Jason Lucas of bicoastal Union has edited comedy spots for directors like Frank Todaro (Honda/RPA), Jeff Bitsack (Build.com/Vitro), and Nick & Charles (Amazon/XCM). At the same time, he has performed standup comedy on the regular at the famed Comedy Store. These two worlds come together in his latest project, ANY ASSHOLE, the short film directing debut of longtime standup Jay Larson. Produced by Tim Case and heralding Larson’s arrival as a spot director in the Supply & Demand lineup, ANY ASSHOLE stars Larson alongside Joel McHale, Kumail Nanjiani, Blake Griffin, Hannibal Buress, Neal Brennan, Johnny Knoxville, Sarah Tiana, and Helen Hong, as he tries to find out if he has what it takes to direct commercials.
"This was one of those projects that seemed like it was too good to be true from the beginning,” beams Lucas, recalling that Union Partner/Managing Director Michael Raimondi told him an editor was needed for a short film being shot by Jay Larson, a director that Supply & Demand just signed. “I was thinking, ‘Is this the same Jay Larson I've done stand up comedy with at the Comedy Store?' Turns out it was. Then I saw the script and could hear it in Jay's voice with that thick Boston accent hitting every line.”
The 6:30 film accomplishes a high-wire act of sorts, conveying Larson’s directorial chops, while utilizing some very well-known faces in a way that is fresh, organic, and entertaining. “I had a lot of great footage to work with,” Lucas says. “Almost every take was a good one since the talent we were working with were some of the funniest people in the business.” One surprise: basketball star Blake Griffin. “Most athletes who try to act are awful. Blake was hilarious. He got who his character was and nailed it.” In the assembly, says Lucas, “I offered Jay and Tim a few different ways to tell that story until we found the perfect flow and structure."
“As a kid, commercials were a huge part of entertainment. ‘Time to Make the Doughnuts’ and ‘Where’s the Beef?’ were taglines that defined my childhood,” Larson explains. “SNL would always parody commercials and the Superbowl became The Superbowl for commercials. As a comedian and sketch comedy writer/director I always wanted to get into commercial directing, I just didn’t know how. I had written a bunch of spec spots and was hired a few times to write some copy. Finally one day I realized that I could take my experience in short films and sketch comedy as a tool to get me into the commercial directing world, and that’s what I did. Sometimes they don’t let you in the front door, or the side door, or the back door, so you need to climb the fire escape and get in through the roof.”
“For the last 24 years the two most important things in my life, aside from my wife and kids, are my Comedy Store family and Union Editorial family,” Lucas concludes. “It was a very special moment to see them come together.”
