Family, friends and colleagues share their experiences with the mad genius in the new documentary from the Safdie brothers.
Andy Kaufman’s legacy is fascinating, considering the tumultuous path of his career. In his heyday, people were both entertained and shocked at his unconventional humor. The joke was almost always played on the audience. Now, Josh and Benny Safdie executive produce Thank You Very Much along with Won’t You Be My Neighbor‘s Morgan Neville. Thank You Very Much is the new documentary that hopes to explore the bizarre and funny world of Andy Kaufman and his alter egos. The trailer has been released from Drafthouse Films and is due to be released in select theaters and digital on March 28.
The official synopsis of the documentary reads,
“Andy Kaufman’s provocative comedy often outraged audiences, challenging them to confront their own presumptions. Through never-before-seen footage and intimate recollections, filmmaker Alex Braverman explores Kaufman’s brief but impactful life and career. As the lines between performance and reality blur in our present age, Kaufman’s genius resonates more than ever.”
IndieWire reports that the film’s director, Alex Braverman, uses a number of never-before-seen archival footage and the doc will feature interviews with the friends, family, and colleagues of Kaufman’s as they reflect on their time with Andy. The footage spans from sets at the Hollywood Improv to the set of Taxi. Thank You Very Much has been in the works ever since 2016. The movie is produced by Lauren Belfer, Joe Plummer, and director Braverman. The executive producers on the project include Jenifer Westphal, Chuck Braverman, Morgan Neville, Caitrin Rogers, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Ronald Bronstein, and Rick Rubin.
Braverman cites Josh Safdie as the driving force for this movie, saying, “Josh Safdie was one of the first people I reached out to when I was trying to get this off the ground. On social media, he would sometimes post pictures of Andy, and I was a huge fan of [Safdie’s] Good Time and Heaven Knows What, so I sent him some interview footage I had shot. He wrote back in less than 40 minutes. Eventually, Wavelength saw the material and understood the vision, putting me in touch with Morgan Neville because they had worked together on Won’t You Be My Neighbor? I worked in the Tremolo production office putting this film together, and it was a total gift being able to pop my head into Morgan’s office and bat around creative ideas.”
