Trailer For Upcoming Comedy Series PAUL T. GOLDMAN Looks Like A Wild Ride
Peacock has released a new trailer for their upcoming comedy series Paul T. Goldman and it looks like a wild new series. Directed by Borat Subsequent Moviefilm director Jason Woliner, you’ll never know what is fact and what is fiction in this story where each twist is more fantastical than the last. The idea for the series originated when in 2012 a man named Paul T. Goldman tweeted Woliner that he had written a book and screenplay about his story and needed help bringing it to the big screen. Woliner checked out his website, watching some videos Goldman had shot himself and then bought the book. In Woliners words:
It instantly became my favorite book I’ve ever read. The story is equal parts fascinating, hilarious, shocking, and often weirdly moving. It has endless bizarre turns, and Paul himself is the most captivating person I’ve ever encountered. He reminded me of my favorite documentary subjects: Mark Borchardt from American Movie, Timothy Treadwell from Grizzly Man, or the kind of people that appear in Errol Morris films like Tabloid and Mr. Death. They’re striking, quirky, passionate, a little “off”; individuals with a strong sense of purpose but perhaps an atypical form of self-awareness. After a few months of quiet observation, I responded to Paul and told him I was in.
The series that has resulted - a culmination of over a decade of shooting - has wound up becoming the most conceptually ambitious and personal project I’ve ever worked on. It’s in many ways an experimental show and I’m still in grateful disbelief that Peacock has let me do it. The format, combining familiar doc elements with dramatized scenes that Paul wrote about his story – starring Paul playing himself – and weaving that with behind-the-scenes footage from the making of this show (don’t worry, it’ll make sense when you watch it, I promise) was essentially my way of taking a camera inside this very unique person’s brain. At times Paul comes across as sympathetic and at other times he’s discomfiting - and it’s going to be really exciting to watch the social media response and conversation this creates as the audience debates where they stand on him and his story.
I have always been drawn to projects that are hilarious, surprisingly moving, innovative in form and use real people to tell stories in groundbreaking ways. From my work on Nathan for You to the two years I spent directing Sacha Baron Cohen in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, I can’t deny that I love existing in uncomfortable, fascinating moments and figuring out how to capture them on camera. This is a project that has never stopped evolving and revealing new wrinkles and, after working on it for over ten years, my excitement for it only continues to grow. I can’t wait to bring the rest of the world in and I sincerely hope you enjoy this very unique series.
The series will star Goldman, Rosanna Arquette, Melinda McGraw, Frank Grillo, Dennis Haysbert, Dee Wallace, Christopher Stanley, Paul Ben-Victor, James Remar, W Earl Brown, Josh Pais, Irina Maleeva, and Hilda Boulware. Honestly, I’m not really sure what to make of this show but I am intrigued by it. Check out the trailer below and let me know what you think. You can watch the show when it premieres with the first 3 episodes on January 1 with new episodes dropping weekly on Sundays on Peacock.