Neil LaBute, the writer and director of movies such as In The Company of Men and Your Friends and Neighbors, joins Brian this week to discuss his latest show, Billy & Billie, and his process as a director by taking a closer look at his 2013 film, Some Velvet Morning. Also, LaBute talks about his work as a writer and why critics and audiences often confuse his personal sense of morality with that of his characters. Plus, Brian and Neil meditate on the social utility in truth-telling and to what lengths writers and audiences are willing to go in order to feel connected in a world that’s ever-changing. Topics discussed on today’s show include: “Neil LaBute Has a Thing About Beauty” a New York Times article Your Friends and Neighbors In The Company of Men Billy & Billie Some Velvet Morning Full Frontal Irreversible This Is How It Goes a play by Neil LaBute The Magic Christian by Terry Southern Bash a play by Neil LaBute Fritzl Case I Smile Back by Amy Koppelman A Mouthful of Air by Amy Koppelman The Clown by Heinrich Boll People discussed on today's show: Neil LaBute Alice Eve Gaspar Noe Ben Stiller Amanda Peet Jeffrey Wright Euripides Shakespeare Nick Drake William Golding William Goldman Heinrich Boll This episode of The Moment is brought to you by Draft Kings. One-week fantasy football at Draft Kings means every moment could take you closer to a life-changing payday. Play when you want and pick a new team every time! Use the code MOMENT to play free for a shot at a million bucks in this week’s Millionaire Maker event only at DraftKings.com! And by Open Account, a podcast series created by SuChin Pak and Umpqua Bank. Open Account explores, through honest and sometimes comical interviews, our uncomfortable silence around money. Open Account is coming soon on iTunes. And by Braintree. If you’re working on a mobile app and searching for a simple payments solution, check out Braintree. With one simple integration, you can offer your customers every way to pay. Period. To learn more, and for your first $50,000 in transactions fee-free, go to braintreepayments.com/MOMENT. Email: themomentbk@gmail.com Twitter: @BrianKoppelman iTunes: itunes.com/themoment To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices