Boots Riley and the cast of Sorry To Bother You on the joys of filming in Oakland

Loosely based on Boots Riley’s actual experiences working as telemarketer, Sorry To Bother You follows the unemployed Cash (Lakeith Stanfield), who, after getting a job as a telemarketer, quickly climbs the corporate ladder upon learning the secret to success on the phone: using a “white voice.” Riley, who spent the better part of the last three decades as frontman of the Oakland-based hip-hop group The Coup, makes his directorial debut with Sorry To Bother You. We spoke with him and stars Armie Hammer, Steven Yeun, Jermaine Fowler, and Omari Hardwick about the movie and what it was like to film in Oakland.