About the Film
For five years, comedian Connor Ratliff has performed as filmmaker George Lucas in his monthly UCB NY cult comedy show, “The George Lucas Talk Show”. Co-hosted by actor Griffin Newman and featuring A-list guests booked by producer Patrick Cotnoir, the show allows Connor to both exalt and poke fun at the vast world of Lucas, including Star Wars. However, Connor begins to question if the show should continue due to its ongoing stress with little financial and career gain. By following the live performances and behind the scenes for one year, the mysteries of Connor’s inner self are explored in this portrait of an artist, and his own feelings on his history, value, and legacy are revealed.
A Statement from the Director
Years into post-production on a documentary about intergenerational trauma among Alaska Natives, the difficult subject began to weigh on me. Feeling a need for some levity, I stumbled across a midnight UCB show in the East Village called The George Lucas Talk Show, which felt like it was made specifically for me. Seeing that creator/host Connor Ratliff had done the same nerdy deep dive and knew all the intricate details of George Lucas’s life, while not taking any of it too seriously, connected me to this performer immediately. I asked for a meeting and in the spirit of improv, Connor yes-and-ed my ideas, until we landed on a short film about the show.
Soon enough, this little side project became a feature length portrait of an artist, who uses the show as his creative outlet. This mirrored my own desire to create, not for the sake of any end goal, but to simply have fun expressing myself. I learned so much through Connor about the value of play for the sake of play, being present in the moment, and not judging my own creativity —that the profound can be found even in foolish things. I sincerely hope this film helps even one person tap into the child-like part of themselves, and experience the joy that unabashed silliness can bring to ones life.
– Ryan Jacobi
The Filmmakers
RYAN JACOBI (Director/Producer): Ryan is a filmmaker and audio producer. He most recently produced and co-edited the feature-length documentary We Breathe Again for America ReFramed. He has worked for Sync Sound/Digital Cinema on projects ranging from NBC’s 30 Rock to HBO’s The Alzheimer’s Project.
ANNAMARIA SOFILLAS (Producer): Annamaria Sofillas is currently the Head of Programming at Topic, the streaming service from First Look Media, and the lead producer of the documentary feature I’m “George Lucas”: A Connor Ratliff Story. As a development/current executive, she was an integral part of building NBCUniversal’s comedy streaming service Seeso and Gimlet Media’s scripted division. Annamaria was a creative lead on over 25 original long-form series and 30 stand-up specials, including GLAAD Award-nominated Take My Wife, BAFTA Award-nominated Flowers, HarmonQuest, Bajillion Dollar Properties, My Brother My Brother and Me, and Night Train with Wyatt Cenac. Previously, she had stints at IFC, TV Guide Network, and Focus Features. Annamaria graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, is a member of the Television Academy, and is on the board of the HRTS Associates NY.
MARSH CHAMBERLAIN (Cinematographer/Producer): Marsh is an award-winning filmmaker and content creator based in the Greater Philadelphia area. He’s collaborated on a variety of projects with a diverse group of clients including Mount Sinai Health System, Rutgers University, NFL, New Balance, AT&T, Square, and Brave Trainings. As a visual storyteller, Marsh has directed, shot, produced, and edited documentaries, branded content, and other media. His first feature-length documentary, We Breathe Again, had its national television broadcast premiere on America ReFramed and played in festivals and community screenings around the world. He lives happily ever after with his wife and dog in Pennsylvania.
ROB MALONE (Editor/Co-Producer): Rob Malone was born in Pennsylvania. He lived there for a while. Now, he lives in New York. And it is in New York where he edits videos. From 2011 to 2018 Rob worked on The Chris Gethard Show. Sometimes he danced and sometimes he edited videos for the cable version of the show. He has edited content for TruTV, Funny or Die, IFC, HGTV, Refinery29, Conde Nast Entertainment and more. Rob has made some movies and acted in some others. The Greggs is one that is pretty good.
The Cast
CONNOR RATLIFF: Connor Ratliff is an actor/comedian and creator of the critically acclaimed podcast, Dead Eyes. In addition to recurring roles on The Marvelous Mrs Maisel and Search Party, his credits include Orange Is The New Black, The Chris Gethard Show, Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, The Blacklist and the feature films Don’t Think Twice, Standing Up, Falling Down and the forthcoming Pinball: The Man Who Saved The Game. For the past decade, he has performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in New York City, where he created The George Lucas Talk Show, the live stream version of which has been described as “The Internet’s Coolest Talk Show” & “The Worst Podcast Ever Made.” He currently performs in the weekly NYC improv show, RAAAATSCRAPS, alongside some of the finest improvisers in the world.
GRIFFIN NEWMAN: Griffin Newman is an actor, comedian, writer and podcaster raised in New York City, where he still resides. Griffin is the creator and co-host of the critically acclaimed movie podcast, BLANK CHECK WITH GRIFFIN AND DAVID alongside film critic David Sims of The Atlantic. Since launching in 2015 the show has consistently made ‘best of’ lists including Time Magazine, Esquire, Paste Magazine, The A.V. Club, Entertainment Weekly, Vulture, and others. Griffin starred in the Amazon series THE TICK, playing the lead role of ‘Arthur Everest’. He recurred on Martin Scorsese’s VINYL for HBO, Greg Berlanti’s miniseries POLITICAL ANIMALS for USA, and Colin Quinn’s web series COP SHOW. He has guest starred in the sitcoms SEARCH PARTY and DIFFICULT PEOPLE, along with New York drama reliables LAW & ORDER: SVU and BLUE BLOODS. On the film side he portrayed Rick the Intern in Ivan Reitman’s DRAFT DAY alongside Kevin Costner and has appeared in many indies, including SXSW Grand Jury Prize winner FORT TILDEN and Kelly Reichardt’s NIGHT MOVES. His voice may be familiar as ‘Pip’ in Disney’s DISENCHANTED, ‘Jared Kushner’ in Showtime’s animated series OUR CARTOON PRESIDENT, or ‘Orko’ in Kevin Smith’s MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVELATION for Netflix.
PATRICK COTNOIR: Patrick Cotnoir is a talent booker and generally funny guy from Los Angeles. His past credits include talent booking for Marvel and The Chris Gethard Show. He cast the upcoming Mo Willems animated kids show, Unlimited Squirrels. He currently handles guests for the George Lucas Talk Show, the Exactly Right podcast network, and ASSSSCAT at the UCB theater.
I'm "George Lucas" A Connor Ratliff Story 