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By Christopher Stipp

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I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

I was waiting patiently to speak to Mike Leigh.

It was an unexpectedly cool outside of the Hotel Valley Ho, the higher end resort-style lodgings actually looking more like a motel with all the rooms on the outside, and I was going over the questions I had after seeing the film days before.

I’m naturally more apt to not go the “What was it like working…” route with any performer or person involved with the production of a film during an interview but I was prepped that Mike Leigh is a tougher interview to some people just because you really do have to dig a little deeper than the morning show retardedness that plagues so many programs that get the opportunity to talk to great people and then squander it on things like, “Did you enjoy making the movie?”

As I reflected on what I was going to ask, the door opened and Colin Boyd walked out. He said that Mike was excellent, a great interview. However, he paused for a moment and whispered that Mike corrected him on some questions. “Be careful,” he said. It wasn’t ominous or something that caused me to rethink my questions but it did rattle me a bit. I’ve never been in the position to have someone be actively picking apart my questions in their head, make it known out loud, so I tried desperately to speak in specifics as best I could and avoid anything that could be constructed as lazy. And, as I saw the diminutive man with a thick beard, suspenders and an amiable greeting as he welcomed me into the room where we were to conduct the interview, all alone which was a different experience, he closed the door and went after it.

Yes, it gets a little awkward at times, and I left those unadulterated moments in there, but Mike seems like the kind of guy who doesn’t mind telling you how it is…and how it’s going to be. You’ve got to respect that kind of assertiveness.

CS: I think the film spoke to a few different levels, the most superficial being the positiveness of life. When you were fleshing this out, over the months of figuring out what you wanted to say, was it always the same story or during those months did you find something you weren’t expecting?

LEIGH: Well, it’s all about finding things you’re not expecting. For me, the journey of making this film is the journey of discovery as to what it is. I started with a very strong feeling, a sense of the spirit of the thing, but the journey ““ the months I spent, which is what I think you’re talking about, preparing the thing are merely arriving at the premise of the film, but it’s shooting of the film that I make it up and define it as I go along.

It’s a constant, endless harvest of feast of surprises, of discoveries, of revelations. That is what creating a piece of art is all about. So, if the question, which sort of is I suspect, has something to do with starting with a fixed notion and how much it grows or deviates from that, that really not appropriate because all you have is something nebulous and fluid and you move toward coming into existence and that, the act in itself, is where all the surprises are and decisions are made and you decide what it is ““ abstract, really is what I’m talking about.

There you have it in a nutshell. I couldn’t elaborate. Picasso once said that if you know what you’re going to do before you do it, what’s the point of doing it?

So, let’s move on.

CS: Yes, absolutely.

LEIGH: Let’s get more specific.

(Laughs)

CS: Let’s talk about Sally Hawkins.

LEIGH: You can’t get more specific than that.

CS: No, I cannot. I thought she was wonderfully effervescent on the screen. I want to speak more about her character itself, about Poppy. When you looked at it and as you were developing her… By the end, which I wasn’t expecting, I was completely amazed.

LEIGH: I’m glad you were, but of course you were. You couldn’t know. But then you know it shouldn’t be possible to talk about any movie where you expect anything. Unfortunately with all too many movies you get what you expect.

CS: Exactly. But there are some movies where you know exactly where things are going and sometimes rewards you for being that predictable.

LEIGH: That’s true.

CS: Can a woman like Poppy exist in our culture?

LEIGH: Absolutely. Absolutely. Plenty of them around, and men too, of course. It’s about, I mean, you have to mean this is a cynical world and of course it is. Look, apart from anything else Poppy is a teacher and a good teacher and you know there are millions of good teachers out there and teaching kids in that positive kind of way is an act of optimism. You are nourishing the future. Those kids are the grandparents of the 22nd century. See what I mean?

CS: Absolutely, I do.

LEIGH: So, it’s a gloomy, cynical world and we are destroying it, etc. etc. etc. but there are people out there getting on with it while we may be gloomy. And Poppy is such… That is what the film is about. So, yeah.

The truth of the matter is, apart from anything else, if I didn’t think, if I genuinely didn’t think that people like that weren’t feasible, then I wouldn’t make the film, because I made a film about life as we live it, life as it is and life with it’s real potential.

CS: And this is a move about teachers and I think Karina Fernandez deserves a lot of credit. She’s a nice punctuation to what the film is saying.

LEIGH: She’s wonderful. She’s someone I didn’t know. I got her in just to see what would happen. She’s never done flamenco at all.

CS: You’re kidding.

LEIGH: She’s not Spanish. She’s English but her father is Spanish. Sally and I were talking ““ I bring people in gradually ““ I contract them to join us but then not sure what I’m going to do with them and I said to Sally one day, we were talking about Poppy, working on Poppy, and I said maybe she needs to have another leisure. And she said I was thinking about salsa or tango. And because I like Flamenco I said “How about Flamenco?” and she said, “Yeah.”

So I sent Karina off to Flamenco lessons every day for weeks. She’s an actress not a hoofer. So we created this character and sent her off to Seville for a few days. But all the characters…we create all these characters in 3 dimensional complete with their whole back stories and life histories and all that. That’s what motivates and makes it all live. Sometimes it’s great to be able to tap into a fascinating…Wanting to channel that emotion about the man who has cheated on her.

(Laughs)

So I said, “Let’s pull it out.” Whereas in other cases, like the wonderful performance by Stanley Towsend who is the homeless guy, there’s a whole life there and you just get maybe a sense of it, what he’s doing is too discombobulated you get a sense there is a man and a woman he’s talking about there. So, she is wonderful isn’t she, Karina?

CS: Oh yes, I would never have known”¦

LEIGH: Of course you wouldn’t and I expect you haven’t seen the last of her.

CS: The homeless man scene ““ I’m glad you brought that up. I think this movie has a lot to do ““ you have multiple characters and they all are in their own orbits and we see what happens when you bring these orbits together. Could you talk about”¦

LEIGH: What that scene is about?

CS: Yes, please.

LEIGH: Of course. It’s about Poppy. It’s about openness and the ability to connect, complete ability not to be judgmental, and not to act on preconceptions, and her bravery ““ she didn’t think about being in danger. Some people say it’s naivete. No, it’s not naivete. She not concerned with that. She’s inquiring ““ “What is this?” It happens at a moment when she’s feeling more reflective perhaps. And she really connects with this guy, whoever he is, she doesn’t know. And the next scene when she goes back to the apartment when Zoe says, “Where have you been?” She doesn’t say because some things are private. It’s about something she shared with this guy. She’ll never see him again but perhaps would betray. When we were planning that scene I said to the production designer and the cinematographer, “It needs to be somewhere.”

We don’t know where we really are, and subliminally the audience needs to be pulled out of their comfort zone.

CS: I was a little frightened for her.

LEIGH: It’s about Poppy dealing with stuff. Being open. Warm. All that stuff.

CS: The whole film, she doesn’t allow anyone to alter the trajectory that she’s on.

LEIGH: I don’t know whether that’s”¦.I know what you mean you say that.

She certainly doesn’t allow anyone to get her down but I think to suggest anyone to alter her trajectory would suggest a kind of inflexibility. You can see for example the final and traumatic thing that happened with Scott again being caring and sympathetic but also firm and tough and also dealing with a kid. which she is very inexperienced in doing. I very seldom in my films have actions where someone just walks about ““ that’s not what I do, but there, toward the end when Scott drives off, you see him walking around just reflective for a while. And you know what that is. And she’s affected by it.

You can see it in the next scene but it’s only in the end, in the grander scheme of her life, the time she took a free driver’s lesson from this nutcase will pale in significance, of course it will but still, she’s affected by him in the sense that she’s obsessed because she cares. I think any sensitive person must feel someone else’s pain basically. And when Zoe says “Don’t you think we should call the police?” and she says “No, that’s not going to help him” that’s a caring, un-judgmental position she takes.

CS: She does and I see that when she sees the boys go after one another. She’s concerned and takes the steps to”¦.

LEIGH: I think it’s an important detail that they are not going after one another ““ one is attacking and the rest are victims.

CS: Yes. And she does what needs to happen in order to take care of that. I want to be sure we stay on point. The overarching theme ““ there is a lot of teachers in this film, there’s a lot about learning, those who are in charge of teaching others to do some thing. In your estimation, what is the value of teaching in general?

LEIGH: That’s too vague a question. It’s important, isn’t it?

CS: Well, Scott doesn’t care.

LEIGH: No, no, no. You said what is the value of teaching in general, and the answer is it’s important. If you want to talk specifically about Scott, that’s a different thing. What is your question actually?

CS: In relation to Scott as it pertains to Poppy.

LEIGH: What’s the question?

CS: What’s the value? Are there two different ideologies of how to teach someone?

LEIGH: Oh, I see what you mean. Obviously Scott subscribes to an old fashioned ideology that you learn by rote. But the bottom line is that Poppy is a natural, very good teacher. The flamenco teacher and hasn’t learned the number one rule of keeping your personal shit outside the classroom. Scott has no teaching ability whatsoever. He talks about it but he’s a very nervous, neurotic, isolated, frustrated and bitter individual basically.

CS: And Poppy, with her relationships with her sisters who all obviously have some issue with one another, she doesn’t ever criticize her sisters for whatever faults they have. Scott and the other sister makes mention that Poppy lives in her own world.

LEIGH: But, that is their perception. I’m not going to accuse you of saying this but one of the most stupid things against the film is because they say that then ipso facto is the case. But it is not the case. She is plainly all the things that Helen from her own insecurities is plainly isn’t and the same thing with Scott. I mean Scott says to her, “You want to be loved.” Actually, he says to her, “You had no intention to learn how to drive, you set out to reel me in.” Both her sister and Scott are talking from positions of their own insecurities and their own isolation and not seeing her for what she really is which is an open, generous, understanding, fulfilled person. So, any notion that Poppy is compensating for anything is rubbish basically.

CS: She’s gotten along just fine without any…

LEIGH: Because she’s intelligent and open and focused and you know, motivated, and committed, and serious, and caring and all those things and has a great sense of humor and has a great sense of fun.

CS: What do people see in her, you just mentioned insecurities. She’s almost a mirror to some other people to show them how they are to themselves. And I’m speaking here of Scott and I’m going to use Scott and the social worker who eventually comes together with Poppy and that relationship seems genuinely healthy and he loves her.

LEIGH: Because he is as centered and comfortable with who he is open to the world as she is and they are quite a good match I would say.

CS: Absolutely.

LEIGH: You would get the impression that they are good in the sack as well.

(Laughs)

CS: In your own estimation, the characters of, and again I’m going back to Scott because he seems so diametrically opposed to Poppy, what happens in life that Poppy retains that sense of wonder and hope and optimism that we all have as children and somehow”¦

LEIGH: This guy has never been loved. You can tell he’s had a terrible family life. There are clues. But with all due respect he’s not as bright as Poppy, he’s not as sharp and he’s isolated. People have said you know he’s like the homeless guy. No, he’s not. The homeless guy has obviously had emotional experiences. When, this homeless guy breaks out into a piece of Sinatra, he’s got romance in his soul. You can see. He’s just damaged. But this guy Scott, he’s impotent, arid, paranoid, fascist, a sad case. Nobody has ever given him a coddle. He’s desperate for it. If a woman came along, we dealt with it in the back story, he just doesn’t know how to deal with it. So, classically, he’s the kind of guy who is in the teacher kind of role from his insecurity because dominating people is the only way he can be in power. He’s the classic case. Because you get reports of the other guy giving him a hard time.

CS: Right. It wasn’t so much the student as the teacher. Now, I only have time for just one more question and want to ask about when you created this movie and went through the process of making it and putting it out there, how are you finding people responding to it? Not so much a like it or love it but, again, this is a piece of art because you put it out there and whether or not people like it or not is irrelevant, what are you getting back from people from what they are getting from the film after they have seen it?

LEIGH: A multiplicity of things. The good news is ““ OK, there are critics and there are people. Today, for example, we got a lot of rave reviews. But actually I’ve been going to a lot of screenings doing Q&A’s. To enumerate what is too much of a chore except to say there is a wide range of reactions within an overall positive reaction. Occasionally there are people say they wanted to throttle, they say they couldn’t stand her”¦

(Laughs)

I don’t get that.

CS: I don’t get that either.

LEIGH: If you don’t fall in love with her then I don’t know what you do, basically. It’s just a character ““ somebody said to me, to be stuck on a desert island with her would be great ““ yes, please. Let me know when. I’m looking forward to it.

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

You can see how much I enjoyed this film.

Watching SEX DRIVE in a crowded theater I was pleased that I was able to laugh along with what was happening on the screen without feeling sorry for the producers of the film. With abhorations like DATE MOVIE, EPIC MOVIE, MEET THE SPARTANS or any number of forgettable films that seek to be outrageous SEX DRIVE just wants to be funny. And it succeeds, in part, because of the man who helmed the co-writing and directorial duties, Sean Anders. It’s a name that not many people are familiar with but people should. Anders has crafted a movie that balances, like the scales of justice, genuineness and abject depravtity in a way that hasn’t been seen for some time.

CHRISTOPHER STIPP: I really liked this movie. I think I went from casually enjoying the trailers to, after I saw the film, to appreciating what you managed to do. As an aside, I think the older I get the more cynical I get about comedies. None of them speak to me anymore. American Pie? I thought it was just OK. This one I genuinely found myself laughing and having a good time sitting in a theater with other people.

SEAN ANDERS: Oh good.

CS: It was all over the board, in a good way. It wasn’t obnoxiously crude and, during those moments, it was done in a way that was fresh. How did you come in to all of this? Because I read the production notes, and it seemed like there were a lot of people pitching about what they wanted to do in order to make this movie.

ANDERS: It started out as a book and the book was sent to us. We read the book and immediately liked the sort of throw back teen comedy appeal of the premise. Kid meets the girl on-line, and of course that’s not throw back, but the idea of the kid who feels a little bit of a romantic outsider getting an opportunity.

We didn’t really go out to Hollywood with the intention of making a teen comedy. That’s not what we set out to do. We didn’t set out to do any particular thing except comedy in general. When that came up, it was all of a sudden really exciting. We grew up with those movies. Those were the movies that my friends and I, people that I have been friends with since high school, still speak to each other in quotes from 16 CANDLES. So the idea to have a crack at being a part of that world was really exciting to us. But unfortunately the book itself was not really the kind of thing that we do. I think it was focused a little younger and just wasn’t the kind of road movie we wanted to make. So we went back and said, basically to say no to it, to say we read it, we really liked these characters and the premise but the story that’s in the book, we don’t really want to screw up your book but it’s not what we do. And they said, “What would you do?” And we said, “Well, we would do something more like this.” And they said, “We love that, why don’t you do that?”

And really from that moment on there was a lot of creative freedom of “What do you guys want to do?”, “OK, let’s try that.” So then what happened is not printable because it’s just a convoluted boring story but what happened was the movie was already set up at another studio. We went and pitched the idea for it and the deal kind of fell apart and the producers asked us if we would be willing to go pitch it around town to other studios. So we did. We took it around town, we pitched it and it didn’t appear that it was going to sell. Everyone told us the same thing. They said, “It’s very, very funny but there are no big stars we can put in this.” So, that was sort of the end of it.

So then John and I went on to make a pilot for Fox and while we were making that pilot, which was so crazy and so much work, we got the call from Summit Pictures that they wanted us to write the script. We were so swamped and so freaked out working on this pilot that we almost said no. And instead of saying no, we really came out to Hollywood to do was not be writers but writers/directors/producers. So we told our agent that tell them we’d write it if we could be directors and producers.

That’ll make “˜em go away.

They called back and said, “Yeah, OK.”

(Laughs)

But they called back and said, “Let’s have a meeting and talk about it.” I think the thing that won me the job ““ there were two things that won me the job – in that meeting and one is that they asked me what my philosophy, my approach to comedy was and I said it was all the in the casting. Put funny people in a funny script and you’ll get a funny movie. And then the other thing I said that resonate with Erik Feig was I think in general, comedies are over-lit. And he was like, “Yeah.” So that’s where we started. On the same page. Comedies are over-lit and anybody who would read that would say, duh. But that’s always been a pet peeve of mine. So, they said, “OK. You can direct this if we greenlight it.” So we finished the pilot. Went off and wrote the first draft and they greenlighted it off the first draft. It was great.

Because once they got the first draft and said they wanted to make this movie and hired a line producer, then we were shittin’ bricks because I was worried our pilot might get picked up. It’s very unlikely that any pilot is going to get picked up But we were like, “Please don’t let this pilot get picked up.” We were finished with the pilot at that point and we were so glad when we heard it wasn’t going to get picked up. Again, what we came out to Hollywood to do was to write and direct movies. I loved that pilot and would love to do some television down the line but that was job one. So we got the opportunity to do it that way. Sorry that was the really long version.

CS: You are probably sick of telling variations of that “¦

ANDERS: Again, I don’t know how useful that is because it would take forever to write all that but it was this weird sort of thing that didn’t look like it was going to happen but then when it did, it was first draft, line producers, scouting locations, casting. I m that thing ““ from the day that we turned in the first draft ““ a year from then we were already showing the movie to test audiences.

CS: Really?

ANDERS: Yeah, that’s how quick this thing got done.

CS: You said that it’s all about casting and there are no big stars in this. However, they were all excellent choices. You’ve got Josh Zuckerman, Clark Duke and Amanda Crew, who I thought was a brilliantly cast because she doesn’t look like one of those vapid women we see in many comedies ““ I’m thinking specifically of AMERICAN PIE as all these kids look like they are straight off the runway but this one seems a little more natural, if I can say it that way.

ANDERS: And I think that makes her so much more gorgeous.

CS: Yes.

ANDERS: Because she looks real and looks like that girl in high school that you would just be terrified to talk to, even though you know she would be very nice to you because she’s a real nice girl but she’s just beautiful and has this sort of inner glow to her.

She’s actually one of my favorite stories because the studio had been pushing for more of a named actress for that part. The studio was always very good to us and at the end of the day they would always err on the side of making a good film, and they did in that case too but we were auditioning a lot of girls in LA and they would come in the room and we thought we had 4 or 5 very good choices for Felicia. Then we get this video from Canada and any actor will tell you it’s almost impossible to get a job on video because when the actor comes in the room you give them a little direction and kind of help them to let them know what you’re looking for and they adjust and we say, “OK, that’s good.” But when you see a video, you see what it is and then you’re done with it. So we see this video and we are gathered around this QuickTime of this video of Amanda Crew that was sent in from Canada and we all said, “That’s her. That’s Felicia.”

And it became me going to the studio saying this is the girl ““ this is Felicia. And they were like, “Take it easy. Let’s see what else we got.” But of course they are thrilled it worked out that way because they love her and she’s great in the movie. She and I talked about what her job was in the movie and I told her you’re job is to make us fall in love with you. As an audience if we fall in love with you and we get why Ian is in love with you, we’re there with you.

I think that’s it. What really separates this from the pack and why I’m a convert after seeing this movie Monday night and I need to see this movie again she felt like the kind of person that this could really occur among all the zany shit that happens around them ““ it just felt natural.

[Sean asks whether I would be around to see an additional screening with Clark Duke and Amanda Crew in attendance. I ask about the marketing plan for the film and how high profile the film seems to be for a relatively unknown comedy]

ANDERS: Well, what happened was the movie turned out so well that the studio wanted to have word of mouth screenings all over the country because they know this movie is a hard sell.

The problem with selling the movie is that it doesn’t have the big cast members in it and we knew that any rated R teen comedy coming out a year after SUPERBAD was going to get, “Oh, they are trying to be SUPERBAD.” Of course, this was written before that. So we knew that the movie would have to speak for itself. So they have been having these word of mouth screenings all over the country because whenever we get people in front of the movie they tend to like it and hopefully will walk out and talk about it. So anyway, we were doing this one and I lived here for about 8 years so this is sort of my second hometown. I know a guy from Harkins [a local theater chain in Arizona] real well because he helped us with NBT, the first movie we made, and getting that going. So he asked me if I would come out and do some Q&A and I thought that would be fun. They set up this party for it and everything and we were talking yesterday he said that maybe we should get some cast out for this. So I said I would call them and see if they’re around and talked to Amanda and Josh and they said they weren’t doing anything so they said, “Yeah.” It’s totally a last minute thing that they are coming out.

CS: And I have to mention before we go any further ““ Seth Green who I think absolutely steals”¦.

ANDERS: How about him, huh?

CS: You obviously approached him to do it but the performance he gave ““ that dry, sarcastic, sharp manner ““ it just works very well.

ANDERS: We had written the character to be this dry, sarcastic, but hopefully loveable Amish guy. And a guy who just really enjoys being around non-Amish people and then when the name of Seth Green came up, it was absolutely perfect. He’s just great with sarcasm, he’s really funny, and he’s just great on so many levels. But even then, none of us knew how great he was going to be until he got there. We just knew it was going to be so funny. That scene with the buggy with Clark where he says the line about butt fucking that was in the script but every time we shot it ““ everything we shot we just let it keep rolling and let people go past the scene and try different things and every time Clark and Seth got to that line they would just rip on butt fucking for the longest time. We cut some of that together for the extended DVD. It’s hilarious. It’s so over the top, disgusting and funny and really sharp, sharp stuff.

CS: His delivery is just wicked.

ANDERS: Well, the thing is about Seth Green is he is so funny all the time. He could be just sitting there and he’s not one of those guys who’s bouncing off the walls and trying to be the center of attention trying to be endearing to everyone, he’s just fucking funny. The way he turns a phrase, he gets his point across. He’s just funny. He’s always on. It’s a little bit intimidating.

CS: That part at the end when he talks to Fall Out Boy in front of the bus, was that all him? Did you know that line about [redacted for not wanting to spoil it] was coming at the end?

ANDERS: No. We had follow up boy for such a short time. We wanted to do a bit like that but just didn’t have time. That’s why it’s jump cut the way it is. It was basically, “OK, we have an hour before we have to go inside, let’s set up a camera and put Seth and Fall Out Boy in front of the camera and just roll and see what Seth does to f with those guys. And they were great sports and he was really funny and we shot like 20 minutes of stuff and cut it down to a minute for that little extra piece.

CS: It was a nice sort of kick at the end. How did that all come about when you are doing all these gags? It’s a thin line between obnoxious ““ in my advanced age, I’m 33 ““ I’m no foggie but when I see it ““ I get it, it’s supposed to be funny but you can have humor that just tries way too hard. But a massive majorirty of the gags here work very well and I don’t have any reason why they do ““ from your standpoint”¦

ANDERS: Well, I think, and you work for Kevin Smith, and I think you know what he’s so good at, of the many things he’s so good at, you can have a character say really raunchy ““ my friends and I, all of our conversations are raunchy, even when we are being serious. So you can have characters that behave that way and talk that way as long as the characters have heart and care about each other and they have real flaws and issues ““ as long as they have that sort of warmth it feels kind of real, where you were aspiring to on this ““ it gives people license to just relax and laugh.

And, one of the things that blew me away on the movie that I never would have predicted in a million years and almost the thing I’m proudest of the whole thing is ““ you do the test screenings for the test audiences and for a movie like this the studio cares far and away men 25 and under and then men 25 and older because this a movie that is going to be driven by guys and then the quadrant of girls 25 and under so females 25 and under but the women 25 and older, they don’t give a shit about. They know they are not going to go see it. Nobody’s mom is going to see SEX DRIVE. Nobody cares. So we go and we do our test screening and we get our numbers back and our number on women 25 and older were 98%.

That’s insane.

I’m sure those are numbers ““ like NIGHTS IN RODANTHE probably didn’t get 98%. For women 25 and older. It’s crazy. It almost seems like there has to be a mistake. And my mom saw the movie.

(Laughs)

And loved it ““ I don’t know ““ even though we are showing old man’s balls, I don’t know. All those things and despite that we can have a scene where we have a girl that almost shits on somebody.

(Laughs)

Or maybe does, depending on how you watch that scene, and that we still have women coming away loving the movie is such a huge compliment to us. We didn’t go into the movie trying to alienate any group.but you just know that when you walk a certain line people are going to be turned off by it.

CS: Why do you think women are responding so well to it?

ANDERS: Dude, I don’t know. I think the romance in the movie really works ““ that’s a part of it ““ but I don’t know. It’s mind boggling to me.

CS: I do have to ask about Andy and Randy.

ANDERS: If the movie does well enough to warrant a sequel, I already told the studio I will only do it if it’s a movie about Andy and Randy.

(Laughs)

Because I would love to do a whole movie about Andy and Randy.

CS: How did these characters materialize themselves?  If the book isn’t like this at all and it’s openly exaggerated…When you were coming up with the ideas to incorporate Brian Posehn and Seth Green to fill out these characters, how did their names come up as probables?

ANDERS: I don’t know. The way John and I write is we just sit around and bullshit all day and we’ll be talking about a certain topic and say, oh, this one time a friend of mine went to a carnival and then oh, there was this guy, this or that, and then it becomes an idea or a character. When we look back on all the characters we almost wrote and thought it was funny and look back and say thank god we didn’t try and put that in the movie. I don’t know man. I don’t know where that stuff comes from. You just sit around and talk about the idea and the characters until something funny comes up. And then there’s the arduous process of writing that first draft where you just write a whole bunch of unfunny shit and try to get to the end. And then go back through and try and find out why that stuff is not as funny was it needs to be and keep working on it. But I think a big moment in the movie was the moment when we wrote the line, “You love me, you love me too. OK.” Because we wanted to have that at the end because we knew it was going to be cheesy romantic we had written all this schlocky shit that was nauseating in the beginning. And then we just said “Fuck it. We don’t need big speeches. Let’s just simplify it and just let Ian be a man and step up and admit that he loves this girl” and when that line came up at that point in the script it was like I think we have a movie here. Because despite all the wacky raunchy stuff and at that moment writing that scene I really felt good. So, it’s weird. I’m new at this and I’m so proud of the movie. I realize it is what it is and is just one of those things that all I can do is hope that people like it as much as we do and they have a good time with it and hopefully 20 years from now that people would still be quoting it the way my friends and I quote 16 CANDLES and WERID SCIENCE and those great movies we grew up with.

CS: And the last question ““ I will make it brief ““ It’s no secret that you don’t have a whole lot on your resume behind you. You’ve managed to go from independent moviemaker to studio filmmaker ““ what’s the biggest lesson you learned in that transition?

ANDERS: I think the biggest lesson ““ man, there were so many, it was a lesson a minute all the way through that stuff. But, I think the one I’m going to apply the most is to just really try to enjoy it and have a good time and that seems to translate to a higher quality and that’s what we tried really hard to do all the way through it just not to get caught up in all the stress of the process but of course we did, and the next one even more so we will be able to because we know now that’s a formula that really works ““ to try and create an environment that’s really fun and laid back and have a good time and take that good time and put it on the screen and that’s something we learned from the Farrelly Brothers. They always sound like they are having a good time.

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

It was the late 1980’s and I was living in suburban Illinois. As a budding uber nerd I liked to consume my media in various forms; be that in the shape of reading Science or Discover magazine, watching the television stylings of the revamped Smothers Brothers program on CBS or even booking time to spend on my middle school’s Apple IIe there was always something different about what intrigued me. To this day I can’t remember what I loved about INNERSPACE but I do know that it led me to love two things: Sam Cooke records and Dennis Quaid.

I don’t think I ever really thought that much about the films I liked (this was around the same era where I found Jean Claude Van Damme and would hold his ballerina ass up as the second coming of ass kicking Christ) but INNERSPACE was just one of those films directed by Joe Dante that was representative of films which didn’t really want to change cinematic history unlike every auteur who nowadays wants to remake film in their own image. A lot of movies around that time weren’t necessarily pushing boundaries but they were damn entertaining and a joy to watch. INNERSPACE was a watershed moment in my youth as I loved the film for reasons that, by any debatable standards, were paper thin but that’s not the point. The point here, though, is that when you have these kinds of movies that you reflect on later in life with a halcyon-like nostalgia it’s a bit mind blowing when you find yourself sitting literally next to that person talking about movies in general. That little governor in the back of your brain that keeps yourself from geeking out on someone in situations like this really gets a workout but I can tell you that as I walked in the room where me and other journalists got to talk to him there was a little something sweet and kind about shaking the hands of the guy who was in one of the greatest films for the 13 year-old who lives inside me.

The guy wasn’t going to be having any talk of GI JOE (Goddammit…) but he did riff on all things civil rights and where he’s been since being an astronaut 25 years ago in THE RIGHT STUFF (which I still haven’t seen…along with D.O.A.). We were there to talk about THE EXPRESS and the film opens today in theaters everywhere. The movie, for those who don’t know, is based on the true story of college football hero Ernie Davis (Rob Brown), the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy. It was definitely a step above most inspirational sports films where I have to feel shitty about being a white guy as I watch bumpkins of the Southern variety remind me why I’m happy the North won the Civil War and definitely one that I would recommend to my parents.

Thankfully, and quite literally, the story about Quaid’s past with Meg Ryan and his reported philandering broke about an hour after I talked with him. Since then, the media have done more to promote this story than with anything involving his movie. Thankfully, no one was the wiser and this interview is private & personal life free. And, to add in the fact that one of my queries led him to say the word “whore” makes the 13 year-old inside of me laugh a little bit, high fiving the other juvenile sensibilities that live on in my noggin…

QUESTION: How did you get involved with this project?

DENNIS QUAID: There was a script that got my attention but when I [found out] John Davis was involved it really elevated it more. What John Davis does do, which is one of my criteria to do a sports movie, is make it more than a football movie. It has to be something universal that people can relate to and identify with I think. John Davis knows how to do that.

And I think THE EXPRESS ““ although it’s a football film and it deals with racial issues of that time – it’s also about living your life gracefully and facing the challenges of your life which Ernie Davis certainly embodied.

QUESTION: I have a friend who knew the coach that you played and said you nailed it right on. How did you prepare for this film?

DQ: That’s nice. I saw some film of him and I don’t really look like him but I feel some responsibility when I play a real person to capture their spirit and to play them honestly and not idealistically. But my main resource was Jim Brown. He’s a friend of mine already and we did ANY GIVEN SUNDAY together and play a lot of golf together. He’s a very straight talker and he told me about his relationship with Ben which is contentious at times but he had a deep respect for the man. He told me how it really was and told me about his times there and the atmosphere in Syracuse and Ernie Davis who he was very close with.

CHRISTOPHER STIPP: This movie deals with segregation, racism. We have the Confederate flag flying prominently in the film. Did Jim Brown ever intonate, or even in your investigation for this role, of how we got to where we were to where we are today? It’s just common place for black men to be on the field nowadays.

DQ: Really, it’s not that long ago.

CS: No.

DQ: What I really liked about the movie is that although it deals with racism and segregation as it existed back then it really does speak to where we are today and still where we have to go I think. And it was just one little barrier at a time the way it is progressing and people like your age ““ how old are you?

CS: 33.

DQ: Yeah, people like you see the film and for the most part are in shock to see how it really used to be. I grew up in Houston and I remember separate restrooms and drinking fountains and Black people sat in the balcony in theaters and that’s just the way it was.

It was unspoken but were the rules of society.

The way it existed.

My generation really started to question that and the civil rights movement did a lot to change that when Martin Luther King came along. That’s just the way it was ““ it was status quo. Schwartzwalder really represented that status quo where in today’s standards would be considered racist but that’s how white people, certainly more in the south, that was the rules of society back then. Ernie really kind of changed Ben on a personal level.

QUESTION: You dealt with issues from back then before ““ did you notice anything similar ““ not necessarily the story but when you go back were there any similarities between this and that?

DQ: Well, yes, in the sense that there were a lot of issues that just didn’t get talked about or people were entrenched in their point of views that change was not ““ it was slow in coming.

QUESTION: Was there any uneasiness on the set with other actors when dealing with issues like that?

DQ: No. Not really. We had a very open discussion. First off, what we wanted to do was not be politically correct. We wanted to be open and honest about it. That way we could make a film that had some impact instead of just sugar everything over. With Ben we didn’t want to do a 21st century version of him back in the 50’s when ““ we would make him more complicated ““ he had issues himself about race and color.

QUESTION: It definitely did have an impact at our screening. There were a lot of kids in the audience that were brought in from school groups and I heard them walking out ““ a lot of them were 6 or 7 and had no idea that this existed back then and I could hear them saying, I had no idea people treated people that way.

DQ: That’s what we’ve been getting from the screenings too. It’s more than a football movie.

QUESTION: How familiar were you with Ernie Davis’ story before?

DQ: I really didn’t know Ernie Davis. I knew the name but I didn’t know the story. When I read a script it’s the only time I get to be an audience member and get that experience and it had a profound impact on me. It hit me in the heart and in the gut. In the place where you really don’t have words. And he came along before the civil rights movement started to bubble up and I think that’s one of the reasons his story was lost for a time. Had he lived he would have had a significant impact on the 60’s civil rights movement. Certainly Jim Brown did.

QUESTION: Will General Hawk [in G.I. JOE] be anything like Ben Schwartzwalder?

DQ: No. General Hawk is a little bit more light hearted. He is a combination of General Patton and Hugh Hefner. Super models are his aid in camp.

QUESTION: In real life are you more like General Hawk or Ben Schwartzwalder?

DQ: I am like neither of them but that was a lot of fun to do. I can tell you knowing is half the battle.

(Laughs)

CHRISTOPHER STIPP: Looking over your resume you are not one of those guys who does 4 or 5 movies, as much as you can, every year…

DQ: I’m not???

(Laughs)

CS: No. We just don’t see you in the theater every nine days. We were talking about Sam Jackson prior to talking to you and it got me thinking about how he seems to be in many films throughout the year. Any rhyme or reason that you appear to be picky and that somehow you seem to be saying, “This year I’ll only want to make two or three films”?

DQ: Actually, I have been working like Sam Jackson. There’s just a lag time with them coming out. Just you wait, You are going to be like, “Oh my, that guy is such a whore…”

(Laughs)

We have to see him again. I did THE EXPRESS, G.I. JOE and a movie called PANDORUM and I have another film I shot called LEGION, and they are all very different films. The only reason I have been working like that is because it’s just a fruitful time for me. The scripts have been really great and very different movies and I’m enjoying working now more than in my 20’s. I had fire in my belly about it.

QUESTION: One of the things in this movie that caught my eye is the football seemed authentic at the time. It’s tough to go back and create that. How long did it take to create those sequences?

DQ: That was filmed throughout the shooting. Allan Graf was in charge of shooting all the football scenes. He did ANY GIVEN SUNDAY and also did “Friday Night Lights” and he’s been around. I’ve known him for about 30 years. He paid a lot of attention to being sure he got the era right and really had to re-teach the players to block with your shoulder ““ not with your helmet and get that real old school technique that was taught back then.

QUESTION: Looks real though.

DQ: Yes, it does.

QUESTION: Do you have any plans to get into directing and writing?

DQ: Yes. I’ve written a movie that I would like to direct but not worth talking about it until after I make it and then we’ll be back here and talking about that.

(Laughs)

You’ll say, “Are you ever going to stop working? You’re in everything!”

(Laughs)

QUESTION: I watched THE RIGHT STUFF this weekend ““ the 25th anniversary coming up. Do you ever go back and watch the old stuff and think, “Even today I couldn’t improve on some of those things”?

DQ: THE RIGHT STUFF is a very special movie for me. It really was like being a kid because I did want to be an astronaut and Gordon Cooper was my favorite astronaut and I grew up in Houston ““ space city ““ and I got my pilot’s license for that film and Gordo Cooper lived three miles from me in LA and I went flying with Chuck Yeager ““ he was on the set the entire time and that was great. That is one movie that when I channel surf and it’s there I kinda watch some of it.

By Christopher Stipp

The Archives, Right Here

I’m awesome. I wrote a book. It’s got little to do with movies. Download and read “Thank You, Goodnight” right HERE for free.

Nerds worth their 8 sided die know who Simon Pegg is.

From SPACED to SHAUN OF THE DEAD to HOT FUZZ to everything else the man has stick his pinkie in Simon brings his own unique humor to every project he’s involved in and HOW TO LOSE FRIENDS AND ALIENATE PEOPLE is no different. However, you mention the name Robert Weide and you would be likely to see the kind of expression reserved for a dog who has just been shown a card trick. Robert, director of HOW TO LOSE, is the director behind CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM and has even won a little Emmy gold because of his work.

When I had the chance to talk to these guys couldn’t pass up the opportunity. Even though it was a roundtable I wasn’t about to let that small quibble get in the way of me and my Spaced geek obsession. It was an odd thing, though, when I asked Robert a question about how hard it is to hold on to your vision as a director and producer of material. His answer both intrigued me and made me realize what must be happening on a daily basis in that goofy town.

Now, for those that don’t know the story of the film is as follows:

In this hilariously funny fish-out-of-water tale, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People tracks the outrageous escapades of Sidney Young (Simon Pegg), a smalltime, bumbling, British celebrity journalist who is hired by an upscale magazine in New York City. In spectacular fashion Sidney enters high society and burns bridges with bosses, peers and superstars. The film is based on Toby Young’s memoir of the same name and also stars Kirsten Dunst, Danny Huston, Gillian Anderson, Megan Gox, Max Minghella and Jeff Bridges. Directed by Robert Weide, the film will be released by MGM Distribution Co. on October 3, 2008. After disrupting one black-tie event by allowing a wild pig to run rampant, Sidney catches the attention of Clayton Harding (Jeff Bridges), editor of Sharp, and accepts a job with the magazine in New York City. Clayton warns Sidney that he’d better impress and charm everyone he can, if he wants to succeed. Instead, Sidney instantly insults and annoys fellow writer Alison Olsen (Kirsten Dunst). He dares to target the star clients of power publicist Eleanor Johnson (Gillian Anderson). He upsets his direct boss Lawrence Maddox (Danny Huston) and tries to make amends by hiring a stripper to dance for Lawrence during a staff meeting. Sidney, of course, doesn’t stop there, finding creative ways to annoy nearly everyone. His saving graces: a rising, sexy starlet (Megan Fox) develops an odd affection for him, and in time, Alison whose friendship with him might be the only thing saving Sidney from torpedoing his career.

Both Robert Weide and Simon Pegg stopped by Phoenix a few weeks ago to talk about the film which comes out today.

QUESTION: How’s Arizona been treating you?

PEGG: Hotly. It’s been overwhelming for a pasty British man to walk into this incredible heat. It’s amazing. The first thing we saw last night was possibly the most spectacular light show I’ve ever seen in my life in that storm. We were having dinner at Mastro’s and eating possibly one of the best steaks I’ve ever had in my life and the whole place is being illuminated by this strobe light.

And there was this rumbling thunder.

QUESTION: But you were here a few years ago Shaun of the Dead. Different time of year, though.

PEGG: It was still hot. I remember ““ not quite like this ““ Nick stopped by and we stayed up at Camelback and I was really looking forward to coming back here. This is the only place on the whole tour I’m staying two nights and I’m quite happy to be here.

WEIDE: When I was packing yesterday my wife and I were talking about it’s great because it’s going to be one weather, two days, just one pair of shoes. I talked to her last night and said it was a monsoon last night and my clothes are soaking wet.

QUESTION: So, you said this is the last stop of tour so you’ve probably fielded every question there is?

PEGG: Pretty much. You can have a free cookie if you ask me a question I have not been asked before. Bob’s just joined me here. I started out in Boston and went to Toronto then Chicago and Dallas then here, so yea, it’s been pretty intense but I think it’s good to go places rather just stay in a hotel in LA and expect everybody to come to you. I think it’s important when you provide something it’s good to go out and pound the beat.

QUESTION: How much time do you split ““ are you here in the States a fair amount of the year now, or just for press?

PEGG: Just for press work. I’ve been out a lot this year ““ been back and forth for various reasons, but generally speaking I’m in London. I don’t have any plans to move here because you can just commute these days. The film industry is far more global than it was and films get made all over the world. You buy a house in LA and then suddenly you find yourself doing 5 months in the Isle of Man. So it’s kind of pointless. And, all my stuff’s there. My light sabers are there.

(Laughs)
CHRISTOPHER STIPP: Can you talk about the movie itself? It talks about the idea about how Americans revere celebrity vs how you in Britain revere yours. You really want to write a hit piece and here we like to coddle our celebrities. Did you find any parallels or do Britians like their celebrities are certain way?

PEGG: I think it’s a generalization in some respects. I think that particular syndication that Sidney goes to work for behaves like that but I think there are publications in America that want to undermine their celebrities the same as in Britian. There’s a culture of disdain for celebrities in the UK but similarly there are magazines like Hello and OK that worship them unconditionally. But for the purpose of this movie, Sidney’s background is in one of snipe and take crack at celebrities and Clayton’s magazine, Sharps, is very much one of those that is greasing the wheels of celebrity and stoking the flames. I think it’s a very timely piece in a way. The movie itself is based on a book that was set in 1995. There was a memoir from 1995 and I think Peter Straughan is fictionalizing that and bringing it up to date and creating a fictional group of characters around the central character, who is called Sydney instead of Toby, and they do something of a satire of the nature of celebrity worship now which is at a completely ridiculous height. The snake of popular culture is most definitely eating itself. It’s a bizarre, frightening time.

QUESTION: What about your own celebrity? Going back to when you were here years ago you could go anywhere you wanted to go in this country. People would never recognize you but that is not the case now.

PEGG: The interesting thing about it is, I’m still pretty “cultie”. I was in Dallas yesterday and everywhere I went people would say, hey Shaun of the Dead, but just knew it was a movie I had done but didn’t say hey there’s that guy who I don’t know what he did but I know him, which I think is where things get slightly precarious when people start to resent the fact that they know you. And that’s where the sense of delusion starts to come. That’s when people start to think you are famous for what?

WEIDE: There’s a group of people now that are famous for just being famous. It’s not about work or anything they have achieved. They are celebrities because they are celebrities and this is how behind the times I am, I think it was three years ago maybe a little less when I turned to my wife and I said who exactly is Paris Hilton? Meaning, I had seen her picture everywhere and I saw her name everywhere but is she a singer, and actress? My wife tried to explain to me.

QUESTION: She’s all of that now.

PEGG: Yea, now she’s all of that but quotation marks perhaps.

But then I said is she famous just for being famous? And she said yes, but then said oh there was that sex video. Oh, then she’s a porn actress. She said, no not exactly but”¦

QUESTION: That’s her best talent.

PEGG: Clearly. I think they have been around for a long time to some degree, but more at the ridiculous end of celebrity culture as it is now is produce people that they are famous for something and are famous for being famous and they work at it, like Paris Hilton, Victoria Beckham. They work at it because they know that people do want to know about them. Who’s laughing really? They are making shit loads of money from just doing very little because people just want to know about them. We’re idiots for buying those magazines. Who cares what Paris Hilton’s vagina looks like? Idiots like men.

So there is an argument that you can have a crack at those people who are exploiting their celebrity or you can say well if we stop consuming what they do, then they go away so stop complaining about them.

QUESTION: But this movie makes an illusion to when Sophie walks through the pool that’s something Jane Mansfield did in the late 50’s to get herself famous.

PEGG: Yea.

WEIDE: And there’s that telling moment too ““ I heard people after screenings discuss whether that was an intentional ploy and I think the clue is Gillian’s dialogue as she’s coming out of the elevator when she’s on the phone with somebody saying bring the car around front and then she says never mind what I said before, I want it in front now. Meaning that it was sort of understood that she had walked through the pool, paparazzi would come after her and instead of sneaking out the back now she’s supposed to go through the front where she knows the photographers will be waiting and sure enough, as Sydney says, she’s everywhere. I have read those stories of celebrities eating in various places where they get seemingly ambushed by the paparazzi as they step out of a restaurant and it’s understood later that in fact they weren’t ambushed, it was the publicist that told the paparazzi where they would be.

PEGG: It’s interesting. When you look at a celebrity like Elizabeth Hurley, the genesis of her fame was the Versace dress she wore to the Four Weddings premiere. She went with the star of that film and completely upstaged him and the film that wore a dress that was held together with safety pins and now she’s the face of Estee Lauder and has kind of an acting career. But that’s all it takes really. That’s a stunt that’s on par with what Sofie does in the movie. Sofie knows what she’s doing. As Danny Houston’s character says, she’s going to go far. It’s just when you take it on in real life you are taking on a beast. If you want to swim in those waters, you have to know it’s absolutely packed with sharks.

WEIDE: I think fame is sort of like a Frankenstein monster. It’s something people think they want to create and then when it happens they have something quite uncontrollable. And there’s the one level if you eat at the Ivy in LA you know you are going to get snapped when you come out and perhaps that is fair game, I don’t know but there is that level of the true ambush for the people with the long lenses in the building across from you getting you while you’re eating or getting undressed, sunbathing or being with someone you shouldn’t be with, I think is the next level. I’ve seen pictures of Kirsten just coming out of her mother’s house in Hollywood walking to her car. She’s visiting her mom and there’s someone waiting across the street and I remember seeing pictures that she dropped her keys and this guy was in her way and a series of pictures of her picking up her keys and getting in her car and it was so unfair and people say if you want to be famous and want to be in movies, you are asking for it and I don’t know that you are asking for it. I don’t think they are. I think there is a certain level where people do deserve their privacy even their careers put them in the public eye.

QUESTION: You got to work with Toby Young?

PEGG: We hung out a little bit. I didn’t want to play him as him because not many people know who he is and Toby’s got a way that would be distracting on the big screen after a bit, and also, it’s Sydney ““ it’s a fictionalized version of him so I was able to have a few dinners with him and hang out and get under his skin a little bit a decide that that’s not the way I was going to play it. But Toby has mellowed. There was a time he was just very tenacious and just lead pipe cruel and thought that was the way to go and as a result continuing messing up.

QUESTION: The improvisations you get to do ““ did you have to stick to the script?

PEGG: We didn’t do much did we?

WEIDE: You would occasionally come up with something on the spot. There’s the business where you are on the phone ordering the credit card and basically each take you made up a new line. The one we went with was the Queen ““ yes, I know the Queen, she’s in my break dance posse.

PEGG: Oh yea.

WEIDE: And on each take he adlibbed some different line about that he knew the Queen and met at the Cub Scouts “¦

PEGG: Oh yea.

WEIDE: That was a treat in the editing room.

QUESTION: The scene when you call the landlady Mrs. Lebowski?

PEGG: Yea. No, actually that was in the script.

WEIDE: In the screenings that I’ve been at, one of the biggest laughs of the movie, if you have all seen the film be careful how you write this, is basically the scene where he is called on the carpet in Clayton’s office and waiting for him to come out and remember he is [redacted] (Ed. Note: Yeah, that was a funny part, actually.) and when we did that take, Simon said to me, because there is really no line there, that the idea the secretary would just be staring at him and said be prepared I have a line I’m going to say, and I won’t give away the line and you said that and the whole group just laughed during the take and it’s the biggest laugh.

CS: You mentioned doing Spaced there was a parallel when you talked about how the reception of how that television show brought you a lot of success over here and now you have this great career but you said there is a difference between these sorts of sharks in the water and American movie making culture vs. the kind of experience you had in the UK.

PEGG: No, I meant the sharks in the water thing is entirely to do with the celebrity culture. I think the movie machine here and in the UK are similar. We collaborate a lot because we have big studios in the UK, Bond movies, Potter movies, Star Wars movies are made there, Raiders and our crews ““ I’ve done movies in LA and half the crew has been British and I think the machine is a little ““ when you get into the studio system in America, I don’t know if this is where you are going, then it gets kind of ““ the producers are more like what you might expect. In the UK we only have one production company that can fund a movie entirely, which is working title. Everything else, like our film, had to be made by a conglomerate.

CS: Yes, lots of fingers in that.

PEGG: Yea. But I think I meant the shark infested thing is if you are going to get involved in being a celebrity and get caught going to those places to get people interested in your private life, then you are taking on a monster you know. Were you going to say the British are different?

CS: Not so much that, but the idea when you make a production over a year, somehow it turns into a beast ““ a lots of fingers in the pie ““ a lot of people saying, I want you to cut this out, cut that out ““ there’s certainly enough satire to go around. A lot of people have a lot to say about that final cut before it’s released to the public…

WEIDE: I think that’s inherent project to project. Not sure that’s just American anymore than it is British. Your situation with the Edgar Wright directed films you have a producer who is really part of your team, who is kind of helps protect you guys from any forces who might come in and try to”¦

And also a production company that lets us do whatever we want. I think the more money that’s involved, the more risk, the more people panic and want to stick their finger in the proverbial pie.

QUESTION: But then you have, but not to bring up Star Trek, but you can’t discuss in detail but JJ has a lot more control than a lot.

PEGG: I think you get people like JJ who they just trust and say I know you know what you’re doing because he’s proved himself with MI3 and they know ““ and because he’s done a particular kind of movie, he’s the absolutely perfect guy to do Star Trek. None of the other producers are going to question what’s he doing because they know if it fucks up the fans are going to be unhappy and JJ is a fan and he understands it. So in that situation it’s like, you do it. You just get on with it an do that. That’s why he’s given that autonomy. Also, he’s JJ ““ he has that manic enthusiasm you couldn’t possibly question.

QUESTION: Then you also hear the stories about on Gangs of New York the notorious fights between Martin Scorsese and Harvey Weinstein ““ that’s Scorsese when somebody told him what to cut.

PEGG: But that is also Harvey Weinstein.

(Laughs)

Have you seen Tropic Thunder?

PEGG: We are seeing that tonight actually.

WEIDE: In my little neck of the world, that was the greatest thing about Curb Your Enthusiasm, which everyone says well, that’s HBO and it wasn’t HBO so much it was Larry David not needing to do a TV series because he could stay home and count his hundreds of millions but it was the guy who created Seinfeld so he never had anybody telling him what to do because A) Larry would just say hey, get your own show and walk and once you create Seinfeld there aren’t many people who could take a position that they know more about comedy. I talked to other friends of mine who were executive producing or created series for network television and I told them the way we work with no creative interference, no notes whatsoever they would just start to drool because in the world of broadcast network television here in the states everybody has something to say right through writing, casting, production through editing and really never leave you alone. And if the show starts to falter at all instead of saying OK, we’re going to stand back, they just get more and more involved and it becomes pretty suffocating.

CS: That’s a brilliant comment. At what point in your career can say, “You know what, I’m not interested in having any of that…” If someone tries to make you capitulate early on I can see how that can easily happen but is it hard coming up through the ranks, sticking to your artistic vision? At what point do you muster that courage and say, “I have to stand firm.” At what point does that happen for you?

WEIDE: It’s interesting ““ my background having started through documentaries from the get-go I never really had anybody tell me what to do because documentaries aren’t supposed to be money makers anyway and my first things were for PBS and so when I started I didn’t have anyone tell me what to do and then I did a film 10 years ago that was a low budget enough film where I was left alone, Curb I was left alone, and oddly enough this film was my first experience of kind of having to listen to other opinions and people suggesting this and that and it was odd for me because you would think I had a lot of that and this point in my career, and I’m not a kid anymore, I’m going to be 30 soon”¦

(Laughs)

It was odd to hear people, and in some cases who really had no comedy credentials say I think this would be funnier, and you know you have to be a team player and listen to everybody’s notes and let them know they are being heard and ultimately have the backbone, conviction and the confidence to know what you are doing to weed out the bad notes and keep the good ones.

PEGG: One thing I always found when collaborating anyway, I write with Jim Wright and write with Edgar and Nick and when we work with Working Title that’s a close knit group there and sometimes something you are absolutely sure is right you’ll get or hear something from someone and say hang on I’ll reevaluate that and you realize that I think there was a note when we were making Hot Fuzz from one of our producers at Working Title to drop the female character because the romance in the film was about Danny and Angel and the bad girl and we realized the female character we’ve written was kind of token and it was an absolutely right on note. So, sometimes you might think as a sort of precious writer you say, you don’t know a thing, but come out with a very, very good point and taken on board. It’s just a fine balance when you are in a room and something you think belongs to you to actually have the courage to let it go and stand up for it I think.

WEIDE: The sort of typical network situation for television, I had an experience where a network bought a pilot script from me, absolutely wanted to make the pilot but I developed it for a specific actress and they knew it going in and they met her and liked her a lot and said go ahead but when push got to shove they got a little nervous about this unknown actress having a pilot let alone a series and asked me if I could cast the part and I said no, I wrote it for her. I’d rather do something else and finally the word came down from the head of the network that he would order the pilot that day if I was willing to cast the part and I said no and walked away and my agent said you realize what you are potentially walking away from and I said, yea I’m walking away from a situation with a network where they are going to try and tell me what to do every step of the way and make me crazy. The only real leverage you have in a situation like that is the willingness to walk away and if, and I’m not a typical TV producer, most of those guys they just want to get on the air, they want to get their pilot made and want to get a series on the air. I was sort of ambivalent about the whole thing anyway so it made it very easy to walk away ““ nothing heroic about it I just didn’t want to set that precedent and everybody thought it was the craziest thing to do but for me it was the easiest.

QUESTION: The last time you were here in Phoenix for Shaun of the Dead you talked about what would be Hot Fuzz ““ do you have any ideas that you are working on right now?

PEGG: Yea, Nick and I just finished something we will go into production with next year hopefully and will be shooting in New Mexico and Edgar and me will eventually get back into the office when we are done with our prospective other projects and come up with a third film which we are calling Blood and Ice Cream. I really want to get on with that. We finished Hot Fuzz and other things came up and we agreed to go do other things and then come back together and those things obviously take up time.

QUESTION: Can you share what that would be about? What about the working title?

PEGG: I don’t think it will be called that but when we spoke about Hot Fuzz on the Shaun of the Dead tour in Phoenix last that was like a year before we even started writing Hot Fuzz so people were like, Hot Fuzz, OK, where is it?

QUESTION: You didn’t even have a script?

PEGG: Yea, we had the idea and had the concept.

QUESTION: So that forced you to have to write it because people were writing about it?

PEGG: Exactly.