Oscar Nominated Writers Explain Borat

Like just about everyone, I’m totally in love with the greatness of Borat. While I would have been happy to see it nominated for Best Actor or even Best Picture I, like just about everyone, was baffled by it’s nomination in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. After all, wasn’t most of the movie improvisation?

Granted, a big part of why Borat works so well as a complete movie and not just a collection of funny bits is the way they stitched those bits together so seamlessly with a brilliantly funny story. So maybe it deserves some credit for that. But at best that’s only half the movie we’re talking about here, how can it possibly qualify for Best Adpated Screenplay?

Well here’s the answer. Below is a clip containing a long, extended interview with Anthony Hines and Peter Baynham, the guys who wrote Borat. They explain, it pretty vivid detail, what their job was on the film. It’s more than you’d think. Their process is actually rather fascinating. It sounds like most of the film was spent writing in reverse, upside down, and standing on their heads. Maybe they really do deserve some credit.

Watch this fascinating interview with Oscar nominated writers Anthony Hines and Peter Bayham by clicking play: