Joe Rogan - Director on Working with Anthony Bourdain

What's up, Mo? What's up, man? How are you, buddy? Good to see you, man. Good to see you. I'm glad we decided to get together and do this, you know, and talk. And you know, it's a crazy subject, right? I mean, you and I have known each other since 2012 when I did Meat Eater. You were there filming when I shot my first deer, which is a very important part of my life, man. And then you went on to direct and produce Parts Unknown with our late friend Anthony Bourdain. And we just thought it'd probably be a good thing to come in here and just talk about him. Yeah, man. And I'm really grateful for it. You know, it's actually, you know, a lot of people have been saying to me like, oh, it must be really hard to talk about that. It must really, it's, I actually find it kind of the opposite. Like, I want to talk about him. I want to talk about who he was and what that experience was, you know, so thanks, man. My pleasure, brother. Did you know him before you guys started working together? No, no, I met Tony 10 years ago and I was called in. He had a DP on a show who at the last minute canceled, couldn't go to Egypt. So I got a call like a week before, you know, it's like, do you want to go to Egypt with Anthony Bourdain? Yeah, absolutely. Right. You know, and so I met him in Cairo, man, like, you know, kind of like perfect. Yeah. Holy shit. That's like Indiana Jones. Exactly. The episode when you guys ate a camel? No, no, we didn't eat a camel. No, but, you know, I met him there. You know, we started filming. We were on the streets of Cairo and like, you know, it's like all of a sudden it's thrown in these kitchens. Like we're eating pigeon, you know, it's like go and cover them cooking pigeon. And, you know, I had seen the show like maybe once before, but I had I knew who he was and I knew what that adventure was. Right. You know, and I was so amped for it. And then there was like this seminal moment on that show where we go out and we go ripping across the desert with the Bedouin and go out and cook a goat in the ground, you know. And so as we're driving out over the desert, we're like, well, we need we need some shots from car to car. Right. And I was like, I'll get on the roof, you know, and and there's like this for for some reason, there's a four post bed tied to the roof of this Land Rover. And so I get up there and kind of like, you know, latch my arm around it. And these guys take off at I swear 80 miles an hour across the desert. I mean, and you're on a bed. Absolutely. Absolutely no regard for the fact that like I'm on the roof, you know, shooting and and when we got there, we got to camp. I survived it. I had this big black and blue where I was holding on to the four post bed and I go over and I show Tony and that was it, man. From that moment on, he was he was like, I like this guy. And I started going out with him. You know, I started getting invited to do more shows. That was it. How many years? Ten years. Wow. Ten years. Yeah. That's crazy. I didn't realize that Parts Unknown was even were you doing no reservations first? Yeah. So that was a no reservation show. And then we went to Parts Unknown five years ago. Wow. Yeah. So Parts Unknown has been on for five years. Yeah. Yeah. And that, you know, that transition, no, no reservation was great. And it really laid the foundation for what we do and what Tony did. I think it really built an audience and a following for him. That's where I found out about him. Right. Exactly. It was a great show. Yeah. You know, but that like that transition going on to CNN and going into Parts Unknown, that really that really changed things. So that really opened up a lot of locations and stuff that we didn't have access to before it opened up, you know, kind of CNN's logistics, roll the decks and, you know, things that we didn't have at the other network, you know, and and so that's, you know, no reservations was awesome. We did some incredible shows. Parts Unknown got really fun. Yeah, that was on another level. I remember watching the chains. I'm like, okay, this is more more him, you know, everything from the opening music to the tone of it and the narration. Yeah. For sure. And then in, you know, you got to hand it to CNN too is like, all of a sudden we had these creative partners who were like, willing to let him be him, you know, like willing to let him do a show like the Tokyo show where we're like, you know, really climbing into Japanese subcultures, rope bondage, tentacle porn. Yeah. You know, all this stuff that most network executives are probably a little bit leery of, you know, CNN was kind of like, you know, go for it, man. See yourself, you know, and let's figure out what this is together. That's amazing. That really is amazing. And one of the things that really made that show was Tony's narration, because the narration gave you a sense of the way his his sort of passion and enthusiasm for the world and for various aspects of cooking and travel and food and culture. Like you got it through his own words, you know. Yeah, I think that's, I mean, maybe in some ways, the most important aspect of the show. You know, I mean, he is after all a writer, right? Yeah. You know, and and that is how he experienced the world. But actually making the shows and the technical part of actually making the shows, you know, we'd once you'd go through and kind of edit the show, you know, none of that voiceover was in at the rough cut phase. And you send it out to him and get his writing back and record that VO. And I keep describing it as like that kind of Dr. Frankenstein lightning bolt to the temples kind of moment where like the monster rises. It would really just bring the show to life. So this kind of carcass that was laid out in rough cut form on the table, all of a sudden just gasped and jumped up. And you know, it was really beautiful to see that and to have, you know, as a director, as a producer, as a creative, you know, at any level, you know, to have that kind of power, to have his voice and his writing and his introspection and thoughts and, you know, that would have like powerful, you know, powerful force to work with. Well, it was a brilliant design, the way the show was put together. That narration really did make it something special and different from all those other kinds of shows, because it just to his articulate and insightful and poetic and artistic view of these things that he had this infectious passion for things. He completely changed the way I thought about cooking. I'd always thought about cooking as, oh, this guy knows how to make delicious food. Oh, this place has good ribs. And then when I saw his show, when I saw Parts Unknown, I went, oh, it's an art form. It's just an art form that you eat. Absolutely. It's just a temporary art form. Yeah. And even beyond that, it's an art form that's taking and incorporating all of these greater kind of macro social elements of, you know, where you are, the history of where you are, you know, what people did for a living, what people's ancestors did for a living, you know, it's rooted in so much more. And what I think, you know, ultimately, it was like we kind of joke around a lot and say, like, yeah, it's a food show, it's not a food show, you know, but the reason that worked, I think, is because of what you're saying. And, you know, the food, food is an art form that incorporates all of these other aspects. And so it can be a jumping point off for exploration into anything you want to talk about. Yeah. And talked about the history of a place, the politics of a place, you know, the religion of a place, you know, all of these things that inform who people are, well, that's all written into the cuisine of a place or an area, you know. Yeah. And he was into stuff that wasn't necessarily even like high, you know, high dollar items. He was into like street food. Definitely. Yeah. It wasn't just the finest French, you know, bistros where these celebrated world famous chefs were cooking these bizarre small plate sort of masterpieces. No, he would love street tacos. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, and again, I think that was kind of like a whole new kind of fresh take on looking at food, you know. Yeah. It's like, it's easy to, you know, to look at these kind of high end French preparations, these highly talented, you know, highly trained French chefs. And there's tremendous beauty in that. Yeah. And all of those other things we talked about. But to look at the woman on the corner, you know, that's making, you know, the best, you know, lingua tacos. Yeah. That was revolutionary. And then the realization that all of that greatness, all of that nuance, all of that flavor, you know, contained right within there, that was an access point to it as well. It's just an access point that everyone can afford, that everyone can go in. And, you know, I mean, right place at the right time. I think that people like, it seems like the culture at large was ready for that, ready for that, like, experience in food and ready to kind of chase that. Because now, I mean, that's all anyone wants now. Well, I think it's because of him. I really do. I really do. Because, I mean, I'm sure that he changed the way I look at things in terms of food. And I think he had that effect on many people. I mean, you think about how many years was parts unknown for five and then no reservations for nine. No reservations. Yeah, for about 10. And then there was Cook's tour before that. Right. So original, all told a decade and a half of his influence on people's food choices and just appreciation for food. I mean, I know personally, I've had some great meals in restaurants, but some of my favorite meals have been like stepping outside of a bar. You know, it's 130, you got a little buzz on and some dude's got a taco truck and like, Oh, baby, what do you got over there, my friend? Or in New York, you know, it's late at night and there's a falafel cart and some guy's got an incredible kebabs like, Oh, something about street food, man. Absolutely, man. And yeah, I kind of keep like a loose running list of my favorite meals, you know, and some of them are on the show and some of them are not on the show. And I'd say most of them are that, you know, most of them are accidentally stumbling into some place where someone's doing something completely awesome that isn't, you know, some massive 26 course tasting menu, you know. And I think it's also about, you know, it's about place, you know, yeah, it's about where you are, the context of where you're eating, what it smells like, what it sounds like, what it looks like, you know, who you're with, you know. Yeah.