"Teasing John Malkovich" opens with Academy Award nominated actor John Malkovich reading a script to a piece he's about to perform. He becomes so frustrated with the poorly written dialogue that he calls his agent to complain about the part. After a tense and occasionally humorous back and forth with his agent, Malkovich confronts the film's director on stage as they're setting up for the first shot. It's at this point that the Malkovich and the audience are clued in to what this film is supposed to be about, it's a "sports tease," a short film that airs right before a big sporting event to get the audience excited for the game. The irony being that if the audience at home sees the "tease" then they've already decided to tune in for the game. Once Malkovich realizes that, he delivers a riveting performance as only he can.

The AFC Championship game is one of the most watched sporting events in the United States every year, attracting roughly 50 million views, which is second only to the Super Bowl. Huge television events like that call for a special opening film, or "tease," that sets the viewers up for what they're about to watch. In this past AFC Championship game, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, possibly the most dominant team in the past 17 years with 5 Super Bowl victories was facing off against Blake Bortles of the Jacksonville Jaguars, who had never even reached the Super Bowl once. This was a classic David versus Goliath matchup that called for a dramatic film to set the stage.

The biggest challenge in directing this film, besides coordinating a 100 person orchestra and half a dozen different setups, was keeping the actors on script while also allowing them the freedom to improvise. Much of the banter between John Malkovich and the other actors was improvised or inspired by the script, but the final monologue by John Malkovich was completely scripted but still had to feel as if it was an off-the-cuff, stream of consciousness rant. As a gifted actor, Malkovich was able to deliver that performance, but it took many takes to find the right balance between the frantic energy and measured delivery that he ultimately achieved.