Interview (Written): Cooper Raiff

Writer, director, and lead actor in the excellent film Cha Cha Real Smooth.

Cha Cha Real Smooth was one of my favorite movies at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, so I was not surprised when Apple swooped in and acquired its rights for a cool $15M. It’s a tour de force for Cooper Raiff who wrote, directed, and stars in the film. Here is an excerpt from a Deadline interview with Raiff.

DEADLINE: What inspired Cha Cha Real Smooth?

COOPER RAIFF: The genesis of Cha Cha was, my sophomore year of college, I was writing a lot. Honestly, I was talking to my mom…My sister Andrea is disabled, and she was talking about how her life will forever be defined by Andrea’s stages, and I didn’t know what to do with that information, other than write it down.

So, I started writing this character that was this mom of a disabled kid, and that character turned into Domino. At the time, I’d made my first movie, Shithouse…I had meetings and they would ask what movie I want to make next, and in some of the meetings, I would talk about this character and people would say, “That’s a character, not a movie. Do you have any movie ideas?” Then, after time, I started to think of a bigger idea for that movie — the idea to tell it through the lens of the person I know best, which is just like a 22-year-old dumbass.

So, I had those two characters, and then I needed a way for them to keep coming into contact with each other — and then when I had the bar mitzvah circuit idea, that’s when the pitch came together.

DEADLINE: Were there other big breakthrough moments in cracking the story?

RAIFF: Yeah. I had thought of the bar mitzvah circuit idea so I was like, “He’s going to have a little brother. That’s how he’s going to end up at this bar mitzvah.” But then I thought back to my seventh grade year and all of the bar mitzvahs I went to and was like, “He should be a party starter.” And then, the eureka moment for the movie was, “Oh, it’s a guy who’s really good at starting other people’s parties, and he has no idea where to begin, when it comes to starting his own.” That was the big moment where the script became clear to me, and it felt lucky that I had a fun hook that really worked for this character and theme of doing your twenties, and him meeting this character that didn’t get to do her twenties.

— —

DEADLINE: You mentioned your goal of crafting feel-good stories of a specific sort…In 2022, it feels like this kind of filmmaking is almost a radical act. It’s really refreshing to see an uplifting indie like Cha Cha come along, given that they’re maybe not as prevalent as they once were.

RAIFF: Yeah, I don’t know why it’s a rarity. It’s funny. I think indie movies love to have unlikeable characters because they’re like, “We’re not a big studio movie, and studio movies have to have the theme of family and ultimately have a happy ending. So, because we’re an indie, we’re going to make it not that.” But one out of every 50 big studio movies, I’m like, “This is my favorite movie in the world.” So, it’s just trying to figure out how to do that in a more intimate setting, or with just a lot less money. And it’s easier.

I like making those movies way better than I would like making the really, really expensive studio movie because you’re trying to make so much money if you’re making those things, because the budget is so big. I don’t know how to make that much money, but I do know how to make a certain amount of money, and I know how to make something small. So, I want to be in that business. That’s why I want to start a production company, because I don’t know why a small TV show hasn’t been made and flipped for like six times what it was made for. I don’t know why that hasn’t happened yet.

I did a bit of snooping online and found an interview with Raiff in (of all places) the Daily Northwestern where he talks more about his approach to writing.

The Daily: What informs your writing style, especially when it comes to a genre like comedy?

Raiff: I’m really bad at situational comedy. I like all of the comedy to come from a character. A lot of movies that are funny are about a writer putting their characters in funny situations, and I’m bad at that. All of the funny moments are trying to tell an audience about the character.

The Daily: How do you create tension as a writer, especially with the confrontational dynamic between Domino’s fiancé Joseph and Andrew? How do you maintain and develop those dramatic beats through tension?

Raiff: I think it’s about being as truthful as possible. With “S–thouse,” I read so many responses that were like, “This is the most excruciatingly awkward movie I’ve ever seen.” I was like, “I didn’t think it was that awkward,” but it’s because I wrote it. So I’m thinking it’s so funny to watch, but I’m always trying to make things as grounded and real as possible. I think people aren’t used to someone caring so much about getting it to be real.

Here is a trailer for Cha Cha Real Smooth:

The movie debuts on Apple TV+ this weekend. Definitely worth a watch!

For the rest of the Deadline article, go here.

For the rest of the Daily Northwestern article, go here.

For 100s more interviews with screenwriters and filmmakers, go here.