R.J. Cutler Talks Teaming Up With Blumhouse Productions For 'The Oval Office Tapes' Podcast

5 weeks ago

'The Oval Office Tapes' podcast give listeners a comedic take on the imaginary conversations inside the Trump White House.

Transcript

00:00He's a filmmaker, director and TV producer and now RJ Cutler is making waves in the podcast

00:05world with the Oval Office Tapes and he's here to tell us all about it.

00:08RJ, thank you for being here.

00:09Thank you for having me.

00:10So first, talk to me about the Oval Office Tapes.

00:12How did this idea come about?

00:14I am not alone.

00:16I think these days I'm being fairly obsessed with what's going on in Washington DC, what's

00:21happening at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue and it occurred to me that if we could hear what

00:27was going on within the rooms there, the private rooms, it would be very interesting.

00:32And that's what the Oval Office Tapes is.

00:34Now this podcast imagines fictional conversations about what could be going on behind the scenes

00:39in the White House.

00:40But everyone's finally asking when the Boy Scouts gonna turn on me.

00:43When's Paul Ryan gonna speak his mind to?

00:46Mr. President, I would never.

00:47I know you wouldn't, you dopey little putts.

00:49It's a journey into the rooms behind the scenes with the President of the United States and

00:55your favorite friends and foes of the President of the United States.

00:59So far, we've managed to capture the President phoning up Omarosa late at night, practicing

01:05for the hearings with Brett Kavanaugh, reaching out to Kim Kardashian for campaign advice.

01:12If you came out and campaigned with me for these congressmen, wow.

01:17I have my own obligations, sir.

01:19But it would be incredible for your brand.

01:21We caught a phone call last week between Melania and former first lady Michelle Obama.

01:28And it hurts when Stormy describe your husband's private parts to the world.

01:33Ah yes, his Mario thingy.

01:36Toad.

01:37It's a cavalcade of Washington stars for you.

01:41So you've teamed up with Blumhouse for this project.

01:43Obviously that's the team behind Get Out.

01:45Sink into the floor.

01:47Wait, wait, wait, wait.

01:48Sink.

01:49Blumhouse also is the team behind Sharp Objects.

01:51You've got two mutilated girls on your hand.

01:53Someone else is doing the right one.

01:55How did this collaboration come about?

01:57We all just, we met and we started talking about this and the folks over there loved it

02:01and Jason loved it.

02:03We write every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

02:05We record on Thursday and we drop on Friday.

02:08So it's, we're all very in the moment and the folks at Blumhouse are, you know, that's

02:13a pace that they're very comfortable with.

02:15And with so many major headlines breaking, as you said, pretty much hourly anymore.

02:18Yeah.

02:19It seems like something is always happening with the Trump administration.

02:21That's right.

02:22How do you decide which ones you're going to create these fictitious stories for?

02:24Well, I have an amazing writing team.

02:26It's, there are only three writers.

02:28We're moving at the pace of the news.

02:29The questions we ask are the questions we assume our audience is asking and then the answers

02:34we come up with.

02:35How did that happen?

02:36What's going on?

02:37What's going on with Lindsey Graham?

02:38Why is he all of a sudden Mr. Donald Trump's best friend?

02:42Well, you'll hear about that this weekend.

02:44It's those kinds of conversations that we have and then we write quickly and rewrite and

02:49rewrite and then it's time to record.

02:51Yeah, I was actually going to ask that.

02:53So the headlines, so they feel current when these episodes come out.

02:56Oh yeah.

02:57You're doing it right before the episode drops.

02:58We are writing as, as we speak.

03:00I'm writing now.

03:01You can't even tell.

03:02But this, the episode is being written right in front of your face right now.

03:05Like, see?

03:06There goes another page.

03:07There you go.

03:08Just wrote another one.

03:09Yeah, exactly.

03:10All right.

03:11Well, RJ, thank you so much for joining me and talking to me.

03:12And be sure to check out the Oval Office Tapes on Apple Podcasts and everywhere you can

03:16find your podcasts.

03:17Check it out.

R.J. Cutler Talks Teaming Up With Blumhouse Productions For 'The Oval Office Tapes' Podcast

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