Sam Jones ‘Talent Show’ Sequence Has Michael Shannon Chatting, Singing

Director Sam Jones received plaudits earlier this yr for his HBO documentary “Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed,” one of many best-regarded music docs since his personal “I Am Trying to Break Your Heart: A Film About Wilco” again in 2001. He additionally received consideration this yr for his HBO documentary sequence “Smartless: On the Road,” with Jason Bateman, Will Arnett and Sean Hayes. But he doesn’t go on-camera himself with these explicit doc tasks, the best way he did in his long-running discuss present “Off Camera With Sam Jones,” which ran for 220 episodes on DirecTV from 2013 via 2020.

Now Jones placing himself again within the formal host position with a brand new sequence he’s begun taking pictures intermittently on the Hotel Café membership in Hollywood, titled “The Talent Show.” The forms of company he has and the energy of his interviewing chops will appear recognizable to anybody conversant in “Off Camera,” albeit with a twist to this new present: much less discuss and extra rock. Well, just a bit much less discuss; the majority of the applications should be his in-depth conversations with movie star company. But the distinguishing issue shall be that every in-person occasion and filmed episode ends with the visitor in query doing a set of music with Jones and his versatile band, the Spoilers. Some of the company shall be well-known full-time musicians, however most likely extra shall be celebs from different realms — performing, sports activities, and so on. — who both moonlight as singers or are attempting out their music abilities in public for the primary time.

Jones is doing his third public “Talent Show” taping at Hotel Café Sunday, and he’s snagged one of many movie and TV world’s extra formidable performing skills, Michael Shannon, as his interviewee and visitor musical frontman for the night. Shannon has not been shy to sing publicly, along with his flip as George Jones within the “George and Tammy” restricted sequence having received him an Emmy nomination. But other than enjoying Possum, Shannon has largely been enjoying possum in relation to exhibiting off his actual singing voice. Fans of the actor can discover out what he appears like as himself in a Hotel Café program set for 7:30 p.m.; some $40 tickets for the intimate chat and efficiency are nonetheless accessible as of this writing.

Jones is ready to finish a full season of the sequence earlier than he tries to promote it, a lot as he did when he was growing “Off Camera.” So he’s appreciative of company like Tony Hawk and Mandy Moore, who already shot episodes, or Jason Segel, Ed Helms and Aimee Mann, who’re arising, in addition to Shannon for signing off on doing a format that needs to be defined slightly, because the sequence isn’t already on the market but.

“I used to be simply writing my introduction for Michael, and I feel he’s the prototypical visitor,” Jones says. “Besides enjoying music, he grew up in non-equity theater in Chicago in small rooms, and he loves that most likely greater than motion pictures and tv. So I feel that Michael is a man who is a bit more snug with discomfort and placing himself on the market. I had him on my (‘Off Camera’) present again in 2016, and I simply preferred that he was a really totally different interview than nearly anyone. He’s actually considerate, and form of the man that may say issues that different persons are considering however don’t essentially say.

“And he’s actually gotten into this complete factor and is super-excited to do it, and he’s doing six or seven songs that he loves. It’ll be a really passionate, enjoyable factor, and I feel an extension of him, like in a play the place he has an opportunity to improv slightly bit or one thing. Throughout this course of, he’s been texting backwards and forwards and speaking about songs and altering issues. First he simply needed to sing, after which only recently he stated, ‘Oh, can you might have a guitar there for me?’ So he’s an lively participant, which I really like. You know, anybody who does this factor firstly, earlier than we really discover a residence for the present, is a courageous individual, to not even essentially perceive precisely what it’s and simply to hop on board and say, ‘Let’s go for it.’ … But that’s what the present is designed to be: slightly little bit of a high-wire act.”

Mandy Moore, who shot the second episode in June, was an ideal visitor in her personal manner, being somebody who retains a foot in each the TV and music worlds. For the efficiency a part of her night, she was joined by husband Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, and Benmont Tench of the Heartbreakers, in addition to the home band, performing songs by John Prine, Tom Petty and others after a dialog that dug into her historical past as a pop starlet and tenure on “This Is Us.”

But Jones thinks a giant a part of “The Talent Show” shall be exposing the musical facet of these company who don’t have a number of albums underneath their belt.

“I feel there’ll at all times be a musical efficiency of some nature,” Jones says, “and I feel as soon as we set up that, it may very well be nearly anyone. Like, I might very very similar to to name Billie Joe (Armstrong) of Green Day, who I feel is a super-interesting man and has totally different musical tastes than what folks know, and discuss to him after which have him play covers of stuff that he first heard when he was slightly child or one thing. There’s nonetheless a manner with a musician to do it, and I need musicians to be a giant a part of this. But I do need to positively set up with this beachhead that this isn’t this intimidating factor the place you need to be an excellent musician to do it. You simply have to like music.  

“I feel that I need to be actually cautious firstly to not have too many musicians which might be intimidating (in lining up future non-pro-musician company), as a result of the objective is absolutely extra about placing your self on the market artistically. So, as an example, when Tony Hawk got here and did it, he’s not a singer, however seeing him up there getting tremendous into singing these punk-rock songs that he cherished rising up was a particular expertise to observe. Because it’s somebody who loves music sufficient that they need to put themselves on the market in a unique self-discipline. I really feel like nearly anyone that’s actually good within the performing arts in some space — performing, and even writing or directing — most likely has a love for music and an understanding of music, and possibly has a closet couple of karaoke songs they love. Or possibly they take it extra critically, like all these actors like Kevin Bacon or Jeff Daniels, or individuals who have been changing into established as singers earlier than the performing factor went rather well for them, like a Kristen Bell, or Jason Segel, who is a good piano participant and loves writing music — folks whose (performing) success nearly received in the best way of them flexing that muscle all through their life. That’s what pursuits me.”

The intimacy of the setting is a part of how he hopes to provide those that haven’t uncovered their music chops a lot to really feel safe in doing that. That’s why he finally felt that even doing it in a spot as huge and as formally seated because the modest Largo would have been an excessive amount of. “Obviously with the extent of company we’re getting, we might do it in a much bigger place. But I feel a much bigger place has a unique form of expectation, whereas this feels slightly extra handmade. … I maintain utilizing the phrase ‘experiment’ after I go up there to do introductions as a result of it is an experiment. I don’t need folks to assume that if they arrive to see it dwell it’s some extremely produced factor. It’s an experiment in making an attempt to make a very intimate setting for artists to take dangers. And because the host, I’m making an attempt to take a giant threat and be that instance.”

The first visitor Jones introduced into Hotel Café, veteran skateboarding star Tony Hawk, clearly had a excessive consolation degree with Jones, who directed the 2022 HBO documentary “Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off.” Hawk requested if he might usher in a second visitor for his episode, not as a result of he felt insecure singing, however out of fandom: Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo. Together they carried out “Uncontrollable Urge,” a tune that Hawk skateboarded to within the HBO doc, similar to he did when he was arising many years in the past. Additionally, Hawk and Jones’ band performed songs from their respective California youths by bands like Agent Orange and the Clash. Hawk even known as up Brooke Shields and received her to document an introduction for the present, precisely just like the one she did again within the for “Rodney on the Roq,” as heard on a classic Rodney Bingenheimer compilation album.

The inspiration for “The Talent Show With Sam Jones” got here when he was filming the “Smartless” sequence for HBO. “We met up with Matt Damon in Wisconsin, and Sean (Hayes) requested Matt if he’d ever been in musicals, and Matt stated, ‘Yeah, I used to be Pippin.’ And then Sean says, ‘I used to be Pippin too!’ And they each broke into this spontaneous couple of strains from one of many songs within the musical. It was probably the most endearing, spontaneous second of the entire interview with Matt to me. You’re not a human being if you happen to don’t break right into a smile when each of them begin singing. Because Matt had such pleasure in the truth that he labored on a tune and realized it manner again in highschool and nonetheless remembers the lyrics. And I used to be like, that’s cool. That’s not what you see in a standard setting for an interview with any individual.”

Jones is happy with the reception the “Smartless” sequence received this yr, and even of the truth that one thing so totally different received picked up.

“It’s simply joyful, happening a visit with three brothers who’re actually humorous and love to provide one another shit,” the director says in regards to the present with Hayes, Bateman and Artnett. “That would be the most enjoyable factor I’ve ever made. I used to be capable of direct it whereas having a digicam in my palms, and I had a key to their resort room, so mainly I simply received to go hang around with three of the funniest guys on this planet all day and night time after which fly round on non-public jets and keep within the Four Seasons and make a film about it. It’s so enjoyable to see on social media folks quoting sure strains and speaking about how they sat there with their spouse or husband and simply laughed… The editor and I simply sat there and made the factor we needed to make. And the community thought they have been shopping for a two-hour documentary in coloration, and I gave them a six-part sequence in black and white. And to their credit score — I used to be shocked — they let it undergo.”

There was much less hilarity in his documentary about Jason Isbell and his singer-songwriter spouse Amanda Shires, which captured some rigidity of their relationship as they labored on an album in 2019. Viewers shaped an emotional reference to the couple, followers and non-fans alike.

“I used to be actually uncertain, with how saturated the music documentary style has turn out to be, that one thing might break via that was about an artist that lots of people didn’t know. To be trustworthy, I used to be very shocked that it form of touched a chord, and that the half that basically touched the chord was the connection stuff that was in there. At the time I used to be making that, the highest query on my thoughts was the connection between him and his spouse and the way it was going to have an effect on their daughter — and the way that dovetailed with the fabric he was writing, which invited questions on his upbringing and his mother and father and their mother and father’ divorce. All these issues got here collectively in a manner that labored for me. But actually, I’d sit there with the editor, Erin Nordstrom, and go, ‘Is anybody going to care, who doesn’t know who this man is?’ And then to have HBO get behind it the best way they did… The smartest thing to learn for me is when a fan on his social media says, ‘Hey, I simply went and noticed you in Minneapolis or wherever, and I preferred you earlier than, however after seeing the film, it’s so superb to observe you and Amanda on stage and listen to you play these songs…’ To know you could inform a narrative about any individual and have folks make a deeper connection to that artist, to me, that’s so cool.

“It’s like why any of us used to make a mixtape for our associates, or when somebody comes over that we admire, we need to play a sure document for them, as a result of we need to share the factor that turns us on on the most core degree. And the truth that the movie made folks say ‘I actually like Jason as a human being’… you already know, it’s good when that stuff works out. Because these items is tough. And I’ve actually had some false begins on documentariess that I believed have been gonna work and didn’t, and when it really works it’s simply such a pleasant feeling to place that on the market on this planet and have that form of response come again. I don’t take it as a right in any respect, and I’m shocked each time it really works.”

Jones has one other feature-length documentary in progress, about Ricky Carmichael. “He’s a mud bike racer, motocross, however he’s not solely the best filth bike racer of all time, he’s the best motorsports athlete of all time. He would be the best particular person athlete of all time, apart from possibly George Foreman and Muhammad Ali, by way of his successful share. What is interesting to me is that his story is unconventional in that his mother, who had by no means been on a bike, turned his coach and have become the most effective coach in that sport of all time. And that world is a world that’s by no means actually been defined to the mainstream — what that sport is, and the way exhausting it’s, and the way nice these guys are as athletes, and what an extremely harmful sport it’s. So I get to inform an unconventional mom/son story, and it additionally is that this sport that I really like a lot, the place I get to form of introduce folks to it, hopefully in a mainstream style, if I can promote it to a mainstream streamer. It’s slightly bit much like what we did with Tony; extra folks know who Tony Hawk is, however to have the ability to actually inform a human story about an athlete in a sport that has loads of preconceived notions about it that aren’t true could be very thrilling for me.”

Jones began out his profession as a nonetheless photographer, doing movie star portraiture covers for Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, et al. (His work additionally appeared on album covers — though it’s not a band portrait, Wilco’s “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot” is his.) He’s returning to that position by doing a little pictures of U2 in Las Vegas that shall be used within the promotion of their high-profile Sphere residency, opening on the finish of the month.

It shall be longer for anybody to see the outcomes of his “Talent Show” shoots, however he has religion the sequence will get picked up as soon as he completes a season.

“The manner that we did ‘Off Camera,’ we made a bunch of them earlier than we bought it. We weren’t even anticipating it to be on a community. We have been form of simply going to place it out on our personal and attempt to make like a subscription-based mannequin, after which somebody at DirecTV heard about it. So I’m form of doing the identical factor with this, spending some cash making it at first and getting it proper, then seeing if there’s anybody who needs it. We’re not pitching it as an thought; we’re making it and saying, ‘Here it’s. This is precisely the factor you’re shopping for if you happen to’re .’ I feel it relies on how lengthy it takes us to determine precisely what the present is; hopefully it’s no more than eight episodes, as a result of there’s not an infinite provide of cash sitting round to make this stuff. We’re making an attempt to make them very economically and within the spirit of do-it-yourself, handmade tv that we did with ‘Off Camera.’”

In the meantime, he’s pumped for no matter occurs Sunday with Shannon. “I don’t know if you happen to really feel this fashion, however I really feel like after I’m round true artists and individuals who get to dwell the lifetime of an artist, I really feel like I’ve extra permission to be extra of myself, extra inventive, extra of a risk-taker. It’s nearly like, if you’re in a room filled with accountants, or whoever else, you nearly really feel the constraints of the way you’re presupposed to behave and what makes folks uncomfortable. And then if you’re round folks like Michael Shannon, it’s like, ‘Oh, we get to simply play, and be awkward, inventive human beings.’”