Lauren Miller Rogen, Seth Rogen and Abbi Jacobson discuss two TIFF films, ‘Tangles’ and ‘Babies,’ with The Ankler’s Katey Rich at Ankler Studios at TIFF. Lauren Miller Rogen directs ‘Babies,’ a comedy starring Seth Rogen and Anna Kendrick, and is also a producer on ‘Tangles,’ the animated adaptation of Sarah Leavitt’s graphic memoir about her family’s experience with her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease. Abbi Jacobson is part of the ‘Tangles’ voice cast.
Miller Rogen discusses the personal experiences behind both projects and why comedy and painful subject matter can strengthen each other. Jacobson talks about being drawn to ‘Tangles’ because of the way it confronts Alzheimer’s while finding humor within a family living through the disease. Seth Rogen reflects on being directed by his wife and the creative environment they built together on ‘Babies.’
The three also discuss bringing comedy performers into more dramatic territory, assembling the casts of both films and the unusually collaborative voice-recording process on ‘Tangles.’ Seth Rogen explains why he now pushes for animation casts to record together whenever possible, a process he has also used on the ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ films.
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00:00 Lauren Miller Rogen on the creative philosophy behind ‘Babies’
00:45 Abbi Jacobson and Seth Rogen on getting the work right
01:30 What ‘Tangles’ and ‘Babies’ have in common
01:49 Lauren Miller Rogen on turning difficult experiences into comedy
02:30 Abbi Jacobson on confronting Alzheimer’s in ‘Tangles’
03:07 Seth Rogen on being directed by Lauren Miller Rogen
04:02 Building the casts of ‘Tangles’ and ‘Babies’
04:40 Finding comedy alongside sadness
05:15 Abbi Jacobson on stretching beyond comedy in ‘Tangles’
05:52 The physical work behind voice acting
06:28 Why the ‘Tangles’ cast recorded together
06:50 Seth Rogen wants animation actors in the same room
07:07 Bringing the ‘Ninja Turtles’ recording process to ‘Tangles’