The Town with Matthew Belloni Secrets to Commercial Filmmaking With 'The Housemaid' Director Paul Feig
32 snips
Mar 20, 2026 
Paul Feig, director and writer behind Bridesmaids, Spy and The Housemaid, talks commercial filmmaking with a focus on audience-tested storytelling. He explains his heavy use of test screenings, designing films to provoke strong theater reactions, mixing genres for broad appeal, marketing stunts that spark word-of-mouth, and centering female perspectives on set.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Use Early Recorded Test Screenings
- Do run early, recruited test screenings and record audiences on video to track engagement, not applause.
- Paul Feig starts screenings five weeks into director's cut to spot slow beats, dead moments, and real-time engagement signals.
Give Marketing Full Access Early
- Do share dailies and cuts with marketing early so they can craft better campaigns and creative ideas.
- Feig learned during Unaccompanied Minors that excluding marketing isolates them and loses collaboration that can suggest stronger promotional jokes and beats.
Pull Women Into Creative Decisions
- Do solicit candid feedback from women and female cast/crew when making female-centered stories.
- Feig instructs every female on set to call him out and suggest more honest alternatives during production.