20 Things You Didn’t Know About Whiplash

Few things are dreaded by filmmakers during the process as much as invasive studio notes, and Damien Chazelle is one such individual who has had to deal with possibly out-of-touch industry bigwigs.

During a 2017 Oscars screenwriting event, the director pointed out that studio executives suggested that the climactic drumming scene in Whiplash be trimmed for brevity’s sake. The auteur decided to ignore the studio notes and the rest is history.

While some may consider the near ten-minute sequence a bit indulgent, it actually serves the story as well as Andrew and Fletcher’s different journeys. Here, Andrew is shown to have become exactly what Fletcher wanted, and what his father (Paul Reiser) feared the most would happen to his young son.