Radiolab - The Front Runner

Episode Date: November 13, 2018

So, a cool thing happened for the show recently. A couple years ago, our episode "I Don't Have to Answer That" made it to the ears of director Jason Reitman. The story is about presidential candidate Gary Hart, who, in 1987, was caught in an extramarital affair that forced him to drop out of the race. And at the time, this sort of personal scandal was the first of its kind in politics. It pushed politicians and political reporters into unchartered territory that forever changed the way we scrutinize political figures and judge their fitness for office. When Reitman heard this, he saw a major motion picture in his head. And today, that film, The Front Runner, is out in theaters. Listen to Reitman and his team talk about how Radiolab inspired them to make this movie.  This piece was produced by Jackson Roach.

So maybe we just start with you introducing yourself? Yeah, sure. My name is Jason Reitman and I'm the co-writer and director of the frontrunner. The youngest candidate, Hart spoke at four. Campaign Trails. The clear frontrunner. Where do you want to start this? So start with the shoulder in a little? Uh...

My name's Gary Harden. I'm running for president. Well, I guess I'll start with the moment I heard the story for the first time. Wait, you're listening. Okay. I live in Los Angeles, spent a lot of time in a car. I make movies. I spend a lot of time on planes. Listening to Radio Lab. I spend a lot of time intimately listening to Radio Lab.

I started this podcast, went in blind. Hey, I'm Chad I boomrod. I'm Robert Crilwich. This is Radio Lab and having no idea who Gary Hart was. And the story that we're going to tell on this podcast is about a moment, a shockingly recent moment. I didn't. I was 10 years old when this incident happened. Now, if you're of a certain age, you probably remember that. this story, you probably know what happens next, but even if you've never heard of Gary Hart,

you still probably know the outline of this story. The accusations, and then the denial, immediately understood why they were doing this story, that there was all this connective tissue with 2018. Wall-to-wall media thing, which just goes on and on and on until you want to take your guess. I think everyone living in 2018 wonders how we got here. No matter what your politics are, you look at 2018 and go, wait, how did we get here? It wasn't always like this. No. Hart was the first to walk into this vortex of social forces. And we're all looking for the seed. And after that, the rules of political journalism and politics change almost immediately. That, by the way, is Matt By. National political columnist for Yahoo News. He wrote a book about this incident,

which he called All the Truth is out. It was the first time I went, oh, this is a possible. This is a seed to how we got to 2018. When did you switch from, this is just like a podcast I'm listening to for fun to like, wait, I'm thinking about this. It's a great question because, you know, as a filmmaker, everything I read, everything I listen to,

every conversation I get into is a, there's a bit of, oh, is this a movie or not? You meet someone, they start telling you a story that's, oh, the craziest thing just happened, and you start hearing it and you first like, oh, that's a movie, and never mind, that's not a movie. Or something starts good.

and then it doesn't have a turn or it doesn't have an ending. The ending is huge. A movie needs an ending. And of course, there's his moment in the podcast when you hear Hart's speech. Read a short, carefully worded political statement. In which he leaves politics. Saying that I was withdrawing from the race and then quietly disappear on the stage. And it's his most amazing speech.

And it's kind of, there's some kind of interesting about that. I mean, if you think about other politicians and what they're, great speeches are, you know, Lincoln or Kennedy, you know, they're all mid-career. Some things may be interesting, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're important. We're all going to have to seriously question a system for selecting our national leaders that reduces the press of this nation to hunters and presidential candidates to being hunted. This is the only political speech I know where the most important speech he made were literally the last things he ever said as a politician.

And so now I knew we had a. We all better do something to make this system work. We're all going to be soon rephrasing Jefferson to say, I tremble for my country, when I think we may, in fact, get the kind of leaders we deserve. And once I finished listening to the podcast, I immediately went out and got a copy of Matt By's book, All the Truth is Out, read the book, and then I found out that Matt By was writing the screenplay himself with a guy named Jay Carson and, I reached out to the two of them and said, you know, I really want to make this movie.

And I think I know what it needs to be when we were off to the races. You may have a 40-day shoot, but you spent four months in prep going from a prop room to a wardrobe room, to a production of a room, to a hair meeting, to a cinematography conversation. When recreating the world of Gary Hart, my costumer, Danny Glicker, filled this giant wardrobe room with shoes from them. some actual pieces that Gary Hart really wore. His belt buckle, which is this beautiful brass belt buckle that reads G.W.H, which are Gary's initials.

We worked with a jeweler to cast it and to recreate it exactly. We started reaching out to his campaign team. We reached out to Donna Rice. We had them fill out questionnaires like, what kind of clothes did you wear at the time? Did you wear jewelry? What was your favorite sports team? How did you wear your hair?

What was your favorite beverage? Would you like to eat? what was always in your pocket back and forth and back and forth trying to get all these details right. So on the day, all you're thinking about are, you know, is this performance good? The first thing we shot was a fake

presidential ad. So start with the shoulder in a little. We shot it with like an old video camera and handled it kind of like an old video set. So the first thing we ever did was him just kind of like walk out in his suit and the hair. My name's Gary Holbro. Harden. I'm running for president. And immediately after, we shot this 10-page debate of Harton Bob Dole.

And it was just insane that Hugh could rattle off 10 pages of 1987 politics. And remember, he's Australian. Like, it's not only that he's doing Gary Hart's voice. He's doing a, he's playing a whole of a nationality, and he's rattling off politics from another era from another country. And it was just a really cool thing to see the movie get shot and see all these actors and actresses who were playing operatives and reporters on campaigns like the ones I had covered. Matt By, who originated the book and covered the screenplay. Getting to be on the set of a campaign, which felt real in almost every way. Jay Carson, also caroed the screenplay. Except when I look over and think, holy crap, Hugh Jackman is delivering lines I wrote.

My production designer, Steve Sackled. The last set we built in Atlanta was our recreation of the Washington Post. and Ben Bradley's office, coolest set ever to walk around on. My cinematographer, Eric Stilberg, we ended up shooting on 35 millimeter using the best technology and equipment available from 40 years ago. You know, there's a camera issue in the beginning of a take. I'm like, what? All right, whatever.

I guess it's film. You know, I've never seen film camera work before. We tracked everybody's microphones independently. That meant up to 19 tracks of audio for some of the bigger scenes. I remember when we were on the airplane. We would literally walk down the aisles with a spray bottle, spritzing everyone. You know, as a director, you only get to make so many movies. And this is a very important movie to me.

It's one of the better movies I will make. And it all started with me turning on a podcast. I feel like I've learned more from Radio Lab than I did in the entirety of high school. I love the way that they approach a story. I love their sense of humor about the world. I love their curiosity. I love that they go into every story without judgment. So I'm very grateful just to have it in my life.

If I just haven't said this enough yet, thank you. Thank you for making the show. To everybody who makes it happen, because I know it's not just two guys just shown up, at a studio on themselves. I know there's a lot of people. You guys are making something truly great that is important. Radio Lab does something important, and it speaks to the kind of the greater side of our hearts and our brains that want to understand the world. Every time I turn on a Radio Lab episode, I trust that I'm going to come out more thoughtful, more enriched, not

to mention entertained. And I just, I just feel so lucky to have your show in my life and to have found this episode that has taken me on this journey. Hey, this is Matt By. I'm one of the screenwriters of the frontrunner. My name is Jay Carson, and I used to be a political operative,

but now I'm a screenwriter. And I want to thank Radio Lab for helping our movie, my first movie, get made. It was a cool experience, and it was all because you guys at Radio Lab cared about my book and did a terrific piece. Hi, I'm Helen Estabrook, producer of the Frontrunner. I'm Sarah Paxton. I play Donna Rice. Hey, this is Steve Sackland, the production designer on The Frontrunner.

Thank you to Radio Lab for all the incredible stories you've brought us over the years. Thank you so much, Radio Lab. But most especially, thanks for the one entitled. I don't have an answer to that. And thank you to Radio Lab for making me aware of this story. Ultimately led us to meet Jason and make a movie. proud of. We appreciate it and thanks and thanks for all the work you do.

Hey, Radio Lab. This is Stefan Group, editor of the Front Runner, and thank you for the introduction to Gary Hart. Hi, Radio Lab. This is Jason Blumenfeld, producer on the upcoming film, The Front Runner. Hey there,

this is Aaron Gilbert of Brown Studios, producer of the Front Runner. Thank you so much, Radio Lab. Thank you for telling all the stories that need to be told. Hey, this is Eric Stilberg, the cinematographer of the frontrunner, and I wanted to thank Radio Lab. Thank you, Radio Lab. Thank you all so much.

I'm J.K. Simmons. I portray Bill Dixon to the best of my ability. One of my favorite lines or thoughts that I've learned during this film and promoting this film was the difference between what is interesting and what is important. and what is important. My name is Hugh Jackman. I play Gary Hart. And I just want to say thanks to Radio Lab. I'm a massive, massive fan.

But if I wasn't for your episode, our director wouldn't have heard it and I wouldn't have had a job. So really, thanks for keeping me off the streets. That's great. Do you listen to podcasts? What is a podcast?