We write and edit together – 2 people but like one brain really. We read a while ago that the Coen brothers edit with 2 keyboards plugged into the same computer. We thought, “that’s interesting, why not give it a try,” and it stuck. That’s how we write and edit.
While discussing the films in XX, praise was evenly distributed among THE BOX, BIRTHDAY PARTY, and HER ONLY LIVING SON for various reasons, but the biggest laugh of the night came from the diminutive Niki Pence, when she explained her preference of DON’T FALL by explaining that the film connected with her since throughout her life, she has been “full of rage.”
We often see men in roles that are a complex character study, but not women. Eden is a modern woman who is self-actualized, self aware and self-destructive. I was bent on reinforcing the fact that a man isn’t going to fix her and she knows it.
If you look him up on IMDb, you’ll see the biography that I wrote for him five years ago. It’s a bio pushing how much promise he had, with The Ben Stiller Show appearances, a Tom Arnold series, and a ton of commercials in a short period of time. It talks about the two short films he directed which both won a lot of awards in film fests in the San Diego area (he wasn’t that savvy about the film fest circuit to take them farther). And that’s where it pretty much ends.
The People’s Court didn’t just begat the other trial shows, it begat reality TV and the sad parade of Honey Booboos, and Duck Dynastys and even, the President we currently have.
When I first got diagnosed, I was in a daze. You’re shuffling from this doctor to that surgeon to that oncologist. Plus, I was juggling a 3 ½-year-old and an 18-month-old. It. Was. Bananas. Since I went to film school and both of us are arty types, the only thing I could think to empower myself in an otherwise powerless situation was to document.
There is a balance that someone that has achieved fame and celebrity is always re-calibrating. And it involves being a “good guy,” a “nice guy,” a “sweetheart,” etc. and not allowing themselves to be used, abused, and exploited for that fame. It is not easy, I don’t think. Holding the people around you accountable, and insisting that they “be cool” with what they are asking of you, and yet not being a pain-in-the-ass about it takes some work, actually.
Last year, in a meeting with a major PR firm in L.A., I was told that unless the fest’s dates lined up perfectly with the actual release of the film that there was no way they would recommend that client going to the fest. It was just a pain-in-the-ass for the publicist. And that was a friend of mine. Cutthroat, baby.
You also have to know what the correct incentive to use to get the right emotion. For example, if you want to evoke a sense of longing/ pensiveness then use chicken or turkey, but if you need a more alert/ concentrated look- you should use a tennis ball. It’s all about how to get the best performance out of your actor and Bowie is no exception. I’ve yet to try the chicken technique with real actors though.
Even if people aren’t chortling their heads off, I think the lightness and quirkiness plays. And the main reason I say my concern was mostly with the laughs is because I think first introducing some buoyancy into the proceedings opens the audience up for the scares later. I think it makes the scares more impactful as the film plays out.
