Spinal Tap II: The End Continues with Rob Reiner and Paul Feig (Ep. 566)

The Director’s Cut - A DGA Podcast

Directors Guild of America

Tv & Film

4.6 • 806 Ratings

🗓️ 24 September 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Director Rob Reiner discusses his new film, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, with fellow Director Paul Feig in a Q&A at the DGA theater in Los Angeles. In the conversation, he discusses his process of discovering the story in the edit through the Actors’ many improvisational takes, how he aims for a documentary-style feel by forgoing blocking and letting crew appear in the shots, and using real world inspiration of reuniting bands and going viral on the internet as pretext for a sequel. This follow up to the 1984 feature This is Spinal Tap finds documentarian Marty DiBergi once again shadowing the bandmates of Spinal Tap as they reunite after 15 years to put on one final show.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Here's what's interesting.
0:02.2	This movie, when it was first made, we created a parallel universe.
0:07.9	We didn't mention other rock bands.
0:11.0	It was like this own reality that we had created for them.
0:14.9	But over the years, it entered the real world because not only, I mean, they're all great musicians.
0:22.4	They all play, but they started getting gigs.
0:25.3	And real musicians would play with them.
0:27.6	So it became a different, like a hybrid reality.
0:31.7	And everybody that would come up to us, rockers would say, I had my spinal tap moment.
1:00.3	Yeah. to us, rockers would say, I had my spinal tap moment. Hello, and welcome. Hello, and welcome back to the director's cut, brought to you by the Directors Guild of America.
1:08.5	In this episode, the band gets back together and director Rob Reiner's mockumentary, Spinal Tap 2, The End Continues.
1:15.0	This follow-up to the 1984 feature This Is Spinal Tap finds a documentary and once again shadowing the bandmates of Spinal Tap, as they reunite after 15 years to put on one final show.
1:22.6	In addition to Spinal Tap 2, and This is Spinal Tap. Reiner's other directorial credits include the feature films,
1:28.9	Shock and Aw, The Princess Bride, Misery, and LBJ,
1:33.7	and the documentary Albert Brooks Defending My Life.
1:37.6	He is a three-time nominee for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature
1:42.1	Film for 1986's Stand By Me,
1:45.1	1989's when Harry met Sally,
1:47.3	and 1992's A Few Good Men.
1:51.1	Following a screening of the film
1:52.6	at the DGA Theater in Los Angeles,
1:55.1	Reiner spoke with director Paul Figue
	...

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