- Social:
Writer, producer, director
Writer, producer, director
PROFILE
Kay Cannon
FROM Kay Cannon
The Business
Director Kay Cannon on ‘Blockers’ Near the beginning of the comedy ‘ Blockers ,’ now out on DVD, three parents--played by Leslie Mann, John Cena and Ike Barinholtz--send their three daughters off to senior prom. The girls are played by Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan and Gideon Adlon. One of them just happens to have left her laptop open, revealing a text conversation among the best friends. After a few rounds of emoji decoding, the panicked parents realize their daughters have made a pact to lose their virginity on prom night. They set out to foil that plan. ‘Blockers’ plays like a raunchy comedy, but it’s surprisingly thoughtful. The young women are no dummies, and two of them are confident about their sexuality, while the third friend is still figuring that part out. The parents, on the other hand...get into all sorts of trouble in their rush to shut down their daughters’ plan. Blockers is directed by our guest today, Kay Cannon. She’s got many comedy writing credits to her name including ‘30 Rock’ and the ‘Pitch Perfect’ movies. Blockers is her directorial debut. She tells us about the all-night writing session that landed her a job on ‘30 Rock,’ and sticks up for her short-lived show ‘Girlboss’ on Netflix. She also tells us about facing a group of all-male writers and producers while she changed the original script for ‘Blockers’ to make it more feminist and reflective of the times.
The Business
Director Kay Cannon on ‘Blockers’ Near the beginning of the new comedy ‘ Blockers ,’ three parents--played by Leslie Mann, John Cena and Ike Barinholtz--send their three daughters off to senior prom. The girls are played by Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan and Gideon Adlon. One of them just happens to have left her laptop open, revealing a text conversation among the best friends. After a few rounds of emoji decoding, the panicked parents realize their daughters have made a pact to lose their virginity on prom night. They set out to foil that plan. ‘Blockers’ plays like a raunchy comedy, but it’s surprisingly thoughtful. The young women are no dummies, and two of them are confident about their sexuality, while the third friend is still figuring that part out. The parents, on the other hand...get into all sorts of trouble in their rush to shut down their daughters’ plan. Blockers is directed by our guest today, Kay Cannon. She’s got many comedy writing credits to her name including ‘30 Rock’ and the ‘Pitch Perfect’ movies. Blockers is her directorial debut. She tells us about the all-night writing session that landed her a job on ‘30 Rock,’ and sticks up for her short-lived show ‘Girlboss’ on Netflix. She also tells us about facing a group of all-male writers and producers while she changed the original script for ‘Blockers’ to make it more timely and feminist.
Recommended
Bookworm
Morgan Parker: There Are More Beautiful Things than Beyoncé Morgan Parker says that the poems in her book There Are Things More Beautiful than Beyoncé take a stand against the clichés of the dominant culture.
Bookworm
Claudio Magris: Blameless In Claudio Magris' Blameless, a museum of the implements of war and destruction is created to inspire peace. But this conversation is not just about war and peace.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Why is Trump so behind on filling staff jobs, establishing concrete policies? Yesterday Donald Trump signed a “decision memo” to revamp the air traffic control system. But there was little legislative detail in the plan. There’s not much to other splashy announcements from the White House, including tax cuts and the arms deal with Saudi Arabia. And hundreds of positions are unfilled in federal agencies.
Press Play with Madeleine Brand
Why did Jared Kushner want a back channel with Russians? News broke Friday that President Trump’s son-in-law and senior advisor, Jared Kushner, tried setting up a back channel between the Trump transition team and the Russian government. What are the consequences for Kushner, President Trump, and the investigation into Russian meddling?