling is always an interesting experience.
He’s like, Don’t worry, I will get you emotional.
So behind the camera he’s yelling, Do your fucking job!
He goes,That did frighten me a little bit.
JOANNA LEEDS: We told each other to be mean.
I said Be mean to me just to upset me.
But that wasn’t the mean I meant for you to do to get me emotional.
JOANNA LEDS: The beautiful crane shot that we had.
ANDREW LEEDS: Like techno crane.
It held us up for three hours, and that didn’t even end up in the pilot.
JOANNA LEEDS: Also, that location was right by Burbank airport.
No joke, you had to say your lines really quickly because in 60 seconds another plane was coming.
I can’t believe you got a crane for this, and it didn’t end up in it.
JOANNA LEEDS: We should send you the clip because it was a beautiful crane shot.
ANDREW LEEDS: It was the transition from the, two years laternow it’s four months later.
JOANNA LEEDS: It was magical.
We’re at Sundance.
What does it mean for both of you to be accepted into Sundance and premiering here?
JOANNA LEEDS: We’ll start crying.
It’s such a huge deal.
I feel so incredibly lucky.
You mentioned earlier in the interview, it’s so hard to get even a small break on something.
So, to get this opportunity is huge.
ANDREW LEEDS: Our premiere is tomorrow.
We have no idea what that’s going to be.
JOANNA LEEDS: We haven’t even had a screening for friends and family.
We’ve had nothing.
ANDREW LEEDS: We could just sit at our computer until the end of time.
We sent it out to people, but to get to see it with an audience is really thrilling.
This is the Sundance Film Festival.
I used to come here in college.
I never really thought in a million years that that would be able to happen.
So it was all thanks to this person.
JOANNA LEEDS: All thanks to this person.
It’s almost like you like each other.
ANDREW LEEDS: Sometimes.
JOANNA LEEDS: And sometimes we don’t.
We definitely revert to those childhood dynamics.
Do you have a sibling?
JOANNA LEEDS: So maybe you know what I’m talking about.
I 100% know what you’re talking about.
JOANNA LEEDS: Also, it truly is special to get to be here with your sibling.
That’s crazy that we both worked on a project.
ANDREW LEEDS: And that we lived to tell about it.
[Laughs]
JOANNA LEEDS: That too.
[Andrew], you did a lot of one-episode appearances on, like, 1,000 shows.
ANDREW LEEDS: My favorite experiences wereVeep.Veepwas incredible, mostly because of that group of people.
Acting with them,you don’t feel like you’re talking to an actor.
You feel like you’re talking to the real person.It’s just an amazing experience.
[They are] people that I look up to.
The Patientwas an incredible experience.
It was so unique because there were so many scenes with no dialogue.
That was a really interesting experience.
Also, learning all the Hebrew stuff and learning how to play the guitar and all that stuff.
They’re just seeing your work.
ANDREW LEEDS: Yes.
And getting to act with Henry Winkler was great.
I will sayThe Dropoutwas particularly fun.
This is a question for both of you.
JOANNA LEEDS: Phone voice number one, in episode 305 ofPerson of Interest.
ANDREW LEEDS: [Laughs] I would want people to see her inBulldozer.
I think you’re great in this.
JOANNA LEEDS: I’ve done guest spots onNCIS,Superstore.
This is purely her.
JOANNA LEEDS: This is the pop in of acting I want to do.
Listen, you are very, very good in this, and I really hope people watch this.
[Andrew], you didn’t suck.
You were okay as a director.
[Laughs] You didn’t ruin her performances.
ANDREW LEEDS: I appreciate you.
That was the goal.
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