← The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
The Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller & Adam Scott
S1EP6: Hide and Seek (with Geoff Richman)
01:03:00
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- [00:00]
Ben Stiller
This episode of the Severance Podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott is brought to you by Confluence by Atlassian, the connected workspace where teams can create, organize, and deliver work like never before. Set knowledge free with Confluence. Hi, I'm Ben Stiller.
- [00:18]
Adam Scott
I'm Adam Scott, and this is the.
- [00:20]
Ben Stiller
Severance Podcast with Ben and Adam, where we break down every single episode of Severance.
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Adam Scott
Today, we're recapping season one, episode six, hide and Seek, written by Amanda Overton and directed by Aoife McCardle. Ben, before we jump in, how are things?
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Ben Stiller
I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good. I feel like we're, you know, at episode six, so we kind of, you know, we're going into the sort of the back half of the season here as we retrace our steps and our experience as we explore the past, the recent past. That in a weird way, having been working on season two, I feel like we're a little bit disconnected from the process of making season one. Yeah, I feel like season two is so fresh in my mind. But I think what I'm excited about today is that we have our editor, Jeff Richmond, with us, who I consider to be a repository of all knowledge and memories, and he just has a mind that just will remember everything that happened.
- [01:24]
Adam Scott
Yeah. Jeff is incredible. And I gotta say, there were a couple moments, I feel, similarly, that it's been so long since we made season one, and we're really deep into it, that there were a couple moments watching this hide and seek where I just got really excited. I had forgotten these, like, big moments and these kind of rousing moments and, like, us all walking down the hall together, and it's all these, like, relatively. You know, when you look at the macro, it's a relatively small moment and small move, but. But in this world, it's a huge deal. And I just got so excited for these characters, and it's just been fun going through it. And we're at episode six now, which means we're getting closer and closer to season two coming out, which is exciting.
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Ben Stiller
January 17th.
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Adam Scott
Yeah, that's right.
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Ben Stiller
Very exciting. And Jeff is here. And just by way of introduction, Jeff and I met because we did escape at Dannemora together. Jeff's been nominated for an Emmy three times, twice for Severance and another time for Tiger King, which I didn't even realize. Wow, Jeff, when did you do Tiger King?
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Jeff Richmond
That was. Oh, my God. The years are blurring together.
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Ben Stiller
I've just said you have an incredible memory, and you're a repository for all knowledge.
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Jeff Richmond
This is me putting the kibosh on that right away. So we don't. I came onto the Tiger King was being edited for years, and I came on and like, the last, I don't know, handful of months of the edit. So it was the end of 2019 that I was working on Tiger King.
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Ben Stiller
So, Jeff, I met you when we started doing Escape at Dannemora, but you have done a lot of projects over the years as an editor. You have worked in documentaries a lot. You edited the COVID correct? Yeah, that's right. Academy Award winning documentary that I think is one of the best documentaries I've seen. Fisher Stevens produced. I was very happy that when we met, and I think it was Fisher. And you've worked also with Mike Birbiglia.
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Jeff Richmond
Yeah, that's right.
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Ben Stiller
And both Fisher and Mike recommended you when we were doing Escape, and we've been working together pretty much ever since. And could you explain to people what it is, what your responsibilities as an editor are for people who don't know how it works in putting together?
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Jeff Richmond
I mean, basically, it's sort of like the last step in the storytelling process where we're taking the writing, the performances, the camera work, the lighting, the sound effects, the music, and kind of like putting it all together so that the story unfolds in the best way possible. That's sort of the simple version, but then there's like the sort of, like the side of editing that's hard to describe, even, like, while you're doing it, which is the effect of, like, putting shots together in a certain order with a certain rhythm, or putting scenes in a certain order that creates a feeling that was never there before. And that's the process that's sort of like finding the best way to put these performances and these scenes in an order that creates the feeling that you're going for, so that you're invested with the characters and that you're feeling what they're feeling and you're absorbed in the world of the story.
- [04:45]
Adam Scott
Yeah. So you're either creating something that wasn't there or replicating something that was there and making sure it feels how you guys want it to feel and look and everything. It's taking everything, gathering it and turning it into one thing, essentially.
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Jeff Richmond
Yeah, I mean, that's a big part of the thing is, like, you read something on the page and you feel something when you're reading it, and then you put it up on screen in a certain way and it just doesn't have the feeling that you want. So a big part of the process is discovering the ways to cut it so that it brings out the feeling that you're trying to go for. And some of that is trial and error. And, like, it's sort of this weird, mysterious effect of juxtaposing shots or scenes in a certain way that just creates a spark or a feeling that you just can't always predict. So that's the fun part of the process.
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Ben Stiller
The director editor relationship, I think, is such a specific and unique one. I. I think when you're making something as a director, in the beginning, it's sort of three phases. And you have the prep, where you're getting ready to shoot. That goes on for months and months and months. Then you have the shooting period, which goes on for months and months and months. And then you have the editing period, which also goes on for a long time. And during those different phases, as a director, you're bonding, I think, with different people in the process. Along the way. In the prep phase, I find you're bonding with a production designer first, because you have to really be talking about these environments and these sets and the look of what you're going to be filming. And then as you go into shooting, you're really connecting with your cinematographer because you have to work every day together to get these shots. And then finally, when you finish the shoot, you are in the room with the editor. And that's the final sort of phase where you are putting it all together, as you were saying. And that relationship is just so. I think it's a very sensitive one, at least from my point of view, because you're in a room. And by the way, post Covid, we did a lot of editing remotely on the show, where I'd be home, you'd be home, and we'd be going through a server, but we wouldn't be in the same place. But we've gotten used to editing remotely together. But you have to have a. First of all, the ability just to be with somebody for a long period of time. That's one of the main things, right? Yeah.
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Jeff Richmond
I mean, yeah, it's like a very intimate, safe place. I mean, especially, like, for you coming from set, where, like, it's just a lot of stress and a lot of, like. There's like a ticking clock all the time. And I think, like, the editing room just is this place where you can kind of put that aside and just like, focus on, like, trying different things and experimenting. And, like, it's okay to mess up. And, like, there's just. It's just a different sort of comfort level that I think that you have in the editing room.
- [07:38]
Ben Stiller
It's where you're aiming to get to when you're making a movie or show. You're aiming to get to the editing room, at least how I feel. And you want to arm yourself with enough pieces, shots to create scenes and sequences so that when you get to the editing room, the editor will look at you and go, okay, you know, I had a lot of fun playing around with this. You don't want the editor to look at you and go, like, I wish I had a shot of Mark opening that door. You know? And that's. That's. And, you know, when you're making it too, you know, you'll call up sometimes when you see the dailies or say, like, hey, I didn't see a shot of Mark opening the door. And then, you know, oh, yeah, we didn't get that. We have to get it. But for me, it really is my favorite part of the process. I think, sitting in an editing room with you working on something that we've been working on with no time pressure that, like, you have on a set of other, you know, having 150 people on the clock and all those things. It's just. It's very. It's a very, like you said, warm space. And I think it's so much fun to put this stuff together and to figure out what the feeling is of the scene and the music and the performance. And going through performance and figuring out the pacing and the tone and all of that stuff is really, like, what we spend a lot of time doing.
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Adam Scott
What is it about this particular director, editor relationship? Why does it work so well?
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Jeff Richmond
For me, I think it's like there is something that you just gain by working together for a certain number of years. Like, a level of trust in the other person's. You have sort of the similar sensibilities, so you kind of develop a shorthand. And there's also the trust in knowing that you can kind of go down different roads. And that you're all still sort of going towards the same place. Like, you're still. You're all working on the same film or the same show, the same story. And there's, like, a connection that allows you to be a little bit more free and, like, experiment more. So that when Ben says he's thinking of a scene in a certain way, I assume he understands. He knows that I know what he means by that. I mean, I'm speaking for you now. But it doesn't scare you if you see five out of the six things not hitting the mark. Because it's like you understand what. That the intention is there and that we're sort of speaking the same language.
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Ben Stiller
Yeah, yeah. And that process, I think, is so important to try things. And when you're in sync with each other, it's great. But you're also questioning each other too. And those questions can be talked about in theory, or you can just try them. And I've always been much better at just trying something as opposed to talking about the theory of, like, well, maybe we shouldn't cut to Mark opening the door there, because it'd be more interesting to see Cobell just watching him. You could talk about that for five minutes or Jeff could just literally do it in like five seconds and then you can look at it and see. And a lot of editors I found like to talk about stuff and, you know, or theorize. And for me it's like, well, let's just. Let's just actually do it. And the one thing I'll say about you, Jeff, without trying to, you know, embarrassing you or anything, but, like, technically, what I think is so amazing about Jeff is he's so technically proficient and creatively thoughtful that I'm thinking about an idea in a creative way. But Jeff knows how to translate that technically into trying these incredibly complicated things, sometimes in terms of music and sound and imagery. And now Teddy and Jeff have been working together for five years on the show now too. So they really have a great shorthand and way of Teddy being able to deliver music and Jeff being able to sort of separate out some of the tracks. They're called stems. And he can use maybe just one element or take out maybe the low end sound or there's some sort of other instrument that he can experiment with to create a feeling.
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Adam Scott
So you and Teddy have this other relationship where you're trusting each other and are kind of creatively aligned as well.
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Jeff Richmond
Yeah. And that is the. It kind of built up over time is sort of like, we can sort of like, he can send a cue that maybe isn't working the way that we want it to for the scene. And, like, it's easy to have a conversation where it's not like, this doesn't work, this doesn't work. It's more like just talking about, like, where it falls apart and there's like an instant understanding like, oh, I get what you're saying. Oh, yeah, it was working up to this point. And by saying, this is where it falls apart, I completely understand now what's not working. And what you're actually going for. And that's sort of just sort of a synchronicity that's built up over time.
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Ben Stiller
And a lack of ego, too, I think, in the work. Because at this point, everybody. We all are headed toward the same goal. There's no question about whether somebody's doing something that's good or not. And it's all. We're all just sort of trying to work towards the same end. But, Jeff, you have always wanted to be an editor. Just before we start talking about the episode, I'm just curious, like, how you came to this and what made you want to do this.
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Jeff Richmond
I did. I mean, I was editing together, like, movies, like, with two VCRs in my bedroom growing up. And, like, I went to NYU film school and sort of like entering the film school, I sort of had this idea of, like, I'll direct and write. But then very quickly just started editing my own films and my friends films and just kind of being an editor. And by the time I came out of school, that's all I was doing.
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Adam Scott
I remember the two VCR editing that was. That's really hard.
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Jeff Richmond
Getting the record and the play pause and hitting it so that they start.
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Ben Stiller
Yeah. One of the first things I ever edited that I showed to people after I was a kid, I did that when I was about 20 years old on two VCRs. I mean, we lived in that era of. I mean, it's the severance era, really. Right. I mean, in terms of the technology a little bit.
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Jeff Richmond
Yeah. Where you see the little glitch on every cut. Because it doesn't. Yeah.
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Ben Stiller
And what do you think is the most important thing to know as an editor? Like, what is the most important element of being a good editor in your mind?
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Jeff Richmond
I think the biggest thing you learn over time is the process is sort of like the film and the project could be different, but drastically. But the process sort of stays the same, where it's like, you have to know that it's okay not to know where you're going. That's like, you have to keep trying different things. You keep building the parts. You're putting it together in the way that you think works best in that moment. Knowing that when you put it together, you're just gonna discover what doesn't work about it and then move forward from there. And I think, like, the more you do it, the less disheartened you get when things are not playing the way you wanted them to. Because that's just. That's the process.
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Ben Stiller
By the Way, I feel like that's very akin to what directing is, too, is being aware in the moment of what's working and what isn't working and adjusting from there. I also think you think as a writer, as an editor, too, a lot. I mean, you're very aware, besides just the technical aspects of how a scene is working or not just in terms of the story. And I think that's incredibly, incredibly important as an editor of movies or television shows, of being able to track the story and really how where you are in the story affects what the scene is in terms of how you play the scene, in terms of pacing, in terms of the choices of what the scene feels like. All of that is fit into a context that's already there that really affects what that scene is gonna be.
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Jeff Richmond
Oh, and context is everything, Claesy. You can have a scene that's brilliantly put together, that falls completely flat if it's in the wrong context. And that's like, it's all about the structure of the episode or whatever. I mean, every scene is handing off a feeling to the next scene, and that plays a huge part in the process.
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Adam Scott
Yeah. Just to reiterate what Ben was saying, Jeff, is. I found that you're so creatively engaged in the show that going into season two, just having general story conversations, it was always additive and valuable to have you be a part of those conversations too, because you just have such a sense of the big macro view of the show, but also just the feelings inside the show and how it looked, just everything. So, yeah, you're a huge part of it.
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Jeff Richmond
It was really fun to be part of those conversations.
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Ben Stiller
As an editor, that's an advantage also, in a way, because you're experiencing everything without the context of what. The conversations on set and what we're, you know, and seeing what's going on. You're just getting this raw footage and, you know, knowing what the script is and you're looking at it and going, like, okay, is this making sense for me, not being in those conversations and being a part of that making of it and that. And that's really important because you're really the audience. You're the first audience.
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Jeff Richmond
Yeah. It doesn't matter, like, how much money or time was put into a shot. It's either it works or it doesn't work. And so you see that, which can.
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Ben Stiller
Be very frustrating sometime when you put a lot of time and money into a shot. And Jeff is like, yeah, but it doesn't work.
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Adam Scott
Yeah. And, Jeff, before we jump into the episode, Was there anything particularly challenging about episode six that you remember when you guys were cutting it together?
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Jeff Richmond
I think it's actually what we were just talking about. It's like finding the right sequence to create that build. Like, when you look at episode six now, it seems like a pretty straight line for certainly the first half of the episode, and then the second half, it's just like everything sort of feels like it organically hands off from one thing to the next. But I remember me and Erica, the other editor on the show, that was something we worked a lot at, trying to find the right order of things and the right way to present things so that it has that effect.
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Ben Stiller
Yeah, I think it's important to talk about that too, as we go along, because for people who are fans of the show and you see it and you go, okay, I really like that show. Just to know that the process on making something like this, it's not simple always, and there's a lot of trial and error, and I think something can be written really well. But when you actually see it filmed and you do the scene, sometimes in a show like this, where the tone is always sort of something that we're defining and the story, we're trying to be both mysterious and also move it forward, that there. You have to figure that out as you go along. And it can be a messy process sometimes in terms of creatively, which is okay.
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Adam Scott
And we'll be right back. At Lumen, things are not always what they seem. Mark, Dylan, Helly and Irving in MDR make a great team. But what else lies beyond the four white walls of their department? There seem to be more questions than answers as the secrets of Lumen are slowly revealed.
- [19:12]
Ben Stiller
There's definitely a lot more going on than you see. It's a little bit creepy.
- [19:16]
Adam Scott
I agree. There are more Q's than A's in this place.
- [19:19]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, for sure.
- [19:20]
Adam Scott
But luckily, your workplace doesn't have to be so dysfunctional. Thanks to To Confluence by Atlassian.
- [19:26]
Ben Stiller
I feel like something like Confluence could really help those severed workers. You know, they're kind of always organizing and trying to come up with group ideas and things that need organization and back and forth and a lot of creative interaction in the workspace.
- [19:41]
Adam Scott
Confluence is the connected workspace, where teams can collaborate and create like never before, where teams have easy access to the relevant pages and resources their projects call for, while discovering important context they didn't even know they needed. A space where AI streamlines the things that normally eat up their time, letting teams generate, organize, and deliver work faster in Fact. With Confluence, teams can see a 5.2% average boost in productivity in one year.
- [20:12]
Ben Stiller
I think any boost in productivity, especially with a group like the severed group, imagine how many more files they could complete complete if they had Confluence.
- [20:21]
Adam Scott
Set knowledge free with Confluence. Learn more at atlassian.com confluence that's a T L a S S I-a n.com C-O-N-F l u e-n c e.
- [20:41]
Ben Stiller
For the past three seasons of Gone south, we've covered one story per season. We tried to figure out who killed Margaret Coon.
- [20:48]
Adam Scott
Did you tell me, I'm gonna kill you?
- [20:49]
Jeff Richmond
I said, well, do it, bitch.
- [20:51]
Ben Stiller
Go ahead and do it. We delved into the violent world of the Dixie Mafia.
- [20:56]
Adam Scott
I'm an outlaw, and I was a thief, but I'm far from being the psychotic nutcase that I've been made out to be.
- [21:04]
Ben Stiller
And we tracked a serial killer in Laredo, Texas.
- [21:07]
Jeff Richmond
Just turn around. Please turn around.
- [21:10]
Adam Scott
Hey, hey, hey, hey.
- [21:14]
Ben Stiller
Now, Gone south is back for a fourth season, but this time we're doing things a little differently.
- [21:20]
Jeff Richmond
So in gone South Season 4, we'll.
- [21:23]
Ben Stiller
Be bringing you new stories every week with no end in sight.
- [21:27]
Jeff Richmond
I'm Jed Lipinski.
- [21:29]
Ben Stiller
Welcome back to Gone south, an Odyssey original podcast. Listen and follow now on the free.
- [21:34]
Jeff Richmond
Odyssey app or wherever you get your.
- [21:36]
Ben Stiller
Podcasts for new episodes every week. Okay, so we begin episode six in the home of Mrs. Selvig. We learn that she's living in the basement and in a very austere, sort of kind of a 50s military hospital like bed. And we see this shrine, the shrine to Kir, which, you know, this was because a lot of fans have really pulled out the specifics of what's in this shrine. And this was Cat Miller, our props master. And at the time, also Jeff Mann was involved in this in terms of creating what this would be and what information we would give the audience. Not really knowing that people would delve so deeply into this, but, you know, kind of hoping people would. But some of the things that are in the shrine. Adam.
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Adam Scott
Yeah, there's a bunch of stuff. There is a portrait of Kir. There is a canister of Lumen Industries topical Sal. There's a photo of a young Cobell outside the Myrtle Egan School for Girls. There are framed awards that Cobell won for being the most observant and for best use of mealtime condiments, a tube that says Charlotte Cobell. Date of birth 3, 1744. A model of a building, an old Lumen poster that's a Visual depiction of work life, balance that also says, imagine yourself as a seesaw. Do not allow yourself to snap between the weight of your stressful and unbalanced life.
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Ben Stiller
Isn't that something you say to her in that first episode, Adam?
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Adam Scott
Yeah, I say when you're.
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Ben Stiller
When you're doing the intake with her.
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Adam Scott
I'm trying to get back on track with Heli, and I say, imagine yourself as a seesaw. And then she grabs the book away from me.
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Ben Stiller
Right, right. Yeah.
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Adam Scott
So this is all really interesting. The tube. I think it's a tube, like a breathing tube, but then kind of wrapped around it is a hospital bracelet that says Charlotte Cobell, DOB 3 1744. So we don't know exactly who this is, although obviously they have the same surname as Harmony.
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Ben Stiller
Yep. Yeah. There's some interesting little tidbits in that shrine. And you get the sense that this is, you know, her private space where she. Where she prays and where she kind of meditates on her connection to Kir. And at the same time as we're seeing all that, we're also getting this call from Graynor, who's letting her know that he's tracked the chip to Rigabe. And then, you know, we're sort of kicked off into the episode. I mean, I feel like Cobell's secret life or her personal life is something that it's very. To me, it's always interesting, you know, what her actual home life is. Why is she being Mrs. Selvig? And it's something that we don't ever really give too many clear answers to. I think it's important, though, that, you know that what she's doing is obviously something that's like her own mission. And I think we get the feeling that she's kind of doing this outside of what, you know, her actual official duties are.
- [25:02]
Adam Scott
So it does seem like she's living down in this space. Right. Does that mean that everything up above is somewhat of a model home? There's somewhat of a performance as Selvig, and this is her real living space.
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Ben Stiller
That was my feeling, is that this is sort of an interesting reveal, that she's kind of created this very almost aesthetic, simple, kind of almost monk like situation down there. Obviously, we've seen the kitchen upstairs, which is a mess. So she's not really.
- [25:35]
Adam Scott
That's right.
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Ben Stiller
I think. Yeah. Like, why would she be living alone in that townhouse in the basement? But other than that's where she feels most comfortable. And I think we're trying to tell the audience Something about her inner life and her private sort of devotion to Kir and to Lumen in a way, too. I mean, Lumen and Kir are kind of connected. But I think that's also a question that comes up during the season. Is her devotion to Kir versus her devotion to the company or her loyalty to the company. Which is an interesting question that we're always thinking about. But I guess tonally, when you go from something like this to the next next scene, you know, just in terms of transitions. And I think that's something that is really important in the editing of a show or a movie are the transitions. And this transition that goes from here to then Mark finding. Going to the phone in his basement. In a way, the transition there is kind of almost like a corollary from basement to basement.
- [26:39]
Jeff Richmond
Yeah.
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Ben Stiller
And do you think about that, Jeff? You wanna talk about just, like, the difference in types of transitions that we do in the show?
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Jeff Richmond
Yeah, yeah, of course. I mean, it's like. It's all about trying to feel like you're in a run of an idea. So Cobell in the basement. And then the next scene we see is Mark in the basement. Just sort of has this feeling of connective tissue. They're completely different scenes and we're following completely different threads, but there's just a scene feeling of connection. And then when Mark drives off for work, we arrive at Lumen, and it sort of feels like it's handing off to this early morning meeting in the ficus room with Burt and Irving. And that I actually. I remember us trying lots of different combinations in that sequence of scenes up through the Kitchenette scene. Cause the Burton Irving scene actually used to fall later in the episode. And just sort of figuring out a way to kind of enter the story as like this creepy moment with Cobell. And then we have to sort of. We had to reconnect with the phone story thread. And then sort of feeling like we're just starting the day. And so we pulled up Burton Irving early. Cause it just sort of felt like an early meeting. And then once we're in the Kitchenette, that kind of like kicks us off on this very straight line of Where's Ms. Kayce? To the confrontation with Cobell and all that comes after it. And so putting Burton Irving earlier kind of served a couple purposes, both tonally and just sort of like what it provided for the other scenes. Yeah, I mean, don't forget the actual. The Cobell scene used to be the end of episode five, actually.
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Adam Scott
Right, that's right.
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Jeff Richmond
Yeah. And that was. We had such a great moment in the O and D with Dylan and Irving arriving there, that that became the end of the episode. And that bumped Cobell to the next episode, which, when you watch it now, it's like, oh, obviously it's such a great, creepy, cold open. But that was not the original placement of that scene.
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Adam Scott
That's right.
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Ben Stiller
That's right. And that's something that we do quite often reorder scenes sometimes. Or sometimes take a scene from one episode and maybe put it into another. I mean, it doesn't happen a lot, and it's never really the plan, but that is part of this process of telling a whole story over the course of a season. And it's again, coming back to that thing of even if something on the page seems like, okay, that's the end, you know, that's the cliffhanger to the next episode. If it doesn't quite feel right. We have that ability, especially since we're editing all the episodes before we put the whole thing out, that we can still look at everything as a whole and go, wait a minute. It feels like in 5 and 6 here that we're missing something to draw people to the next episode, or there's too much information here. So, you know, that's something that you have to feel free to try and do. And I had not thought about that, too, but that was. I remember that was a big deal for us.
- [29:40]
Jeff Richmond
I mean, and that produced one of the best cues that Teddy ever wrote, which is sort of that coming off of Bert's face, you know, that, like, da, da. Like such a great cue that we use other places now. And that was because there was such a feeling of, like, they come to ond and that feeling of just arriving there, this new space, and that kicks off the credits, and it just felt great.
- [30:01]
Ben Stiller
And I always come back to that. It's like, one of the obvious things, but that I learned, even working with you on Dannemora, is just how important it is to have the end of the episode want to lead you into the next episode. Whatever that version of a cliffhanger or just thought or idea that you want the answer to is gonna just pull you to the next to want to watch it again.
- [30:23]
Adam Scott
I will just say real quick that I think the kitchen scene is really important because it's the first time Dylan really flags something going on between Mark and Helly. And you really see Helly's behavior towards Mark really, like, taking him aback. And he. I feel like it's like, the moment where, like, elementary school feelings. Like, I don't know what this is, but I like it a lot sort of thing, you know?
- [30:55]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, she's paying attention to you. She's kind of flirting with you, but kind of like a tomboy in a way, and it's so obvious.
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Adam Scott
And Dylan's like, dude, what are. What's going on?
- [31:10]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, she's full on, like, firebrand helly. And, yeah, it's exciting. And she says, like, the impression of you is like, that sounds just like me.
- [31:20]
Adam Scott
Yeah, yeah. And then her saying praise Kir on the way out the door is just like the cherry on top, just like, oh, he's completely caught up in this.
- [31:29]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. And, yeah, she sort of gets you a little bit riled up to then go and see Cobell.
- [31:35]
Adam Scott
Right.
- [31:36]
Ben Stiller
And then so you're like, sort of like the kid in the classroom who started to feel his oats a little bit, and then you get put right back in your place when you go in to see Cobell.
- [31:44]
Adam Scott
I push way too hard with Cobell, and it kind of blows up in my face a little bit.
- [31:49]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. Yeah. And then I love that he gets in trouble. So then Mark, you know, goes to Cobell's office because of, I guess, the bad behavior in the last episode, and she's giving him this lecture on accountability. And, you know, Mark, you're starting to feel. I think, you know, this is. To me, in a way, I feel like this episode is sort of about the radicalization of Mark S. For sure.
- [32:16]
Adam Scott
And feelings for Heli start coming more to the surface.
- [32:21]
Ben Stiller
But let's take a listen to this scene where Cobell sort of reams you out in her office.
- [32:26]
Adam Scott
It's not your job to play nursemaid to every new refiner. Okay, so what is my job? Are you really asking me that? Yeah. What is it we actually do here? We serve gear, you child.
- [32:46]
Ben Stiller
And until you get that through your.
- [32:48]
Adam Scott
Mildewed little brain and hit quota, MDR's.
- [32:54]
Jeff Richmond
Hallway privileges are hereby revoked.
- [32:57]
Adam Scott
So get your little ass back to your desk and stay there until you're told to move.
- [33:06]
Ben Stiller
Wow.
- [33:07]
Adam Scott
Yeah.
- [33:07]
Ben Stiller
What I remember about that scene when we were editing it, Jeff, is that it was, you know, such a. An intense moment, and looking at Adam's reactions that, Adam, you were so sensitive and almost. You're like. You're almost on the verge of tears. It's almost like a kid being yelled at.
- [33:28]
Adam Scott
Yeah.
- [33:28]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. By an adult. By a parent or a teacher. For me, I mean, I think we all probably have memories as a kid when something like that happened. To you. And you still feel it to this day. And I felt totally. Yeah. Yeah. I thought you did such a great job with that, because.
- [33:43]
Jeff Richmond
I agree. Yeah. I mean, those reaction shots were just so impactful, so intense. And I mean, those reaction shots carry. Change the trajectory of the story. Like, that is the moment. I mean, all the scenes that come after it and things that come after that kind of. You could point to, like, this moment as a turning point. And the reaction was just so strong.
- [34:06]
Adam Scott
Yeah. But I remember also just trying to figure out the modulation of it, because if it was a full radicalization, it would be a little soon because it's episode six. Right. So it needed to be like you said, Ben, it needed to be like this admonishment from a parent. So by the time he gets back to the office, he yells at Irving for what happened. So he's. It's kind of a see saw, for lack of a better term. He's kind of ebbing back and forth in his allegiances and his mixed feelings about this place and isn't quite sure, but ultimately makes the decision he makes. But it's not. He's not fully in on. Kind of fully. Yeah.
- [34:50]
Ben Stiller
No. But I think across the episode, it starts to happen more and more. And I really do feel that moment is so much of a metaphor for how sort of the chain of command works. Somewhere we see you getting yelled at by your boss, and then you go back and you yell at Irving. And it's so clear that you're reacting to the humiliation that you just experienced from her and then passing it along, you know.
- [35:20]
Adam Scott
Totally.
- [35:21]
Ben Stiller
And that always, for me, was such an illuminating moment of how that works.
- [35:25]
Adam Scott
And you see Irving react to me and he's kind of startled and feels terrible. And, you know, it's just. It's interesting.
- [35:33]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. And then you kind of take that in and then you kind of change your attitude a little bit.
- [35:39]
Adam Scott
Yeah.
- [35:40]
Ben Stiller
And then there's that moment where they all head to O and D and the music kicks in.
- [35:44]
Adam Scott
It's a great cue.
- [35:46]
Ben Stiller
It's a great cue. I remember we sort of discovered that Jeff, didn't we? In terms of, like, the structuring of the episode. That was one of the things that we were kind of playing around with.
- [35:55]
Jeff Richmond
Yeah. We actually tried a lot of different music there and then ended up just like nothing. Was living up to the moment. And Teddy had to write a brand new cue that is just fantastic.
- [36:05]
Adam Scott
It's great.
- [36:14]
Jeff Richmond
Just for that moment. And it's. I mean, it's great.
- [36:17]
Ben Stiller
It's almost Like a. It's. It's, like, very percussive, and it's like almost like a marching bum bum. And I think, you know, of course, then they go in and discover the back room area that Irving had peeked at before. And this is where we sort of begin to see the organization of the two departments, you know, making contact with each other, even though they're both very skeptical of the other. And I really love just sort of when they're talking about what they're doing, their own questions about what they're doing, the O and D people. And Chris Walken is just so great as their. So great, you know, as their leader. You want to take a listen to that?
- [36:55]
Jeff Richmond
Yeah, go on. Surely you must have some questions for them. So it's called macrodata refinement.
- [37:09]
Ben Stiller
What do you refine?
- [37:15]
Jeff Richmond
Is that a watering can? We think it might be supplies for the executive wing upstairs. Then again, last week's outfit had more of an aggressive feel. The hatchets weren't aggressive hatchets.
- [37:33]
Adam Scott
We've been trying to figure out how it all fits together. We found a department the opposite way from here that's, well, raising baby goats.
- [37:45]
Jeff Richmond
Raising baby goats.
- [37:47]
Ben Stiller
Just listening to that, I'm taken by how much space and air there is between lines. We're not exactly a Howard Hawks movie on the show.
- [37:56]
Adam Scott
Yeah, that's Rachel Addington as Elizabeth and Claudia Robinson as Felicia. They're both great.
- [38:05]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. And then so while that's happening, Dylan sort of sneaks off and steals a little card from one of the areas they've been making stuff. And it looks like an instructional sort of illustration from, like, maybe like a CPR or Heimlich maneuver poster or something. But instead, it seems almost vaguely violent, like how to whip your arms around landing in a businessman's sternum.
- [38:30]
Adam Scott
It's very weird.
- [38:30]
Ben Stiller
Jeff, do you have any theories about what that is, what that card means?
- [38:33]
Jeff Richmond
What I was thinking while we were editing this is that it almost feels like Lumen's kind of like building an army, because you've got, like. They're making hatchets and there's instructions on, like, self defense or something. And it's. It has sort of a weird, militant kind of vibe to it.
- [38:47]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, but yet they're, like, dressed like businessmen in the cards.
- [38:51]
Jeff Richmond
Yes. I mean, everything is weird with Lumen.
- [38:55]
Adam Scott
I remember shooting this scene. I had this, like, the little speech at the end of the scene, and I was a little unsure about it. I just wasn't sure how to attack it and how to do it. So I asked If I could go last, because we go through and shoot everyone's singles throughout the day. You just kind of pop each person off throughout the day. And I usually like to go last because I like to get as many runs at it before I'm on camera by myself saying my lines. And so John thinks I'm crazy for wanting to do that because he likes to go early so he can have it, be fresh and stuff. But I like to. To wait.
- [39:29]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. I have to say that's kind of an interesting. I know you obviously, I know you like it that way because we've been doing it for a while. And it's interesting because I think it's. For me, if I did that. It's a little bit risky sometimes, I think for me, because I feel like sometimes you're out of gas by the end too. Not you, me. I'm just. But you seem to do well with that.
- [39:50]
Adam Scott
Oh, no, it's backfired a few times, that's for sure. But with this.
- [39:55]
Ben Stiller
It's a strange thing with that, isn't it?
- [39:57]
Adam Scott
It is weird. It's sort of. Kind of. It's sort rolling the dice a little bit, especially with a scene like this, because there's so many people to get singles of. But I was also freaked out because Christopher Walken was there. And I had this speech that wasn't long or anything, but it had to have a certain quality to it. And I wasn't sure how to do it. But throughout the day we were doing it over and over again. And I finally thought I kind of figured it out and finally we'd do it. And the scene's over. And I remember kind of feeling like it was okay, but I wasn't sure. And Walken walked by me. He kind of walked behind me as he was passing me. And as he did, he just grabbed my elbow and gave it a squeeze and kept going. And that was everything. That was all I needed. It was incredible. Just the best.
- [40:49]
Ben Stiller
That's the best.
- [40:50]
Adam Scott
Yeah.
- [40:51]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, that's the best. All right. Well, that feels like a good place to take a break. And we'll be right back after this. Severing from your work self for your life self is scary. But you know what's even more frightening? Getting severed from your parents insurance policy. State Farm wants to help. State Farm serves you not care. Your agent is here to help support you when it's time to get your own policy. With so much to learn about insurance, you may start asking, what do they actually do there? But when you work with a State Farm agent to get off your parents policy Someone is there to help explain the insurance process and help you choose what fits for you. And if things get complicated, State Farm gives you lots of ways to get help too. Whether you prefer in person, over the phone, on statefarm.com or through the app, it's your policy. So State Farm has options for the youur. It's time to get off your parents insurance and into your own. Find out how State Farm can help@statefarm.com severance that's statefarm.com severance to get started. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
- [42:07]
Adam Scott
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- [44:10]
Ben Stiller
So basically, Miltrick shows up after that in the Back room at O and D. And then you guys all get in trouble with Cobell, and she sings to you, which is one of my favorite Patricia moments. She sings the Kier Hymn to you in a way that's meant to be punitive, and then later hums it as.
- [44:30]
Adam Scott
She'S comforting the baby.
- [44:31]
Ben Stiller
Well, that's even weirder. Yes, yes. I mean, that's full on hand that rocks the cradle. She's Rosemary's baby. It's all different things going on with her holding that baby. But then we see you in the outieverse, and you're on a date with Alexa, who's Devin's doula.
- [44:53]
Adam Scott
Nicky James.
- [44:54]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. And you know she's given you a second chance, right?
- [44:58]
Adam Scott
Yeah.
- [44:59]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. She's pretty kind, I think, surprising based on the way you treated her. Yeah. And she notices your swollen knuckles. So we see that something happened in the break room, maybe that involved your knuckles.
- [45:11]
Adam Scott
Yeah. And Marc says it's some accident involving a water jug, or at least that's what they tell me. So he seems to have some awareness that there might be some bullshit coming his way from Lumen. At least that's the way he's playing it off to her.
- [45:30]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it's pretty weird and chilling. That cut from your hand on the door to the break room to your. Your swollen knuckles. It's just an intimation that there's definitely some, you know, some sort of violent things happening.
- [45:45]
Adam Scott
Yeah.
- [45:45]
Ben Stiller
With you. So then you guys end up at a. Like a punk show in Kier. An outdoor punk show in Kier that June, Petey's daughter, her band is playing at.
- [45:58]
Adam Scott
Yeah, I recognize her on a poster. And for whatever reason, Mark wants to go to this, and it's sort of this weird need that brought him to Petey's funeral in the first place. He's just sort of drawn to this family. I think it's a bunch of mixed up feelings of guilt and all kinds of stuff that's sort of making him want to continue contact with this family.
- [46:24]
Ben Stiller
And then you get to this punk show where the punk band is singing basically like this sort of anti Lumen song. Fuck you, Lumen.
- [46:34]
Adam Scott
Yeah.
- [46:35]
Ben Stiller
And this is, to me, also another place where we start to see you again, getting more and more indoctrinated into this idea of being willing to kind of. And this is Audi Mark. But still, it's like I look at kind of both Audi Mark and Eddie Mark are going through this process concurrently in different ways. But you're starting to be able to say out loud. Fuck you, Lumen. In a group of people.
- [47:00]
Adam Scott
Yeah. There's hints of it on the date when he seems self aware about Lumen and how kind of creepy it might be. And then, yeah, at this punk show, he fully kind of starts yelling, fuck you, Lumen. And I feel like part of it is you're there and you don't want to seem uncool. So of course you're gonna say this, but I think there's something to it that he starts repeating it and Alexa and he start yelling it out loud. And it feels good for one reason or the other.
- [47:27]
Ben Stiller
And you kind of connect over that, really, and you end up going home together, which is, you know, it feels like there's kind of a little bit of a breakthrough there.
- [47:35]
Adam Scott
It's a big deal. It's a big deal for Audi Mark to be moving on like this. I think the rock show itself looks really cool. And this is something that I think shows get wrong or movies get wrong all the time of live music and kind of a punk band or whatever. Sometimes it just feels cheesy and off. But this has a really. I always thought this felt authentic and cool and had a real feeling to it.
- [48:02]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. That was Aoife. Aoife McCardle, who directed the episode. She's from Ireland. She comes out of music videos and commercials. And I think it was very important for her to find a real band and to be able to just make sure all of the atmosphere, the people who were there at the concert felt authentic in this version of what a punk band in the town of Kier would be in the world of our show. And I love that sort of idea that there's this sort of cultural sort of awareness of severance and this kind of antipathy that's coming out in the rebellion that's happening within the culture towards severance.
- [48:44]
Jeff Richmond
I just love that side of the story that's like. Like in the dinner scene in episode one or the Whole Mind Collective. Just this sense that it's. There's an opinion about the severance procedure in the public, that it just makes the world so much bigger, seeing it from that perspective.
- [49:00]
Adam Scott
Yeah, it's creating its own culture and its own backlash and all of this. And we should also say the great Cassidy La as June is terrific.
- [49:11]
Ben Stiller
Yes, yes. And she's, like, playing guitar and just really. And Michael Chayazo is the lead singer of the punk band.
- [49:19]
Adam Scott
He's really good.
- [49:20]
Ben Stiller
He's great. Yeah. And I think that's an important part of the world of the show, is the Awareness of severance in the society and in culture. And we've always talked about that a lot, about how much to balance that in the story in terms of being the awareness of it in the world, but also not wanting to go down paths that would take us away from, you know, the core story of the characters. Because there's a version of it where you could really go and follow, you know, the state senator and what's going on and all of that. And that's important. But at this point, we're really wanting to stay with Mark's story. And then we're in the closet, and Milchick is basically awakening Dylan's innie in Dylan's closet, which we see for the first time Dylan's outie world in some way. We see a little kid watching television, watching a cartoon. And then all of a sudden, Dylan is awake in his closet. And that's a very startling moment. Dylan, I've awoken you at home. I need to know where you put it.
- [50:29]
Jeff Richmond
Where I put what?
- [50:30]
Ben Stiller
The ideographic card you took from O and D. I saw the footage of you taking it. Did you smuggle it out? Is it here? Holy shit.
- [50:37]
Adam Scott
Is this my house?
- [50:38]
Ben Stiller
Dylan, listen, you have no idea how sensitive this information is. If someone paid you to smuggle out that card. No, no, I just.
- [50:46]
Adam Scott
I. I put it in the bathroom, second stall, behind the toilet.
- [50:49]
Ben Stiller
Thank you. I didn't even know what it was. That's fine, too.
- [50:53]
Adam Scott
Daddy. Daddy.
- [50:56]
Ben Stiller
What the fuck? We told you to count to a thousand and wait outside. Is that my kid? End it.
- [51:09]
Adam Scott
Count to a thousand. Jesus.
- [51:14]
Ben Stiller
That's probably why the kid came in, because he couldn't get up to a thousand.
- [51:18]
Adam Scott
Yeah. This is such an important scene. We learn that Dylan has a son, that the card he took was incredibly important and sensitive, obviously, and that the severance transition can actually happen outside of the building. That's a huge, huge moment for all these reasons.
- [51:39]
Ben Stiller
And it's very. Really jarring, I think, too, because all of a sudden there's this intense Milchick in his face. And it's just so disorienting. And of course, you know, this is an important story point that's gonna kick off a lot of events that happened in the last part of the season. But I just love this scene because it was so scary, really, that all of a sudden, when something goes wrong, it kind of reminds me a little bit of when Graynor finds Heli when she's trying to hang herself in the elevator. And the way that he's kind of Just like in this sort of, like, emergency mode of just sort of, like, getting Mark out of there. It's like when something goes bad in this world with this whole system at lumen, it can get messy quickly, and it can get very intense quickly. So it goes from, like, the nice kind of cool, calm Milchick to, like, super intense.
- [52:33]
Adam Scott
Yeah. Now, Ben and Jeff, can you walk us through putting this scene together and the challenges of making this scene work?
- [52:40]
Jeff Richmond
I think, like, it's important to keep in mind that you're in Dylan's perspective. And so the sort of very tight coverage, staying very tight and sort of staying in Dylan's POV and only sort of revealing a wider shot for a moment. But it's like. It's very much, like, claustrophobic and sort of like a. Where am I feeling? That sort of kind of puts you in Dylan's head for this very mysterious new moment.
- [53:08]
Ben Stiller
Also, Zack is doing such a good job in that scene of really just being overwhelmed with this space that he's in. Imagine, you know, Dylan is all of a sudden he's at probably in the elevator, and then all of a sudden he's in his closet. And so he's taking that in the whole time during this scene, and he's answering these questions, but he's never not sort of tripping out on the fact that he's in this world. And then all of a sudden, this little kid comes in and hugs him, and it's like, oh, what is going on? And then Milchick pulls the kid away. And I love the little. The look that the kid does. Looks up at Milchick like, you know, you could just tell he doesn't like him.
- [53:48]
Adam Scott
Yeah. I mean, not only has Dylan never been anywhere but MDR before, he's never seen a kid before. Like, it's all huge, right?
- [53:58]
Ben Stiller
Yeah.
- [53:58]
Jeff Richmond
And there's another moment in this scene where Mark is telling O and D that they saw a department with baby goats. And then I just remember you really feeling very strongly that, like, that it was such a funny moment between Dylan and Helly that we had to have some reference to that in that moment. And we had to actually, like, dig through the takes and just create a moment. We find a reaction from Dylan. We kind of, like rolls his eyes where it's like, okay, fine, it wasn't actually a room with baby goats. And then a moment from heli reacting, but it's all just in facial expressions that we just had to sort of find in the edit to create them both. Dylan reacting to that there was a baby goat room. And Helly reacting to the fact that Dylan now sees that she was telling the truth, just to tie it back to their previous conversation.
- [54:51]
Ben Stiller
And then basically, Mark wakes up in bed with Alexa and has this moment of wanting to get that phone out of the garbage. What do you think's motivating that?
- [55:06]
Adam Scott
Well, after seeing June at the concert, Petey is on his mind. I think it's kind of refreshed, this guilt that he feels and this unanswered question in his life. And I think that, you know, all the stuff Petey was saying about Lumen in episode one and two has just been in the back of his mind. He's compartmental, compartmentalized it away. He's kind of severed it in a way, but it's in his consciousness in life and putting it away, but this refreshed it. And so he's thinking about Petey. He wakes up thinking about it.
- [55:40]
Ben Stiller
And that's a good example of editorially. You know, we just put in this quick shot of Petey dropping down to his knees.
- [55:48]
Adam Scott
Oh, it's hugely helpful.
- [55:50]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. And it's with no sound. And I always find that really affecting editorially. When you can put in an image, sometimes if it is a flashback or a memory or something, just literally with no sound design behind it, it makes it feel like a thought that's happening in that person's head that you're watching. And that really makes a difference there.
- [56:12]
Jeff Richmond
Yeah. The no sound thing, I think I remember, like, initially it was sort of like a. Like a little, like, thing.
- [56:18]
Ben Stiller
Right.
- [56:19]
Jeff Richmond
Taking out the sound. I remember, like, it makes such a difference because it almost makes it more internal.
- [56:24]
Ben Stiller
Yeah, yeah. And then you go downstairs and you fish the phone out of the garbage, and you basically talk to Rigabi for the first time.
- [56:33]
Adam Scott
Yeah. The second I put the battery in the phone, it's just ringing.
- [56:37]
Ben Stiller
Yeah. And I love how Aoife shot that, too, where it's a high, wide shot above you that slowly pushes in and we hold for a very long time. I think tension and mounting sort of feeling of what's going to happen by holding a shot for a long time, that sometimes it's right and sometimes it's not right to do depending. And I think in our show, we sort of have bought ourselves the space to be able to do something like that sometimes where in this world where attention spans are a lot shorter, you kind of have to buy into the fact that people are gonna be drawn in and want to go along with the pacing of the show. Which sometimes is not the quickest on the show.
- [57:24]
Adam Scott
Yeah, yeah.
- [57:26]
Ben Stiller
Do you think about that a lot, Jeff? I mean, just as an editor, in terms of how pacing on this show works?
- [57:32]
Jeff Richmond
Yeah. I mean, the pacing on the show feels always very deliberate, which is not an easy thing to pull off, because if you have moments where you want to hold, you kind of have to earn it in a way. And it kind of depends on a lot of the stuff that's leading up to that. And so it's all great to have a great shot that can hold, but if the stuff surrounding it isn't sort of allowing you to pause and hold, then there's a rhythm to the whole thing beyond just the rhythm within the scene itself. And so the flow has to kind of like, allow you to do that. I feel like on the show, we're always sort of striving to make it feel very deliberate.
- [58:16]
Adam Scott
Right. To make sure everything's earned and there for a reason.
- [58:20]
Ben Stiller
Sure, yeah. And I think there's something in our show, too, where it's sort of the builds that happen on a macro and a micro level. Like, you could say, like, on the macro level of the first season, it sort of starts slower and then sort of ramps up. And I think that's something within a show that has suspense and a thriller aspect to it. You have to figure out when you're building up to something and then when you're sort of then resetting, recalibrating, and letting it build again. Because you can't just do one build the whole time.
- [58:51]
Jeff Richmond
Oh, yeah. Especially when you're, like, on this show in particular, when we're balancing comedy with this darker vibe, the two things sometimes are happening exactly at the same time, which is really interesting in itself. But then a lot of times, it's sort of figuring how we are handing off from one to the other so that it doesn't have this whiplash feeling of, like, wait, what is the show I'm watching now? It's sort of. It all feels like part of a whole, where it's like a release to go into the comedy at just the right moment and sort of like a welcome return to the darker, mysterious stuff at the right moment. And a lot of that is structural, like the ordering of the scenes and the back half of this episode in particular. It's not one continuous build. It's not like you're following one character doing a thing that takes you from one scene to the other. It's a lot of different characters doing different things and trying to find a way so that it feels like one continuous build.
- [59:46]
Ben Stiller
Right, right. That they're interconnected somehow.
- [59:49]
Jeff Richmond
Yeah, yeah. And there's a lot of. I remember trying to find that order that gives that feeling. And so just trying something and seeing where the flow breaks and then trying something else.
- [60:01]
Ben Stiller
And that comes back to the trying stuff where it's just. As opposed to talking about it. Just trying stuff and feeling free to just try things that don't work until you hit on something that feels right. And that being part of the process.
- [60:12]
Jeff Richmond
Yeah. When it clicks and it's like, of course you have to go from this to that. And of course you feel it. It's like a spark that goes off.
- [60:19]
Adam Scott
Well, thank you so much, Jeff, for doing this. This was so great.
- [60:23]
Ben Stiller
Thank you.
- [60:23]
Jeff Richmond
Thank you so much for having me on. This was really fun.
- [60:26]
Adam Scott
That does it for episode six of the Severance podcast with Ben and Adam. Hide and seek.
- [60:32]
Ben Stiller
I'm Ben Stiller.
- [60:33]
Adam Scott
And I'm Adam Scott.
- [60:35]
Ben Stiller
Next up, very exciting. Episode seven, Defiant Jazz. We have some cool guests.
- [60:40]
Adam Scott
Yeah. Who are the guests? Guests?
- [60:41]
Ben Stiller
It's Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell.
- [60:44]
Adam Scott
Whoa. Okay.
- [60:45]
Ben Stiller
I mean, like the master podcaster himself.
- [60:49]
Adam Scott
Oh, I love that. Just as a rhyme. The master podcaster, Master Blaster Podcaster, Master Blaster, Podcaster, and kb. Those are their morning Zoo crew names.
- [60:59]
Ben Stiller
Yes.
- [61:00]
Adam Scott
You can stream all episodes of season one of Severance on Apple TV plus.
- [61:05]
Ben Stiller
Right now and season two's premiering January 17th.
- [61:08]
Adam Scott
You can listen to this podcast on Apple Podcasts, the Odyssey app, or wherever else you love to listen to us. The Severance podcast with Ben Stiller and Adam Scott is a presentation of Odyssey, Pineapple Street Studios, Red Hour Productions, and Great Scott Productions.
- [61:25]
Ben Stiller
If you like the show, be sure to rate and review this podcast on Apple Podcasts, the Odyssey app, or your other podcast platform of choice. Our executive producers are Bari Finkel, Henry Malofsky, Jenna Weiss Berman and Leah Rhys Dennis. The show is produced by Zandra, Ellen and Naomi Scott. This episode was mixed and mastered by Chris Basel. We have additional engineering from Javi Cruces and Davy Sumner.
- [61:48]
Adam Scott
Show clips are courtesy of fifth season music by Theodore Shapiro. Special thanks to the team at Odyssey, Maura Curran, Eric Donnelly, Michael Levegh, Melissa Wester, Matt Casey, Kate Rose, Kirk Courtney and Hilary Schuff.
- [62:04]
Ben Stiller
And the team at Red, John Lesher, Carolina Pesakov, Gian Pablo Antonetti, Martin Valderruten, Ashwin Ramesh, Maria Noto, John Baker and Oliver Agar.
- [62:16]
Adam Scott
And at Great Scott, Kevin Cotter, Josh Martin and Christy Smith. At Rise Management.
- [62:22]
Ben Stiller
We also had additional Production help from guys Gabrielle Lewis, Ben Goldberg, Stephen Key, Kristin Torres, Emmanuel Hapsis, marielexa Kavanaugh, and Melissa Slaughter.
- [62:32]
Adam Scott
I'm Adam Scott. I'm Ben Stiller, and we will see you next time.
- [62:52]
Ben Stiller
Hey, Adam.
- [62:53]
Adam Scott
Yeah?
- [62:53]
Ben Stiller
Is your experience at work a bit dysfunctional lately?
- [62:56]
Adam Scott
I don't know. I think it's. It's okay.
- [62:59]
Ben Stiller
I'll take that as a yes. Your team could undergo a highly controversial surgical procedure that would mercifully sever any and all memories of that work experience from your home lives. Or you could try Confluence by Atlassian.
- [63:11]
Adam Scott
Oh, my God. Well, if it's a choice between those two things, I think I would 100% choose confluence by Atlassian.
- [63:19]
Ben Stiller
Confluence is the connected workspace where teams can collaborate and create like never before, where teams have easy access to the relevant pages and resources their projects call for, while discovering important context they didn't even know they needed. A space where AI streamlines the things that normally eat up their time, letting teams generate, organize, and deliver work faster. In fact, with Confluence, teams can see a 5.22% average boost in productivity in one year.
- [63:44]
Adam Scott
So that would equal out, like, if we're playing with, like, let's just say, 100%, 5.2 of those percentage points. Yeah, that's the improvement.
- [63:53]
Ben Stiller
I mean, I'm not great at math, but that sounds very close.
- [63:56]
Adam Scott
Well, I'm doing the math in my head right now as we speak, and I think that's great.
- [64:00]
Ben Stiller
So why not keep your team unsevered in Confluence, the connected workspace where teams can do it all set, knowledge free with Confluence. Learn more@atlassian.com confluence that's a T L a S S I-a n.com C o n F L U E N C E.