Charli XCX doesn’t just play herself on Prime Video’s “Overcompensating,” as the show’s executive producer and music producer on the show, she was deeply involved in working behind the scenes in helping the music flow throughout the eight-part series.
Speaking at a guild FYC, music supervisors Jen Malone and Nicole Weisberg discussed how the “Boom Clap” singer made their job easier, but also how her involvement helped artists license their music.
Weisberg said, “We went into embracing ourselves for challenges ahead. But she was really involved. She was on spotting sessions, she was part of the composing team, and she was giving edit notes on where the score should come in and where it should come out.”
Created by Benito Skinner, “Overcompensating” Benny (Skinner), a closeted jock as he explores his freshman year at college. While the script packs hilarious punches, the music serves as a character. Charli xcx lent 30 songs to the song, including “Boom Clap” and “Girls Night Out.” Elsewhere, Lady Gaga’s “Edge of Glory,” Britney Spears’ “Lucky” and Nicki Minaj’s “Superbass” thread throughout as Benny’s story reveals itself.
Weisberg explained that a lot of the music was built into the scripts, so coming into the show early helped address the “must-have” moments. Furthermore, every episode was named after a song. “That was step one on this show. It was a big pre-production step of getting Benny everything he wanted.” She added, “These songs are emotionally tied to his experience. So that was vital, was getting him those moments first and then building off that.”
Episode 1 is titled “Lucky,” after Spears’ hit song, and was special to Skinner’s story. Said Weisberg, “I went to college at the same time as him. So, I understood the importance of what that meant to a growth experience at that time.”
It was one of the first songs Malone and Weisberg went after.
Malone explained, “We had the Charli card to play, which was like, Charli had already signed off on this project, so that helped push things along, rather than sometimes just having the show in its first season, and nobody knows what it is.”
Securing the songs for the series was a surprisingly smooth process, with artists wanting to be involved. It helped that a few weeks after interviewing for the job, “Brat” was released, and “Brat” summer became a cultural phenomenon.
Added Weisberg, “That probably helped our cause at that point.”
Episode 4, titled “Boom Clap,” follows Grace, who shares some exciting news: she’s going to be working the Charli xcx concert at school. It was all scripted that the Grammy-award-winning singer would be acting and performing. “She was amazing to work with,” Weisberg said. “Her team was amazing to work with. They had all the assets they needed and were ready to execute it.” Weisberg added that the episode was shot during the Sweat tour. “She was in Canada where they were shooting, and it was like, ‘Perform the tour, be on set at 5 a.m., and I think they did that all in one day in a 10-hour sequence of time.”
While most of the songs were an easy process to secure, there was one that proved a challenge.
The series reveals that Benny has his sexual awakening watching Brendan Fraser clad in his loincloth swinging through the trees in “George of the Jungle.” Malone said, “The reason why it was difficult was not because of the scene. The person who owned 50% of the master and 50% of the publishing was somebody I actually had to hunt down for “Euphoria for season two.” Malone continued, “One of the rights holders is 80 years old, so I dealt a lot with her daughter.”
Malone added, “Overall, compared to shows where we do get a lot of denials, I think this one was pretty easy.”