Wicked with Jon M. Chu and Shawn Levy (Ep. 503)

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Directors Guild of America

Tv & Film

4.6 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 22 November 2024

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Director Jon M. Chu discusses his new film, Wicked, with fellow Director Shawn Levy in a Q&A at the DGA theater in New York. In the conversation, he discusses his process of conceptualizing the musical sequences in conjunction with the stunt work behind them, conceptualizing his vision for Oz and the kinds of sets for his film, recording almost all of the musical sequences live and authentically on-set. Based on the Tony Award-winning musical, the film is set years before Dorothy's arrival in Oz and follows the unlikely college-days friendship between popular girl Glinda and the misunderstood Elphaba. As their lives begin to take very different paths, an encounter with the famous Wizard of Oz puts their relationship at a crossroads. See photos and a summary of this event below: https://dga.org/Events/2025/January2025/Wicked_QnA_1124

Transcript

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0:00.0	Everything in Oz is what we realized has to have delight.
0:03.4	We had to define what Oz is.
0:05.3	So in Alice in Wonderland, Wonderland is supposed to sort of confuse you to insanity.
0:11.5	And Neverland is supposed to be a place where your childhood and what you think of as a child.
0:17.0	So then what is Oz?
0:18.0	And for me, Oz is a place of delight and distraction.
0:22.1	So you don't have to you by the Directors Guild of America.
0:46.6	In this episode, the story of The Wizard of Oz is reimagined and director John M. Chu's
0:52.9	musical fantasy, Wicked. Based on the Tony
0:56.7	award-winning musical, the film is set years before Dorothy's arrival in Oz and follows the
1:01.9	unlikely college friendship between popular girl Glinda and the misunderstood Alphaba. As their lives
1:08.5	begin to take very different paths, an encounter with the famous Wizard of Odds puts their relationship at a crossroads.
1:16.3	In addition to Wicked, choose other directorial credits include the feature films, In The Heights, Crazy Rich Asians, Now You See Me Too, Step Up to The Streets, G.I. Joe Retaliation,
1:29.0	and Justin Bieber, Never Say Never, and episodes of Good Trouble and Home Before Dark.
1:35.7	Following a screening of the film at the DGA Theater in New York,
1:39.6	Chu spoke with director Sean Levy about filming Wicked.
1:43.5	Listen on for their spoiler-filled conversation.
1:54.1	I'm happy that I sense the vibe in this room is going to be comfortable for me because I was going to
2:02.4	apologize up front that I can't be a clinical sort of neutral moderator on this one because
2:10.2	I really, really love this movie. I really love this movie.
2:18.2	So I'm Sean. This is John. I have a good. So I'm Sean.
2:19.5	This is John.
	...

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