Jake Weisman – Corporate

By: Jamie Steinberg

Q) What can you tease is new this season of “Corporate?”

A) We have some great stars. We have Kyra Sedgwick, Elizabeth Perkins, Andy Richter, Sasheer Zamata and Kristen Schaal. So, we’re really excited about that. I think people will really love that. But I think that the season is definitely a step up and we go out of the office more and see characters in their home lives more. It’s just a way sillier season in general. I think if you liked Season 1 then you will definitely like Season 2 even more.

Q) What keeps challenging you about writing, starring and producing the series?

A) If you get a chance to make a season of TV for the first time there is no way you have any idea what you’re doing. Even if you have skill, you still have no idea how challenging it is to conceive episodes, write them, cast them, produce them, act in them and edit them. Season 1 is essentially an entire grad school of learning how to make TV so that when you start Season 2, you’re like, “Okay. Now I know how to make TV and I’ll make the TV I want to make knowing how to do it.” It’s always a challenge. You have to wear so many hats. There is never anything that is easy because anything good takes an enormous amount of work from a lot of people working at the top of their ability. It will never be easy and if it’s easy it’s probably not that good.

Q) Is there much of an opportunity to improvise on set?

A) I think a writer’s job is to have it on the page. We don’t try to leave anything up to improvisation because if you have it down on the paper then you have that basic Bible that you abide by. You capture that and then once you capture that you can improvise as much as possible. The job is to make sure they don’t have to improvise, but then allow a tight enough script that you can improvise and often when it’s improvised it makes it in. As long as you have it down on the page it makes everyone feel comfortable and then you can work from there. It’s definitely more scripted, but we have such talented comedic actors. For instance, Adam Lustick (who plays John on the show) is a pretty genius level improviser so we always know…We write lines for him, but we always know he is going to add things. He can add things that we couldn’t possibly write because he is such a funny, interesting person. We have Aparna Nancherla on the show who is also a genius comedian. So, we know going into it that we are going to improvise, but we never want to leave it up to chance like that. It’s just very often that when we do give them a chance to improvise it is often so funny that it’s hard not to keep it in the final cut.

Q) Do you look much to the current state of office environments in the news or media in order to incorporate that for plotlines?

A) Yes. I think obviously when you are making something, you’re reacting to the world around you. The thing we try to do is not be too topical because we write a year before it comes out. So, if you’re reacting to a specific thing in the news, it’s gunna just seem weird. Like “The Daily Show” gets to make a show that ends up that night on television. We want stuff that we can write that will make sense twenty years from now. So, we’re trying to look for trends that are ever present, but everyone alive right now is assaulted by the news right now constantly. And that’s something we talk about in Season 2 – the media and how it’s assaulting us constantly and how we can’t really avoid it and it effects our lives in and outside of the office.

Q) Kate is the only female executive at the company. How will she be evolving this season?

A) We definitely learn a lot more about Kate (Anne Dudek). That was one thing we wanted to do. There is an episode called “Natural Beauty,” which is the third episode of the season and it’s all about gender politics and how unfair and how stacked against women they are in the workplace. It’s very based on Kate. She is the second in command at the company, but because she is a woman, she is often way more down the line than she should be. So, we try to talk about Kate and how her office and work life are affected simply by being a woman in the workplace and how unfair it is.

Q) What kind of fan reaction have you received to the show? Do many people recognize their own workplace in the series?

A) It’s funny because we’re making a heightened, surreal show, but the people who respond often say, “This is exactly my life.” I think that means our exacerbation of their pain is actually just very realistic. I think people feel happy that they are seen because I think a lot of people have jobs that they don’t like so if someone is at least making light of it then they can feel like, “I’m not doing it all for waste.” It’s like, “Okay, this is a common experience. People see me.” I feel like what people are often looking for is them to watch something and they can be like, “That’s me. That’s my experience.” Often when they are watching something, they want to see themselves represented on screen or in a book or anywhere. So, I think we are hearing that pretty consistently that what we’re making…People in the corporate world are like, “You don’t understand. This is exactly like my life.” I think it’s kind of sad, but good for us. Honestly, if other people have to be in pain for me to succeed, I’m sorry to everyone else. [laughs] That’s a joke!

Q) What can you tease are some most memorable moments from filming this season or scenes you are looking forward to fans seeing?

A) There is an episode called “Labor Day” where essentially it is me, Matt and Christian DeVille (Lance Reddick) running around the building in our underwear and Christian has a sword. So, if you don’t like watching that then you don’t like the show because he is the best actor I’ve ever worked with. For us to all be in our underwear and get paid for it is a pretty wonderful experience. I think people will love that episode.

Q) What do you think it is about the show that has made it such a fan favorite?

A) I think it’s really honest and, in a way, it’s not trying to be escapist. It’s trying to be honest in a way that other shows aren’t necessarily. And I think it’s really funny. We’re not trying to do anything except be super funny and super honest and I think that in a world where honesty isn’t always prized and is often sort of shied away from for fear that it will hurt a lot of people, I think people are thankful when you are honest, so they feel like they’re not crazy.

Q) Is there anything else you want to be sure our readers know about Season 2 of “Corporate?”

A) Please get excited! I think it’s a really great season of TV. I really think that if you liked Season 1 that you will like Season 2 even more. I think we really did a good job and I think people are really going to be happy.