What Happened at "The Coddling of the American Mind" Movie Premiere
Photos, scoop, and more!
Dear friends,
The Coddling of the American Mind movie premier is a wrap!
On Wednesday, an audience of approximately 400 filed into the Fine Arts Theater in Beverly Hills for an evening of laughs, tears, and conversation.
It marked the beginning of a first-of-its-kind film journey. First came the reception, then Karith Foster’s introduction, the screening, and finally a high-energy Q&A period.
At midnight the first-ever “Substack presents” feature documentary was streaming exclusively on Substack, and the premiere also uncorked our nationwide tour.
We’ll soon be heading to Cornell, Wake Forest, Harvard (thank you, Steven Pinker!), New York City (with
!), and many other locations. We’re always adding new stops, and next week (February 28) we’ll head to UCLA. But the tour started in the Bay Area with last night’s screening at Cal State-Maritime.But, for now, let’s head back to Beverly Hills!
Whenever comedy legend John Cleese is around, you can count on lots of laughter.
And we were so honored to have him join us. Yes we know him from Monty Python, A Fish Called Wanda, two James Bond films, two Harry Potters, and three(!) Shreks. And sure he’s an Emmy-winning, Oscar and BAFTA-nominated writer-actor-comedian, but you know you’ve really made it big when scientists name a species of lemur after you.
Well done, Mr. Cleese.
Courtney is an especially big Cleese fan and I was proud of her for not fan-girling out too much. Way to (mostly) keep it together, baby!
Although John Cleese sparking laughs isn’t surprising, you might not expect a movie about anxiety and depression to be funny. But, thanks to interview subjects like Saeed Malami, The Coddling movie actually delivers lots of laughs.
I knew Saeed was flying in from New York for the premiere, but I didn’t see him at the pre-screening reception. I watched the movie from the back of the theater, and was happy when I spotted him seated near me.
Courtney and I really enjoy it when interview subjects watch the movie with a live audience. The experience allows them to see, hear, and feel the impact of their stories. So Saeed was in the right place to feel the love from the audience and to hear folks belly laugh at his clever observations.
At sneak peek screenings across the country, each stop has generated requests for new screenings and each Q&A period has gone longer than scheduled. I’m happy to report that passion continued at the premiere.
Now, let’s pause for style.
On campus, this professor is a voice for sanity, but at our premiere he was the picture of fashion, the perfect embodiment of our “festive casual” dress code. Too bad interview subject Anthony Rodriguez jettisoned his brown leather jacket during the Q&A, because you don’t get the full impact in the photo below.
We’ll round up some red carpet photos so you can see what I mean. That reminds me, Saeed is quite the fashionista, and we need to scare up some close ups of him too.
Stay tuned for video of the Q&A!
Another interview subject, Aryaan Misra, was all set to fly in from New Delhi, but bureaucratic visa bungling kept him grounded (here’s to ya, State Department!). Aryaan’s story always delivers moments of poignancy and laughter, and we were so disappointed he couldn’t join us.
And, wouldn’t you know it, right as I was composing this post, I get a video chat from Aryaan and Surbhi (two fearless Gen Z Indians who came to America for college and quickly became campus pariahs).
Crossing borders proved easier for our friends and co-producers Hector Herrera and Pazit Cahlon.
Hector and Pazit flew in from Toronto, and they are responsible for the striking animated depictions of mental turmoil that appear throughout the film. It was a treat to work with Hector and Pazit and Courtney and I are already scheming to get the band back together on another project.
Speaking of getting the band back together, The Coddling movie marks the third Balaker-FIRE feature collaboration. So Courtney and I really enjoyed being able to share the evening with our FIRE pals
, Alisha Glennon, and .Of course, Greg wrote The Coddling book with Jonathan Haidt, and Courtney and I are so grateful to him for trusting us with his story. At first Greg was reluctant to open up about his depression on camera, but ultimately he realized that doing so could help many people.
When we started planning the premiere we had only one host in mind—our dear friend Karith Foster.
She’s a comedian and speaker who delivers laughs and sanity to campuses and corporations all over the world—we profiled her in our 2016 film Can We Take a Joke?
Those of you who read The Coddling will be familiar with Karith because Greg and Jon included one of her especially harrowing stories in their book. And from introducing the movie to leading the Q&A period, Karith kept everyone at the premiere laughing and thinking.
I want offer a big ol’ virtual hug to Susan Self, our impact director who did so much to ensure that everyone enjoyed themselves at the premiere.
Get some sleep, Susan! (Just not too much because we’ve got to go on tour!)
Courtney and I are so grateful to all those who participated in the premiere. There’s something so energizing about being in a room with hundreds of people who are doing so much to turn things around on campus and off.
You’ll find more photos behind the paywall and we’ll be sharing more details from the premiere soon.
But first I want to mention one especially memorable moment from the premiere. I met
and her daughter during the reception, and could tell right away that they’re the real deal.
During the screening, I noticed Dacia weeping in the lobby. I asked what was wrong and we both agreed it would be a good idea to capture her reaction on film.
I’ll share that video in a future post, but for now here’s a reflection from Dacia.
Now I’m going to sleep for three days.
See you on the road!
Ted