The Film That Lit My Fuse is a Deadline video series that aims to provide an antidote to headlines about industry uncertainty by swinging the conversation back to the creative ambitions, formative influences and inspirations of some of today’s great screen artists. Every installment asks the same five questions.
Today’s subject is Will Speck and Josh Gordon, who just co-directed their first musical, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. The film opened Friday to $11.5 million domestic, and the classic children’s book adaptation figures to stick around in the family film marketplace.
The two have been working together since meeting at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. After their first short film Culture got an Oscar nom for Best Live Action Short Film, they stepped up and directed their first feature. Blades of Glory starred Will Ferrell and Jon Heder played a figure skating team in the raucous comedy hit, and their other collaborations include The Switch, Office Christmas Party and the TV shows Cavemen and Hit-Monkey, the Marvel Comics character for Hulu. They also directed the series of GEICO Caveman commercials (which led to the TV series), and many other ads. Here is how they found their mojo.
