5 Questions With Dan Schawbel

5 Questions With Dan Schawbel


Episode 274: David and Jerry Zucker

January 15, 2024

My guests today are film directors, producers and screenwriters David and Jerry Zucker. David and Jerry have collaborating on several movies, including The Naked Gun and Airplane! We talk about their careers, and new book “Surely You Can’t Be Serious” during this episode.





The 5 questions I ask in this episode:


  1. How were you both able to create your theater growing up and how did it lead to your first film?
  2. What makes you collaborate effectively on movie projects together and how do you draw the line between being brothers and collaborators?
  3. What were the biggest obstacles when you were developing your hit movie Airplane! and how did you overcome them?
  4. Why do you think Airplane! can appeal to new generations after four decades?
  5. What’s your best piece of career advice?

Video interview:




Follow Jeff’s journey: