'I Saw The TV Glow' Director Talks Getting Its Phoebe Bridgers Cameo, And Who She Approached First For Banger ‘Teen Angst’ Soundtrack

Cinema Blend

Interview with Jane Schoenbrun and Justice Smith

Transcript

00:00I'm curious about the story behind this Claw Machine song,

00:03incredible sequence with Phoebe Bridgers and Sloppy Jane.

00:06I was curious, where in the process

00:08did you hear it the first time?

00:11Before we shot the film, I had written it into the script

00:14with fake lyrics.

00:17And I just knew that I really wanted us to cut into this club

00:22right around the halfway point of the movie.

00:25And I had this idea of the song as a texture that

00:29brings you to this new space at this very crucial moment

00:33in the film when Maddie and Owen have reconnected.

00:35And I knew that that was where the titular line would be.

00:39I knew that the first line of that song had to be,

00:41I saw the TV glow.

00:43Yeah, and was a huge fan of Phoebe's and of Haley's.

00:48And got in touch with them and pitched them on it.

00:51And I made them a playlist called Interior Goth Club

00:54of the kinds of teen angst songs that I had imagined.

01:00And Haley just started sending me

01:02voicemails of Claw Machine.

01:04And it was really all there from the very beginning in this,

01:08even though I think it was just her on piano,

01:10it was still this incredibly orchestral.

01:14Yeah, I remember listening to demos of it with crew

01:19when we were on Location Scouts.

01:20I remember my DP Eric going, this is a hit.

01:24And I was just like, yeah, I agree.

01:27And you have so many amazing people on the album.

01:30I was curious, who did you, do you

01:32remember who you reached out first,

01:33like I need this person on this movie?

01:36Good question.

01:37Well, I was working with Alex from the very beginning

01:39on the score because he was my composer on my last film.

01:42And I just, I want to work with him anytime

01:45he wants to work with me.

01:46He's a genius.

01:48I think the first person, because I

01:50had wanted to meet an artist named Francis Quinlan, who's

01:54in a band called Hop Along, just

01:56was a huge fan of that band for a long, long time.

01:59And I knew that them and Alex were friends.

02:01And so I think early on, I just asked Alex for an intro

02:04to Francis and a few of the other artists

02:06I had crossed paths with in various iterations.

02:09I remember Drab Majesty was another early one

02:11where I was like, that's the vibe of the movie.

02:14And it was also just a collaboration with A24,

02:16really working with them and brainstorming artists

02:19that we both thought would be really exciting.

02:21And so it kind of happened organically.

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