With the Netflix premiere of “Unfrosted” just around the corner, comedian/director Jerry Seinfeld is doing the standard press tour to promote it. In a recent interview, he discussed the changes he has seen in the entertainment industry over the past few decades. Shockingly, he isn’t thrilled with the current state of things.
His Thoughts
“It was totally new to me,” Seinfeld said about his experience on “Unfrosted.” “I thought I had done some cool stuff, but it was nothing like the way these people work. They’re so dead serious! They don’t have any idea that the movie business is over. They have no idea.”
“Film doesn’t occupy the pinnacle in the social, cultural hierarchy that it did for most of our lives,” he adds. “When a movie came out, if it was good, we all went to see it. We all discussed it. We quoted lines and scenes we liked. Now we’re walking through a fire hose of water, just trying to see.”
When asked what he thinks replaced film he responded; “Depression? Malaise? I would say confusion. Disorientation replaced the movie business. Everyone I know in show business, every day, is going, What’s going on? How do you do this? What are we supposed to do now?”
Which is an understandable reaction given that things like streaming and AI are still brand new territory. No one really knows what to do since these kinds of things have never been done before.
Building The Seinfeld Brand
“I’ve done enough stuff that I have my own thing, which is more valuable than it’s ever been,” Seinfeld said about his career. “Stand-up is like you’re a cabinetmaker, and everybody needs a guy who’s good with wood.” Adding “There’s trees everywhere, but to make a nice table, it’s not so easy. So, the metaphor is that if you have good craft and craftsmanship, you’re kind of impervious to the whims of the industry.”
“Audiences are now flocking to stand-up because it’s something you can’t fake,” he explains. “It’s like platform diving. You could say you’re a platform diver, but in two seconds we can see if you are or you aren’t. That’s what people like about stand-up. They can trust it. Everything else is fake.”
“Unfrosted” hits Netflix May 3rd, and tells a fictional account of the creation of Pop-Tarts toaster pastries. You can check out the trailer below:
