Noah Baumbach on Greenberg's L.A.

In Berlin for the world premiere of his latest movie, Greenberg, writer-director Noah Baumbach sat down with The Hollywood Reporter's Gregg Kilday. In the following extract from their conversation, Baumbach - who has previously always set his movies in New York - talks about how Los Angeles plays an integral role in this new film.

THR: Is this a character that could only exist in Los Angeles or could you have set it in any city?Baumbach: I always wanted it to be in Los Angeles. I do not have a good answer why. But simultaneously, I had this character who can't get out of his own way, who makes everything in his life much more difficult for himself. At the same time I wanted to shoot a story in Los Angeles and shoot Los Angeles like a real city. It came together and it seemed like the right character for the right city.THR: In L.A., you certainly see lots of people who come out to be part of the business, never quite make it and then just drift along.

Baumbach: That's certainly a common experience. There are a lot of pepole who find themselves floating out there, but this story is not about the movie business. He's not looking to get into the business or anything. I really wanted to focus more on L.A. outside of the industry. I feel Los Angeles in the movies is either seen as a Hollywood town or a sort of generic city. I wanted to look at it as city that's unique to itself.

You can read the whole interview here.