#24 - Duncan Hayes: Discovering Ricky Gervais, The Early Days of The Office, Relationship Building, Star Quality, Finding Talent on YouTube, and The Psychology of Agenting

I am lucky to introduce today’s guest who has been at the forefront of British comedy for the last two decades.

The man behind hit shows such as Back starring Mitchell and Webb and Sky’s Breeders, his career is long and celebrated but it is his partnership with Armando Innaucci for which he is probably best known.

Together they have brought movies like In The Loop and The Personal History of David Copperfield into the world as well as the now legendary sitcom The Thick of It and its ridiculously acclaimed US cousin Veep which won seventeen Emmy awards during its run. Along the way, he picked up two of them for himself, as well as four BAFTA nominations and an Oscar nomination for In The Loop.

My guest is Mr Simon Blackwell.

Hello and welcome to Red Carpet Rookies, today’s guest earned his early entertainment industry stripes working at Village Roadshow and Leonardo DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way, later transitioning to the world of literary management, where he has since set up his own management and production company Bellevue Productions.

There his clients have had projects set up at Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures, Fox, and more, some of which he has taken to producing himself, for example, Infinite starring Mark Wahlberg and Netflix’s Eli. My guest is John Zaozirny. 

Born to a sleepy town in South Wales, after university, he swapped the countryside for the Big Apple where he made his name as the film unit director at New York institution, Saturday Night Live.

In addition to his time at 30 Rock, he’s also managed to peel off and create the hilarious documentary satire series Documentary Now with friends Bill Hader, Fred Armisen and Seth Myers, and more recently, took a step into the Marvel Cinematic universe helming the pilot and multiple episodes of the hit Hawkeye TV show and much more. 

My guest is Rhys Thomas.

Hello and welcome to Red Carpet Rookies.

I’m very excited to introduce today’s guest who cut his teeth working on the British children’s TV that made up my childhood with shows like The Queens Nose, Tracey Beaker and My Parents are Aliens, before transitioning to his own creations like Fresh Meat and most notably the one and only, the great Peep Show which he co-created with longtime collaborator Jesse Armstrong and won a BAFTA for.

In the years since he has had a lauded and varied career with work on projects including Chris Morris’s incredible category of one terroism-based comedy Four Lions, material for The Thick of It and more recently, even his own movies such as Corporate Animals with Demi Moore and The Stand In with Drew Barrymore.

My guest is Sam Bain.

Today’s guest began his career working as a runner on James Cameron’s legendary action movie Aliens but found his home in the art department where he honed the skill of concept art becoming one of the foremost illustrators in the business.

With a resume that includes movies such as Star Wars Rogue Rogue, The Martian, Gravity, Casino Royale, Tim Burton’s Batman, Game of Thrones and even a few Harry Potters thrown in for good measure, I’m looking forward to delving into his creative process.

My guest is Julian Caldow.

Today’s guest has one of the most varied resumes of anyone in the film and TV business. Having produced everything from megahit Top Boy to winning a BAFTA for The Last King of Scotland, making documentaries and more, I can’t wait to hear his story and learn from his journey to success in the industry.

He also has one of the coolest names of any guest I’ve ever had!

My guest is Charles Steel.

Hello and welcome to Red Carpet Rookies.

Today’s guest is a first for a the show. Someone who began his career in the world of comedy editing. With eight years at the legendary Saturday Night Live to his name, he’s been in the cutting room for skits featuring Margot Robbie as a murderous librarian, Ed Norton in a Wes Anderson themed horror movie parody, Andrew Garfield as a Beyonce Fan on the run and so many more.

Whilst there he picked up two primetime emmy nominations before moving onto more recent shows including Tina Fey’s Mr Mayor and breakout culinary hit, The Bear. My guest is Adam Epstein.

Today’s guest is one of the most notable casting directors in the history of movie making.

Beginning her career under the tutelage of legendary casting director Marion Doughtery, our guest then transitioned to making a name for herself and by god did she.

Now retired, during her epic career she was responsible for the casting of films including but not limited to, DEEP BREATH NOW - Taxi Driver, Schindler’s List, The Exorcist, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Network, Terms of Endearment, Big, The Killing Fields, Dangerous Liaisons, The Mission and Sleepless in Seattle. Not to mention her longstanding collaboration of over 40 movies with Woody Allen including Annie Hall and Manhattan AND finally she was also the woman to cast Meryl Street in her first motion picture.

My guest is Juliet Taylor.

Today’s guest began his filmmaking career under the tutelage of legendary Producer Charles Roven where he was a producer’s assistant on Hollywood blockbusters such as Get Smart, The International and of course, Christopher Nolan’s, The Dark Knight.

Following his apprenticeship, he was swiftly promoted through the ranks of Atlas Entertainment, soon becoming a leading producer for the company working on projects such as American Hustle, Triple Frontier and Suicide Squad.

Now heading up his own exciting new venture, Big Swell Entertainment it’s a pleasure to have him here.

My guest is Andy Horwitz. 

Today’s guest earned his early entertainment industry stripes working as a journalist for publications including Digital Spy and Empire before gaining what must be one of the world’s most fun jobs as Radio 1’s very own film critic, a position he has held since 2016.

Since then, his career has only risen with recent projects such as hosting the red carpet of a little-known awards show called the BAFTAS and the BBC’s new series ‘The Film Fans Guide’.

My guest is Ali Plumb.