‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,’ ‘Last of Us’ Directors on Taking Risks and Finding an “Intimate Connection” With Their Subjects

Mia Galuppo and Carita Rizzo
·3 min read
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Two Emmy-nominated directors talk about their approaches and the risks they took. For Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, Davis Guggenheim explains how broke the conventional documentary rules he typically follows for the Apple TV+ movie — a risk that paid off with seven Emmy noms. And Emmy nominee Peter Hoar looks back on “Long, Long Time,” the episode of HBO’s drama series The Last of Us that took a major narrative risk to depict a romantic connection rarely seen on television.

‘Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie’ Director Talks His Approach to the Celebrity Biodoc: “I’m Always Looking for a Very Intimate Connection”

Oscar winner Davis Guggenheim is no stranger to bold-faced names, having worked with the likes of Al Gore, Barack Obama and Malala Yousafzai. But some three years ago, he found himself, as he says, “stuck.”

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“I wanted to do something different. I wanted to find joy in my work. I wanted to experiment and take some big risks,” says Guggenheim. At the time, he was reading Michael J. Fox’s autobiography, No Time Like the Future, and a light bulb went off. “I said, ‘Wow, this could be a wild ride.’ That was one of the first things I jotted in the margins of the book: ‘This could be a wild ride.’ “

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, released via Apple TV+, is the story of Fox’s life and career told through the lens of the Back to the Future actor’s diagnosis and continued maintenance of his Parkinson’s disease. After its debut at the Sundance Film Festival, Still earned seven Emmy nominations, including one for Guggenheim for outstanding directing for a documentary/nonfiction program.

The documentarian talks to THR about how he deviated from the typical biodoc playbook and casting Michael J. Fox with Fox in the room. Read more. — Mia Galuppo

‘The Last of Us’ Director Talks Helming a Love Story for the End of the World: “We Wanted That Scene in Bed to Be Heartfelt, Human and Loving”

Despite the accolades for “Long, Long Time,” the third episode in the debut season of HBO’s The Last of Us, it feels all the more important to note that the decision to veer off course from the apocalyptic narrative in the series’ third week was, at the time, considered a risk. “My episode was [planned as] episode four, which is less of a gamble, when you have it midseason,” explains director Peter Hoar. “But I think that it was such a bold choice that it actually helped the show.”

In the 75-minute departure from the harrowing journey taken by series protagonists Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey), viewers are introduced to a character mentioned only in passing in the video game on which the dystopian thriller is based: survivalist Bill (Nick Offerman), who rescues a lost and hungry Frank (Murray Bartlett) from one of his traps. Over dinner and some Linda Ronstadt, the two fall in love, and the episode follows their relationship over the next decade and a half as they face the various challenges brought on by a deteriorating world.

Hoar’s episode has been lauded by critics as not just the best hour of television this year but possibly in television history, something he can’t help but feel humbled about. “These aren’t real people, but what Craig Mazin managed to do is create a story that seemed to be so universal,” says Hoar of the series co-creator and co-writer. “It was about two men, but it didn’t matter. Everybody felt something.”

The Emmy-nominated director spoke to THR about the challenges of creating an episode of a horror series that had “people holding each other a little closer, crying about what they’d seen and about how it made them feel.” Read more. — Carita Rizzo

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