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Jerry Zucker
Producer, Writer and Director
Wednesday, July 25, 2001; 2:15 p.m. EDT
Jerry Zucker, along with his brother David, is responsible for some of the greatest moments in cinema. After getting his start with the cult favorite "Kentucky Fried Movie" and garnering critical acclaim with "Airplane," "Ruthless People" and the "Naked Gun" series, Zucker moved onto directing more dramatic films in the 1990's, starting with the box-office hit "Ghost."
His newest film, "Rat Race," is a revival of the ensemble chase-comedy genre and stars Rowan Atkinson, John Cleese, Whoopie Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Junior, Seth Green, Jon Lovitz and others.
Zucker, was online to take questions and comments on his career and his new film.
The transcript follows.
Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control
over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.
Arlington, Va.:
I've always been a great fan of "The Kentucky Fried Movie." What advice do you have for sketch comedy writers looking to break into the business?
Jerry Zucker: Forget it. Don't even think about it. There is no way
Now, if you still want to go out to LA and break into the business you might have a chance. No one easily deterred will make it. The most important thing is to keep writing. Now that it is so inexpensive to get a hold of a video camera, I would strongly advise you to put some of your sketch ideas on video and show them to people. That is how you will find out what's funny and what isn't. Trial and error is really important. Practice is as important in comedy as anything. Then, when you have a half an hour of stuff that really makes an audience laugh, not just a couple of friends, come out to Hollywood and start phase two.
Bethesda, Md.:
What was it like working with Rowan Atkinson? I have always found him to be a very funny comedian.
Jerry Zucker: It was great joy. Rowan is a brilliant comedian. He is actually very shy offscreen. He thinks about comedy like a director and he had a lot of ideas about his bits as well as others. His true personality is as different from his on screen persona as one could get.
Washington, D.C. (Milwaukee native):
"Airplane" is my favorite movie ever -- I watched it daily when I was a kid -- and "Police Squad" still cracks me up.
When my dad and I went to see "Top Secret" way back when, he recognized the East German national anthem as the Shorewood High School fight song (which he played as a student there). Was he right?
I love watching your films not only because they are hilarious but also for the local details any North Shore Milwaukee Jew would recognize -- I think Camp Interlaken even made it in there once.
Jerry Zucker: First of all, your dad is correct. Actually, the tune is the Sherwood High School hymn not the fight song. We actually had to get the rights for it, which was composed by Sandy Smith, who for years was the head of the marching band at the school. There have been many Milwaukee names and places in our movies.
But if you seriously watched Airplane! everyday, that is probably something you should see a doctor about. It may have caused permanent damage.
Boca Vista, Fla.:
Please Jerry, work with David again. Between the two of you being estranged and Julia and Eric Roberts not talking, I can't find much meaning in this crazy world. Tell me, when will this madness end?
Jerry Zucker: First of all, we are not estranged. I see David all the time. He has a cute 1 year-old son that I couldn't resist even if we were estranged. David, Jim and I made a decision after Ruthless People that it was time for us to all direct individually -- although the very next thing we did was get in a room together and write Naked Gun. Although we see each other all the time, and talk about films endlessly, we simple decided to helm movies individually so we couldn't be outvoted by the other two.
Manteo, N.C.:
Why is it that we no longer see sketch comedy movies without a constant narrative strain such as "K.F.M." or Monty Python's "And Now for Something Completely Different?" Is there no longer a place for such films? Have you ever wanted to try it again?
Jerry Zucker: The problem with sketch movies is that there is a limited up side. There is no story to take you through the movie unless it has a big star in it. People think "why are we going." It is also hard to promote those kind of movies, especially with advertising budgets so high these days. There is a limit to the upside.
Having said that, I still think that if someone came up with 90 minutes of great material that paved new ground or had different elements it could work. You would still have to make it on a very small budget.
KFM was successful but on a very small scale. It only cost $600,000, but it made $20 million. Now you could make a movie for a very low budget, but it would cost $10 million just to distribute it. I think video might be a good candidate to keep the budget low.
Good luck.
I'm not wearing any pants. Film at eleven.:
Is there anything that you did in your earlier films that you don't think you could get away with now? I'm thinking specifically of a couple Kentucky Fried Movie skits: Catholic High School Girls In Trouble, and the one with the stunt guy in the crash helmet.
BTW -- I would never had made it through high school alive without watching Kentucky Fried Movie, Airplane, Airplane II, and Top Secret at least twice a month. Thank you for many laughs!
Jerry Zucker: Fist of all I am glad I am responsible for you being alive. I had nothing to do with, nor have I ever seen Airplane II -- which we all opted out of. To answer your original question: Catholic High School Girls In Trouble and the Thrill Seeker bit could still be done. Certainly the Wayans and the Farrelly brothers are doing much more.
The one thing that we couldn't get away with now is Peter Graves in the cockpit asking the little boy if he has ever seen a grown man naked and if he has ever watched gladiator movies.
Fairfax County, Va.:
I can't imagine John Cleese, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Jon Lovitz in the same room. All three are very talented but each has his own style of comedy. Did they get along during production or keep to themselves?
Jerry Zucker: The cast got along great during the shooting. They were very respectful of each other and liked being in a room together. They did a great job of keeping everyone laughing. There wasn't a dull moment.
Dupont Circle, Washignton, D.C.:
Which of the following leading-ladies was best on the "casting couch":
Priscilla Presley
Julie Hagerty
Val Kilmer
Thanks for your reply!
Jerry Zucker: All three at once.
Jerry Zucker: I could sit back and let Val do all the work.
Annandale, Va.:
Was it you or your brother who played "The Beaver" in Kentucky Fried Movie? Which of your movies, if any, do you have cameo roles?
Jerry Zucker: I guess I have to be honest
it was me. Not one of the most brilliant screen performances in cinema history.
KFM was one of the only films where we took actual roles. After that we took small cameo rolls and they have become smaller and smaller. Now I pretty much stay out of the films.
David and I did play the ground crew that caused the airplane to crash through the terminal in Airplane!.
Harrisonburg, Va.:
I know you wrote with your brother during much of your career, what kind of process did the two of you use? Were there other writers involved? How did you settle creative differences?
Jerry Zucker: Most of my collaboration has been with my brother David and Jim Abrahams and occasionally Pat Proft who was part of our original comedy troupe Kentucky Friend Theater. The good thing about having three of us, whether we were writing or directing, was that there was always a majority -- there was always a decision. It would be harder with two or four people. Literally, majority would rule, although there were occasionally filibusters.
Our process was to come in each morning and drink coffee and sit around and chat about the days news and/or personal life until the coffee kicked in. when the motors started we would start working. Despite appearances, the only drug we ever used to write was caffeine.
Washington, D.C.:
How did you make the transition from comedy to drama? Was it difficult to convince the studio to let you direct "Ghost" given your previous films?
Jerry Zucker: I was fortunate that the script for Ghost was owned by Paramount because they knew me. An executive there named Lindsay Doran gave me the script and somehow sensed that this was something I might be able to do. I am endlessly grateful for taking that chance. I think that the studio wanted the script to be more commercial. One of the things I did do was to add more humor.
Fairfax, Va.:
Jerry, what percentage of people who have watched your movies do you suspect actually have realized that the credits contain funny goofs? "In case of Tornado... SW corner of basement"
Jerry Zucker: I would have to say 76.4 percent.
Manassas, Va.:
I've always wondered, in Airplane! exactly what is that stuff that hits the fan? Thanks! A bet is riding on this!
Jerry Zucker: I can assure you it is not what we say in the film that it is.
I unfortunately do not remember the exact chemicals that went into the creation of the gooey brown substance.
Charm City, Md.:
Wow, Rat Race has an awesome cast. What's it about? Are there any real rats in it? (Please say yes!)
Jerry Zucker: Sorry, no rats.
John Cleese plays an owner of the Venitian Casino in Las Vegas. He gathers together eight random people from the casino, gives them all a key and tells them that the key opens a locker in a train station in New Mexico. Inside the locker is $2 million and whoever gets there first gets the money. Later we realize that he is doing this for the betting pleasure of a group of billionaire high rollers who are wagering on the outcome. The racers are off and everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
Centreville, Va.:
Mr. Zucker, one of your films' biggest fans here...
I'd like to know when writing the scripts for Airplane & Airplane 2: do you and your brother know jive, or did you have to bring in a special consultant? Did Barbara Billingsly actually speak jive or did she require a language coach? Thanks.
Jerry Zucker: Once again, David and Jim and I did not write Airplane II. In the original script we did the best job that three white Jewish guys from Milwaukee could do. The lines that ended up in the movie were really the work of the actors Al White and Norm Gibson. I am immensely grateful to Barbara for taking such a risk.
Arlington, Va.:
Let me start by saying Airplane remains to be one of my all time favorite movies. When you were first starting out in the movie business, what steps did you take to insure your success? Also what setbacks did you experience at that time in your life and how did you overcome them?
Jerry Zucker: Unfortunately one can never assure success. We were both persistent and lucky.
Over the years we have had hundreds of set backs and hundreds of lucky breaks, you overcome them by never giving up and by looking at all of them as experiences you can learn from, not disasters.
washingtonpost.com:
That was our last question today. Thanks to everyone who joined the
discussion.
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