Director, DP - Henry's Kitchen

HENRY'S KITCHEN (COMEDY)

JASH, Sarah Silverman and Michael Cera’s production company wanted to reboot the internet classic “Henry’s Kitchen.” The old version was about a terrible home cook making terrible cooking videos. I worked with Henry Phillips, the on-camera comedian, to turn the concept into “what if that same terrible home cook somehow got hired to make a Master Class cooking show?”

My biggest contribution was to write scripts, shotlists, and backstories to create actual scenes and proper full episode arcs out of what were basically short standup routines about cooking topics like quinoa, pasta, and bagels.

I hired a production designer from outside of the food world (magazine editorials) to help me create a set that was over-the-top enough that someone familiar with cooking shows would know that the series was a comedy, not an instructional show.

Maybe most importantly though, I was the person on set responsible for deciding when something was funny enough — and giving real-time notes to Henry and the crew on how to fix it when it wasn't. Henry is always hilarious in real life, but getting things to play properly on-camera is where I came in.

When Henry wanted to do a second season and I wasn't available, other directors were proposed, but Henry said he'd rather wait for me.