Stand-up comedy is best live — and often lived. Judd Apatow and comedy appreciator Neil Berkeley know this. In their admiring, at times achingly funny documentary “Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story” premiering at the Sundance Film Festival, the co-directors celebrate a comedian especially good at mining her life — including her struggles with mental health. The film builds the arc of Bamford’s life and career by utilizing clips from decades of her stand-up. Augmenting that spine are family...
Apatow Productions
Judd
Apatow
Apatow is turning the industry’s pandemic experience into art with his latest directorial effort, “The Bubble,” a Netflix feature about a group of people in lockdown at a hotel trying to complete a film, with a cast that sports his wife Leslie Mann, daughter Iris Apatow, David Duchovny and Pedro Pascal. Apatow has made a habit of drawing from real life in his work, whether it’s his own (2012’s “This Is 40”) or others’ (2020’s “The King of Staten Island,” starring Pete Davidson). He is also notable for nurturing a long line of comic talent, casting Seth Rogen, Jason Segel and Jay Baruchel in early roles and producing Lena Dunham’s breakthrough series “Girls” and Pete Holmes’ “Crashing” (both at HBO), plus Paul Rust’s “Love” at Netflix. In 2020, he executive produced “Voices of Parkland,” a documentary about the 2018 school shooting in Florida.
