Stephen Colbert at the Montclair Film Festival's Opening Night Gala.

© TV Guide

Stephen Colbert and Evelyn McGee-Colbert attended the opening night gala of the 2nd Annual Montclair Film Festival, on Monday April 29th.

TV Guide’sBruce Fretts interviewed Stephen on the red carpet, asking about his thoughts on the Fallon-Leno shuffle, Conan O’Brien hosting the White House Correspondents Dinner, and how he convinced Bill Clinton to join Twitter.

On his personal website FrettsonFilm he asked Stephen how the festival compares to last years and what it was like interviewing Jon Stewart for the first time.

The Fretts on Film Interviews: Stephen Colbert

I saw you here last year at the first Montclair Film Festival. How does this one compare?

It’s great. It’s longer, there are more films. It’s already selling out like mad. I’m so happy. I love arts festivals. I was an arts-festival kid. I got started by working at the Spoleto festival [in South Carolina], which was music and dance and that kind of thing. I love that Montclair’s got this now. When I was a kid, I’d go see these things and think, “Oh, maybe I could do that.” And hopefully there are kids out there who feel the same way. That’s not the only reason to do it, but it’s a big part of it–that the community can meet the artists. It’s a great way for people to come together. It’s a great party. Who doesn’t love a springtime party?

Your wife called upon you to do a fundraiser for the festival with Jon Stewart at the Wellmont Theater. What was it like interviewing him onstage?

I loved doing it in Montclair, but I’d never interviewed Jon and he’d never interviewed me. The thing was, I probably know what Jon does better than anyone else, because I do the closest thing to it, and the hardest thing for me was not to ask questions that were too inside baseball. I had my research department write my first 10 questions. I said, “You know about him, but you don’t know him. I know him really well. I’m afraid I’m going to ask questions that mean nothing to the audience.” So I had to slow down for the audience.

Source: FrettsonFilm

Update:

© Montclair Film Festival

© Montclair Film Festival

The Opening Night video has a few blink and you’ll miss it shots of Stephen being adorable:

(Thank you to StephenSmile64 and dentry for the Tips!)