With 99.4 million Instagram followers and counting, Billie Eilish, who just turned 20 years old, is already one of the most popular and critically acclaimed artists of our time. Throughout the world, her music inspires young people who flock to her concerts and know all the lyrics by heart. Renowned filmmaker R.J. Cutler’s definitive new Apple TV+ documentary “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” is an instant classic, earning its place on this year’s Oscar Shortlist.
Joining Mike and Ken from his L.A. home base, R.J. talked about the challenges and joys of creating an intimate documentary portrait of one of pop music’s hottest stars and her family. Why is it so important for R.J. to have final cut on his films, not just for his own sake, but for the benefit of his subjects as well? What was the powerful moment during Billie’s breakthrough Coachella performance that still gets to RJ? By focusing not just on Billie, but also on brother/songwriting partner Finneas and parents, Maggie and Patrick, how did this film end up being, as much as anything, about parenting? And for you fans of “The Office”, how did John Krasinksi indirectly inspire one of the film’s most beautiful moments? (And, yes, Justin Bieber fans, we’ve got you covered, too!) Our Top Docs guarantee: the world may be a little blurry, but this podcast episode is crystal clear.
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