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Ricky Tollman opted to tackle quite the topic for his feature directorial debut. Run This Town does have some fictionalized elements but it's still a film that chronicles the very public and tumultuous tale end of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford's time in office. Tollman covers the story from three angles. There's Ben Platt's character, Bram, a recent college graduate determined to make a name for himself as a reporter. We've also got Mena Massoud as Kamal, a special assistant who's essentially Ford's right hand man. And then there's Nina Dobrev's Ashley, a new hire at Ford's office who soon realizes she's stepped into an extremely toxic work environment.
With Run This Town making its big debut at SXSW 2019, Tollman, Platt, Dobrev, Massoud and Scott Speedman all swung by the Collider Studio to talk a little bit about making the film. We discussed Tollman's choice to add characters to the true story inspired by people he knows, the cast shares some of their favorite qualities of their characters, and so much more! You can catch all of that and also watch the group play a round of "Random Questions" in the video interview at the top of this article.
I’d also like to take a moment to give special thanks to our Collider Studio partner, A-List Communications. At the Supper Suite venue in Austin, libations were flowing courtesy of El Tesoro Tequila, Blue Moon Belgian White, and Hint Water. Without these fine folks, we wouldn’t be able to share conversations about movies like Run This Town with all of you, so another big thank you to our partners for their support.
Scott Speedman, Ben Platt, Nina Dobrev, Ricky Tollman & Mena Massoud:
- Tollman revisits his journey from being in commercials as a kid to directing his first feature.
- The cast details the basics of their characters and one admirable quality about them.
- Platt discusses the criticism regarding the fictionalized elements of this story.
- Tollman talks about finding the balance between the previously reported true story and the perspectives he wanted to add.
- Collider "Random Questions" begins! Find out what TV show the group would like to guest star on, the line of movie dialogue they quote most, and the worst job they ever had.
