We chat with BasedonaTrueStory director & EP AlexBuono about the new Peacock series, his Hitchcockian influences, and the major season 1 cliffhanger:
The true-crime craze gets a satirical stab in Based on a True Story. The dark comedy thriller series centers on married couple Ava and Nathan, a pregnant realtor and former tennis star struggling to regain some excitement in their lives who find a unique opportunity when they learn the identity of a local serial killer and look to capitalize on it by creating a podcast interviewing him.
Alex Buono: It's funny, you know, I was brought to the project at the pilot stage by Jason Bateman's company, Roxie Rodriguez at Aggregate. It's funny, she called me, we set up a general meeting, and it was one of those weird meetings where you have so many general meetings, and they never amount to anything.
Yeah, it just became the challenge of how do you nail this complicated tone, and it can be funny, but it can be bloody, and this screwball couple has got their own rhythm, and yet, when the serial killer is introduced to their rhythm, they become this dynamic trio. It was all a lot, it was fun, and I loved the satire. I thought that the true crime industry was such a ripe target for satire, that all of those elements kind of drew me in.
We talked about the idea that you can't just do Hitchcock, because it's just gonna feel dated and tropey, because everybody has already done that. In looking at a lot of the other filmmakers that we kind of mutually loved and appreciated, starting with someone like Brian De Palma, or Sam Raimi, these guys also loved Hitchcock, and also sort of interpreted them through their own filters.
But it was tricky, and it was one of those things where we shot versions of things, and then you get into post and you realize editorially that, like, you don't really know what you're making until you're in post finally finishing it. There's a lot in the post process that you're refining the way that you shot it, just by exclusion or by inclusion.
Alex Buono: No, actually, I was hired to direct the pilot, and that was it. I was hard to direct the pilot and then it was like a traditional television show, where you bring in other directors to direct all the other episodes, and they'd already lined up other directors to direct the other blocks.
Alex Buono: It's funny, I was a directing producer on Russian Doll, but in that case, it was just Natasha Lyonne and I directing all the episodes together. Documentary Now! is a show that I'd direct all the episodes either by myself, or with my directing partner, Rhys Thomas. So, this was the first time that I've ever had a job where my job was to kind of help other directors direct the show that we were working on.
A lot of my job as a directing producer was to be there on set and say, "That's it, you did it, that's it, this is the shot, that's perfect," or when you're navigating the performances, being like, "Yes, that's it, that's exactly the way that they should be doing it," or, "I think this might be a little too serious," or, "I think this should be a little more serious.
They had so much fun on set, they were laughing the entire time, they're constantly joking. They have very different acting styles, Chris is a New York acting style, he's very process-based, he'll do as many takes as you ask for, and he'll really enjoy like, "Oh, right, right, let's do one that way, and let's do it that way.
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