At a time when California faces increasingly stiff competition from other states and foreign countries trying to lure away Hollywood productions, writer-director Judd Apatow prefers to work in his own backyard -- or at least close to it.
In this clip from the Envelope Screening Series with the Times' Rebecca Keegan, Apatow talks about why he pushed to shoot his new comedy, "This Is 40," in Los Angeles.
"I just don't like traveling," Apatow deadpanned. "No creative reason, really." He continued: "I just always try to think of how to stay close to the house. The kids go to school, and I don't like taking them to Louisiana." (Apatow's daughters, Maude and Iris, star in the film.) "So the first debate with the studio is, 'Can I shoot in Los Angeles?' It's sad that so much production leaves California."
Because "This Is 40" is a sequel of sorts to the 2007 comedy "Knocked Up," Apatow returned to one of that film's locations, a house conveniently located near his own abode.
"We moved down the street from that house, so that house is 10 houses from our house, which was nice," Apatow said. "We could just walk to their house, trash it and come home."
He then explained, in his own off-color style, another of the benefits of working so close to home. Watch the video to hear his reasoning, plus a few quips from stars Paul Rudd and Chris O'Dowd.
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