move along
As promised, blogging about our Toronto International Film Festival trip just began at Cyan’s web site.
that’s what i’m talkin’ aboot, eh
Yessiree. Cyan’s first feature, I Love Your Work, premieres tomorrow at the Toronto International Film Festival, so I’m road-tripping north – way north – to catch the screening, hobnob with movie stars, get rip-roaring drunk at industry soirees, shake hands and kiss babies, etc., etc. I’m hoping to blog away while up there (though some entries may instead appear on Cyan’s site – in which case I’ll link across); stop back in to hear about the exploits as they unfold.
starstruck
Running a fast-rising indie production company, I get to meet movie stars on a fairly regular basis. And, by and large, it doesn’t faze me at all. After all, despite what Us and Entertainment Weekly might imply, even Oscar-winners are just people; granted, exceedingly talented people whose face you and millions of others have seen blown up to forty feet across and projected onto a wall. But people none the less.
Still, earlier today, I met a star who turned me instantly into a mouth-breathing, autograph-chasing, slack-jawed yokel. Today, I met none other than Wally Shawn, inimitable Sicilian of Princess Bride fame. Shaking his hand, I literally had to bite my tongue to keep from saying aloud: “inconceivable!”
step aside, i’m an expert on this stuff
Though, like most bloggers, my posts about digital media and such are largely me talking out of my ass, apparently my two cents on the matter are worth significantly more than just two cents. At least, that seems to be the conclusion of the esteemed Directors Guild of America, people who really should know better, but have none the less asked me to speak at the upcoming DGA Digital Day on digital technology in film production and distribution.
I mean, If I’m the best they can find for insight on the digital future of film, there are some hard, hard times ahead for the movie industry.
received wisdom
“I couldn’t even meet Friday’s payroll, and the terrible thing about it is that I wasn’t even worried. I knew I’d make something happen. And I did. That comes from cojones. That comes from being in a bullring and seeing the horns come at you. I shit in my pants, but I stayed there.”
– legendary producer Robert Evans, on making movies.
back and forth and back and
Ridiculously enough, I’m out in Los Angeles, yet again, for a short stint (arrived Tuesday afternoon, head back early tomorrow morning) to deal with a couple of post-production emergencies and to begin lining up contracts and financing for our next project. Then it’s back to New York for two days before heading off to Florida for the Florida Film Festival. And then back to New York, briefly, before a trip out to San Francisco, next weekend.
By now, I have absolutely no idea where I live nor what time I’m on. But, on the plus side, I’m racking up all kinds of frequent flier miles, which means, if I’m real lucky, I can fly even more!
I remember my father once telling me about a patient of his who worked as a traveling salesman. When he awoke in the morning, the man would roll over and look at the carpet – if it was blue, he was at home; if not, he’d stay in bed until he could remember where he was and what he was doing there. For the first time in my life, that story makes a lot of sense.
we represent the lollipop kids
On the heels of my last Napoleon Complex post, it occurred to me that most of my readers have never met me in real life. So, a brief word of explanation: at 5’6″, I’m not terribly tall.
Which, frankly, puts me right at home here in the world of film. Earlier this week, for example, I inherited a stack of great shirts, pants and sweaters from the recently wrapped I Love Your Work’s costume wardrobe, as apparently Giovanni Ribisi and I are exactly the same size.
It took me back to a meeting Cyan had over the summer while casting Coming Down the Mountain. Caitlin Rinderer, our casting director, was singing the praises of a young actor she though would be perfect for the lead. He needed to look like a basketball player, we reminded her; was the guy tall? Well, actor tall, she replied. Actor tall? You know, she deadpanned, 5’9″, 5’10”.
finally done
After several very intensive months, Cyan’s first feature, I Love Your Work, is finally in the can. And though all of post-production (editing, sound, etc.) still lies ahead, the hardest work is done. My sleep schedule should once again be returning to some semblance of normal.
While I’m obviously thrilled, and more than somewhat relieved, I’m also a bit saddened. The crucible of a movie set is uniquely conducive to the alchemy of new friendships, and over the past month and a half of shooting, I’ve been lucky enough to work with a (by and large, at least) truly extraodinary group of people. [Point in case: Katya and Alexis, you rock the proverbial Casbah.]
I suspect over the next few months, I’ll be living a rather bicoastal lifestyle – juggling time between developing our next projects back in New York and overseeing post out West – which should give me the chance to stalk my new ILYW buddies. I just hope they’ll still talk to me when I’m no longer paying their salaries.
life imitates art
Taking a break from a day spent wrestling the finances on I Love Your Work, I picked up my copy of Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, and read this paragraph on page 406:
Brian had swooped down like an angel with a crucial fifty thou just as Schwartz began principal photography on a modern-dress Crime and Punishment in which Raskolnikov, played by Giovanni Ribisi…
Wait, what? Taking a break from financing a film starring Giovanni to read about financing a film starring Giovanni. The recursivity of it all is making me dizzy.
ulcers, we’ve got ulcers
Producing movies isn’t for the faint of heart. At least twice a week, I’m thoroughly convinced that I Love Your Work is going to fall apart horribly, to thoroughly deconstruct. And, at least twice a week, we miraculously cobble together a solution, keep cranking ahead, and continue to create scene after scene of beautifully shot film.
Yesterday, while viewing the footage from the third week of shooting, I suddenly realized that the efforts of our phenomenal cast and crew have been paying off, as we’re making a really, really good film. And I similarly realized that I might never be able to fully enjoy it, as the mere sight of some scenes might send me flashing back on the various disasters along the way.
Films, it seems, ought to be lumped into the old adage with sausage and legislation: enjoyable in the end only so long as you never watch them being made.