New York City is one of the most iconic places on the planet and instantly recognizable for many things. From Wall Street to fashion, food, and culture, the city is a byword for all that a modern city has to offer. In the past, though, the tech sector here has not always been so prominent. This is a surprise to many when you consider how central technology is to our lives now and what a major industry it has developed into.
Tech, for example, has disrupted many other sectors in a positive way and enriched how we live. In terms of entertainment, the ability to play casino games at online casino platforms such as skycitycasino.com is a great example of this. Compared to having to physically find a casino, get ready and go out to enjoy your favorite game, online play is much more convenient. The net result of this is a tech-backed online casino sector that is thriving. The same positive disruption due to tech can also be seen in countless other areas, from music streaming services to social media sites, Zoom meetings at work and cloud-based computing.
Although New York City might have initially been a little slow to build its own tech industry, this is no longer true. Over recent years, the city has transformed itself into a bona fide hub for technology.
To become a thriving tech hub, any location needs to house some of the biggest and best companies around. This helps to really drive the market forward, keeps it sustainable and earns the respect needed to take on the mantle of a tech hotspot. Luckily, New York City has no problems in this regard and is home to some of the biggest and most respected names in global business. This is not just limited to companies that operate in the tech sector – NYC is also home to a huge number of organizations in other industries that use tech solutions to function.
It is also home to a huge number of venture capital companies that are always looking for new tech startups to fund. Schemes such as the NYC small business technical assistance grant have also proved valuable in helping tech-based companies become established in the city. This has all combined over recent years to help make the city a thriving tech hub.
NYC attracts the best tech talent
The magical formula for transforming into a tech hub mixes the best companies with the best industry talent. New York City certainly delivers in this regard and attracts some of the hottest talent looking to work in technology from around the globe. This naturally gives the companies that call NYC home a fresh supply of new staff and makes it an attractive place for those looking for top tech job openings.
Superb public transport infrastructure
As a city, New York has an excellent public transport network and this makes it easy for people to travel in to their place of work. It also means that there is ample public transport capacity to help support the tech workforce expansion. Without such an effective system in place, it would not have been possible to attract or handle the influx of new workers required to help transform the city into a tech giant.
Help from Bloomberg administration key
Transforming in the way NYC has done often needs a little political help. The Bloomberg administration can certainly claim some credit here and helped put the city on the right track for future success. With the local economy at a low point in early 2009, a team within the administration began to look at how Silicon Valley and other tech hotspots drove economic growth. The lessons they learnt from this study and from performing countless interviews with key business leaders enabled them to formulate a plan for NYC’s future. By helping to push tech startup incubators, networking events and internships in the local tech industry, the team directly helped NYC to become the force it is today.
No longer in Silicon Valley’s shadow
The real evidence for New York City’s transformation is found in how Silicon Valley no longer overshadows it. Although Silicon Valley is still a major player, the industry in NYC no longer feels like a poor second choice. As we have seen here, New York City has worked hard to build a tech scene that is highly innovative and globally respected.
Chris Diamantopoulos is the rare sort of actor who 10 people would probably recognize from 10 different roles. On Silicon Valley, he has portrayed the recurring ex-billionaire Russ Hanneman. On the U.S. version of Episodes, he was the TV network boss Castor Sotto. On the Amazon Original series Good Girls Revolt he played Evan Phinnaeus “Finn” Woodhouse. And that’s without discussing turns on The Office, Up All Night, Arrested Development or 24.
Prior to finding success within the film and TV worlds, Chris was a regular in the theater world. Chris made his return to Broadway on Mar. 31 by taking on the role of Dr. Pomatter in the hit Waitress. Beyond its wonderful cast — which also includes Tony Award nominee Will Swenson — Waitress is the first Broadway musical in history to have four women in its four top creative team spots, featuring a book by Jessie Nelson, a score by six-time Grammy Award-nominated singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, choreography by Lorin Latarro and direction by Tony Award-winner Diane Paulus.
Downtown had the pleasure of speaking with Chris via phone about Waitress, his long-standing history with New York and why he keeps coming back to our city. Chris can be followed on Twitter via @ClassicChrisD. More on Waitress can be found at www.waitressthemusical.com.
Wikipedia says that you met your wife [Becki Newton] in a New York City subway station. Is that true?
Chris Diamantopoulos: Yeah, we actually met in Times Square. It was in the middle of rush hour, she was walking from the tunnel connecting the A/C/E to the 1/9 and I was walking in that direction. We walked by each other and smiled at each other and I — for some reason that day —had the wherewithal actually do something about that. You know there have been so many times walking through New York, you sort of pass strangers by or something, I never had the balls to do anything about it. But she was just so beautiful, and so, she just seemed so approachable…The worst that can happen is she could scream and run away, but she didn’t, and we’ve been together ever since.
That’s a wonderful New York story, there’s not a lot of those out there. But in terms of projects you’ve worked on, you have done a lot of film work, a lot of TV, you’ve done voiceovers, and you’ve done a lot of theater. How much of your time is usually spent in New York?
CD: Well, you know it’s funny because I moved to New York when I was 20 years old and I was working 100 percent in the theater at the time. I had started having some national tours, Webber’s Music Of The Night and Joseph & The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, then I landed in New York with Les Miserables…I did a ton of readings and workshops for new musicals. But I’d always sort of had my sort of set my sights on trying my hand at the small and big screen, and I wanted to head out to Los Angeles, so it was very shortly after meeting my wife where I’d expressed to her a little bit of starting to get a little stir crazy in New York. She suggested that we go to L.A. and try it out, so I gave my notice…and we went out to L.A.
It was a tough go for me because my entire life and career were New York-based, all the voiceover work and the theater work could only really happen while I was in New York. So when I went to L.A., the first two years, I let go of all employment and couldn’t get an agent, couldn’t get hired because…musical theater wasn’t what TV and film agents and casting directors wanted to see on a resume…Some offers were coming in for some theater work, but I really wanted to give L.A. a go, and letting all that go and I really thought I’d made a terrible mistake. It wasn’t until the third year that things sort of started to pick up. It was, just so you know, small small little bits…As soon as that happened, New York kind of stopped being a place for me to work for a good decade, and I worked you know exclusively on the West Coast and then you know in Canada or wherever else things were shooting.
But I sort of stepped away from New York for a while, which is why I’m so grateful for this opportunity to come back, because I just love working in New York. I love living in New York. I’m a New Yorker, I still have a New York phone number. When we went out to L.A., even though we built a house there, it was always just like “okay, we’re just here on location, we’re just here temporarily”…We got a little sidetracked with children and whatnot, but we’re still trying to claw our way back to the city.
Had you worked with anyone in the Waitress camp before?
CD: Well, you know I was in L.A., I was working on Silicon Valley, the HBO show that I was doing…My theatrical agent called me and said, “Hey I know you haven’t done theater” — and then at that point it had been 12, 13 years — “so I know it’s been a long time.” Oh, that’s not true, I had done a City Center production of Girl Crazy at the urging of my wife…But other than that, it had been a very long time and he said, “You know there’s this workshop of a new show Diane Paulus is directing,” I’ve been a big fan of her work, and Sara Bareilles wrote the music, and I’ve always been a huge fan of hers, and the musical director, Nadia [DiGiallonardo] is someone that my wife knows. He said it’s just 10 days in New York, any interest in doing it?…My daughter was an infant at the time, so we brought my son and my daughter and we went for 10 days and we had a ball. I did the 10-day workshop, it was very very low pressure, I had a great time, I love the role…It seemed like it was a really great way to come back, to come back again, and then unfortunately my schedule just forbade me from doing the Broadway production…Diane was quite generous…
Then of course another show came up, and it was just too hard to pass up with two kids…I took the other TV gig and it broke my heart because this was really the one that got away and I said, “Oh well, it’s not going to happen.” So when I found out that Sara was going into the company and they started sort of reaching out saying, “Hey, you know we don’t want to reach out if we know what the answer is going to be and if the answer is ‘no.’ We’re just sort of checking to see.” I wasn’t working on a TV show and I ran it by my wife and she was chomping at the bit to come back…So we jumped at the opportunity and I’m really glad I did.
A little bit ago you mentioned Silicon Valley. I think your character Russ Hanneman is a lot of people’s favorite character on the show, but you seem to be the opposite of that guy. Do you often get confused for Russ?
CD: The writers on Silicon Valley, Alec Berg and Mike Judge, are really generous with regard to how they give material to actors…I think one of the reasons is because most of the actors that they work with are stand-up comics. I’m not a stand-up comic, I’ve never been in stand-up comedy, it terrifies me. But I think that what was fortuitous about that for me was that they had a lot of trust with regard to giving me material, or even giving me just some skeletal material and letting me kind of put the flesh on the bones. So I had a lot of fun playing with that character ,and again in television it’s rare to have an opportunity to play a really broad character. It is something I actually seek out because I didn’t get in the business to play myself, I see myself every day, I’d rather be somebody completely diametrically-opposed to who I am.
So I think that it’s a confluence of me having fun with great material, working under great directors and great writers, with great actors on the show that people like…I think more than any role that I’ve done, that seems to be the catcall that I’ll get when I’m walking around the airport with my kids. It’s a really strange thing when my six-year old says, “What did he say?” and “No, no, no, he didn’t say anything.” But it’s really funny too, I had a priest come up to me and say, “Oh I love Russ Hanneman.” You know it’s just such an odd thing, but there’s something about him just being so undeniably and unabashedly-reprehensible. (laughs) He represents…how we are all wishing to be, I guess…
So do you have a favorite restaurant in New York City?
CD: I have a ton, and I’ve got a lot of nice little hole-in-the-wall places, or places you’d never find, but the one that I’m going to tell you about is in such an obvious area, and I almost don’t want to tell people about it because it’s so fucking good. It’s called La Masseria, it’s an Italian place on 48th…The chef there has created basically this prototypical authentic Italian experience, and I’m sure you can find that in hundreds of restaurants in New York. Well I haven’t been able to find, and it’s not often on the menu, they have this dish called Bottarga Spaghetti. Basically it’s the simplest thing — you know what bottarga is?
I don’t. I’ve been there, but what is it?
CD: You’ve got to ask them for it. So bottarga is a block of sun-dried fish roe. It looks kind of like an orange block of parmesan, but it’s actually dried fish. They bring the spaghetti, with a little bit of parsley and a little bit of cracked black pepper and a little bit of olive oil, a little bit garlic and they grate this bottarga onto the spaghetti and it melts in the spaghetti. The idea is you want to pair it with an amazing bottle of a nice big red wine, and you want to take a nice little fork full of that and you want to swish around the wine after you’ve had that bite. It’s incredible, but I love the place…They make me feel like I’m family and I’ve been going there for 12, 13 years since it’s been open.
Aside from all the work, because it seems like you’re always working now, what do you like to do when you’re not working? Do you have any main hobbies?
CD: I’m pretty boring, I mean I’m a homebody. I love cooking, that’s something that I do and my family does, my wife does and my kids are into it now. Cooking kind of calms my mind. I’m also just, again, boringly a big walker, which is why I want to back to New York, because in L.A. there’s not a whole lot of walking unless you’re hiking, which I do. But I just like going wherever the road leads, even though I’d walk the streets thousands of times, finding a street I’ve never seen before…just seeing where the adventure leads. Other than that, I enjoy exercise here and there and, but I’m a relatively-boring guy.
So, finally Chris, any last words for the kids?
CD: For the kids? I would say the best advice I ever got was, “Follow the spark.” Because there’s a spark of curiosity, spark of intrigue. It will lead to something huge, it will take you somewhere. Find you’re curious about something, follow it and look into it — it’s the only way you’ll grow.
On Mar. 12, CNN took a remarkable step forward on a few levels. With the premiere of Mostly Human With Laurie Segall, the network launched its first CNNgo original series. Unlike anything else on CNN, the new series is led by the two women who run tech at CNN, Laurie Segall and Erica Fink. Mostly Human is best described as a “real-life Black Mirror,” exploring groundbreaking topics in the tech world.
The show’s namesake, Laurie Segall, was recently named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30, having won awards for her investigative coverage. Executive producer Erica Fink has been within the CNN realm for nearly a decade, following a run as Editor-in-Chief of her alma malter’s newspapaper, the Cornell Daily Sun. Downtown had the pleasure of speaking with both Laurie and Erica about Mostly Human and plenty more. Their interviews were done individually, yet the closeness of the two writer/producers shows as their responses were often similar.
To get a taste for Mostly Human With Laurie Segall, you can check out a trailer of the show here. Both Laurie and Erica can be followed directly on Twitter.
How did you two first meet?
Erica Fink: I think the best working relationships develop by filming at swinger parties and hacker conventions. Sex, Drugs & Silicon Valley was our first in-depth series together and it took us to some interesting places — including a swinger party where attendees were scoping out prospects by app ahead of time. Let’s just say, it wasn’t the easiest place to mic guests. Since then, we’ve gone to lots of strange corners of the world in pursuit of stories about the weird ways tech has changed our lives, and the people behind the products. Mostly Human, CNN’s first streaming show, basically takes that approach and puts it on steroids.
Laurie Segall: Erica has been my partner in crime for some time. We started working with each other when I was making my way into the TV world. You get close when you do the work we do, especially the types of stories we cover. I’ll never forget when we were doing a piece on high tech sex workers in Silicon Valley. Years later, we shot a series called Sex, Drugs & Silicon Valley about polyamory, swinger parties, and drug experimentation in the Bay Area. My favorite Erica moment was watching her mic someone up at the swingers party. We’ve been in storms, protests, outside the home of a notorious kidnapper, inside hacker conferences, and at swinger parties — for work, of course. Lots of life happens in between.
Erica Fink: For fashion or Wall Street or most other industries, the interesting story that gets people talking is about a person or event that happened behind the scenes. But for tech, so much of the coverage is focused around product specs and app updates. There’s a unique opportunity to cover tech through the lens of culture. We’re living in a time where tech has changed everything about life — from love to war — and what’s exciting is the prospect of telling the stories of the people behind the innovations, and the weird and unexpected ways those innovations are changing lives.
Laurie Segall: I was fascinated by tech in 2009. I was covering business news and but in my free time started gravitating to tech events. It was a small community of weirdos in the best sense. We were coming off the financial crisis, and all of a sudden, you had this group of creative people who didn’t feel like they had to go to Wall Street to get a job. There was this group of people who just thought they could take an idea and code it into the hands of millions. I loved the creativity in all of it. And I loved the underdogs. I ended up getting to know a lot of folks as they were starting out. Some of my first on-camera interviews were with the founders of Twitter, Instagram, and Uber. It’s been fascinating to watch these ideas shape culture and shift industries.
How would you describe your new series to someone who hasn’t seen it yet?
Erica Fink: Mostly Human is basically the real-life Black Mirror. It’s about the strange and sometimes uncomfortable things that happen when tech and humanity intersect.
Laurie Segall: One episode also feels very Westworld. In the series, you see everything from people turning their dead friends into chatbots through artificial intelligence, to folks falling in love with robots. You’ll see Laurie infiltrate hacker parties, get her life threatened, and get propositioned by a robot. It’s a show about our increasingly-complicated relationship with technology. We ask some more philosophical questions like how much control does your phone have over you and take on topics people don’t really talk about. Behind every fringe story we bring you, there’s humanity. One of our favorite moments of the series is when a French woman is describing how she’s fallen in love with a robot. When asked why, she told me it’s because it would always be safe. It would never cheat, or lie. She prefers errors in script and code — not human flaws. There was something incredible human and vulnerable in that moment no matter how you judged her for her choices.
Do you have a favorite episode of the series?
Erica Fink: “I love you, Bot” is about the most extreme relationships between tech and people. We meet a woman who is madly in love with her robot and attend their engagement party, complete with champagne and macaroons. Later, we visit a pedophile ward where they’re evaluating risk by showing offenders images of children in virtual reality. It has a pretty high quotient of gut-punch moments.
Laurie Segall: “Dead, IRL” was probably my favorite episode. It was incredibly-personal. In the episode, I explore what death means in the digital age and start thinking about my digital legacy. I don’t wan’t want to give too many details but there are some incredibly-uncomfortable moments. A technologist took my personal conversations with my best friends for the last four years and using artificial intelligence, created a chatbot based off of me. Let’s just say my bot went on a bender at one point, saying some pretty insane things. It’s an episode with a lot of heart and one I think a lot of folks will relate to.
Your series isn’t entirely positive about technology’s affects on society. But aside from the series, is your life so tech-centric?
Erica Fink: I’ve probably spent too much time thinking about how my soon-to-be-born child will interact with Alexa — I’m insisting he say “please” and “thank you.” But think about that: he’s going to grow up in a time when he can demand an answer to any random piece of trivia and a cylinder in our kitchen will answer it for him. So, I guess, yes?
Laurie Segall: I would say yes. I spend too much time in front of devices and screens. Perhaps that’s why I wanted to do a series looking at our relationship with tech from another lens. I will say, I used to always love to write in notebooks and do that less with all the screens in front of me. While I love technology, I understand a growing nostalgia to take a step back.
Erica Fink: The whole thing about Mostly Human is that it’ll make you think. It’s actually hard to believe that some of this stuff has really happened. Once Laurie brings you into this world, it’s hard to get out.
Laurie Segall: The hope is every episode will make you think about something you never thought about. Once you watch one, I think you’ll want to keep going. All the topics are completely different — from the first hacker to be killed in a drone strike to the human impact of the Ashley Madison hack and how a company capitalized on human nature to try to convince people to cheat. The goal with this is for people to see something they haven’t seen, and feel like they’re accessing underground stories that they wouldn’t get anywhere else.
Laurie, a lot of your assignments have had elements of danger to them. Is there one that you are proudest of?
Laurie Segall: I’m most proud of a documentary we did on a growing form of harassment called revenge porn where victims have their intimate photos plastered across the web. It’s a horrific problem and so many people — mainly women — are afraid to speak out and feel like they lose control when it happens to them. I confronted a hacker who hacked into a teenager’s Facebook page took private photos, sold them to a website that posted them for everyone to see. I was able to get him on the phone and talk through why he did what he did. It was a powerful interview. He later spent time in jail. The documentary shed light on this type of harassment and when it came out, there were a lot of changes that happened as a result. That’s some of the most rewarding work I’ve done. You always feel like you’ve done your job right when you give someone a voice, and allow a victim to take control back. I do find myself in some odd situations for this line of work, but I love the weird, underground stories, so it’s part of the game.
Erica Fink: I like the creative process. What excites me is finding an amazing story and shaping the narrative. A really good day is when we’ve stumbled on a nugget that I know will resonate, whether it’s a character with a truly unheard of experience; or something smaller, like a clever way to phrase an idea in a script.
When not working with CNN, how do you like to spend your free time?
Erica Fink: I like to try my hand at fiction whenever the opportunity allows. Especially on days when the news business is heavy, it’s fun to come home and dream up funny conversations and circumstances.
Laurie Segall: I’m pretty biased but I have an incredible group of friends and a great boyfriend. When I’m not working, I’m hanging with my renegades or scheming with my boyfriend. I also love to write. Every so often you’ll find me solo at a coffee shop or bar writing.
What is it that draws you to living in Downtown New York?
Erica Fink: The high density of different chocolate chip cookie varietals.
Laurie Segall: A friend of mine, Tracy Malechek, was the chef at Untitled at the Whitney for some time, so I go there quite a bit. The food is amazing. I pretty much follow her wherever she goes to eat. And the bartender Rocky is one of my favorite bartenders in New York. It’s just a great place to be. I also love Meme. I dream of their lemon chicken and the people who work there are nothing short of fabulous.
Do you have tickets to any upcoming concerts or events?
Erica Fink: The birth of my child — due this week…?
Laurie Segall: Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway. It’s my third time seeing it. It’s such an incredibly-timely play, the music is beautiful and it combines everything I love — storytelling, heart, and our complicated relationship with technology.
Finally, any last words for the kids?
Erica Fink: It’s a good time to be a content creator. If you’ve got a story you’re passionate about telling, go tell it!
Laurie: Ask for what you want. It’s sometimes hard to do, but it’s led to some of the best things in my life.
When it comes to comedies, few films are as universally-respected as 1993’s Groundhog Day. The movie — co-written by Danny Rubin and director Harold Ramis and starring Bill Murray — manages to be very funny, while maintaining both heart and originality. All these years later, it retains a 96% rating on Rotten Tomatoes while holding top honors from BAFTA, the Writers Guild Of America, and the American Film Institute.
Last year, a theatrical adaptation of Groundhog Day opened at The Old Vic on London’s West End. The production was critically-acclaimed as can be, earning various “best” nominations from the Evening Standard Theatre Awards, the Critics Circle Theatre Awards, and the Laurence Olivier Awards. Fortunately for New Yorkers, a Broadway production of Groundhog Day begins previews at the August Wilson Theatre on Mar. 16; the show opens Apr. 17.
The team behind the Groundhog Day musical is very impressive, even by Broadway standards. Director Matthew Warchus was nominated for “Best Director” at the 2014 British Independent Film Awards for his work on Pride, also succeeding Kevin Spacey as the new Artistic Director of the Old Vic Theatre London that year. Choreographer Peter Darling worked on Billy Elliot The Musical and Matilda The Musical. Designer Rob Howell won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design for Ghost The Musical and an Olivier Award for his work on Matilda The Musical in 2012. Composer Tim Minchin is another award-winning member of the Matilda team, although you may recognize him as Atticus Fetch from the show Californication. Andy Karl — who plays the Bill Murray-helmed “Phil Connors” role — received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his work in Rocky The Musical. And those are just a few of the cast and crew members that have received major honors.
Downtown had the pleasure of chatting with Groundhog Day actor John Sanders, who will play the lovable Ned Ryerson role, as originated by Stephen Tobolowsky. John is another former Matilda cast member, beyond spending time on Broadway in Peter and the Starcatcher. Prior to moving to New York, he was a veteran of the Chicago theater scene. Beyond his work with Groundhog Day, John can be seen in the upcoming Netflix series Iron Fist.
More on John and the rest of the Groundhog Day cast can be found at www.groundhogdaymusical.com. The show can also be followed on Twitter via @GHDMusical.
Do you remember the first time you saw Groundhog Day? Was it in the theater?
John Sanders: Groundhog Day was one of my favorite movies when I was younger. I don’t remember my first viewing, I’m pretty sure it was on VHS. I’ve always loved the combination of comedy and mind-bending metaphysics in this story.
Do you have a favorite scene in the movie?
John Sanders: I love watching Bill Murray stuff pastries into his face while contemplating whether he’s a god. Who wouldn’t want to be able to eat like that with no consequences?
Aside from it being a musical, are there any major differences between the movie and the play? Or will fans of the movie be pleased either way?
John Sanders: Fans of the film will not be disappointed. First of all, we have the same writer as the movie, the brilliant Danny Rubin. He’s brought so many of the iconic lines and moments that fans of the movie will love to see and hear. But telling the story as a musical opens up a lot of new possibilities. We never attempt to explain the same-day phenomenon, but we do get to hear so much more about what’s inside these characters’ heads and hearts. And I must say my character Ned has some really surprising depth that isn’t in the film, and that’s really fun to play and to sing about.
Had you worked with any of the Groundhog Day cast before being cast in this production?
John Sanders: I have. A number of actors from my time at Matilda are here, at least five or six of us from that production. And most of the creative team from Matilda are the ones behind Groundhog Day. And of course there are the dozens of backstage crew who I’ve worked with before, and many that I’m getting to know now. I’m a California boy who worked in the Chicago theater scene for 11 years, so I sometimes have to pinch myself that I get to be part of this Broadway community.
Do you have a theory on the time loop duration of Groundhog Day? I’ve heard that it’s 10 years, and I’ve read Harold Ramis say that it was 10,000 years.
John Sanders: I think it must be longer than 10 years, since Phil changes so profoundly. It’s like we get to witness someone live an entire alternate lifetime and come out the other end a changed man. Sort of like, dare I say it, that episode of Star Trek when Patrick Stewart lives a whole life on this other planet in the space of 20 minutes. Did I just up the dork factor in here? Yes, yes I did. But I also think 10,000 years seems a little long — Phil would just be comatose and insane at the end of that, like Leo DiCaprio near the end of Inception.
John Sanders: Only through his work, which I love. But he certainly seems like a fascinating and well-rounded guy. My first encounter with him was watching him as Ned Ryerson in Groundhog Day. Since then I’ve loved him in Californication, Silicon Valley, and his Tobolowsky Files podcast. He also has a fantastic episode on The Nerdist, which I highly recommend.
Although you have worked in television and have appeared on film, what is it that draws you to theater?
John Sanders: My parents were great and took me to theatre in San Francisco when I was young. I remember being blown away by the original touring production of Les Miserables. We also saw a version of this farce called Charley’s Aunt at ATC back in the 80’s, and I remember marveling at the lead actor’s skill and physical precision. He seemed to be juggling eight things at once and walking the line between control and chaos. He had us all on the edge of our seats, and I just remember thinking I wanna do that! I wanna have an audience in the palm of my hand like that! Camera acting can be very fulfilling, but there’s nothing like performing live.
Is Broadway what inspired you to move to New York?
John Sanders: Actually, it was luck that got me here. I was a working actor in Chicago back in 2012, with a gig lined up down in Indianapolis and no plans whatsoever to move to New York. Then the casting director Jim Carnahan made a trip through Chicago looking for new people, and I wound up getting cast in the Broadway premiere of Peter and the Starcatcher. They called me up and asked if I could be at rehearsal in New York in 10 days! I had to drop everything, look for a place to live, and try to find the rehearsal hall. It was a shock to the system, but I’m so happy here now.
What was the first acting credit you ever landed that made you feel like this was a career, not just working for a little bit?
John Sanders: Well, I had always been a pretty good student, but I purposefully didn’t develop a backup plan for my acting career. I knew that if I had one, that’s what I’d end up doing since starting out in this business is so difficult. So I guess I always knew I was in it for the long haul. But the impostor syndrome started to subside when I joined the union and started paying my bills as an actor, though that didn’t happen until my early 30’s.
Groundhog Day aside, do you have any projects coming up? Appearances?
John Sanders: You may be able to see a little of me in the upcoming Netflix Marvel series Iron Fist. Other than that, I’m consumed with living the same day over and over again for now!
When not busy with acting, how do you like to spend your free time?
John Sanders: My favorite thing in the world is skiing, and I just spent a week in Aspen with my dad and a few old friends before rehearsals started. I love travelling and can’t wait to hit somewhere tropical soon.
Do you have a favorite restaurant in New York?
John Sanders: There are two places on the same block in Chelsea that I love. Dinner at Salinas on the patio. Then late nite drinks at Bathtub Gin, a crazy speakeasy hidden behind a tiny coffee stand.
What about go-to lunch spots near your theater?
John Sanders: I’m a pretty utilitarian eater when I’m working, so when I want something tasty and healthy I usually head to Dig Inn on 8th & 52nd. But if I wanna relax there’s always a burrito at Blockheads. Can’t wait till the weather changes and we can all bask in that courtyard again!
Finally, John, any last words for the kids?
John Sanders: Art done well is like science. And science done well is like art. And farts are always funny.
When a TV or film composer has done their job well, you probably don’t notice the music that they have written. That score has enhanced the emotions and overall feel of what you are watching, getting you wrapped up in a fictional world without you realizing it. Jeff Cardoni has been doing this successfully for nearly two decades following a stint as lead guitarist in Alien Crime Syndicate in the late 1990s.
At any given time, Jeff may be the composer for multiple high-visibility projects. Currently, Jeff handles the music cues for HBO staple Silicon Valley while his score for the hit comedy Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates is in theaters; the soundtrack to Mike And Dave is now out on Lakeshore Records. He has two new series in the works — one for CBS and one for ABC — in addition to a big movie coming out through Lionsgate in the fall. Jeff also manages to find time to collaborate on off-screen projects, having recently worked with singer/songwriter (and wife) Jules Larson.
Jeff caught up with Downtown for some Q&A about life as a composer. He can be visited online at www.jeffcardoni.com and followed on Twitter via @JeffCardoni.
I was a fan of your old band Alien Crime Syndicate. Is there anything that you miss about being in a band?
Jeff Cardoni: Wow, ACS? That was a long time ago. Joe [Reineke], the singer/songwriter, was a true genius, did it all. There were some great songs in that band and it was a blast. I had been kicking around the D.C. area in bands for a while and when moving to L.A., all I wanted to be was in a signed band. I auditioned a million times and eventually hooked up with ACS and got the lead guitarist job. It was great playing some really big gigs all over the place, but eventually they decided to move back to Seattle from L.A. At that point I had to decide what I wanted to do. I traveled back and forth for a while, but eventually it was too much and I didn’t want to leave L.A., so we parted ways. I had already gotten the film scoring bug and had some things going on in L.A. and decided that that was really what I wanted to pursue.
In all honesty, with Alien Crime Syndicate, I was really a hired gun and just a trained monkey. Joe was the brains behind the operation and rightfully so, so he didn’t really need too much creative input from me, and it was really at that point that I realized that unless you’re writing the music, it wasn’t that creatively fulfilling to me anymore. Sure, there are things about being in a band that were great fun and I was never in a hugely-successful band, but you kind of get the idea of touring and sleeping in bad motels and eating bad food and playing to a bunch of drunk people. I am glad that I did that for a while, but I say everyday that failing in rock and roll was the best thing that ever happened to me.
Alien Crime Syndicate had a great song in “Ozzy.” Did you come from a hard rock background?
JC: “Ozzy” — agree, great song, but I was gone from the band at that point. I can’t exactly remember what year, maybe ’99?
How did the transition to scoring for film and TV come up? Did you have a mentor or someone who pulled you into that world?
JC: When I was bands in Washington D.C., we had a manager in L.A. who turns out to be a very major music supervisor for films. We didn’t really understand that word at all, but got some songs placed in films. When we would come out to L.A. to showcase for labels, I got to do some on-set musical things, recording some bits, showing actors how to play guitar. That really opened my eyes to a whole world that was fascinating to me. I mean, I grew up playing piano and loved John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner, but I never really saw how any of that connected.
But one thing led to another, our singer quit, and the rest of the guys decided to move to L.A. Of course, the band broke up immediately after and I was left in L.A. knowing really nobody, no connections and no idea what was next. But our bass player’s brother, who was our manager the music supervisor, had partnered at a composer agency called Soundtrack Music Associates. So basically, Pat our bass player said he was going to work with his brother and become a music supervisor and I said that I was going to really focus on being a composer. I enrolled at some classes at UCLA on conducting and film scoring, and through SMA got hooked up with a few other composers who needed some help and kind of mentored me a bit.
That is when I worked a bit with John Murphy (28 Days Later), and he became a friend and I learned a lot from the little bits of time I worked with him. Little by little, I started getting little gigs and just built it from there. Ironically, on Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates, the music executive at Fox was — you guessed it — our bass player Patrick, who’s done quite well for himself. The music supervisor, John Houlihan. And me the composer. So it’s taken a long time, but it was cool to see things come full circle and get to work together on a film.
Beyond writing music, are there any similarities between writing for a band and writing for film and TV?
JC: Good question. My first reaction would be not really. Other than sometimes you use band instruments such as guitar, bass, and drums. But the form and structure of it is much different, in that you don’t think verse/chorus/bridge at all. You have to think more linear and let the scene dictate where the music goes. It’s something that takes a while to change the way of thinking and I listen to some of my early stuff and just cringe because it’s so boring and songlike.
One strange thing I’ve noticed however, when I was getting started in this game, it wasn’t necessarily cool to be a “band guy” as a composer. So I thought everything had to be orchestral and legit, so for five years I don’t think I put a guitar on anything so I could kind of show that I was legit and knew what I was doing. But now it’s kind of come full circle and there are all kind of band guys doing scores and I have to like prove that I legitimately can do that kind of stuff really easily, because I spent so many years trying not to do it. So I guess you just should do what it is you do, and not try too hard to be somebody else. Much easier to do looking back in hindsight and all the dumb career mistakes we make.
Do you do most of your writing now on a particular instrument?
JC: I’d say I mostly start on piano on every film. I like to sit at the piano with a piece of notation paper and try to hash out the tunes or themes, however rudimentary they are on the piano. I find it much easier to then go to the computer and start writing everything, with the building blocks kind of set in your head. I also a lot of times, just record bits on my iPhone at the piano, just little melodic or chordal fragments that I reference later. If anyone ever heard them, they would think I’m clinically-insane because they are pretty bad, but they make sense to me when I hear them and trigger what I was thinking at the time.
Is there a credit you’re most proud of as a composer?
JC: Interesting question, because some I’m most proud of are probably ones that had no commercial success. There was a Ryan Reynolds film I did called Just Friends that was really special to me. It was my first studio film which was a huge accomplishment for a guy with no connections or not working for Hans Zimmer. It was my first full orchestral score, which was a great joy. And the main theme, however simple, came to me when I was sleeping and I literally woke up in the middle of the night and wrote it down and that became the whole film. Just really simple and flowed off the fingers at the piano and I played it for the director the next day and the rest kind of wrote itself.
I did a film last year called The Confirmation with Clive Owen and Maria Bello that was written and directed by Bob Nelson, who got an Oscar nomination for Nebraska. So I had been searching for a more arthouse, dramatic indie that would have some credibility and not so commercial. And that film was just a joy and I was so proud of it, but it kind of didn’t get the attention I thought it would. I think it was like 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and nobody saw it.
And CSI: Miami, I was immensely proud of. Just because it was the first thing I did that literally everyone saw and heard of and it was a trip to finally feel like you were doing something legit. At the time it was like the #1 show in the world and getting over 20 million viewers each week, which rarely happens these days. I always wonder if I will ever have another gig like that. So that one holds some great memories for me.
What can you tell me about writing the score to Mike And Dave Needing Wedding Dates? Did you have to get in a Hawaiian state of mind?
JC: That’s funny. First thing I thought of was Hawaiian, so I got out a ukulele and I have an old 1928 lap steel guitar and got some Hawaiian percussion instruments. Then we spotted the film and everyone said they didn’t want the score to sound Hawaiian! But as it progressed, I kind of snuck some of it back in so there are some nods to it that made it in.
As far as the rest of the writing, I came up with a couple of the themes/grooves — the guys have one and the girls do as well. It’s funny because a lot of the spots with girls didn’t have music initially, but I thought that they needed something to kind of empower them, so we had this little groovy thing that became their thing. I felt that it was cool that the girls were almost more powerful than the guys and they weren’t just background to them. It made them much more relatable. Then there was the kind of family emotional theme and then the emotional theme for Jeanie and Eric. That one kind of got turned on its head in full epic majesty for the ATV scene, which was a blast to do.
Do you have a favorite cue or part of the score to Mike And Dave?
JC: I think my favorite cues are “You Don’t Want To Marry Me,” which is a simple guitar and strings cue for their breakup that turned out really nice and then of course, the ATV Adventure cue, which is always great fun to let the orchestra do all of the runs and insanity that you just can’t do with samples.
When I started on the film, that scene was temp-scored with Jurassic Park and I was adamant from Day 1 that we can’t do a soundalike of Jurassic Park. It would be cheesy and ruin it. So I fought to make that cue part of our score and theme and make it related to the rest of the music. When we were final dubbing at Fox, when the lights went up on of the producers stood up and said that was his favorite cue, which was a big victory for me, because usually the notes are what’s wrong not what’s right!
JC: Ah, Taco. Well, I was on The League from the very beginning and just met him somewhere along the way. I helped him out with some songs over the seasons, although he did many more himself. When they decided to do the soundtrack, Jeff and Jackie the show producers, asked me to record some tracks for him to finish the songs for the soundtrack, so I got to spend a bit more time with him and it was a blast. My favorite was “Eskimo Brothers,” I think that’s a pretty badass song on its own. The fact that the words are comedic doesn’t matter.
Was your work with Jon the first overtly-funny music you had been a part of?
JC: Yes, and it’s kind of become the bane of my existence. I’ve done 40 films at this point and a ton of dark dramatic stuff, but I get a lot of calls for comedy that is sometimes frustrating. But you know, people only know the last thing you’ve done or what has been successful. I sometimes look back and wonder if certain choices led other places, things would be different, but who knows where it will all end up? I’ve been extremely fortunate to get to make a living doing this stuff, so I’m not going to sit here and complain…
You’ve also written music for Silicon Valley, one of my favorite shows on TV, which also mixed in a lot of hip-hop. What is the usual process like for scoring the show? Do they know off-hand which scenes are going to be scored and what’s going to be licensed music?
JC: Silicon Valley, who knew this show was going to be such a thing? Again, as a follow-up to the last question, I get more calls and meetings from working on this show, than probably anything. And I know my music is a very small part of the show. It just shows you how Hollywood likes success. It’s a really strange thing because you think you would be judged on your music and quality and artistry, but you would be wrong. (laughs)
But getting back to Silicon Valley, I got involved through music supervisors Rudy Chung and Jason Alexander. I had worked with them on CSI: Miami and they asked me to submit a demo on the show. When it first started, they weren’t going to have a composer, and just use source music. But I wrote a demo with some more ambient and ethereal stuff and got a meeting with Mike Judge and Alec Berg and got the gig. So then as we spotted the show, there would be moments that had no music and the guys were like “should we try something here?” And it kind of organically evolved into what it is.
So the transition type cues are hip-hop-based. I do a bunch of those. Sometimes there are licensed tracks for a few of those and always the end credit song. Then there are the more tension-type moments and emotional moments that we’ve scored pretty subtly. But it works and I think it heightens the tension. For such a funny show, I think there’s a pretty good amount of tension and drama. But we never score the funny bits with comedic music, because come on, they are hysterical on their own so I just stay out of the way of that stuff and try to add another layer to it, not just putting an explanation point on something already on the screen. It’s always a balancing act, but I’ve learned a lot about trying to be effective while being as minimal as possible. To answer your question, yes, we would have a spotting session with each episode and will know what scenes are scored and what are licensed music.
Do you have any aspirations to write music for other artists as a co-writer?
JC: Interesting question. That would be fun, if I could find the time. I’ve produced a few other artists over the past few years. I’ve done several songs for the show Gotham that the house band plays. I wrote a song called “Long Road Home” for CSI a couple years back that Gene Simmons played on camera, which was pretty cool. My friend Phil Conserva was directing that episode and asked me to write a kick ass rock song and we sent it to Gene and he dug it.
I’ve also produced a ton of songs for my wife, who is a great singer/songwriter named Jules Larson, and I’m sure will do more of that. I wrote a song for a film I scored called A Perfect Man with Liev Schreiber that was called “For This Sin” that turned out really cool. I took some lines from Shakespeare for inspiration and put it into a song that contained the theme of the film and we had a big orchestra. That was kind of the best of all worlds for me, incorporating scoring, songwriting, live orchestra, and song production.
Are there any upcoming projects that you can talk about?
JC: I’ve got a kids film based on a best-selling James Patterson novel called Middle School: The Worst Years Of My Life that’s coming out on Oct. 6 though Lionsgate. It’s for younger kids, kind of like Diary Of A Wimpy Kid.
I’ve also got a couple new television shows — Speechless with Minnie Driver on ABC this fall and Training Day with Bill Paxton for CBS this mid-season. I’m really excited about that one to do some dark heavy stuff and the pilot was just great.
When not busy with music, how do you like to spend your free time?
JC: I don’t know what that means! For better or worst, my hobby became my job. So I can’t complain but I really do think music 24/7. I remember being like 21 and thinking if I could find a way to sit in a studio and write music all day, that’s all I wanted from life. So I don’t take it for granted.
It’s not a normal 9 to 5 life, that’s for sure. But they say if you love what you do, you don’t work a day in your life and I really believe that to be true. I wake up every day excited as ever to get to do this, no less now than when I was just getting started. In fact ,even though I’ve done a bunch of stuff, I really feel like I’m just getting started. Other hobbies are pretty limited, I like to ski as much as I can, even though I’m not terribly great. Just like getting outdoors and tuning out. I’m decent at tennis and try and do that when I can. Force myself to run, occasionally do a half-marathon or two. That’s about it.
Finally, Jeff, any last words for the kids?
JC: For the kids, hmm, well I would say follow your dreams and don’t let anyone tell you what you can or cannot do. If you have some crazy idea that you want to do with your life, do it, because life is short and we only get on time around this planet. Every day you wait is one day less to do it, so life your life to the fullest.
