Shot By Jason Reitman – Juno, George Clooney, Me.

Promoting his latest film Up In The Air, filmmaker Jason Reitman decided to turn the focus back on the media. First their was this pie chart, detailing the most frequently asked questions he received. Cute. Though the idea that you’re going to talk to the director of a George Clooney film and not ask about the star is pretty ludicrous. Then came this video:

It sounds like a tagline for a very bad rom-com: “3 Months. 3oo Interviews…. A Complete and Utter Blur.” Reitman photographed every single journalist who spoke to him across Europe and North America these past few months and then strung them together. It unspools at quite a clip, so I was quite chuffed to manage to find myself in the mix. Just after The Daily Mail’s Baz Bamigboye.

On the plus side, it shows the relentless promotion required to break a non-blockbuster, even one with Clooney, into the public consciousness. It’s also the sort of smart, slick yet slightly glib move that critics accuse Reitman of in his films. My encounter with him happened during the London Film Festival, where Up In The Air screened. I’d interviewed Reitman before, a TV spot for Juno, and while he seems accessible enough, he has a habit of answering a question, then stopping dead with an unspoken “Next” that doesn’t produce the good back-and-forth that the best interviews do. Then again, being asked the same question 300 times doesn’t inspire natural, spontaneous chat.