Julie Smith Clem is the co-founder of Pretty Good Friends, a comedy production company. She’s produced shows for Comedy Central and Science Channel, co-created the Peabody Award-winning video series for The Onion, and started a comedy festival with Eugene Mirman as a joke in 2008. “It Started As A Joke” is her directorial debut.

“It Started As A Joke” premiered at the 2019 SXSW Film Festival on March 10. The film was co-directed by Ken Druckerman.

W&H: Describe the film for us in your own words.

JSC: “It Started As A Joke” is a documentary that chronicles the decade-long run of the Eugene Mirman Comedy Festival in Brooklyn. The film celebrates Eugene’s role in the alternative comedy movement and offers a bittersweet goodbye to an era of NYC comedy. Most importantly, it reminds us that humor can be a powerful way to get through the un-funny parts of life.

W&H: What drew you to this story?

JSC: One night Eugene, Mike Birbiglia, and I were out getting a drink and making fun of the big comedy festivals that they had performed at and I had worked at. The fests had big corporate sponsors and relied on grouping/categorizing comedians in their programming with ridiculous show names like “Uptown Comics” and “Nice Jewish Ladies.” We started poking fun at it and joked that Eugene should start his own festival.

Instead of waking up hungover the next morning and laughing it off like reasonable people, we actually put a festival together — and then we kept doing it for a decade. The first year we had fake industry badges — including “Drunk Blogger” and “Child of A Corporate Sponsor” — and we invited all the comedians we loved and put them on shows with silly titles like “Comedians That Would Be Terrible Firefighters” and “Comics We Think Ruth Bader Ginsburg Would Enjoy.” We had so much fun doing it, and people actually paid real money for tickets, so we kept doing it every year for 10 years.

The success of the whole festival was really because of all the people–in addition to the comedians–who were willing to be in on the joke with us. Every year we added ridiculous things that made us laugh, like a bouncy castle with a therapist inside, a slam poet you could throw water balloons at for one dollar, and a Mike Pence impersonator dressed in short-shorts as “Mike Hot-Pence.”

It was always very fun to come up with the silliest ideas, but then it meant we had to find a real therapist, a real slam poet, and a real Mike Pence impersonator! Every year we found people who willingly and joyfully joined in on the ridiculousness of the whole festival. And the audience, too. Hundreds of people would show up and be game for anything and allow for such a joyous energy that made it all possible.

The fact that the festival started in such a pure way and had such an organic way of growing always made it so special. And it didn’t feel possible tell the story without sharing the arc of Eugene and his wife Katie’s personal story over those ten years of the festival. As a friend of Eugene and Katie’s, I was really inspired by how they took the good and the bad in life.

I loved the idea of exploring how comedy can do more than just make people laugh.

W&H: What do you want people to think about when they are leaving the theater?

JSC: I’d like for people to see the supportive, warm, and generous side of the comedy community that we were lucky enough to be a part of in New York. I think it’s less about seeing behind the curtain of the festival, and more about how comedy can bring people together. I hope people connect with Eugene and Katie’s grace, humor, and strength as they navigate such an impossible reality.

W&H: What was the biggest challenge in making the film?

JSC: The biggest challenge was trying to weave a serious and emotional personal story into a documentary about a silly comedy festival.

Another big challenge was trying to include as many of our comedian pals that were so significant to the festival and to that decade of New York comedy. We were limited to filming during the 10th and final Festival, so we couldn’t include all the comedians and performers who had contributed to the fun and success over the years.

Also, it was very hard to capture the spirit of the early festivals because we didn’t film many of them. We didn’t set out to make a big festival when this started, so tracking down archival content was a challenge. Remember when phones didn’t have cameras and video abilities?!

W&H: How did you get your film funded? Share some insights into how you got the film made.

JSC: LeftRight, a production company, financed the production of the film.

W&H: What’s the best and worst advice you’ve received?

JSC: Worst advice: “Don’t work with your friends.”

Best advice: “Always hire a very good sound person.”

W&H: What advice do you have for other female directors?

JSC: My advice for directors is to create an environment where people are happy to come to work.

W&H: Name your favorite woman-directed film and why.

JSC: Penny Marshall’s “A League of Their Own” is one of my favorite films. I love how it explores the different choices women make and how their relationships and ambitions impact their decision-making. I love the collection of strong and complex women and the different ways femininity intersects with athleticism. Plus, I like baseball.

W&H: It’s been a little over a year since the reckoning in Hollywood and the global film industry began. What differences have you noticed since the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements launched? 

JSC: I think a lot of important conversations have happened in the past year, and it seems like there have been steps towards a better infrastructure within the industry for women to feel heard and supported. I hope the progress continues, and that women—and men—keep standing up when things aren’t right.