A famous actor and his devoted manager embark on a journey of self-discovery in Director Noah Baumbach’s comedic drama, Jay Kelly.

Baumbach’s film tells the story a movie star Jay Kelly and his devoted manager Ron Sukenick who take a whirlwind and unexpectedly profound journey through Europe. Along the way, both men are forced to confront the choices they've made, the relationships with their loved ones, and the legacies they'll leave behind.

Baumbach discussed the making of the film during Q&As moderated by Directors Todd Field in New York and Nancy Meyers in Los Angeles.

During the Los Angeles conversation, he revealed how many takes he does of a scene.

“I do a lot of takes in general. Not of like a hand picking up a thing or you know, but I also do long takes often. Because I like to play out the scene. I design the thing so that there isn’t really coverage so much as the things are, I guess you call it a movie master. They walk into the close-up when I want the close-up. A lot of times it does take a while.”

Baumbach’s other directorial credits include the feature films White Noise, Marriage Story, The Meyerowitz Stories, Mistress America, While We’re Young, Frances Ha, Margot at the Wedding, The Squid and the Whale, Mr. Jealousy and Kicking and Screaming. He has been a DGA member since 2004.