Go backBack to selection

“The First Time Paul Eased Into the Role of Subject” | Matt Wolf, Pee-wee as Himself

Paul Reubens looks into the mirror. He wears a white dress shirt and has his black hair slicked back.Pee-Wee as Himself

Films are made over many days, but some days are more memorable, and important, than others. Imagine yourself in ten years looking back on this production. What day from your film’s development, production or post do you think you’ll view as the most significant and why?

It was a long process to get Paul Reubens comfortable appearing in front of the camera for the documentary. Paul had been an avid home videomaker since the 1970s, and a huge amount of his own footage appears in the documentary. With that in mind, I bought Paul a new camcorder, and I asked him to start filming his daily life as a way to warm-up to being filmed himself. 

Paul lived in an incredible midcentury house in the hills of East Hollywood, where he cultivated a fantastical wonderland of plants and animals. Each afternoon, Paul threw seeds and corn around the property at sunset to feed wild animals, who wandered onto his property from the outskirts of Griffith Park. 

When our DP David Jacobson was demonstrating how to use the new camcorder, Paul suddenly stepped in front of the camera because it was time to feed the deer and crows. David continued to film as Paul performed this private daily ritual, surrounded by a dozen deer. Anybody who ever visited Paul’s house will recount a similar experience of watching him meditatively feeding animals. 

This was the first time Paul eased into the role of subject for the documentary, and decided to share an aspect of his personal life with the world. 

See all responses to our annual Sundance Question here.

© 2025 Filmmaker Magazine. All Rights Reserved. A Publication of The Gotham