Growing up in Los Angeles, Oscar-winning documentarian Morgan Neville was a “huge fan” of Steve Martin . At 12 years old, he begged his father to drive six hours to Las Vegas so they could see one of Martin’s last stand-up performances at the Riviera Hotel. Forty-five years later, Neville shared the NeueHouse Hollywood stage with his comedy hero to promote their new Apple TV+ documentary “Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces.
” “My main goal going in was just to listen,” Neville said. “We just talked in the beginning and I recorded conversations with no agenda. Then slowly, shape started to come out of that and I started to think about what a story could be.
” “Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in Two Pieces,” chronicles the life of the legendary filmmaker and funny man in two 90-ish minute halves. Part one follows Martin from his days working at Merlin’s Magic Shop in Disneyland to his final stand-up set in 1980. Part two explores Martin’s movie career and his life today as he approaches age 79.
Comedian Nick Kroll joined Neville and Martin on Monday at the FYC event to discuss how they crafted the sprawling examination of one of America’s most influential comedians. The first half of “Steve!” is presented through photos and archival footage overlayed with testimony from Martin and his contemporaries, which comes together in a cinematic collage of the comic’s early years. Initially, Neville “didn’t know if [they] would have enough arc.
