‘Lorne’ Filmmaker Morgan Neville on Capturing Comedy’s Slipperiest Genius – Sort Of

Morgan Neville’s new documentary “Lorne” (in theaters now) zeroes in on Lorne Michaels, the famously elusive executive producer and creator of “Saturday Night Live,” which just celebrated its 50th anniversary and, in some ways, is just as much a part of the cultural conversation as it was when it first aired.

But how do you make a documentary about someone who would rather you not be on camera? And how do you make a documentary about the man, instead of the show, which at this point has been covered to the point of utter exhaustion? Also – how do you make something that avoids covering the same ground that countless documentaries, narrative features and the recent 656-page biography (by Susan Morrison, who appears in the doc) already have?

Neville was in a unique position to meet these issues head-on. He had produced the suite of “SNL 50” docs for Peacock, which streamed last year in conjunction with the anniversary.

“I could do some air traffic control,” Neville said. Michaels wasn’t in any of the earlier documentaries, “with intention of like, let’s keep Lorne special for this.”

The filmmaker said that he had read all of the books on “Saturday Night Live” and seen every documentary, which also helped as he was putting together “Lorne.”

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“There’s a format that I always wanted to resist, but, but I think that the thing that Lorne said in the beginning is like, ‘You can just come and bring cameras and film in all the meetings.’ And that got me excited because they are meetings that nobody’s ever filmed in before,” Neville said. “And I think Lorne, for all of his resistance to ever doing anything revealing, much of himself, also realized this is the last chance to ever really make a documentary about him running the show.” (Michaels is now 81.)

And even as Michaels lets Neville in, exploring the inner mechanics of the show and Michaels’ dynamic with the cast and the talented team of writers, past and present, there are still thinks that remain damnably out-of-focus – his family, for instance, is alluded to but never shown. (Even photos obscure their faces.) He’s been married three times but we only hear from one ex-wife – former “Saturday Night Live” writer Rosie Shuster. We see Michaels decamp to his country home and wander his grounds alone, but never see inside the home. What kind of architecture does he appreciate? What do his dogs look like?

Neville insists that there were no ground rules established before he began filming Michaels.

“I could film whatever he would give me access to, and he had no control. But that’s the catch of doing this essentially as an outsider. He is wary of me and I have to earn his trust. And part of what the film is about, I think, is me getting closer to him and earning his trust over a couple of years,” Neville said. “The film starts at some remove and then gets closer to him, which is my experience of making the film.”

Michaels hadn’t even seen the film until the New York premiere, which happened the night before we spoke to Neville. Neville saw him after the screening and went to Michaels, who nodded and said, “Good.” “For Lorne, that’s a rave review,” Neville said.

One person close to Michaels had told Neville that there’s nobody who’s wanted a film made about themself and really didn’t want a film made about them at the same time.

“Lorne is nothing if not a paradox. Lorne is so full of contradictions, and you see that in everybody who’s worked for him, who never really knows where they stand with him or what he thinks,” said Neville. “I think that’s, that’s who he is. Because I don’t think he makes up his mind about things until he has to. Part of what I joke about in the film, is that not everybody can be reduced to Rosebud. Lorne is, in fact, all about being liquid, embracing change, being a filter for something, but not ever being nailed down anywhere. That’s how he’s had a 50-year career. Is not just being one thing, but being somebody who is highly adaptable. Quicksilver – that’s Lorne.”