At 11:30pm on October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television—and culture—forever. Directed by Jason Reitman and written by Gil Kenan & Reitman, Saturday Night is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of Saturday Night Live. Full of humor, chaos, and the magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, we count down the minutes in real time until we hear those famous words…
Featuring a spectacular ensemble cast, including Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J.K. Simmons.
Beyond Reitman and Keenan’s tight screenplay and a fantastic recreation of Studio 8H from production designer Jess Gonchor, the movie would not fly without an ensemble that may end up being legendary in its own right… What sets Saturday Night apart, though, isn’t just that the movie is a portrait of television and entertainment history. It’s the fact that despite history telling us SNL launched on the aforementioned date, you’ll still be rooting for Michaels and his crew and ensemble to get the show off the ground.
Gregory Ellwood, The Playlist
Gabriel LaBelle, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Rachel Sennott, Ella Hunt, Willem Dafoe
USA
2024
English
Book Tickets
Indigenous & Community Access
Indigenous Access Tickets Community Access Tickets Ticket Donation Requests
Credits & Director
Executive Producer
Erica Mills, JoAnn Perritano
Producer
Jason Blumenfeld, Peter Rice, Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan
Screenwriter
Gil Kenan, Jason Reitman
Cinematography
Eric Steelberg
Editor
Nathan Orloff, Shane Reid
Production Design
Jess Gonchor
Original Music
Jon Batiste
Jason Reitman
Jason Reitman, an Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, debuted with the 2006 Sundance hit Thank You for Smoking. He earned Oscar nominations for Juno (2007) and Up in the Air (2009), winning WGA and BAFTA awards for the latter. Reitman has frequently collaborated with Diablo Cody on films like Young Adult (2011) and Tully (2018). He produced the Oscar-winning Whiplash (2014) and co-created the Live Read series. During COVID, he directed Home Movie: The Princess Bride to raise funds for World Central Kitchen. In 2021 and 2023, he directed and co-wrote Ghostbusters: Afterlife and its sequel.
Filmography: Thank You for Smoking (2005); Juno (2007); Up in the Air (2009); Men, Women & Children (2014); The Front Runner (2018)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
Matt Grinke's Happiest Jazz Quintet Play Classic Disney Songs
Enjoy a set of beloved Disney movie tunes given the Matt Grinke treatment, and after the live music, groove to the original 1967 version of The Jungle Book, featuring songs like I Wanna Be Like You, The Bare Necessities and Trust In Me.
Image: © 1967, Disney
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Céline Sciamma's queer costume drama -- about a painter covertly studying a young noblewoman who refuses to sit for her portrait -- was voted 30th Greatest Film Ever Made in a 2022 poll, the highest ranking film of the past decade.
Synecdoche, New York
Charlie Kaufman wrote Being John Malkovich, Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -- all great, all successful -- then turned director with Synecdoche, which is a masterpiece and which basically went unseen. It's overdue rediscovery.