Landline 2017
A bigger canvas than 'Obvious Child': a whole family, set in 1995, more homage to the domestic drama than reinvention of it. Amanda liked it but couldn't shake how personal the divorce material hit.
The Big Picture · Discussion · Interview
Jenny Slate, Gillian Robespierre, and Elisabeth Holm on 'Landline'
July 21, 2017/ 38 min/ Sean Fennessey · Amanda Dobbins
Sean and Amanda set up 'Landline', then Sean sits down with Jenny Slate, director Gillian Robespierre, and writer-producer Elisabeth Holm to talk about the 1995-set family comedy and its 'Obvious Child' lineage.
4 films across 2 segments.
AI-generated This episode was transcribed and analyzed with AI models. The matches aren't perfect — expect the occasional misheard title or a link to the wrong film.
Setting up 'Landline'Sean Fennessey and Amanda Dobbins
Obvious Child 2014
Robespierre's debut and Slate's first big post-SNL role: a Brooklyn woman has a one-night stand, gets pregnant, and decides on an abortion. A rom-com that stayed messy and grounded rather than glossy.
In conversation
Jenny Slate, Gillian Robespierre, and Elisabeth Holm on
Landline 2017
Loosely drawn from Robespierre's and Holm's own 90s New York childhoods and their parents' divorces. Robespierre couldn't clear the Fugazi song 'Waiting Room' she wanted, so an Archers of Loaf track stands in. Slate was going through her own divorce during the shoot.
Jenny Slate, Gillian Robespierre, and Elisabeth Holm on
Obvious Child 2014
Shot in 18 days on nights and weekends while Robespierre and Holm kept day jobs; sold to A24 out of Sundance. Slate on how it let her finally be seen as an actress, not just a comedian.
Also mentioned raised along the way
In passing SpanglishSpider-Man: Homecoming
Not films filtered out: TV, games, ads
TV Saturday Night LiveGirlsHouse of CardsTwin PeaksThe SopranosCasualCrashing
Shorts / web series Marcel the Shell with Shoes On