‘The Office’ Stars Break Down Their Infamous $50,000 Lip Dub

From a fake fire drill gone wrong to an injury sustained by stepping on a George Foreman grill, The Office is known for its iconic cold opens. Fans are still debating which intro is the greatest of all time, but there’s no doubt that Season 7’s lip dub is one of the show’s most memorable teasers.
On the August 17 episode of Office Ladies, Stitcher’s The Office rewatch podcast hosted by Jenna Fischer and Angela Kinsey, the BFFs and former costars discussed the Season 7 premiere, “Nepotism,” which kicks off with a lip dub to “Nobody But Me” by The Human Beinz.
The ambitious scene starts with Andy lip syncing in the elevator on his way to work. When he arrives at the office, Pam flips the blinds to reveal the words “LIP DUB” and the camera follows her inside to record Dub-der Mifflin in all its glory.
In addition to checking the DVD commentary for the episode and an old breakdown on The Office fansite OfficeTally.com, Fischer and Kinsey reached out to line producer Randy Cordray, cinematographer Matt Sohn, editor Dave Rogers, and star Kate Flannery to find out what inspired the famous cold open, how much it cost to use the song, and more. But before we break down the scene, let’s give it a rewatch.

Fischer explained that though the episode aired in September 2010, writer Danny Chun said they thought of the idea before the end of season six while watching a bunch of lip dubs. “He thought ‘What I’d love to see is one that’s kind of full of mistakes'” Fischer said. “…They kind of forgot about the idea for a while. But when it came time to pitch on the season premiere, Danny brought it up again.”
Kinsey said Chun wrote the lip dub scene in one day, and before logistical issues got in the way it was supposed to start in the parking lot and move through the warehouse into the office. The scene was filmed as one long continuous take, and after five tries they used a combination of the fourth and fifth run.

“We cut when Angela slams Darryl’s office door, and then we cut on the whip to take four as the camera moves by Phyllis dancing and heads into Michael’s office as he performs the magic tricks with his wand,” Fischer said. “And then we whip out back to take five as Andy yells, ‘Streamers!’ and then we stayed in take five until the end.”

If you’re curious why they combined two takes, Rogers thinks it’s because Steve Carell’s magic tricks were best in take four. Amazing.
Kinsey shared that the show enlisted the guidance of a magician’s helper, Amos Levkovitch, who was hiding behind Michael’s office door to pre-set his big flame trick. Fisher said that aside from the spark they just “gave Steve a bunch of dorky magic tricks” and let him improvise. She remembers he loved the dove coming out of the wand trick, so Michael does it three times in the scene.

A lip dub is nothing without a song, and “Nobody But Me” was the only song Chun considered for this cold open. “He said he really wanted a song that was ‘short, upbeat, fun to lip sync to, and not too current,'” Fischer explained, before revealing it cost the show $50,000 to get the rights to the music.
She also said the song was really blasting on set during filming, which helped the cast hit their marks and get in the mood. The moves were “heavily choreographed” by Mary Ann Kellogg, and Kinsey shared that the scene was planned out with a team of professional dancers, so timing was everything.
Ultimately, the cold open was an “all hands on deck” situation with dancers, an assistant director, a production assistant, and a magician hiding around the office to give the cast cues. In the end it was all worth it, because the final cut is even more magical than a dove coming out of Michael’s wand.
Be sure to listen to the full episode of Office Ladies for more lip dub info and behind-the-scenes “Nepotism” stories.