Summary

Collider’s Steve Weintraub sits down with writer-director Nick Davis, Victor Garber, Paul Schaffer, and Valda Aviks for You Had to Be There at TIFF 2025.

You Had to Be There chronicles Toronto’s 1972 Godspell production and highlights its role in sparking a comedy revolution.

In this interview, the crew take us back to the auditions, working together, how they’ve grown in their careers, and more.

To kick off our time at the Toronto International Film Festival 2025, the Collider Media Studio welcomed a few of the legends behind the doc comically titled You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way). Writer and director Nick Davis (30 for 30) and stars Victor Garber (Alias), actor and composer Paul Schaffer (This Is Spinal Tap), and Valda Aviks (Nightbreed) stopped in to reminisce with us, telling stories from their time launching a production that would lead to so many careers before the days of SNL and SCTV. As Collider’s Steve Weintraub puts it, something was in the water in Toronto in the 1970s, and in this doc, Davis set out to capture the alchemical mix of luck and talent that came together for the fateful production of Godspell in ’72. In addition to Garber as Jesus Chris, Schaffer’s music direction, and Aviks as Peggy, this production hosted soon-to-be stars like Martin Short, Eugene Levy, and Gilda Radner. During their conversation, Davis and stars Garber, Shaffer, and Aviks discuss their original collaboration back in the ’70s, why Godspell took the world of theater by storm, how Short’s personal footage bolstered the doc, and more. Check out the full conversation in the video above, indexed below.

00:33 – What is You Had to Be There?

01:50 – The team reflects on their collaboration in the ‘70s.

06:44 – How Godspell became “lightning in a bottle.”

09:45 – Garber discusses the energy the mammoth play required and the liveliness of the production and audience.

12:24 – The crew touches on the impact Martin Short had on the documentary’s existence.

14:12 – Davis talks about the inclusion of animation in the doc.

16:03 – Shaffer looks back on his most momentous musical collaborations.

You Had to Be There has not set an official release date yet. Special thanks to the partners Roxstar Entertainment and its Campari Cinema Center and Campari, who featured their signature festival red-carpet drinks, including the Campari Negroni and Campari Spritz. Also host venue, Discreta Toronto, and Oscar-winning visual effects (VFX) company, Rodeo FX, as well as Lavazza Coffee, Vellamo mineral water, Santa Carolina’s Reserva Chilean Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon wines, La Vieille Ferme Rosé and La Vieille Ferme Reserve Brut Sparkling, Peroni beer, and food catering by Miss Ivy Toronto @Cinemactr.

Release Date

September 6, 2025

Director

Nick Davis

Writers

Jane Mendelsohn, Nick Davis