Even on Zoom, Martin Scorsese knows how to compose a shot. Ostensibly he’s on the phone to talk about Squarespace’s new Super Bowl ad, but as he settles in, he adjusts the iPad he’s calling on to make sure his face is perfectly framed by the bookshelf behind him.
This is less a matter of vanity than a desire to take digital communication seriously. Scorsese’s high-energy, hilariously riffy Super Bowl ad tells the story of what would happen if aliens came to Earth but couldn’t get humanity’s attention because everyone was addicted to their phones. It’s funny, but it’s also something Scorsese thinks about. At 81, he says, he remembers the transition from radio to television to movies and thinks deeply about how each generation consumes visual media.
Including the current TikTok. Late last year, the legendary filmmaker recently received his tenth Oscar nomination for Best Director, Killers of the Flower Moon— When his daughter Francesca Scorsese started posting videos of her father learning slang on the video-sharing app, the videos went viral. He said he might never be good at telling stories on TikTok, but what about 30-second ads? He can do it.
Wired caught up with Scorsese to discuss his Squarespace campaign, the rise of artificial intelligence in filmmaking, and whether he’ll get Vision Pro.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Angela Watercutt: Are we going to dive right in?
Martin Scorsese: I guess so. I will try my best. [Laughs]
I saw a behind-the-scenes look at you and Francesca the other day. What was it like working with your daughter as a collaborator?
Well, it’s just an extension of the two of us and how we normally behave. So to me it’s very basic. There is no judgment, or no direction in any sense. What a joke. It seemed to flow naturally through her.
You both are so funny.
I think she has a great sense of humor and she’s a really good actor. Some, it’s not a show, you know, it’s just plain being. It’s simply not easy. But this is key.
Does this mean we’ll be getting more TikToks soon? I know the internet has been waiting for them.
We want to release some more. I’m busy now. If she comes up with an interesting idea within the nature of the work itself, that adds energy to it when we’re doing interviews or we’re going somewhere to do an event or whatever. It makes it more natural. In a way, it’s disarming because we have no choice. We have to get this done, and it’s like, “Let’s do it,” rather than, “Don’t bother me. Get that iPhone and stay away from me.” I love iPhones, I’m just saying keep it away from me.
ha! correct. I got you.
I don’t know what happens online. I had no idea it would be released. But that’s okay.