The iconic Tribeca Film Festival gives independent filmmakers a platform to release their work to crowds of intrigued patrons, from the average person to the most celebrated celebrities. More than that, the festival gives fans the unique opportunity to connect with these films in a more intimate way.
The week-long festival featured panels and presentations by some of the most highly-regarded shows on TV today, including one of the funniest: the Emmy Award-winning Drunk History.
With a screening and panel talk with the creators of the program, Derek Waters and Jeremy Konner, the event featured plenty of the show’s intoxicated swagger, with tons of laughs to follow. Here’s everything we learned from Waters and Konner about the making of the show, what’s to come this next season, and who the pair’s dream guests stars would be:
Expect plenty of laughs next season
After a few brief words, the panel screen the a few episodes that will premiere in June (as the second half of season give), to the packed auditorium of Spring Studios. As expected, rampant with laughter was pretty immediate. The episodes included “history lessons” on topics ranging from Vlad the Impaler to the history of how Halloween came to be, all with the trademark hilarity that Drunk History has come to be known for. The show is, as seasons past, lush with celebrity appearances — expect to see some old favorites along with some new.
The drinks will be flowing
Both on-screen and on-stage, the “drunk” in Drunk History is ever so present. From the start, the creators said, the boozy aspect of the show was key. When putting together the concept of the show, Waters clearly recalls his thinking.
“Wouldn’t it be [funny] if someone was drunk… and trying to talk about something important like Benjamin Franklin or Abraham Lincoln?” he reminisced. As drinks flowed and the conversation progressed, the topic led to speaking about the filming progress. Josh Charles, who made very frequent appearances on the show, notes, “of all the shows [I’ve] worked on, this one is by far the most fun. That’s why I keep coming back.”
The 6 hour-long production process
“Every episode of Drunk History takes six hours to film,” Waters says. “Those six hours get edited down to around a seven-minute segment.” Yes, that means six hours of drinking, historical ramblings, and plenty of on-camera shenanigans.
The biggest dream guest stars
When it came time to the question-and-answer portion of the evening, there was one insight we learned that might — hopefully — make its way to the screen soon. When one fan asked the panelists who they’d like to see on the show, Waters had his answer ready. “I’ve thought about this one a lot and I can answer it easy: Eddie Vedder and Bill Murray,” he told the crowd.
Note: the images in this article were shot with the Sony a7R III.
