Todd Schulman interview: ‘Jury Duty’ executive producer
“I think we all thought it was a win (simply that) we got to make this show,” believes “Jury Duty” executive producer Todd Schulman. “The idea of having this level of success and getting nominated for awards is just very surreal.” Indeed, “Jury Duty” barely registered on the radar when it premiered over a streaming service few had even heard of (Amazon’s Freevee) in April of last year. However, it rapidly built into a viral sensation over social media, ultimately generating more than 300 million views on TikTok. Awards attention soon followed – four Emmy, two Golden Globe, two Independent Spirit nominations, a Critics Choice bid, and now a PGA Award nomination. “It’s all just been beyond our wildest dreams,” he admits. Schulman spoke to Gold Derby as part of our PGA Awards “Meet the Nominees” producers roundtable. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
A feelgood prank show akin to “The Office” meets “The Truman Show,” “Jury Duty” made a star out of an unknown regular guy named Ronald Gladden, who answered a Craigslist ad looking for someone to participate in a filmed documentary about jury service. What they don’t mention is that the person being tabbed for the doc would essentially unwittingly be performing in a sitcom that the person didn’t know was a sitcom and that everyone around them was an actor participating in a fake case.
This wasn’t entirely foreign territory for Schulman. He had worked in unscripted comedy before with the man he calls the godfather of the genre, Sacha Baron Cohen, on his series “Who is America” and sequel “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm.” “But a lot of what we were doing there,” Schulman notes, “was rightfully exposing bad people and their terrible viewpoints. Part of the idea of making this show was that we could use some of the same techniques, but to highlight a wonderful human being. But that of course required us to find someone who actually was a wonderful human being. And luckily, Ronald was. He truly is a lovely guy. And I think the level of emotional connection we achieved was all about Ronald and people falling in love with him. That, and of course the TikTok algorithm.”
Indeed, the whole enterprise could easily have gone sideways in any numbers of ways. But Schulman acknowledges that he and his fellow producers got enormously fortunate in casting someone as innately likeable as Gladden. “We’d put all of our eggs in this basket with one person for what ended up being 17 days. So yeah, there was a lot of anxiety for everyone involved. But we had projected so much confidence to Amazon that I felt like we just had to pretend that we believed in it and knew it would definitely work even when we didn’t. On the other hand, the stress of it was also the excitement of it. And I think all of that translates on screen when you’re watching the show. You’re watching a narrative comedy, but at the same moment a livewire tension that at any moment could go wrong. And I think that really amplifies your enjoyment.”
The other secret weapon in the “Jury Duty” arsenal was the presence of actor James Marsden, who turned in a superb performance in an improvisational role rife with difficulty. “When wee pitched this to James, his only concern was that he didn’t want it to be mean-spirited,” Schulman stresses. “He loved it but wanted to make sure that the Ronald character had a good experience. To his credit, he had no qualms about satirizing himself, satirizing the industry, and just being part of an ensemble. James was all in, and he was incredible.”
To be sure, all’s well that ends well. “Jury Duty” was successful beyond anyone’s wildest dreams. And Gladden – far from having his soul crushed over having been taken for a ride – signed an overall deal with Amazon MGM Studios late last year to produce, develop and star in projects. I was very lucky to be able to attend the Emmys and the Golden Globes with Ronald,” Schulman says. “I always tell people he’s the most comfortable person in he room. He showed up for ‘Jury Duty’ and now he’s at the center of this awards thing. He’s living his best life and I think very, very happy with how everything turned out.”
The eight episodes of “Jury Duty” stream through Freevee.
