The first season of Very Important People had some of the most wild improvised characters interviewed by host Vic Michaelis, so it’s been no surprise that the second season has not only matched that energy, but truly exceeded expectations. Still maintaining the “improv first”, no prior knowledge of the guest quality, Michaelis entered Season 2 with more backstory for their host character and a willingness to allow the guests to also become part of their backstory to broaden the show’s entire narrative.
After being given full makeovers—including makeup, prosthetics and costumes—comedians come up with a character to sit down for a fully improvised interview. Season 2 has seen some small changes to the show, including longer episodes which has knocked Very Important People out of eligibility for the Short Form Emmy category. Though director Tamar Levine says its a “good problem to have”, and it’s hard to disagree with her, as the series is now being submitted in the Variety Talk Series category which allows for craftspeople, like makeup department head Alex Perrone and editor Eve Hinz, to also be submitted for nominations.
DEADLINE: Coming off of the success of Season 1, was there anything you wanted to change or improve upon for Season 2?
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VIC MICHAELIS: I’m so curious from your perspective [Tamar], because my goal was just to continue to pay off the conceit of the show. It was very exciting that people were watching and were interested in the first season, so for me it was just very important that we continued to deliver these improvised interviews in a way that felt interesting, and I think we were able to play with some more technical and behind-the-camera elements that felt very fun and satisfying creatively, that also were improvised. There was one moment in one of the episodes this season with Zac Oyama where we had letters coming in, and so everyone on the crew just was like, ‘Well, what if we threw letters at them.’ It was just a very fun moment where everybody was improvising. Then there was a Steffi Pops (Corin Wells) episode where, all of a sudden, we decided we were going to improvise a bunch of horror elements and then the editor Eve [Hinz] got to play with a bunch of that stuff along with Tamar. To me, that was a way to the second beat, in improv speak, of what we were doing in the first season, which I thought was very fun from my end of it.
TAMAR LEVINE: To piggyback off what Vic’s saying about just elevating everything, for me its just giving the improvisers the tools to be able to play around even more so for this season. Last season we had a table of props. This season we had five shelves full of props and…
MICHAELIS: Correct me if I’m wrong, it was two tables stacked on top of each other at one point that sort of made these five shelves. It was really incredible.
LEVINE: We basically had a whole prop library because you never know where the guests can take their character and the looks, so it was really elevating the art department. Also, I think I can speak for both of us, that the narrative element of the show is very important to us, and Vic is playing a character. Host Vic is different than Vic, so seeing what did change from when Host Vic left from season one and came back for season two, what changed in that and how we can help continue the narrative arc of this series was really important as well.
DEADLINE: Tell me about that change with Host Vic between seasons, were these decisions that you came up with together or was it more reliant on improv in the moment?
LEVINE: It’s honestly kind of both. Vic and I are always talking about where their character is going, and so we had an idea of what could happen to Host Vic between Season 1 and Season 2, and where we want their backstory to go in season 2. We definitely wanted to think about that because I’m sure you noticed the whole set changed a little bit. And we discussed stuff even down to like, now that Vic’s got a little bit more money, they put it into a gold statue instead of a plaster statue, which in a million years is something that any person wouldn’t notice except for me and Vic, but it really helps me at least know where we want this character to go. From there, it’s always improv first.
MICHAELIS: For me, especially from the improv standpoint, I look at them more as sort of temps and thematic elements more than anything, sort of a bit like an emotional journey. And we don’t air sequentially, so we film them and then Tamar and Eve sort through and place things in order. It’s really cool to see it all come to life. We have these loose little story beats, kind of to Tamar’s point, where if they happen, great, if they don’t, improv is paramount. We let that sort of guide everything. Any details we’re getting is usually a gift that somebody is giving. It was really cool this season to have a lot of the improvisers be very excited to gift to the backstory of this host character. A lot of those big fun details came from people coming in and gifting that to the character. It is the ultimate gift as an improviser, to have people come in and play with the character so much that they’re giving the character gifts.
DEADLINE: Was there anything this year that surprised you or stood out?
LEVINE: It’s really hard to kind of say just one. I feel like everything is a wild card on this show in the most fun way possible.
MICHAELIS: Well, here’s the first thing that popped into my mind, which is I genuinely feel very grateful that, especially in the second season, working with a network like Dropout where we get to just let this weird little show – and weird is the highest compliment – exist in the way that it naturally progresses. It just gets to live and breathe as it is, and we don’t have to force it into any kind of box, and it feels so creatively satisfying and fulfilling, and we get to honor what some of the funniest comedians in the world are bringing to the table. We get to shape a show around what they are bringing to us as opposed to trying to fit it into a mold.
LEVINE: And this season, I forgot who it was, but someone warned us, ‘If you guys go longer than X Minutes, you’re not going to be able to be submitted for the [Short Form Emmy category].’ And what’s so great about Dropout is everyone was kind of unanimously, ‘We don’t care.’ The episodes come first and the awards are kind of just cool.
DEADLINE: That’s a big change in the Emmy category submission this year, going from Short Form to the Variety Talk category. What’s it like submitting in that different space?
MICHAELIS: Well, when I think of my contemporaries, it’s the Jimmys, all the people that I think classically when people think Very Important People, they’re of course in that late-night lineup… No, it’s very fun and very cool. I mean, again, it’s like we are getting to make this show that is utilizing a bunch of the most talented improvisers and comedians in the LA comedy community and beyond, and the fact that anybody is even thinking about us for any kind of award really is incredible. So, it is kind of funny because when people talk about these, any kind of award to any kind of category, and people are like, ‘Well, what about this category for them or what about this category for the show,’ and I’m like, ‘That’s awesome.’ It just is. All of it’s just incredible.
Somebody said to me a while ago it’s like you’re missing out on opportunities now that five years ago you didn’t even know were possibilities, you know what I mean? And I feel really like that’s where I’m at right now, just in general. It’s very cool to be talking about changing submissions for Emmy categories. If you would’ve told me five years ago, my brain would’ve exploded. I wouldn’t have even able to comprehend that that was something I was doing for an improv show. It really is incredible.
LEVINE: I think also for last year, obviously makeup and editing are massive parts of the show, and so in the Short Form category, we wouldn’t have been able to recognize Alex [Perrone, makeup department head] and Eve for the work that they do that is really, really, really important. Alex and her team are being submitted for makeup and then Eve is being submitted for editing. What’s so great is that they’ll be able to get recognized for their work, and especially being voted on by other people in their trade, which this is a very difficult show to edit. We are not scripted. We are taking two hours of footage and turning it into a tight 20 to 30 and moving stuff around. It truly takes a village and our crew is incredible, and being able to have two of the key people being up for this, that’s really great. And also, I think there’s something really funny about us being up against the two Jimmys and these talk shows. It’s all the same stuff, but they have some scripts. We don’t have some scripts, so I don’t know. I obviously am not very objective, but I think Vic is a total genius, and I would love for them to be…
MICHAELIS: Stop, I changed my answer to what Tamar said, so scratch all that, and that’s sort of my answer now, actually.
Of course, the reason I love this category is because then Alex and Eve get to be recognized, which is what I meant in the first place.
The post ‘Very Important People’ Director Tamar Levine & Host Vic Michaelis On Playing More In Season 2: “Everything Is A Wild Card On This Show” appeared first on Deadline.
