Dan Mirvish’s film centres a transcriber caught up in the infamous scandal.
UK-based sales outfiit 101 Films International has acquired worldwide rights to Dan Mirvish’s Watergate drama 18½.
The completed film is inspired by the Watergate scandal, in which the administration of US president Richard Nixon attempted to cover up its involvement in the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington D.C.
The film centres on a transcriber who is thrust to the forefront of events when she obtains the only copy of the 18 ½-minute gap in the president’s tapes.
UK-based sales outfiit 101 Films International has acquired worldwide rights to Dan Mirvish’s Watergate drama 18½.
The completed film is inspired by the Watergate scandal, in which the administration of US president Richard Nixon attempted to cover up its involvement in the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington D.C.
The film centres on a transcriber who is thrust to the forefront of events when she obtains the only copy of the 18 ½-minute gap in the president’s tapes.
- 2/21/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Dan Mirvish’s film centres a transcriber caught up in the infamous scandal.
UK-based sales outfiit 101 Films International has acquired worldwide rights to Dan Mirvish’s Watergate drama 18 ½.
The completed film is inspired by the Watergate scandal, in which the administration of US president Richard Nixon attempted to cover up its involvement in the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington D.C.
The film centres on a transcriber who is thrust to the forefront of events when she obtains the only copy of the 18 ½-minute gap in the president’s tapes.
UK-based sales outfiit 101 Films International has acquired worldwide rights to Dan Mirvish’s Watergate drama 18 ½.
The completed film is inspired by the Watergate scandal, in which the administration of US president Richard Nixon attempted to cover up its involvement in the 1972 break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate Office Building in Washington D.C.
The film centres on a transcriber who is thrust to the forefront of events when she obtains the only copy of the 18 ½-minute gap in the president’s tapes.
- 2/21/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Bruce Campbell will be the voice of President Richard M. Nixon in an indie thriller and dark comedy set in the Watergate era called “18 1/2” as directed by Slamdance Film Festival co-founder Dan Mirvish, Bugeater Films announced Friday.
The film’s live-action cast was also unveiled and stars Willa Fitzgerald, John Magaro, Vondie Curtis Hall, Catherine Curtin and Sullivan Jones. And alongside Campbell in the voice cast are Ted Raimi as Gen. Al Haig and Jon Cryer as H. R. Haldeman.
“18 1/2” is a historical fiction film about the 18 1/2 minutes of audio erased from President Nixon’s Oval Office voice recording system that led to the unraveling of the Watergate scandal. It made the audio’s erasure one of the worst incidents of evidence destruction by a presidential administration and something that’s been ripe for conspiracy theories. Campbell has previously played another President, playing Ronald Reagan on “Fargo,” and his voice...
The film’s live-action cast was also unveiled and stars Willa Fitzgerald, John Magaro, Vondie Curtis Hall, Catherine Curtin and Sullivan Jones. And alongside Campbell in the voice cast are Ted Raimi as Gen. Al Haig and Jon Cryer as H. R. Haldeman.
“18 1/2” is a historical fiction film about the 18 1/2 minutes of audio erased from President Nixon’s Oval Office voice recording system that led to the unraveling of the Watergate scandal. It made the audio’s erasure one of the worst incidents of evidence destruction by a presidential administration and something that’s been ripe for conspiracy theories. Campbell has previously played another President, playing Ronald Reagan on “Fargo,” and his voice...
- 7/31/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Slaves Of Hollywood - A 1993 film about Hollywood Assistants ripped from today's headlines, sort of.
by Terry Keefe
Back in the mid-90s, Michael Wechsler, Brian Grossman, and myself collaborated with a bunch of great young actors and crew for this micro-budgeted feature film about tortured Hollywood assistants. Alex Simon makes a few cameos also!
As we were going for "theater of the absurd," and (mostly) dark laughs, it isn't the perfect companion to today's headlines, but some of the milieu will be familiar. The stories about Harvey Weinstein abounded even then. In total honesty, I had great bosses in Hollywood, and the film is all based on stories we had heard about Other bosses. The ones you didn't want to work for. There but for the grace of God went we. But Meryl Streep did later call Harvey "God," so it all gets confusing.
We shot this two years before Kevin Spacey tore up the screen as the abusive producer in Swimming With Sharks,...
Back in the mid-90s, Michael Wechsler, Brian Grossman, and myself collaborated with a bunch of great young actors and crew for this micro-budgeted feature film about tortured Hollywood assistants. Alex Simon makes a few cameos also!
As we were going for "theater of the absurd," and (mostly) dark laughs, it isn't the perfect companion to today's headlines, but some of the milieu will be familiar. The stories about Harvey Weinstein abounded even then. In total honesty, I had great bosses in Hollywood, and the film is all based on stories we had heard about Other bosses. The ones you didn't want to work for. There but for the grace of God went we. But Meryl Streep did later call Harvey "God," so it all gets confusing.
We shot this two years before Kevin Spacey tore up the screen as the abusive producer in Swimming With Sharks,...
- 10/18/2017
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
by Terry Keefe
Just noticed that a Vince McMahon biopic called Pandemonium has been set up at Sony, with Vince’s authorization. It’s a great title and as old school wrestling fans know, “Pandemonium is breaking loose!” was one of Vince’s catchphrases as an announcer going back to at least the early 80s. At the age of 13 or so, I shouted that phrase a lot myself when I played Vince in our backyard wrestling league on Long Island — Jim Erhardt will attest to this. I just wasn’t agile enough for the dropkicks, but I could announce and had an early consumer-level Betamax camera, with a separate camera that had a cord attached to a bulky deck, for dual-duties as wrestling film auteur.
Wayyyy back in 1999, Michael Wechsler and I took an unauthorized stab at the Vince biopic subject matter with a script called Mat Wars. Here’s...
Just noticed that a Vince McMahon biopic called Pandemonium has been set up at Sony, with Vince’s authorization. It’s a great title and as old school wrestling fans know, “Pandemonium is breaking loose!” was one of Vince’s catchphrases as an announcer going back to at least the early 80s. At the age of 13 or so, I shouted that phrase a lot myself when I played Vince in our backyard wrestling league on Long Island — Jim Erhardt will attest to this. I just wasn’t agile enough for the dropkicks, but I could announce and had an early consumer-level Betamax camera, with a separate camera that had a cord attached to a bulky deck, for dual-duties as wrestling film auteur.
Wayyyy back in 1999, Michael Wechsler and I took an unauthorized stab at the Vince biopic subject matter with a script called Mat Wars. Here’s...
- 5/5/2017
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Sarah Leonor Discovers a Great Man
By Terry Keefe
Writer/director Sarah Leonor is one of France's most exciting new cinematic exports. Her latest film, The Great Man (Le Grand Homme), is an extraordinary drama depicting the traumas of war and immigration, and how they ricochet, opens on Friday, August 14 in New York at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Theater, then platforms wider on September 4. Starring Jérémie Rénier (The Dardenne Brothers' Palme D’or Winner L’Enfant), The Great Man is a powerful story about friendship and solidarity and takes a closer look at how men try to piece their lives back together when they’ve been shattered by war.
Hamilton (Jérémie Rénier) and Markov (Surho Sugaipov) are about to finish five years of service in the Foreign Legion. During their six-month posting in Afghanistan, they wind up amidst a crossfire while out on an impromptu and unauthorized leopard hunt.
By Terry Keefe
Writer/director Sarah Leonor is one of France's most exciting new cinematic exports. Her latest film, The Great Man (Le Grand Homme), is an extraordinary drama depicting the traumas of war and immigration, and how they ricochet, opens on Friday, August 14 in New York at the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Elinor Bunin Theater, then platforms wider on September 4. Starring Jérémie Rénier (The Dardenne Brothers' Palme D’or Winner L’Enfant), The Great Man is a powerful story about friendship and solidarity and takes a closer look at how men try to piece their lives back together when they’ve been shattered by war.
Hamilton (Jérémie Rénier) and Markov (Surho Sugaipov) are about to finish five years of service in the Foreign Legion. During their six-month posting in Afghanistan, they wind up amidst a crossfire while out on an impromptu and unauthorized leopard hunt.
- 8/14/2015
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Thomas S. Hammock Digs Deep With The Last Survivors
By Terry Keefe
With the growth of technology over the past decade, it’s become possible for literally anybody to record a song, write a book or make a movie. With the inundation of content into the marketplace, it’s become more difficult than ever before for real filmmakers to get their work made, seen and, perhaps most significantly, monetized. Hollywood wants $300 million-budgeted tentpole comic book movies that will play as well in Beijing and New Delhi as they do in Muncie and Canoga Park. The indie film movement, once occupied by names like Quentin Tarantino, P.T. Anderson and Steven Soderbergh during its 1990s heyday, is basically non-existent now, those filmmakers having moved on to big-budget (or at least bigger than their salad days), more epic filmmaking. Many aspiring directors and producers find this landscape to be a bleak one, akin...
By Terry Keefe
With the growth of technology over the past decade, it’s become possible for literally anybody to record a song, write a book or make a movie. With the inundation of content into the marketplace, it’s become more difficult than ever before for real filmmakers to get their work made, seen and, perhaps most significantly, monetized. Hollywood wants $300 million-budgeted tentpole comic book movies that will play as well in Beijing and New Delhi as they do in Muncie and Canoga Park. The indie film movement, once occupied by names like Quentin Tarantino, P.T. Anderson and Steven Soderbergh during its 1990s heyday, is basically non-existent now, those filmmakers having moved on to big-budget (or at least bigger than their salad days), more epic filmmaking. Many aspiring directors and producers find this landscape to be a bleak one, akin...
- 8/14/2015
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
From Terry Keefe
(C.S. Lee, above, in The Red Robin).
Dear L.A. Friends, The Red Robin, the film that I co-produced and worked for a few years on is having its U.S. Premiere tonight at the Hollywood Film Festival. The screening is at 7 and is at my favorite theater in town, the Arclight Hollywood.
The Red Robin was written and directed by Michael Z. Wechsler, who will be in attendance to introduce the film and do a Q & A afterwards with the cast. I believe that C.S. Lee of Dexter, as well as Caroline Lagerfelt of Gossip Girl, will be there as well. The film also stars Judd Hirsch (Taxi, Independence Day), Ryan O'Nan (The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best), Jaime Ray Newman (Red Widow, Supernatural), and Joseph Lyle Taylor (not sure who is coming from the rest of the cast).
The Red Robin was originally pitched by...
(C.S. Lee, above, in The Red Robin).
Dear L.A. Friends, The Red Robin, the film that I co-produced and worked for a few years on is having its U.S. Premiere tonight at the Hollywood Film Festival. The screening is at 7 and is at my favorite theater in town, the Arclight Hollywood.
The Red Robin was written and directed by Michael Z. Wechsler, who will be in attendance to introduce the film and do a Q & A afterwards with the cast. I believe that C.S. Lee of Dexter, as well as Caroline Lagerfelt of Gossip Girl, will be there as well. The film also stars Judd Hirsch (Taxi, Independence Day), Ryan O'Nan (The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best), Jaime Ray Newman (Red Widow, Supernatural), and Joseph Lyle Taylor (not sure who is coming from the rest of the cast).
The Red Robin was originally pitched by...
- 10/18/2013
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
by Terry Keefe
Hi folks: I'm not usually one for blatant self-promotion, but a feature I co-produced and helped develop over a number of years is premiering at the Montreal World Film Festival in August, and I'm very proud of it so you're getting a post. It's called The Red Robin and stars Judd Hirsch (Taxi, Damages, Maron, Independence Day), C.S. Lee (Dexter), Ryan O'Nan (The Iceman, the Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best), Jaime Ray Newman (Red Widow, Supernatural), Caroline Lagerfelt (Gossip Girl), and Joseph Lyle Taylor. It was written and directed by an old friend and creative collaborator, Michael Z. Wechsler. The story is a psychological thriller which can be best be described as The Celebration meets The Manchurian Candidate, about a dying, famed psychiatrist (Hirsch), who also did mysterious work for the CIA during the Cold War. On his deathbed, his youngest adopted son (O'Nan) accuses his father...
Hi folks: I'm not usually one for blatant self-promotion, but a feature I co-produced and helped develop over a number of years is premiering at the Montreal World Film Festival in August, and I'm very proud of it so you're getting a post. It's called The Red Robin and stars Judd Hirsch (Taxi, Damages, Maron, Independence Day), C.S. Lee (Dexter), Ryan O'Nan (The Iceman, the Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best), Jaime Ray Newman (Red Widow, Supernatural), Caroline Lagerfelt (Gossip Girl), and Joseph Lyle Taylor. It was written and directed by an old friend and creative collaborator, Michael Z. Wechsler. The story is a psychological thriller which can be best be described as The Celebration meets The Manchurian Candidate, about a dying, famed psychiatrist (Hirsch), who also did mysterious work for the CIA during the Cold War. On his deathbed, his youngest adopted son (O'Nan) accuses his father...
- 7/10/2013
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Two weeks from now Sdcc 2013 will be winding down, so are there enough horror offerings to entice attendees back to the show for Day 4 (July 21)? With "Supernatural" kicking things off bright and early, we say, "Yes!"
Also on the schedule for Sunday (traditionally the family-themed day of the event) are "Under the Dome," an update on the adaptation of George R.R. Martin's werewolf/Pi/serial killer mashup novella The Skin Trade, a chance to build your own monster, surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, a Neil Gaiman Spotlight panel, a look at what's coming from Diamond Select Toys, a how-to on creating suspenseful, exciting, anxiety-inducing stories, and per usual, a screening of "Buffy the Musical: Once More with Feeling" to close things out.
Since the horror offerings are so light, we've expanded our Day 4 highlights list to cover such topics as the future of sci-fi novels, the 50th anniversary of "Doctor Who,...
Also on the schedule for Sunday (traditionally the family-themed day of the event) are "Under the Dome," an update on the adaptation of George R.R. Martin's werewolf/Pi/serial killer mashup novella The Skin Trade, a chance to build your own monster, surviving in a post-apocalyptic world, a Neil Gaiman Spotlight panel, a look at what's coming from Diamond Select Toys, a how-to on creating suspenseful, exciting, anxiety-inducing stories, and per usual, a screening of "Buffy the Musical: Once More with Feeling" to close things out.
Since the horror offerings are so light, we've expanded our Day 4 highlights list to cover such topics as the future of sci-fi novels, the 50th anniversary of "Doctor Who,...
- 7/7/2013
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
This article originally appeared in the February 2004 issue of Venice Magazine. It was the second time I've interviewed Baz, the first one being for the theatrical release of Moulin Rouge! back in 2001 (Still looking for that interview! It's on the ancient technology of floppy disc somewhere in my files.) This interview was for the Los Angeles run of "La Boheme" at the Los Angeles Opera.
It's hard to believe that it's been seven years since Luhrmann has had a theatrical film released as a director. But his Australia, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, will be released later this year. Looking forward to it.
Closing the Red Curtain with “La Boheme”
Before moving on from the cinematic delights of his Red Curtain Trilogy, Baz Luhrmann revisits the Puccini masterwork which kicked off his career.
By Terry Keefe
I first spoke to filmmaker Baz Luhrmann in the spring of 2001, on the...
It's hard to believe that it's been seven years since Luhrmann has had a theatrical film released as a director. But his Australia, starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman, will be released later this year. Looking forward to it.
Closing the Red Curtain with “La Boheme”
Before moving on from the cinematic delights of his Red Curtain Trilogy, Baz Luhrmann revisits the Puccini masterwork which kicked off his career.
By Terry Keefe
I first spoke to filmmaker Baz Luhrmann in the spring of 2001, on the...
- 5/12/2013
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Baz Luhrmann, above.)
(This interview with Baz Luhrmann first appeared in Venice Magazine in June of 2001. I would later interview Baz for his opera production of "La Boheme" - check out that interview here. I seem to be in the minority, but I really enjoyed his Australia, a sprawling epic with unabashed sentimentality, reminiscent of many films from the old studio era.)
The Man Behind the Red Curtain
Director Baz Lurhmann Reveals the Secrets of Moulin Rouge
by Terry Keefe
The "Red Curtain" is a descriptive phrase coined by filmmaker Baz Luhrmann to describe his style of filmmaking, and it is apt - cinema which is also so highly theatrical that it feels like it was birthed from the stage. Think of the fevered final dance competition of his debut feature, Strictly Ballroom (1992) which was so colorful and high-octane that it almost seemed to be an animated film come to life.
(This interview with Baz Luhrmann first appeared in Venice Magazine in June of 2001. I would later interview Baz for his opera production of "La Boheme" - check out that interview here. I seem to be in the minority, but I really enjoyed his Australia, a sprawling epic with unabashed sentimentality, reminiscent of many films from the old studio era.)
The Man Behind the Red Curtain
Director Baz Lurhmann Reveals the Secrets of Moulin Rouge
by Terry Keefe
The "Red Curtain" is a descriptive phrase coined by filmmaker Baz Luhrmann to describe his style of filmmaking, and it is apt - cinema which is also so highly theatrical that it feels like it was birthed from the stage. Think of the fevered final dance competition of his debut feature, Strictly Ballroom (1992) which was so colorful and high-octane that it almost seemed to be an animated film come to life.
- 2/15/2013
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
This interview with Halle appeared originally back in the February 2002 edition of Venice Magazine. It was on the eve of her Best Actress win at the 2002 Oscars.
With A Landmark Oscar For Her Searing Portrayal Of The Gritty Belle Of Monster's Ball, Halle Berry'S On A Roll
by Terry Keefe
Halle Berry wasn't looking to take the easy path to fame and fortune when she went in to read for her first movie role in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever (1991). Originally called in for the fairly conventional role of Lee's wife, Berry pushed Lee to cast her in another part - that of Vivian the young crack addict. It was a telling move as to the type of acting career Berry was seeking. This totally unglamorous role was not what most people would have expected from the young and beautiful Ms. Berry, but it presented a challenge for the...
With A Landmark Oscar For Her Searing Portrayal Of The Gritty Belle Of Monster's Ball, Halle Berry'S On A Roll
by Terry Keefe
Halle Berry wasn't looking to take the easy path to fame and fortune when she went in to read for her first movie role in Spike Lee's Jungle Fever (1991). Originally called in for the fairly conventional role of Lee's wife, Berry pushed Lee to cast her in another part - that of Vivian the young crack addict. It was a telling move as to the type of acting career Berry was seeking. This totally unglamorous role was not what most people would have expected from the young and beautiful Ms. Berry, but it presented a challenge for the...
- 2/15/2013
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Dick Cavett, above.)
(Note: This article is currently appearing in Venice Magazine. Talking with Dick Cavett was one of the true pleasures of my time doing these printed Q&A's, as I was getting to conduct an interview with one of the all-time great interviewers, about doing interviews. Below are the highlights of our talk.)
by Terry Keefe
During the varied runs of his television talk show, Dick Cavett arguably conducted in-depth interviews better than anyone in the media before or since.
From 1968 to 1975 on ABC, and then later from 1977 to 1982 on PBS, “The Dick Cavett Show” hosted a literal who’s who of both America and the world. The guest list included Marlon Brando, Woody Allen, Groucho Marx, John Lennon, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Noel Coward, Salvador Dali, Mel Brooks, Katherine Hepburn, and Ingmar Bergman, to name just a few.
The show was unique in its time,...
(Note: This article is currently appearing in Venice Magazine. Talking with Dick Cavett was one of the true pleasures of my time doing these printed Q&A's, as I was getting to conduct an interview with one of the all-time great interviewers, about doing interviews. Below are the highlights of our talk.)
by Terry Keefe
During the varied runs of his television talk show, Dick Cavett arguably conducted in-depth interviews better than anyone in the media before or since.
From 1968 to 1975 on ABC, and then later from 1977 to 1982 on PBS, “The Dick Cavett Show” hosted a literal who’s who of both America and the world. The guest list included Marlon Brando, Woody Allen, Groucho Marx, John Lennon, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, David Bowie, Noel Coward, Salvador Dali, Mel Brooks, Katherine Hepburn, and Ingmar Bergman, to name just a few.
The show was unique in its time,...
- 2/15/2013
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Tim Hetherington, above, during the shooting of Restrepo.)
By Terry Keefe
News reports are stating that Tim Hetherington was tragically killed today in Libya. I interviewed Hetherington twice during the past year, along with Sebastian Junger, for Restrepo, the Oscar-nominated documentary they co-directed while embedded with an American platoon in Afghanistan.
Together, Hetherington and Junger created what I believe to be the most important film of the year. It is required viewing for all Americans, to be sure. Rest in peace.
I spoke to Hetherington and Junger two months ago, right before the Oscars, and prior to that, did a much longer interview with them on the shooting of Restrepo. I've reposted the entirety of that interview below.
Bearing Witness In Afghanistan: An Interview With Tim Hetherington & Sebastian Junger, Co-directors Of Restrepo
I’ll just come out and say this - Restrepo is one of the best films about war ever made.
By Terry Keefe
News reports are stating that Tim Hetherington was tragically killed today in Libya. I interviewed Hetherington twice during the past year, along with Sebastian Junger, for Restrepo, the Oscar-nominated documentary they co-directed while embedded with an American platoon in Afghanistan.
Together, Hetherington and Junger created what I believe to be the most important film of the year. It is required viewing for all Americans, to be sure. Rest in peace.
I spoke to Hetherington and Junger two months ago, right before the Oscars, and prior to that, did a much longer interview with them on the shooting of Restrepo. I've reposted the entirety of that interview below.
Bearing Witness In Afghanistan: An Interview With Tim Hetherington & Sebastian Junger, Co-directors Of Restrepo
I’ll just come out and say this - Restrepo is one of the best films about war ever made.
- 2/15/2013
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Wim Wenders, Photo by Nora Schaefer
by Terry Keefe
Photography by Nora Schaefer
As more filmmakers of note test the waters of 3D non-fiction features, the technology may prove to be even more of a revolution for documentaries than it has been for the studio blockbuster, as the ability of digital 3D to immerse the viewer's senses in a non-fiction subject is astounding in the hands of a top director. Wim Wenders, the legendary German director behind Wings of Desire and Paris, Texas, hoped to make a documentary about famed choreographer Pina Bausch for years, but never felt that he could capture Bausch’s groundbreaking dance pieces properly on film or video… until he saw U2’s concert documentary U2-3D at the Cannes Film Festival and seized upon 3D as the key to translating the spatially complex work of Bausch and her Ensemble of the Tanztheater Wuppertal to the movie screen.
by Terry Keefe
Photography by Nora Schaefer
As more filmmakers of note test the waters of 3D non-fiction features, the technology may prove to be even more of a revolution for documentaries than it has been for the studio blockbuster, as the ability of digital 3D to immerse the viewer's senses in a non-fiction subject is astounding in the hands of a top director. Wim Wenders, the legendary German director behind Wings of Desire and Paris, Texas, hoped to make a documentary about famed choreographer Pina Bausch for years, but never felt that he could capture Bausch’s groundbreaking dance pieces properly on film or video… until he saw U2’s concert documentary U2-3D at the Cannes Film Festival and seized upon 3D as the key to translating the spatially complex work of Bausch and her Ensemble of the Tanztheater Wuppertal to the movie screen.
- 2/15/2013
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
by Terry Keefe
As Sundance draws to a close this week, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival revs up its annual star-studded event, which includes the U.S. premiere of The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best, one of the surprise hits of the most recent Toronto Film Festival. Brooklyn Brothers was written and directed by Ryan O’Nan, who also stars in the film and who has been having what could be modestly described as a “breakout year.” O’Nan composed much of the music for Brooklyn Brothers, which centers around a fictional two-man band comprised of O’Nan and Michael Weston (“Six Feet Under”). At Toronto, Rhino Records fell under the spell of the tunes so much that they offered the pair a recording contract, under the fictional Brooklyn Brothers moniker. O’Nan has also just completed starring roles in Freelancers, opposite Robert De Niro and Forest Whitaker; The Frozen Ground,...
As Sundance draws to a close this week, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival revs up its annual star-studded event, which includes the U.S. premiere of The Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best, one of the surprise hits of the most recent Toronto Film Festival. Brooklyn Brothers was written and directed by Ryan O’Nan, who also stars in the film and who has been having what could be modestly described as a “breakout year.” O’Nan composed much of the music for Brooklyn Brothers, which centers around a fictional two-man band comprised of O’Nan and Michael Weston (“Six Feet Under”). At Toronto, Rhino Records fell under the spell of the tunes so much that they offered the pair a recording contract, under the fictional Brooklyn Brothers moniker. O’Nan has also just completed starring roles in Freelancers, opposite Robert De Niro and Forest Whitaker; The Frozen Ground,...
- 1/30/2012
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Actor C.S. Lee. Actress Jaime Ray Newman and writer-director Michael Z. Wechsler.
by Terry Keefe
Photos by Stefan Baumann and Meg Urbani
Here's another day of our visit to the set of The Red Robin feature film, written and directed by Michael Z. Wechsler, and starring Judd Hirsch (Taxi, Damages, The Muppets), Ryan O'Nan (The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best, The Frozen Ground), C.S Lee (Dexter), Caroline Lagerfelt (Gossip Girl), Jaime Ray Newman (Eureka, Eastwick), and Joseph Lyle Taylor (Seven Psychopaths).
The film centers around a family reunion that goes awry when the youngest son of the fictional Shellner family accuses his famed psychiatrist father (played by Judd Hirsch) of adopting his family for the purposes of experiments in mind control for the government.
They have their own very cool Making-of blog here.
The cast says goodbye to young actor Jake Miller on his last day of shooting.
Michael Z. Wechsler and Ryan O'Nan.
by Terry Keefe
Photos by Stefan Baumann and Meg Urbani
Here's another day of our visit to the set of The Red Robin feature film, written and directed by Michael Z. Wechsler, and starring Judd Hirsch (Taxi, Damages, The Muppets), Ryan O'Nan (The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best, The Frozen Ground), C.S Lee (Dexter), Caroline Lagerfelt (Gossip Girl), Jaime Ray Newman (Eureka, Eastwick), and Joseph Lyle Taylor (Seven Psychopaths).
The film centers around a family reunion that goes awry when the youngest son of the fictional Shellner family accuses his famed psychiatrist father (played by Judd Hirsch) of adopting his family for the purposes of experiments in mind control for the government.
They have their own very cool Making-of blog here.
The cast says goodbye to young actor Jake Miller on his last day of shooting.
Michael Z. Wechsler and Ryan O'Nan.
- 12/23/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Tommy Shellner's bedroom, including childhood sketches from the character, which were done by Stefan Baumann. Dig the pulp magazine cover on the wall. By Terry Keefe Photos by Meg Urbani and Stefan Baumann
We're on the set of The Red Robin feature film and were blown away by the work of production designer Dave Barnes, who transformed a stately Villanova, Pa mansion (once owned by NBA legend Dr. J!) into the home of the fictional Shellner Family.
The story centers around an ill-fated family reunion, in which the patriarch of the family, Dr. Nathaniel Shellner (played by Judd Hirsch), a famed psychiatrist, is on his death bed. Years earlier, Dr. Shellner adopted a number of children, who are now adults. The youngest of those children, Tommy Shellner (played by Ryan O'Nan), makes the stunning accusation that his father adopted the children for the purposes of experimentation for the government.
And...
We're on the set of The Red Robin feature film and were blown away by the work of production designer Dave Barnes, who transformed a stately Villanova, Pa mansion (once owned by NBA legend Dr. J!) into the home of the fictional Shellner Family.
The story centers around an ill-fated family reunion, in which the patriarch of the family, Dr. Nathaniel Shellner (played by Judd Hirsch), a famed psychiatrist, is on his death bed. Years earlier, Dr. Shellner adopted a number of children, who are now adults. The youngest of those children, Tommy Shellner (played by Ryan O'Nan), makes the stunning accusation that his father adopted the children for the purposes of experimentation for the government.
And...
- 12/22/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Actor C.S. Lee, above, on the set of The Red Robin. By Terry Keefe, Photos by Stefan Baumann and Meg Urbani
We've been visiting the set of The Red Robin feature film, written and directed by Michael Z. Wechsler, and starring Judd Hirsch (Taxi, Damages, The Muppets), Ryan O'Nan (The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best, The Frozen Ground), C.S. Lee (Dexter), Jaime Ray Newman (Eureka, Drop Dead Diva, Eastwick), Caroline Lagerfelt (Gossip Girl), and Joseph Lyle Taylor (Seven Psychopaths).
Check out their website here: http://themakingofthefeaturefilmtheredrobin.blogspot.com/
Ryan O'Nan, above. Director Michael Z. Wechsler and actor Ryan O'Nan.
Ryan O'Nan, above.
Production outside the fictional Shellner House.
1st Assistant Director Michael Meador and Director of Photography Adrian Correia, from left.
Outside the Shellner House, and the coolest tree in the world. Joseph Lyle Taylor.
Production Designer Dave Barnes.
Director Michael Z. Wechsler.
C. S. Lee.
Judd Hirsch and Caroline Lagerfelt.
We've been visiting the set of The Red Robin feature film, written and directed by Michael Z. Wechsler, and starring Judd Hirsch (Taxi, Damages, The Muppets), Ryan O'Nan (The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best, The Frozen Ground), C.S. Lee (Dexter), Jaime Ray Newman (Eureka, Drop Dead Diva, Eastwick), Caroline Lagerfelt (Gossip Girl), and Joseph Lyle Taylor (Seven Psychopaths).
Check out their website here: http://themakingofthefeaturefilmtheredrobin.blogspot.com/
Ryan O'Nan, above. Director Michael Z. Wechsler and actor Ryan O'Nan.
Ryan O'Nan, above.
Production outside the fictional Shellner House.
1st Assistant Director Michael Meador and Director of Photography Adrian Correia, from left.
Outside the Shellner House, and the coolest tree in the world. Joseph Lyle Taylor.
Production Designer Dave Barnes.
Director Michael Z. Wechsler.
C. S. Lee.
Judd Hirsch and Caroline Lagerfelt.
- 12/19/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(The Red Robin logo, above.)
By Terry Keefe
Actors Judd Hirsch, Ryan O'Nan, C.S. Lee, Jaime Ray Newman, Caroline Lagerfelt, and Joseph Lyle Taylor have all joined the cast of The Red Robin feature film, which begins shooting outside Philadelphia on December 3rd.
The Red Robin will be directed and produced by screenwriter Michael Z. Wechsler. The psychological thriller is Executive Produced by Jonathan Sanger (The Producers, The Elephant Man), Rick Porras (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Shawn Singh.
O’Nan will play Tommy Shellner, the adopted adult son of Hirsch’s Nathaniel Shellner, a famed, and dying, trauma psychiatrist who was rumored to have done some confidential work for the CIA during the Cold War. A family reunion on Nathan’s death bed spirals into chaos when Tommy accuses his father of adopting his large family of children for the purposes of dark experiments in mind control.
By Terry Keefe
Actors Judd Hirsch, Ryan O'Nan, C.S. Lee, Jaime Ray Newman, Caroline Lagerfelt, and Joseph Lyle Taylor have all joined the cast of The Red Robin feature film, which begins shooting outside Philadelphia on December 3rd.
The Red Robin will be directed and produced by screenwriter Michael Z. Wechsler. The psychological thriller is Executive Produced by Jonathan Sanger (The Producers, The Elephant Man), Rick Porras (The Lord of the Rings trilogy) and Shawn Singh.
O’Nan will play Tommy Shellner, the adopted adult son of Hirsch’s Nathaniel Shellner, a famed, and dying, trauma psychiatrist who was rumored to have done some confidential work for the CIA during the Cold War. A family reunion on Nathan’s death bed spirals into chaos when Tommy accuses his father of adopting his large family of children for the purposes of dark experiments in mind control.
- 11/28/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
By Terry Keefe
Sedona: the Movie, the second feature film from filmmaker Tommy Stovall, reminded me of a very fun cross-blending between the Kafka-esque comedy of After Hours, and the road movie plot staple of a stranger breaking down in a very odd town. The film intercuts two stories. First, we meet Tammy (played by Frances Fisher), who does, in fact, break down in Sedona, Arizona (when a plane lands on the road behind her) en route to a huge business meeting in Phoenix. She’s forced to spend the better part of the day with some very eccentric Sedona characters, portrayed by actors Beth Grant, Barry Corbin, Christopher Atkins, Kylee Cochran, and Lin Shaye (who you’ll remember as the Cameron Diaz’s very tanned next-door neighbor in There’s Something About Mary), amongst others.
Tammy’s story is paralleled by the more serious tale of Scott (Seth Peterson...
Sedona: the Movie, the second feature film from filmmaker Tommy Stovall, reminded me of a very fun cross-blending between the Kafka-esque comedy of After Hours, and the road movie plot staple of a stranger breaking down in a very odd town. The film intercuts two stories. First, we meet Tammy (played by Frances Fisher), who does, in fact, break down in Sedona, Arizona (when a plane lands on the road behind her) en route to a huge business meeting in Phoenix. She’s forced to spend the better part of the day with some very eccentric Sedona characters, portrayed by actors Beth Grant, Barry Corbin, Christopher Atkins, Kylee Cochran, and Lin Shaye (who you’ll remember as the Cameron Diaz’s very tanned next-door neighbor in There’s Something About Mary), amongst others.
Tammy’s story is paralleled by the more serious tale of Scott (Seth Peterson...
- 11/22/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Eurocinema, a North American on-demand television channel for European films has launched the “Eurocinema Short Film Competition”.
From September 27 through December 15, 2011, aspiring filmmakers from around the globe may enter their best short film works in the categories of Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.
The Best Film Winner will be awarded the Grand Prix, a $1,000 Us cash prize and have their film showcased on demand for a minimum of three months on the eurocinema channel, as well as streamed online on eurocinema.com. The competition will be run and promoted via social media platforms.
Winners in the Best Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay Categories will also have their films showcased on the channel for a minimum of three months.
There is an entry fee of $35 Us for submitting entries.
The competition will be judged by eurocinema’s president/CEO Sebastien Perioche, Huffington Post reporter/The Hollywood Interview co-founder Terry Keefe,...
From September 27 through December 15, 2011, aspiring filmmakers from around the globe may enter their best short film works in the categories of Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay.
The Best Film Winner will be awarded the Grand Prix, a $1,000 Us cash prize and have their film showcased on demand for a minimum of three months on the eurocinema channel, as well as streamed online on eurocinema.com. The competition will be run and promoted via social media platforms.
Winners in the Best Director, Actor, Actress and Screenplay Categories will also have their films showcased on the channel for a minimum of three months.
There is an entry fee of $35 Us for submitting entries.
The competition will be judged by eurocinema’s president/CEO Sebastien Perioche, Huffington Post reporter/The Hollywood Interview co-founder Terry Keefe,...
- 9/29/2011
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
(Hilary Duff, in her role as Raven in Bloodworth, above.)
by Terry Keefe
As she says later in our interview, Hilary Duff likes a good challenge. The number of former child and teen stars who manage to sustain their success into their twenties, as Duff undeniably has, are few enough already, but even rarer are those who then develop into serious adult actors. Slowly, though, and almost under the radar, Hilary Duff has been turning in noteworthy, character-rich performances in a variety of lower-budgeted independent films, including According to Greta andStay Cool, both released in 2009. And, in this writer's opinion, Duff's strongest onscreen work to date is hitting theaters this week, with her nuanced turn as a good-hearted, but troubled, teen in the Southern gothic family drama Bloodworth.
Based on the novel Provinces of Night by William Gay, Bloodworth centers around a seriously dysfunctional, eponymous Tennessee brood, which reaches its...
by Terry Keefe
As she says later in our interview, Hilary Duff likes a good challenge. The number of former child and teen stars who manage to sustain their success into their twenties, as Duff undeniably has, are few enough already, but even rarer are those who then develop into serious adult actors. Slowly, though, and almost under the radar, Hilary Duff has been turning in noteworthy, character-rich performances in a variety of lower-budgeted independent films, including According to Greta andStay Cool, both released in 2009. And, in this writer's opinion, Duff's strongest onscreen work to date is hitting theaters this week, with her nuanced turn as a good-hearted, but troubled, teen in the Southern gothic family drama Bloodworth.
Based on the novel Provinces of Night by William Gay, Bloodworth centers around a seriously dysfunctional, eponymous Tennessee brood, which reaches its...
- 5/20/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Lena Endre, above. Photo by Marica Rosengard.)
by Terry Keefe
Although best known on the U.S. shores for her role of Erika Berger in the films based on the Stieg Larsson "Millenium Trilogy" books (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), Swedish actress Lena Endre has been an international star for years, having worked in her home country with the likes of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman. Her newest film, Limbo, contains a richly dramatic character study by Endre that would have been worthy of inclusion in a Bergman film.
Limbo features actress Line Verndal as a Norwegian woman named Sonia, who has been living quite independently in her home country for years, raising her two children. Her husband Jo (Henrik Rafaelsen) works as an oil engineer in Trinidad, and life changes dramatically for Sonia when...
by Terry Keefe
Although best known on the U.S. shores for her role of Erika Berger in the films based on the Stieg Larsson "Millenium Trilogy" books (The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest), Swedish actress Lena Endre has been an international star for years, having worked in her home country with the likes of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman. Her newest film, Limbo, contains a richly dramatic character study by Endre that would have been worthy of inclusion in a Bergman film.
Limbo features actress Line Verndal as a Norwegian woman named Sonia, who has been living quite independently in her home country for years, raising her two children. Her husband Jo (Henrik Rafaelsen) works as an oil engineer in Trinidad, and life changes dramatically for Sonia when...
- 5/3/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Above, promotional artwork for The Red Robin, a feature film currently working with Kickstarter.com)
by Terry Keefe
I was immediately dubious when I first heard about Kickstarter.com, a website where creative and entrepreneurial types can look for funding for their projects via a limited-time appeal to the masses. I've come to hate the expression "in this economy," but in this economy, I just didn't see many folks ponying up even a few bucks for the effective development of a film, music recording, or invention. And having spent a significant portion of my life looking for financing for creative endeavors... let's just say that it's a challenging process.
But this hardened cynic will eat his predictions on this one.
Although I'm sure there are plenty of examples of projects that don't get funded at all through Kickstarter, and other similar "crowd-funding" sites, a number of filmmakers have been having some real success with it,...
by Terry Keefe
I was immediately dubious when I first heard about Kickstarter.com, a website where creative and entrepreneurial types can look for funding for their projects via a limited-time appeal to the masses. I've come to hate the expression "in this economy," but in this economy, I just didn't see many folks ponying up even a few bucks for the effective development of a film, music recording, or invention. And having spent a significant portion of my life looking for financing for creative endeavors... let's just say that it's a challenging process.
But this hardened cynic will eat his predictions on this one.
Although I'm sure there are plenty of examples of projects that don't get funded at all through Kickstarter, and other similar "crowd-funding" sites, a number of filmmakers have been having some real success with it,...
- 4/25/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(A waiting room of ventriloquist dummies, in Dumbstruck, above.)
by Terry Keefe
For any of our Hollywood readers who are struggling to succeed as a writer, actor, director, or musician, you already know that it's hard. If you've been at it for a while, you also probably love your chosen art form enough to continue to pursue it against some pretty long odds, because otherwise, it would be easier to just hang it up.
Now just imagine how long the odds of success would feel if the art form you loved so deeply, and were willing to give up everything else for... happened to be ventriloquism.
The world of ventriloquists, or "vents" in their own parlance, is the focus of director Mark Goffman's funny, and extremely poignant, new documentary, Dumbstruck, which is being released tomorrow (4/22) in New York and Washington, D.C., followed by a Los Angeles roll-out the following weekend (4/29).
Goffman,...
by Terry Keefe
For any of our Hollywood readers who are struggling to succeed as a writer, actor, director, or musician, you already know that it's hard. If you've been at it for a while, you also probably love your chosen art form enough to continue to pursue it against some pretty long odds, because otherwise, it would be easier to just hang it up.
Now just imagine how long the odds of success would feel if the art form you loved so deeply, and were willing to give up everything else for... happened to be ventriloquism.
The world of ventriloquists, or "vents" in their own parlance, is the focus of director Mark Goffman's funny, and extremely poignant, new documentary, Dumbstruck, which is being released tomorrow (4/22) in New York and Washington, D.C., followed by a Los Angeles roll-out the following weekend (4/29).
Goffman,...
- 4/22/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Mick Jones of Big Audio Dynamite, above, at the Roxy. Photo by Gregory Weinkauf.)
By Terry Keefe This past Thursday, I had a concert experience that I never expected was even possible, when Big Audio Dynamite reformed to play a pre-Coachella show at the tiny Roxy Theater on Sunset Blvd. B.A.D. were the first post-Clash project of Mick Jones, and their influences can be seen everywhere in the last few decades of popular music. Gregory Weinkauf's show review at the Huffington Post says it better than I can, with some great pics.
They were ahead of their time in other ways. One of the biggest sing-a-long moments of the night came during the mid-80s dance hall smash "The Bottom Line":
A dance to the tune of economic declineIs when you do the bottom line
(Those lines always struck me as fun irony, back when the song was released.
By Terry Keefe This past Thursday, I had a concert experience that I never expected was even possible, when Big Audio Dynamite reformed to play a pre-Coachella show at the tiny Roxy Theater on Sunset Blvd. B.A.D. were the first post-Clash project of Mick Jones, and their influences can be seen everywhere in the last few decades of popular music. Gregory Weinkauf's show review at the Huffington Post says it better than I can, with some great pics.
They were ahead of their time in other ways. One of the biggest sing-a-long moments of the night came during the mid-80s dance hall smash "The Bottom Line":
A dance to the tune of economic declineIs when you do the bottom line
(Those lines always struck me as fun irony, back when the song was released.
- 4/19/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
"The finest Western you'll see this year is set in aristocratic 16th-century France, in the heat of Counter-Reformation," declares Nick Pinkerton. Segueing into his interview with Bertrand Tavernier, Aaron Hillis, also in the Voice, sums up the gist of The Princess of Montpensier: "Adapted from Madame de la Fayette's classic novel, the film concerns a nubile, wealthy heiress (Mélanie Thierry) who loves a rugged hothead from the wrong clan (Gaspard Ulliel), but is forced by her father to marry another prince (Grégoire Leprince-Ringuet), leaving her to dwell on the too-modern desire for free will — defiantly bucking against the rigid traditions of her breed." Back to Pinkerton: "The setting always serves the performers rather than vice versa — though the film is also greatly enhanced by the costuming, the rugged French countryside photographed in outdoor-adventure CinemaScope, and Philippe Sarde's baroque-tribal score, its martial and romantic poles matching a tale of...
- 4/18/2011
- MUBI
(Gaspard Ulliel, above. Photo by Nora Schaefer.)
By Terry Keefe
While playing a French historical character with the nickname of “le Balafré,” or “the Scarred,” in the new film The Princess of Montpensier, actor Gaspard Ulliel also risked his own famous features, while shooting some of the film’s highly realistic fight scenes. Although Ulliel does, in fact, sport a small scar on his left cheek from an accident with a dog when he was a child, the marks carried by his young warrior character in the film, the Duc de Guise, are considerably more pronounced, which isn’t surprising when you see Ulliel as the Duc in the heated battle scenes of Princess. Directed by legendary filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier (interviewed by Alex Simon for our site here), The Princess of Montpensier takes place during the French Wars of Religion of the 1500s, and the director opted not to use many stuntmen,...
By Terry Keefe
While playing a French historical character with the nickname of “le Balafré,” or “the Scarred,” in the new film The Princess of Montpensier, actor Gaspard Ulliel also risked his own famous features, while shooting some of the film’s highly realistic fight scenes. Although Ulliel does, in fact, sport a small scar on his left cheek from an accident with a dog when he was a child, the marks carried by his young warrior character in the film, the Duc de Guise, are considerably more pronounced, which isn’t surprising when you see Ulliel as the Duc in the heated battle scenes of Princess. Directed by legendary filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier (interviewed by Alex Simon for our site here), The Princess of Montpensier takes place during the French Wars of Religion of the 1500s, and the director opted not to use many stuntmen,...
- 4/15/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
by Terry Keefe
Last week, we wrote about a few indie filmmakers who were having luck raising financing for films via Kickstarter.com. The site is also proving to be a great tool for artists engaged in a charitable venture, such as that of our friends at Red Giant Entertainment, who are putting together a comic/graphic novel entitled Japan Needs Heroes, for the purpose of raising money for Japanese earthquake relief.
The Kickstarter page for Japan Need Heroes can be found here, and Japan Needs Heroes has a site here.
The Kickstarter fundraising goal for Japan Needs Heroes was $10,000 and it has already exceeded that with over $12,000 raised as of this writing, from 355 backers, with 20 days still left to go. 100% of the profits from the comic will go towards the Japan Society and earthquake relief.
The legendary Stan Lee (co-creator of the likes of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man,...
Last week, we wrote about a few indie filmmakers who were having luck raising financing for films via Kickstarter.com. The site is also proving to be a great tool for artists engaged in a charitable venture, such as that of our friends at Red Giant Entertainment, who are putting together a comic/graphic novel entitled Japan Needs Heroes, for the purpose of raising money for Japanese earthquake relief.
The Kickstarter page for Japan Need Heroes can be found here, and Japan Needs Heroes has a site here.
The Kickstarter fundraising goal for Japan Needs Heroes was $10,000 and it has already exceeded that with over $12,000 raised as of this writing, from 355 backers, with 20 days still left to go. 100% of the profits from the comic will go towards the Japan Society and earthquake relief.
The legendary Stan Lee (co-creator of the likes of Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man,...
- 4/13/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Actor Zachary Levi, right, claps along to the music of Vintage Trouble, at the Bohemian Dream party at Bardot Hollywood.)
By Terry Keefe
This past March 6th, I had the good fortune to attend the "Bohemian Dream"-themed party at Bardot Hollywood, which benefited the Young Storytellers Foundation, one of the cooler arts-based charities that I've ever heard of and certainly one I would have loved to come to my school as a child.
The Young Storytellers Foundation (http://www.youngstorytellers.com/) brings an incredible program to certain arts-poor Los Angeles area public schools: the nonprofit group invites entertainment industry professionals to the participating schools, who provide the students with a variety of tutoring in the art of storytelling. A significant portion of the program involves students writing their own screenplays and then having them performed by professional actors, including some genuine stars, a few of who acted as hosts...
By Terry Keefe
This past March 6th, I had the good fortune to attend the "Bohemian Dream"-themed party at Bardot Hollywood, which benefited the Young Storytellers Foundation, one of the cooler arts-based charities that I've ever heard of and certainly one I would have loved to come to my school as a child.
The Young Storytellers Foundation (http://www.youngstorytellers.com/) brings an incredible program to certain arts-poor Los Angeles area public schools: the nonprofit group invites entertainment industry professionals to the participating schools, who provide the students with a variety of tutoring in the art of storytelling. A significant portion of the program involves students writing their own screenplays and then having them performed by professional actors, including some genuine stars, a few of who acted as hosts...
- 3/15/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
by Terry Keefe
Inception kicks off with Leonardo DiCaprio's Dom Cobb washed up on a desolate beach, and ultimately discovered by an acolyte of Ken Watanabe's Saito character, played by actor Tohoru Masamune, who brings him to Saito in one of the film's most memorable scenes. After deciding to become an actor after receiving a degree in chemical engineering from MIT, Masamune's career is currently on a roll, with his next appearance slated to be in director Charlie Matthau's Baby-o.
We spoke with Masamune recently about the creation of the opening of one of last year's biggest films, and working with director Christopher Nolan.
What was Nolan’s directing style like?
Tohoru Masamune: Definitely an intense guy, but he obviously did have a lot on his mind [laughs]. His style felt very organic. The story was so complicated, that I think it was important to keep everything organic.
Inception kicks off with Leonardo DiCaprio's Dom Cobb washed up on a desolate beach, and ultimately discovered by an acolyte of Ken Watanabe's Saito character, played by actor Tohoru Masamune, who brings him to Saito in one of the film's most memorable scenes. After deciding to become an actor after receiving a degree in chemical engineering from MIT, Masamune's career is currently on a roll, with his next appearance slated to be in director Charlie Matthau's Baby-o.
We spoke with Masamune recently about the creation of the opening of one of last year's biggest films, and working with director Christopher Nolan.
What was Nolan’s directing style like?
Tohoru Masamune: Definitely an intense guy, but he obviously did have a lot on his mind [laughs]. His style felt very organic. The story was so complicated, that I think it was important to keep everything organic.
- 3/13/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(A young Stanley Kubrick, above.)
by Terry Keefe
Yesterday was the 12th anniversary of the death of Stanley Kubrick. I was never an obsessive fan, but remember the news of his death stunning me more so than any comparable celebrity passing. I think this was because I always had this image of Kubrick endlessly puttering around somewhere in an undisclosed location in England, working on his new, secret project. And that he would always be doing that. Then, he was just gone.
Rolling Stone recently posted this 1987 interview with Kubrick, a true rarity from a man who was so rarely photographed in public that a shambling, bearded imposter was able to successfully pass himself off as Kubrick for a period in London during the 90s. On that note, the general lack of photo access to Kubrick was perhaps another reason his death was such a surprise to me. Unlike, say,...
by Terry Keefe
Yesterday was the 12th anniversary of the death of Stanley Kubrick. I was never an obsessive fan, but remember the news of his death stunning me more so than any comparable celebrity passing. I think this was because I always had this image of Kubrick endlessly puttering around somewhere in an undisclosed location in England, working on his new, secret project. And that he would always be doing that. Then, he was just gone.
Rolling Stone recently posted this 1987 interview with Kubrick, a true rarity from a man who was so rarely photographed in public that a shambling, bearded imposter was able to successfully pass himself off as Kubrick for a period in London during the 90s. On that note, the general lack of photo access to Kubrick was perhaps another reason his death was such a surprise to me. Unlike, say,...
- 3/8/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington, above, at the Restrepo Outpost.)
by Terry Keefe
I interviewed Restrepo filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington back at the end of November, and then just last week did a follow-up with them, on the eve of the Oscars, for the Huffington Post. They'll be competing with Exit Through the Gift Shop, Inside Job, Waste Land, and Gasland for the Academy Award. (All worthy films, although I have my suspicions about exactly how much of an actual documentary Exit is.) Restrepo is one of the finest films about war ever made and should be required viewing for all Americans.
by Terry Keefe
I interviewed Restrepo filmmakers Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington back at the end of November, and then just last week did a follow-up with them, on the eve of the Oscars, for the Huffington Post. They'll be competing with Exit Through the Gift Shop, Inside Job, Waste Land, and Gasland for the Academy Award. (All worthy films, although I have my suspicions about exactly how much of an actual documentary Exit is.) Restrepo is one of the finest films about war ever made and should be required viewing for all Americans.
- 2/23/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Four months into the release of Waiting for Superman, glimmers of possible change in public education illuminate the horizon.
(A charter school lottery in Waiting for Superman.) by Terry Keefe (Note: I spoke to Davis Guggenheim, and wrote this article, a few weeks ago, when Waiting for Superman was considered by many a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination. It didn't receive that Oscar nomination but would have nonetheless been well-deserving of it. The article is currently appearing in Venice Magazine.)
Waiting for Superman director Davis Guggenheim might be wishing for a few super-powers of his own with the virtual non-stop schedule he's been keeping to promote his documentary about the crisis in American public schools, since its release at the end of September. A front runner for the Best Documentary Academy Award, Waiting for Superman has already scooped up the top feature doc prizes from the National Board of Review,...
(A charter school lottery in Waiting for Superman.) by Terry Keefe (Note: I spoke to Davis Guggenheim, and wrote this article, a few weeks ago, when Waiting for Superman was considered by many a shoe-in for an Oscar nomination. It didn't receive that Oscar nomination but would have nonetheless been well-deserving of it. The article is currently appearing in Venice Magazine.)
Waiting for Superman director Davis Guggenheim might be wishing for a few super-powers of his own with the virtual non-stop schedule he's been keeping to promote his documentary about the crisis in American public schools, since its release at the end of September. A front runner for the Best Documentary Academy Award, Waiting for Superman has already scooped up the top feature doc prizes from the National Board of Review,...
- 1/30/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
by Terry Keefe
Although Alex and I are both filmmakers, we rarely mention our own material on the site. This time is a noted exception, because Alex has had his terrific screenplay, Baron Of Havana, selected to be table-read at the Sundance Film Festival. Noted news.
The script tells the true story of the later years of the legendary Errol Flynn, when he took a much-needed job as a celebrity journalist that landed him in the middle of the Cuban Revolution, where he was embedded for a time with Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. The leads are very strong roles and I'm going to throw in my dream casting of Hugh Jackman or Pierce Brosnan for Flynn, Javier Bardem as Castro, and Benjamin Bratt as Che.
Baron Of Havana has previously won Best Screenplay at the Cinequest Film Festival, and has been a finalist in this year's Creative World Awards,...
Although Alex and I are both filmmakers, we rarely mention our own material on the site. This time is a noted exception, because Alex has had his terrific screenplay, Baron Of Havana, selected to be table-read at the Sundance Film Festival. Noted news.
The script tells the true story of the later years of the legendary Errol Flynn, when he took a much-needed job as a celebrity journalist that landed him in the middle of the Cuban Revolution, where he was embedded for a time with Fidel Castro and Che Guevara. The leads are very strong roles and I'm going to throw in my dream casting of Hugh Jackman or Pierce Brosnan for Flynn, Javier Bardem as Castro, and Benjamin Bratt as Che.
Baron Of Havana has previously won Best Screenplay at the Cinequest Film Festival, and has been a finalist in this year's Creative World Awards,...
- 1/17/2011
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Rodney Bingenheimer, the subject of Mayor Of The Sunset Strip, and Andy Warhol, above.)
Filmmaker George Hickenlooper passed away on October 29, 2010, at the way too early age of 47. This is an interview I did with George in 2004, around the release of his documentary Mayor of the Sunset Strip, which I consider one of the very best films ever made about the entertainment industry and one of my Top 20 Films of the past decade. Hickenlooper's last film, Casino Jack, starring Kevin Spacey, has just been released. This article originally appeared in Venice Magazine.
With Mayor of the Sunset Strip, George Hickenlooper takes us on a tour of the modern history of celebrity, via the life of legendary pop music impresario Rodney Bingenheimer.
By Terry Keefe
Filmmaker George Hickenlooper clearly loves the dreamers that drive the entertainment industry, but he's also very familiar with how Los Angeles can eat them alive. Many...
Filmmaker George Hickenlooper passed away on October 29, 2010, at the way too early age of 47. This is an interview I did with George in 2004, around the release of his documentary Mayor of the Sunset Strip, which I consider one of the very best films ever made about the entertainment industry and one of my Top 20 Films of the past decade. Hickenlooper's last film, Casino Jack, starring Kevin Spacey, has just been released. This article originally appeared in Venice Magazine.
With Mayor of the Sunset Strip, George Hickenlooper takes us on a tour of the modern history of celebrity, via the life of legendary pop music impresario Rodney Bingenheimer.
By Terry Keefe
Filmmaker George Hickenlooper clearly loves the dreamers that drive the entertainment industry, but he's also very familiar with how Los Angeles can eat them alive. Many...
- 12/22/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Oliver Stone, above.)
Text and Photos by Terry Keefe
Filmmaker Oliver Stone appeared at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica, this past Wednesday, December 8th, to speak about his new documentary, South of the Border, in which he visits with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, along with the leaders of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Ecuador, amongst others.
From Oliver Stone's Statement about the film, on its website:
I was invited to Venezuela to meet President Hugo Chávez for the first time during his aborted rescue mission of Colombian hostages, held by Farc, during Christmas of 2007. As is often the case, the man I met was not the man I’d read and heard about in the U.S. media. I was able to return in January 2009 to interview President Chávez in more depth.
Was Hugo Chávez really the anti–American force we’ve been told he is? Once we began our journey,...
Text and Photos by Terry Keefe
Filmmaker Oliver Stone appeared at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica, this past Wednesday, December 8th, to speak about his new documentary, South of the Border, in which he visits with Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, along with the leaders of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, and Ecuador, amongst others.
From Oliver Stone's Statement about the film, on its website:
I was invited to Venezuela to meet President Hugo Chávez for the first time during his aborted rescue mission of Colombian hostages, held by Farc, during Christmas of 2007. As is often the case, the man I met was not the man I’d read and heard about in the U.S. media. I was able to return in January 2009 to interview President Chávez in more depth.
Was Hugo Chávez really the anti–American force we’ve been told he is? Once we began our journey,...
- 12/12/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
Text and Photos by Terry Keefe
Dick Cavett interviewed Mel Brooks this past Tuesday, December 7th at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, in an event sponsored by WritersBloc. (We recently interviewed Cavett, who is currently promoting his new book, Talk Show: Conversations, Commentary, & Off-screen Secrets.)
The evening was a memorable one, to put it mildly. Brooks, 84-years old, essentially did over 2 hours of routines and held the audience in the palm of his hand, with the energy of a man half his age and the comedic chops of few men living, no matter what their years. Cavett did a book signing afterwards, which a few hundred audience members lined up for, patiently waiting well into the night. Giants, both.
Dick Cavett interviewed Mel Brooks this past Tuesday, December 7th at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills, in an event sponsored by WritersBloc. (We recently interviewed Cavett, who is currently promoting his new book, Talk Show: Conversations, Commentary, & Off-screen Secrets.)
The evening was a memorable one, to put it mildly. Brooks, 84-years old, essentially did over 2 hours of routines and held the audience in the palm of his hand, with the energy of a man half his age and the comedic chops of few men living, no matter what their years. Cavett did a book signing afterwards, which a few hundred audience members lined up for, patiently waiting well into the night. Giants, both.
- 12/12/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Roger Michell, above.)
(I interviewed director Roger Michell in 2004, for the release of his film The Mother. This past month, he released his newest, Morning Glory. This article originally appeared in Venice Magazine.)
A Return to Notting Hill with Roger Michell
By Terry Keefe
To see just how diverse a director Roger Michell is, all you need to do is compare the two very different versions of London's Notting Hill district that he has shown us on film. The first was the sizable studio picture, Notting Hill, which starred Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant and which was one of the biggest hits of 1999. A romantic comedy about an ordinary bookstore owner who finds himself in a relationship with a huge movie star, Notting Hill managed to be breezy on its surface level but also deceptively deep in its characterizations. And it also made you want to visit the charming and...
(I interviewed director Roger Michell in 2004, for the release of his film The Mother. This past month, he released his newest, Morning Glory. This article originally appeared in Venice Magazine.)
A Return to Notting Hill with Roger Michell
By Terry Keefe
To see just how diverse a director Roger Michell is, all you need to do is compare the two very different versions of London's Notting Hill district that he has shown us on film. The first was the sizable studio picture, Notting Hill, which starred Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant and which was one of the biggest hits of 1999. A romantic comedy about an ordinary bookstore owner who finds himself in a relationship with a huge movie star, Notting Hill managed to be breezy on its surface level but also deceptively deep in its characterizations. And it also made you want to visit the charming and...
- 12/7/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(I interviewed Max Brooks back in 2003 for the first run of The Zombie Survival Guide, which went on to be a huge best-seller that preceded Brooks's zombie epic World War Z. Neither of us knew it at the time, but Brooks was leading the wave of the Zombie Revival Movement that has included hit features like 28 Days Later and "The Walking Dead." There are very few, if any, actual jokes in The Zombie Survival Guide, but it is completely hilarious because for some 200+ pages Brooks never breaks character, playing the book completely straight as an actual practical guide for surviving a zombie attack. And this turns out to be hysterical after about 50 pages or so. You wait for the wink, but it never comes.
Pop cultural zeitgeist-wise, Brooks was pretty damn prescient too. I never would have predicted that what the world really wanted was a lot of zombie movies and shows,...
Pop cultural zeitgeist-wise, Brooks was pretty damn prescient too. I never would have predicted that what the world really wanted was a lot of zombie movies and shows,...
- 12/7/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
By Terry Keefe
Leslie Iwerks’ grandfather, Ub Iwerks, was the co-creator and designer of Mickey Mouse, as well as the pioneer of numerous special effects processes, and this lineage gave the Santa Monica-based filmmaker a pretty unique perspective on the subjects of her 2008 Emmy-nominated documentary The Pixar Story, as well as those of her just-finished doc, Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible, which premiered on Starz/Encore last month. Ilm and Pixar picked up the FX and animation baton, created in part by Ub Iwerks, and launched it into hyperspace. Between the Ilm and Pixar docs, and her first documentary, focused on the life of her grandfather, The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story, Leslie Iwerks has authored a significant history of the animation and effects in the American film industry.
(Leslie Iwerks, above.)
Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible recounts the story of the legendary special effects house,...
Leslie Iwerks’ grandfather, Ub Iwerks, was the co-creator and designer of Mickey Mouse, as well as the pioneer of numerous special effects processes, and this lineage gave the Santa Monica-based filmmaker a pretty unique perspective on the subjects of her 2008 Emmy-nominated documentary The Pixar Story, as well as those of her just-finished doc, Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible, which premiered on Starz/Encore last month. Ilm and Pixar picked up the FX and animation baton, created in part by Ub Iwerks, and launched it into hyperspace. Between the Ilm and Pixar docs, and her first documentary, focused on the life of her grandfather, The Hand Behind the Mouse: The Ub Iwerks Story, Leslie Iwerks has authored a significant history of the animation and effects in the American film industry.
(Leslie Iwerks, above.)
Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible recounts the story of the legendary special effects house,...
- 12/4/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
by Terry Keefe
Sad news that filmmaker George Hickenlooper has passed away at the age of 47. I interviewed George several years back for Mayor of the Sunset Strip, his documentary on Rodney Bingenheimer, which was one of the most insightful films about fame and show business ever made.The films of Hickenlooper often centered about an artist of some sort, and dealt with examinations of fame, the frenzy of renown, and artistic obsession. Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl, chased fame for its own sake, through the Warhol Factory, to her own destruction. Francis Coppola, in the documentary Hearts of Darkness, nearly loses his sanity in the Philippine jungles bringing home Apocalypse Now. The floundering, fictionalized author played by Andy Garcia in The Man from Elysian Fields becomes a kept man to the young wife of a famed, ailing writer played by James Coburn, in order to both support his own writing,...
Sad news that filmmaker George Hickenlooper has passed away at the age of 47. I interviewed George several years back for Mayor of the Sunset Strip, his documentary on Rodney Bingenheimer, which was one of the most insightful films about fame and show business ever made.The films of Hickenlooper often centered about an artist of some sort, and dealt with examinations of fame, the frenzy of renown, and artistic obsession. Edie Sedgwick in Factory Girl, chased fame for its own sake, through the Warhol Factory, to her own destruction. Francis Coppola, in the documentary Hearts of Darkness, nearly loses his sanity in the Philippine jungles bringing home Apocalypse Now. The floundering, fictionalized author played by Andy Garcia in The Man from Elysian Fields becomes a kept man to the young wife of a famed, ailing writer played by James Coburn, in order to both support his own writing,...
- 10/31/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Aamir Khan, above.)
by Terry Keefe
To fans of Bollywood, even the most casual ones, actor-producer-director Aamir Khan needs no introduction. He is one of Indian cinema's most popular actors, and consequently, he is also one of the biggest stars in the world. Here in the United States, he is perhaps still best known to foreign film fans as the star and producer of the extremely successful 2001 release Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, the first feature shepherded by Khan's production company, Aamir Khan Productions. Khan isn't known for doing a tremendous amount of interviews, so the opportunity to speak with him recently was one that I jumped at. Khan was in the United States as part of the promotional tour for Peepli Live, the new feature which Khan has produced, but has opted not to star in.
Peepli Live, written and directed by first-time helmer and former journalist Anusha Rizvi,...
by Terry Keefe
To fans of Bollywood, even the most casual ones, actor-producer-director Aamir Khan needs no introduction. He is one of Indian cinema's most popular actors, and consequently, he is also one of the biggest stars in the world. Here in the United States, he is perhaps still best known to foreign film fans as the star and producer of the extremely successful 2001 release Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India, the first feature shepherded by Khan's production company, Aamir Khan Productions. Khan isn't known for doing a tremendous amount of interviews, so the opportunity to speak with him recently was one that I jumped at. Khan was in the United States as part of the promotional tour for Peepli Live, the new feature which Khan has produced, but has opted not to star in.
Peepli Live, written and directed by first-time helmer and former journalist Anusha Rizvi,...
- 8/13/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
By Terry Keefe
(This article is currently appearing in Venice Magazine.)
The Berlin Wall fell nearly 21 years ago, and millions celebrated around the world. Hindsight reveals that the end of the Cold War was also the start of a far scarier era where the detonation of a nuclear weapon could come from any number of sources. With her documentary Countdown to Zero, filmmaker Lucy Walker has created a film which (and I say this with no hyperbole) should be mandatory viewing for everyone on the planet, although prepare to be chilled by the experience. Through considerable research and interviews with some of the most powerful world figures of the past few decades (including Tony Blair, Pervez Musharraf, President Jimmy Carter, and Mikhail Gorbachev), Walker makes the case that nuclear proliferation has become so out of control that the death of millions by a nuclear device, whether via a nation-state or a terrorist organization,...
(This article is currently appearing in Venice Magazine.)
The Berlin Wall fell nearly 21 years ago, and millions celebrated around the world. Hindsight reveals that the end of the Cold War was also the start of a far scarier era where the detonation of a nuclear weapon could come from any number of sources. With her documentary Countdown to Zero, filmmaker Lucy Walker has created a film which (and I say this with no hyperbole) should be mandatory viewing for everyone on the planet, although prepare to be chilled by the experience. Through considerable research and interviews with some of the most powerful world figures of the past few decades (including Tony Blair, Pervez Musharraf, President Jimmy Carter, and Mikhail Gorbachev), Walker makes the case that nuclear proliferation has become so out of control that the death of millions by a nuclear device, whether via a nation-state or a terrorist organization,...
- 7/28/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
By Terry Keefe
David Rambo's play The Ice-Breaker, currently running at Theatre 40 in Los Angeles, revolves in part around the evocative fact that polar ice preserves the climate memory of the world. Drill just a bit into the largest glacier and you're into the time of the American Civil War. Drill further and you're at the dawn of man. As a character says in the play, "We can drill two miles deep, and a hundred-and-ten-thousand years back. We analyze isotopes from Mozart's air and Plato's oxygen." The science of ice memory provides the backdrop, and a reflection, for the two-character relationship at the heart of The Ice-Breaker. Sonia Milan (played in this production by Ashleigh Sumner) is a doctorate student in climatology, who is finishing her thesis. She has traveled out to the Arizona desert to find the reclusive fiftysomething Dr. Lawrence Blanchard (played by Robert Mackenzie...
David Rambo's play The Ice-Breaker, currently running at Theatre 40 in Los Angeles, revolves in part around the evocative fact that polar ice preserves the climate memory of the world. Drill just a bit into the largest glacier and you're into the time of the American Civil War. Drill further and you're at the dawn of man. As a character says in the play, "We can drill two miles deep, and a hundred-and-ten-thousand years back. We analyze isotopes from Mozart's air and Plato's oxygen." The science of ice memory provides the backdrop, and a reflection, for the two-character relationship at the heart of The Ice-Breaker. Sonia Milan (played in this production by Ashleigh Sumner) is a doctorate student in climatology, who is finishing her thesis. She has traveled out to the Arizona desert to find the reclusive fiftysomething Dr. Lawrence Blanchard (played by Robert Mackenzie...
- 5/19/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
By Terry Keefe
(Currently appearing in this month's Venice Magazine. This is my fourth interview with the ever-engaging Gibney.)
Over the past decade, and particularly during the last five years, Alex Gibney has become one of the most important non-fiction filmmakers in the world, in addition to being arguably the most prolific. His Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, released in 2005, dissects that highly complicated corporate scandal in a manner which is easy to follow for the layman, a challenging task which the mainstream news media never seemed to accomplish. (For proof of that, go ahead and ask the person next to you what happened at Enron.) His Taxi to the Dark Side, released in 2007, was one of the most effective of the slew of documentaries which have been made on the intersection between the War on Terror and torture of prisoners of war, largely because Gibney focused his...
(Currently appearing in this month's Venice Magazine. This is my fourth interview with the ever-engaging Gibney.)
Over the past decade, and particularly during the last five years, Alex Gibney has become one of the most important non-fiction filmmakers in the world, in addition to being arguably the most prolific. His Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, released in 2005, dissects that highly complicated corporate scandal in a manner which is easy to follow for the layman, a challenging task which the mainstream news media never seemed to accomplish. (For proof of that, go ahead and ask the person next to you what happened at Enron.) His Taxi to the Dark Side, released in 2007, was one of the most effective of the slew of documentaries which have been made on the intersection between the War on Terror and torture of prisoners of war, largely because Gibney focused his...
- 5/11/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
By Terry Keefe
[As the Interview grows, we’re expanding our talks with actors, directors, and writers to include discussions with prominent figures in other parts of the business. One of our first is here with Candace Silvers, who teaches a highly influential series of acting workshops.]
Growing up the daughter of the comedy acting legend Phil Silvers, Candace Silvers was likely able to learn a tremendous amount about the craft simply by osmosis. Silvers did become an actress herself and studied under the famed Roy London, but in the past two decades, she has also become one of the most sought-after acting teachers in the business. Her classes focus on learning and identifying the causes and effects of human behavior, and have proven popular as life instruction, as well. Silvers’ client include not only the Producers Guild and the Screen Actors Guild, but also the Remax Group. She has received endorsements from acting luminaries such as Richard Dreyfuss, and her clients include writer Eileen Myers (“Big Love”), actor Josh Radnor (“How I Met Your Mother”), and musical artist Jessica Sutta (The Pussycat Dolls).
The Hollywood Interview: Let’s start off by talking about how you segued into teaching,...
[As the Interview grows, we’re expanding our talks with actors, directors, and writers to include discussions with prominent figures in other parts of the business. One of our first is here with Candace Silvers, who teaches a highly influential series of acting workshops.]
Growing up the daughter of the comedy acting legend Phil Silvers, Candace Silvers was likely able to learn a tremendous amount about the craft simply by osmosis. Silvers did become an actress herself and studied under the famed Roy London, but in the past two decades, she has also become one of the most sought-after acting teachers in the business. Her classes focus on learning and identifying the causes and effects of human behavior, and have proven popular as life instruction, as well. Silvers’ client include not only the Producers Guild and the Screen Actors Guild, but also the Remax Group. She has received endorsements from acting luminaries such as Richard Dreyfuss, and her clients include writer Eileen Myers (“Big Love”), actor Josh Radnor (“How I Met Your Mother”), and musical artist Jessica Sutta (The Pussycat Dolls).
The Hollywood Interview: Let’s start off by talking about how you segued into teaching,...
- 4/27/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
(Jim Morrison in his experimental film, Hwy, from When you're Strange.)
By Terry Keefe
(Currently appearing in this month's Venice Magazine.)
Many a visitor to Venice Beach has spent some time wondering the exact location where Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek reportedly ran into each other in 1965, after having attended UCLA Film School together previously, and decided to form the Doors. The legend of the band needs no recounting here, not after a number of books, the 1991 Oliver Stone film, and endless television clip show assemblies, along with various live albums and re-releases of recordings. Which does raise the question of whether a 2010 documentary on the Doors fills any real need, at least that was the initial reaction from this Doors fan when hearing about director Tom Dicillo’s When You’re Strange - A Film About the Doors. Then, Morrison appeared on screen in the Dicillo documentary, in pristine,...
By Terry Keefe
(Currently appearing in this month's Venice Magazine.)
Many a visitor to Venice Beach has spent some time wondering the exact location where Jim Morrison and Ray Manzarek reportedly ran into each other in 1965, after having attended UCLA Film School together previously, and decided to form the Doors. The legend of the band needs no recounting here, not after a number of books, the 1991 Oliver Stone film, and endless television clip show assemblies, along with various live albums and re-releases of recordings. Which does raise the question of whether a 2010 documentary on the Doors fills any real need, at least that was the initial reaction from this Doors fan when hearing about director Tom Dicillo’s When You’re Strange - A Film About the Doors. Then, Morrison appeared on screen in the Dicillo documentary, in pristine,...
- 4/19/2010
- by The Hollywood Interview.com
- The Hollywood Interview
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