Neil LaBute, the writer and director of movies such as In The Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors, joins Brian this week to discuss his latest show, Billy & Billie, and his process as a director by taking a closer look at his 2013 film, Some Velvet Morning. Also, LaBute talks about his work as a writer and why critics and audiences often confuse his personal sense of morality with that of his characters. Plus, Brian and Neil meditate on the social utility in truth-telling and to what lengths writers and audiences are willing to go in order to feel connected in a world that’s ever-changing.

Topics discussed on today’s show include:

“Neil LaBute Has a Thing About Beauty” a New York Times article
Your Friends and Neighbors
In The Company of Men
Billy & Billie
Some Velvet Morning
Full Frontal
Irreversible
This Is How It Goes a play by Neil LaBute
The Magic Christian by Terry Southern
Bash a play by Neil LaBute
Fritzl Case
I Smile Back by Amy Koppelman
A Mouthful of Air by Amy Koppelman
The Clown by Heinrich Boll


People discussed on today's show:

Neil LaBute
Alice Eve
Gaspar Noe
Ben Stiller
Amanda Peet
Jeffrey Wright
Euripides
Shakespeare
Nick Drake
William Golding
William Goldman
Heinrich Boll


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Twitter: @BrianKoppelman
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