I was invited by Disney/Dreamworks to visit the New York City set of the movie Delivery Man while actors Vince Vaughn and Cobie Smulders were filming last December. While travel and accommodations were covered for me, no other compensation was received. All thoughts (and excitement) are my own.
If sitting in on a movie set while the actors were filming taught me anything, it was this: a “simple” scene in a movie takes a lot of work from everyone – from the actors to the camera men to the extras.
I also learned that when you put two funny actors together, even a serious scene can be hilarious. Side note: I am desperate to see a particular gag reel that *may* contain a song about the bloggers watching the scene…
As exciting as it was to just BE THERE on the set, it was fascinating to sit down for a few minutes to talk with the writer and director of Delivery Man, Ken Scott. I always love to hear the background and evolution of a story.
Before getting to the set, we learned that Delivery Man is actually a remake. And unlike most movie remakes, this one was remade by the same writer and director shortly after the first one was released.
Ken Scott explained, “There’s very little examples of this, of a director re-doing his own movie. But we had the chance to actually see the movie (the original) with an American audience because we went to different festivals here…and I saw their reactions and I really thought that it was a story that could really connect with an American audience. So basically what it is, it’s the same story, yet it’s just integrated into the American culture.”
The challenge of remaking your own movie
When asked how different it was to direct the remake versus the original, Ken Scott said, “Directing a remake, especially since it was my original, I had to get into a frame of mind of making sure two things. On the one hand, I wanted to make sure everyone that I worked with – the actors, all the heads of departments, and even myself – I wanted to make sure that we were not just copying something. Because, you know, we wouldn’t have that great creative energy, the magic that you want in a movie.
“When you make a movie it’s all kinds of decisions and moments, and if you just copy you don’t have that. The magic doesn’t appear on screen, for everyone. So for me that was very important not to just copy something. But then again, I didn’t want to be trying to make something different just for the sake of making something different.
“So basically I tried to forget the other movie and just go through the same process. And sometimes going through the same process you end up exactly at the same place, but at least you know why you’re there. And it feels the same and it feels real.”
On filming the movie in New York City:
When asked about his decision to film the movie in New York City, Ken Scott asked our group – where else are you going to find 533 children with the same dad living in one city? Makes sense to me! From the scene that we watched being filmed, I could see how New York City was the ideal place for the movie to be set.
A story about Fatherhood:
Director Ken Scott mentioned that, as a father himself, he had a lot to say about being a dad. “It’s basically very much a story about fatherhood and what it is to be a father,” he said.
Scott continued, “I feel that we wouldn’t have written the same movie fifteen years ago, because I think in the last ten, fifteen years, fatherhood has changed a whole lot. You know, nowadays you can hear stories of fathers staying home with their kids, for a leave. A few months when they’re born and the fathers want to be there before. So it was exciting to be writing about something that seemed to be changing in society.”
About Delivery Man
In Delivery Man, Vince Vaughn plays an underachiever who is not content with what he’s been able to accomplish in his 40-ish years of life. He finds out, very unexpectedly, that an anonymous donation to a fertility clinic 20 years previous resulted in 533 children.
DELIVERY MAN, rated PG-13, stars Vince Vaughn, Cobie Smulders and Chris Pratt and opens in theaters everywhere November 22.
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DELIVERY MAN releases in theaters on November 22nd!
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It was pretty amazing, I have to admit. :)
I did go to NYC and watch them film the movie, but I haven’t had the chance to see the completed movie yet. I can’t wait!
I am SO crazy jealous! I really can’t wait to see that movie, but I’m still hung up on the fact that you were in NYC, steps away from Vince Vaughn and I’ve never even been to NYC. I’ll go cry now. ;)
Looking forward to seeing this! How fun to be on the set!
Wow – you got to go to New York and see Delivery Man? That’s awesome!! I can’t wait to see this movie when it comes out.
This movie looks like so much fun! That is awesome you were able to be there on set.