SNL's documentary premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, where cast members were asked about their experience with topical sketches.
The premiere of Saturday Night Live documentary Live from New York! kicked off at the 14th annual Tribeca Film Festival on Wednesday night. The documentary of the long-running sketch comedy show from NBC is a focus on how the show reflected pop culture and society.
Procuder JL Pomeroy stated that the documentary wanted to view the show from a different perspective. He added that he and executive producer Tom Broecker wanted to depict the show and how it was a satirical reflection of society.
The Hollywood Reporter asked members of the show for their feelings of the sketches that developed into hot topics. Many members like Bobby Moynihan and Beck Bennett brought up their experiences with the show when they first started.
Moynihan remembered his first time with Tina Fey playing Sarah Palin and how it was a “big deal” with the media. As for Bennett, he said that he loves the parodies on the show, especially when SNL makes fun of Scientology or anything similar.
Sasheer Zamata said that it is cool how the show is up to date with the current affairs. She said that the currents news can actually be seen on the show.
The documentary touches up on the show’s latest problem with diversity. Recently, the show was accused of lacking black female cast members, which the show fixed by adding Zamata and, later, adding Leslie Jones.
Director Bao Nguyen of SNL pointed out that diversity issues underlie with all shows on TV. He added that things are changing for the better, but could not understand why the media targeted Saturday Night Live only on the issue.
