Two comedy legends discuss For Your Consideration.

Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy have carved out quite a niche for themselves since 1996’s Waiting for Guffman first showcased their unique brand of improvisational comedy. Ten years and three movies later, they’re still considered Hollywood’s premiere “mockumentarians.” Though they didn’t invent the filmmaking technique, Guest and Levy are certainly among its most influential practitioners.

In their latest film, For Your Consideration, Guest and Levy target the movie industry, exploring what happens when the word “Oscar” is mentioned on a movie set and the so-called “awards buzz” infects a cast.

With over a half century of show business experience between them, Guest and Levy had no shortage of material to mine for their story. “There are things that have happened to both of us in our lives and in show business that are so much more bizarre, so much worse on some levels, that if we showed those things no one would believe them, or think they were funny,” says Guest. “So what's in the movie is a balancing act between trying to find something funny but accurate as well.”

“We kind of rounded the edges here,” adds Levy. “If you're trying to portray a more of accurate slant on the business, then you're dealing with times of nastiness that sometimes aren't necessarily funny. We're trying to keep our characters on the funny side.”

For Your Consideration represents a departure of sorts from Guest’s typical mockumentary style; unlike his previous efforts A Mighty Wind, Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman, it doesn’t feature characters facing the camera in sit-down interviews.

“We had done three films in one format,” says Guest. “It was time to try something new.”

Though the structure has changed, there’s still plenty of improvisation – the hallmark of any Christopher Guest film. Guest estimates that “about eight to ten pages” were scripted.

That’s not to say the story doesn’t have any structure. “You have to have a very strict outline,” explains Guest. “We have back histories for all the actors, everything they've done in their lives, all their résumés. We go much deeper than a conventional movie.”

“And every single scene, every piece of information that is in the outline has to come out,” adds Levy. “How the actors do it is up to them. The improvising, honestly in these movies, is the delicious icing on the cake. But the cake is fully baked in the office. We know what it is, the shape it is, the flavor of it and everything else. But the magical part is what the actors do.”

While Levy opts for the baking analogy, Guest prefers a different one. “I always compare it to playing musical jazz, where you always have to play it in the same key,” says Guest. “It's not a random slugfest where people are just playing music at the same time. You have to listen to other people and it takes great skill. And there are not many other people who can do this. That's why these actors are in these movies.”

Fans will recognize plenty of familiar faces in For Your Consideration, including Fred Willard, Catherine O’Hara and Parker Posey, along with several new ones. Heading the list of newcomers is Ricky Gervais, creator of “The Office” (the original BBC version).

“I got to meet him a couple of years ago,” says Guest. “I am a great admirer of ‘The Office’ – which was a scripted show, incidentally, that looked improvised – and his next show, ‘Extras,’ and I asked him if he wanted to do it. He had never been in a movie. This was his first film.”

Making your debut in a Christopher Guest film? Not a bad way to start a movie career.

Check out ReelzChannel.com's For Your Consideration page for clips from the film and more!