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Alexander Payne during the filming of The Descendants; screenwriter Dustin Lance Black (right), discusses a scene from J. Edgar with Leonardo DiCaprio and director Clint Eastwood; and writer-director and Executive Producer Lynne Ramsay during the filming of We Need to Talk About Kevin,.
361. The importance of a title Since his days as president of production at Warner Bros., producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura had wanted to turn the script for Man on a Ledge into a film. It started, of course, with that immediately alluring title. "There's an inherent drama to the idea," says di Bonaventura. It's also a phrase known to cops everywhere. Producer Mark Vahradian explains, "it's a real terminology the police use, 'man on a ledge,' when somebody is up in a building and going to jump." Explains di Bonaventura, "it's a movie where things keep turning on themselves...There's something gripping about the idea of a man on a ledge," continues di Bonaventura. "Is he going to jump? Is he not gonna jump? And you know we talked to a lot of veteran cops and people who have been in this situation. And they say in general the people down below about are 50/50 for them to jump or not jump, which is kind of sick and yet I guess it is human nature. I think it's what attracted us to the script is that impending catastrophe and in this case we wanted to have this very strong interactivity between the ledge and what's going on there." Read more
360. Challenge the creative team "One of the biggest challenges of the script of Trespass," says production designer Nathan Amondson, "was how to keep that place interesting enough to sit and stare at it for more than half of the film, and coming up with something that kept on stimulating your senses while the action was going on." Using the script as a starting point, and referencing great architects like Richard Meier, Bussier, and Louis Kahn, Nathan and Joel began sharing photos online and the two met in Shreveport to scout actual locations. "We wanted something that was architecturally very modern, that had a certain vastness in relationship to the characters so they almost feel dwarfed to a certain degree by the house. And Joel was very insistent that he wanted to have two stories." Read more
359. The importance of setting Director Alexander Payne has always been drawn to these peculiar situations in everyday life that can be experienced as comical, devastating and revealing all in the same breath. When he read Kaui Hart Hemmings' acclaimed debut novel, The Descendants, he was immediately lured by its sharp contrasts. "The novel appealed to me because it's an emotional story unfolding in an exotic locale," Payne says. "It's a story that perhaps could be told anywhere, but what made the book for me was its completely unique setting among the landed upper-classes in Hawaii. It's very specific to this place, yet it is also universal." "On a filmmaking level, it was very interesting to me because I've never seen a filmic Honolulu. We see New York, Chicago, L.A., Miami and Seattle, but this is a region we never see in films. There's a whole distinctive social fabric to life in Hawaii and that intrigued me. I love films with a specific sense of place. I started making movies in Omaha, then I went to Santa Barbara and now I have ended up in Hawaii." Hemmings was able to entwine Hawaiian culture into her story of a bewildered man lurching towards redemption because she herself grew up in a not-so-conventional Hawaiian family. Read more
358. The importance of a catalytic event > In Seeking Justice, one fateful decision made in the throes of grief and anguish sets in motion a spiral of intrigue, manipulation, fear and paranoia. In choosing opportunistic vengeance over institutional justice, a devoted husband and teacher finds himself on the run from authorities and the self-righteous leader of a secretive vigilante group. "This is a story about a distressed man who accepts an offer of retribution and soon realizes he's made a pact with the devil," says director Roger Donaldson, helmer of such acclaimed suspense thrillers as "No Way Out" and "The Bank Job." "He stumbles into something much larger than what he thought he was getting into." Written by Robert Tannen and Yuri Zeltser, the story explores, at an accelerating pace, a complex psychological maze of victimization, retribution and justice. Tannen collaborated with the director in polishing the script in New Orleans in the weeks prior to principal photography, and says he was thrilled to have his story in the hands of Donaldson and Nicolas Cage, of whom he says he is a "huge fan." Read more
357. Introduce your story to new generation > While president of the motion picture group at The Walt Disney Studios, Hoberman was behind releases like "The Muppet Christmas Carol" and "Muppet Treasure Island." Meanwhile, Lieberman's appreciation for the franchise grew from personal experience. "I have always been a big Muppet fan," says Lieberman. "There's clearly a nostalgic love. The characters are just inherently lovable and I'm thrilled that we're bringing them together again in this movie. It's been beautiful introducing them to my own children." And that's a good thing, says director James Bobin. Disney's The Muppets will welcome a whole new generation into the world of the Muppets, and Bobin can attest to the positive influence these characters can have on young audiences. "I watched the Muppets at a very early age in England, and they have significantly influenced my sense of humor and what I find funny." Read more
356. What If? The Darkest Hour began as the seed of an idea often discussed by producer Tom Jacobson and executive producer Monnie Wills. "About five years ago, we were talking about what would it be like to survive in the wake of an alien apocalypse where we lost?" explains Jacobson. "What happens the day after Independence Day? We were interested in a story that is focused just on the characters. Where were they? I like stories about humanity and science fiction, with the classic themes such as ordinary people in the midst of extraordinary circumstances. What would happen if we were attacked, conquered, and occupied? That was the genesis of the idea." Read more
355. The importance of research > "Coming off of 'Milk,' Hoover was someone I really wanted to investigate," writer Dustin Lance Black states about J. Edgar. "To me, he seemed the very opposite of Milk: a man with tremendous political power, but intensely closeted when it came to his personal life." eager to do so again. "I wanted to do a movie about J. Edgar Hoover--not a documentary, but an actual feature film," he relates. "I was interested in the power and corruption that existed in his world, much of it of his own making, in spite of his being such a dedicated patriot ...My initial research labeled him either a hero to the nation, to whom we owe everything in terms of our protection and safety, or a villain who did things in an underhanded manner and was a terror to the country. It all seemed so extreme; I thought the truth had to lie somewhere in between."After reading almost everything that had been published on Hoover, Black set off to track down as many firsthand accounts as possible from those few people still living who had known him. He filled in the picture with information from others who may not have known the man personally but lived in Washington, D.C., during his period in office, in order to get a full picture of him, the good and the bad. Read more Read interview with screenwriter Justin Lance Black
354. Be resilient and realistic > Says We Need to Talk About Kevin Lynne Ramsay (Director / Screenwriter / Executive Producer): "It's always a struggle to make something with an individual voice. You need to be resilient and realistic.I don't normally read that many contemporary novels, I'm still going through the classics (laughs) - that'll take a while. But this was the most original thing I've read for ages, it's a modern classic I think. It addresses quite a taboo subject matter that I don't think has been explored that much, especially not in film. That really attracted me to it, the originality of it and the nature of the subject matter; what if you don't feel that bond for your child? I thought that was a very interesting thing to explore." Read more Interview with screenwriter-director Lynne Ramsay
353. Reinvent and reinvigorate a popular franchise > For the fourth installment of their mega-hit Underworld franchise, producers Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi and Richard Wright, and franchise creator Len Wiseman have taken the extraordinary risk of reinventing and reinvigorating an already hugely successful, internationally acclaimed property. The filmmakers have transported their Vampire and Lycan characters into a contemporary, human-dominated world in Underworld Awakening. Read more
352. Challenge yourself to learn > "I didn't want to write a political movie." says Machine Gun Preacher screenwriter Jason Keller. "That wasn't what touched me as I started to learn about Sam's life and Central Africa. I think of myself as fairly well-informed. I read the newspaper, I'm constantly watching the news, I always challenge myself to learn about things that are not easy to learn about. And here was a part of the world I thought I knew and as I got deeper into it there was an emotional response to what I was learning. Innocent civilians being slaughtered and no one was doing anything about it. I wanted to do a movie that would make people inspired, even angry, but not clutter it with politics.Read interview with screenwriter Jason Keller
351. The time it takes to write a script can change fiction into fact > "In the 10 years it took me to develop the script, it started as a science-fiction film, but through the mapping of the human genome and cellular therapy, 10 years later, it became a reality," says writer-director Pedro Amodovar of The Skin I Live In. "After doubting for months, I decided to go my own way and let myself be carried along by intuition, after all, it's what I've always done, without the shadow of the maestros of the genre (among other reasons because I don't know to what genre this film belongs) and renouncing my own cinematic memory." Read more
350. A fish out of water story > After securing the film rights of We Bought A Zoo, Aline Brosh McKenna (The Devil Wears Prada, 27 Dresses) adapted the story for the big screen. McKenna says she found Mee's story compelling, inspiring and heartwarming. She recalls that the second she saw the cover of the book she envisioned the entire movie. "I love workplace movies and what a great, amazing workplace…a zoo! The second I read the book, I had this instinctive reaction." Mee's predicament as an inexperienced, unexpected zoo director created opportunities for rich characters and storylines. McKenna says that his experiences make for an "amazing human story. It was always a little funny, and always a little heartbreaking. It's also a classic fish out of water story." Read more
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