Transcripts For BBCNEWS Talking Movies 20240714

Hello, this is bbc news with carrie gracie. The headlines. The International Response to the devastating amazon fires the g7 looks to make an emergency deal to help tackle the crisis. As the fires continue to spread brazil steps up its Emergency Response and deploys its military after concern that not enough was being done. President trump looks to calm growing fears over the us china trade war after telling reporters that the two countries will start negotiating. A tremor measuring 2. 9 on the Richter Scale has been felt near the uks only active fracking site in lancashire, less than two days after a previously record breaking tremor at the facility. The Prime Minister tells the bbc to cough up and pay for tv licences for all over 75s, notjust those on low incomes. Now on bbc news, talking movies explores the role of the producer in both big hollywood productions and smaller independent films. Hello and welcome to this special edition of talking movies, devoted to the producer, one of the top jobs in the Film Industry. What does the public think the producer actually does . Do you know what a producer does . Not at all, not at all. Do you have any idea what a producer does . Not really. Like, they help set up the film and make sure the lighting is ok . All the production stuff, i guess . Movie producer. Do you know what a producer does . Produces a movie, right . Assembles the crew to produce a movie. He is in control of everything. He calls the shots. You have to produce and create everything, technically. If im right. I believe im right. I know they handle the financials like the director handles the execution. They make it all happen. They get the money and hire the people and make sure everything happens under budget and on time. Maybe. I think some guys get producer credits as favours. I think thats how the industry works. Im not sure what he does. Evidently, there is confusion when it comes to the producer. But on the biggest night of the year for hollywood, the oscars, the producer is always there and grabbing the limelight by picking up the best picture prize. The cult of the producer began with the decline of the studio system in hollywood. As the studios began to lose their power and divested themselves of their theatre chains et cetera, as more actors started to become free agents and directors became free agents, producers took on more important because a producer now had to put the movie together. A producer could not rely on what the studio determined, they had to package it themselves. Whos that . Thats rhett butler. There are many different ways to evaluate the success of a producer. The first is, obviously, did the movie make money . The second is was the movie any good . And there are plenty of producers who keep working because even though their movies have not made money yet, they make good movies. Another metric is did the producer manage to attract serious talent in front of and behind the camera . Did the producer actually run a good set . Did people on the set have a good experience . So much that they would work with the producer again . There are many different ways tojudge producers. As far as hollywood is concerned, it usually comes down to did the movie make money. One of the most dynamic producers in hollywood today is will packer who has established himself as one of the most successful African American producers in the world. Tristan daly went to meet him. How did you get started in the movie business . I met a buddy in college and i actually helped him to make a small movie on our campus. That movie was called chocolate city. No one in hollywood cared about the movie, it was a terrible little movie shot on super 16 millimetre film, it was grainy with production value that was not great. But those who cared about it were the students at a university. We were actually able to sell tickets to our little movie starring us about college life as we knew it and that was how my film career got started. Will packer and his then partner, rob hardy, made a few more independent films together before landing their First Certified hit. Ultimately, we did make a film which caught the attention of hollywood in a real way and that movie was called stomp the yard. We sold it as a dance movie, but at its core it was about kids at a historically black college pledging for sororities and fraternities and then we put the step in and we wrapped it up in a bow of a dance movie. That is what you need to do in hollywood. You need to figure out an angle they can use to market a film. That was successful for us. That movie opened number one. Finding that angle has been the speciality of packer. Since stomp the yard, he has achieved numerous openings, using his knack for marketing and enlisting the help of his collaborators and film stars. Some may argue the placement in his movies helped boost the careers of now well known faces like idris elba, kevin hart and Tiffany Haddish in the 2017 hit girls trip. Historically, this symbiotic relationship between actor and producer has been quite common in the Film Industry. So hollywood is changing and stars are not as much of a safe bet to fill seats at the theatre. Do you feel this is happening . How do you respond to this phenomenon . I have never been somebody who has been beholden purely to the Hollywood Star system. I have given some starring leading roles to actors and actresses who have not gotten them before but who deserve them, who i knew there was an audience who wanted to see them and i knew they had the skill set to do it. But other people were not giving them that opportunity and that meant it was a chance for me to do it. So the star system does not affect me in the same way. I have always been somebody who makes concept driven content. Do you see it as a positive development . It is part of what i call the great democratisation of media. I think it is a good thing because it means that consumers have the power in a way that they never had before. It means that filmmakers like myself need to adjust and recognise that and make our content and tell our narratives accordingly. Critics do not always appreciate your films and movie goers use sites like Rotten Tomatoes to decide what to see at the theatre. Does that affect your Box Office Numbers . Definitely. Every filmmaker today is affected by the critical aggregators like Rotten Tomatoes, because people do look. Does it have a strong effect on the box office of my films and those of people like me . Probably not. It is usually the people on the fence that make the decision based on well, let me see what the Rotten Tomatoes score is first. I try to make films that have an urgency to them. I want to see it, i want to see it opening, when does it come out . put the date down, i am going to see that movie girls trip was a comedy, a high Rotten Tomatoes score, certified fresh, that was great. Did that help the box office . It did not hurt it but the audience who wanted to see it, they were going. They did not need Rotten Tomatoes to validate them wanting to see what they saw on that screen. Packer is confident that the largely white and male critics whose reviews populate these aggregator sites do not represent his core audience. Although the Film Industry on the surface seems to be championing underrepresented artists, many filmmakers still voice frustration about an industry that does not make room for new stories and perspectives. Packer has been making profitable films that feature black people prominently in times when the industry was less inclusive. There is a dearth of actors who look like me and what that means is that these are stories and perspectives that are not being told. I think that hollywood traditionally has not valued having that voice in the room. Now if you are not telling a story that feels like the world, that starts to feel dated. Audiences want stuff that feels current and very much like the Global Society where we are all connected, in which we live. For 30 years, Rebecca Obrien has worked with filmmaker ken loach as a producer to make socially conscious thought provoking movies which, together with writer paul laverty, have brought them the palme dor, the top prize at the cannes film festival, twice. What is it like to work as an independent producer . Well, emma jones went to meet Rebecca Obrien. Hello. Come on in. This is sixteen films. This is the office where everything happens. Soho, london, is not the obvious place for revolution. But this is where Rebecca Obrien and her director have been fighting what they believe is a good fight for three decades. Ken loach was already celebrated when they met. I was a huge fan. I saw cathy come home go out on the telly when it went out. I saw, in the mid 60s, i went to see kes when i was about 13. People sometimes ask me if i produced kes and i sort of give them short shrift. London born Rebecca Obrien always had a desire for the different, even as she worked her way up the Film Industry. She was location manager on 1985s Ground Breaking same sex love story my beautiful laundrette. Dont get too involved with that crook. We have the men who did the shooting. Ourjob is done. A shared interest in ireland eventually led her to produce loachs 1990 film hidden agenda and they have been together ever since. A dozen of their films have competed at cannes, including two palme dor winners the wind that shakes the barley and 2016s i, daniel blake. Most recently they made sorry we missed you, a classic ken loach tale about the injustice of insecure zero hours contracts in britain. I am there from the inception, right through, all the way to the archive. Im looking after the film and i am the first Second Opinion all the way through at each stage of production. And it is a family, really. Together, loach, obrien and their long term writer paul laverty have told stories that few filmmakers in britain would dream of, and shooting in corners of the country that are often overlooked. I, daniel blake was a film of blazing fury at britains benefit system and was shot in newcastle, as was much of sorry we missed you, in many ways, its companion piece. The political side of the films is very important to me. I, daniel blake, the one thing we asked for and we got, was we asked for it to be made available for community screenings. So that people could get in touch with the distributor, e1, and say we want to do a little screening as a fundraiser for our localfood bank or in the church hall. There were probably about 700 of those screenings. Getting a completely different audience to go and see the film that way was very special and it meant that the film was owned by its audience and i think to me that is really important. Why did you choose independent film . Have you never been tempted to take the studio dollar . Funnily enough, i did do that. When ken was making carlas song, i did another film for working title, the first mr bean film. That is probably as close as you can get to a studio film. And myjob was to keep it the british film it was. And basically go and work with that team in la. Which was bonkers. But that was my studio experience. I have been there, done that. Bought the t shirt and very happy to be back here making independent films. The nature of working independently in film is to often walk a hard path alone. Yet rebecca 0brien is lucky she is part of running a successful family business. While women may be encountering resistance in the Film Industry when it comes to directing, opportunities are opening up for producing. Kitty cox has been speaking to two independent producers who are very excited by changes taking place in the Film Industry pertaining to women. Producer Shruti Ganguly is celebrating the premiere of her latest film already gone, executive produced by actor keanu reeves. Just seven years out of film school, she has worked with a list actors, won the nora ephron award at tribeca and launched her Production Company hont088, bringing fresh perspectives to storytelling. Why did you decide to become a producer . Was it something you always wanted to do or did you kind of fall into it . Im a producer and a director and thats not a very typical combination where, for years, people have thought you could either be a producer or director. You cant be both. And strangely, i found more of that resistance being a woman. In fact, someone even told me, you cant produce and direct or, you know what, just go marry your boyfriend and then you can do whatever you want. And i rememberjust kind of facing that type of resistance and there are stories that i really want to make, that i want to write and direct and then, at the same time, there are stories that my friends really want to make and i know how to get them made because i also do have a producer brain, im not scared by the numbers, the dealmaking, looking at the big picture of how to make a project happen and bring it from idea or script to screen. Ganguly is carving her own unique path but she has a theory on why some women gravitate to producing instead of otherfilmmaking roles. I think that women have a great knack for multitasking. Its like grace under pressure, grace underfire and i think that is something that women are very good at managing and balancing. Its when things are going a little awry, how can you really guide that process and lead with kindness and in a certain way, that just ultimately gets the movie made and done and managing those situations . Creating a supportive environment for women in film and presenting diverse stories on screen is something that producer Christine Vachon has championed during her 30 years in the industry. When she started as a Production Assistant in new york in the 80s, she had little support or mentorship from women but now, through her Production Company killer films, she regularly works with female directors and has backed critically acclaimed films like boys dont cry and still alice. Way before it became the buzz word. Killer was working with more female directors than other companies, for example. The other thing im very proud of as well is we talk a lot about female directors because its important. But its also important that women are shooting films, that women are designing films, that women are producing films. Vachon thinks a lack of support for mothers, particularly in the role of director, which requires gruelling hours, steers more women into producing but shes careful not to pigeonhole producing as female. I think producing maybe allows women a little more flexibility because you can juggle a couple of different projects so that you can spend some of the time you want with your family and still get yourjob done. I mean, i know there is also things around women and producing, the ability to multitask, the ability to nurture, all those things, but i dont love to lean into things that we say are typically female as, you know, as why we are good at one thing or another, you know what i mean . Because its just too broad a spectrum. What does someone, particularly a woman, need to do in order to be successful in producing . I think really whats important as a producer is you have to have a certain fearlessness. There is a lot of risk involved and you kind of, you have to have a bit of an iron stomach about it and of course, you have to have a really good eye and good taste and the ability to really say no and walk away from something if its not good enough. The movie industry is changing rapidly these days, providing challenging times for young producers who want to make sure that their films reach audiences. Despite the obstacles, they are forging ahead, as noah cattell reports. Producing is the art of getting things done and these determined young producers are finding their way in an increasingly volatile industry. Roan bibby is a young producer with a single feature under his belt, the browsing effect. The film, a comedy drama about dating in the era of tinder, did not receive a theatrical release, but its now streaming on amazon prime, which could mean a larger audience. I watched him work on the set of his latest film, the surrogate, and saw a producer who places a high value on setting the tone for the day, making sure everyone is relaxed and ready to work. All right, thats a cut. Its all morale, especially on lower budget projects. Again, no one is doing this for high day rates or for their immediate career, so i think being gracious and calm and making a fun environment for the crew is pretty paramount to executing the day and getting good stuff. I think i kind of grew up with an innate sense of why leadership is important and some basic skills but, yeah, after that, just practice, i think, is a necessity because i think if youre in that role, you need to be a leader and need to mobilise people and motivate them and keep morale up. He studied Film Production in college but he says he learned how to produce by doing, and hes more than comfortable operating in the shadows. In fact, he says thats how it should be done. Part of producing is, sometimes it does help to kind of keep the curtain up a little bit and to keep an air of mystery. You dont necessarily want to show all your cards all the time. I dont know if theres anything people need to know about producing. I also dont want to make my competition any harder. Producing a film at any level is hard work but young independent producers face some unique challenges. The digital revolution has changed producing for good. Digital video has made some aspects of Film Production simpler and less expensive, but its also led to an exponential increase in the number of films made, which makes it harder for single project to stand out. Thank you so much for being here. My name is marttise hill, i am one of the producers and directors. This is the biggest challenge faced byjulius pryor and marttise hill, a young new york based producing team with two films under their belt, cronies and how to tell youre a d bag, which have both found success on the festival circuit. I attended a table read on their next feature where they talked about the challenges they faced that filmmakers of previous generations may not have encountered. The industry has changed so much over the last decade or so, since you guys have been making movies. What issues do you think you face that are relatively new to producers . Something that we deal with as the new generation of filmmakers is figuring out how our projects can cut through the noise. Because everybody and their momma has got a camera, everybody has got an iphone and is watching youtube and figuring out how can i make my short film look amazing with my iphone and 100 . And figuring out how can we take the projects that we are self generating and collaborating on and making them original and unique that can make their way through the gamut of other films and stories and people trying to make films today. Even though these producers have their eyes on the challenges ahead, one thing that keeps them motivated is the satisfaction that comes from working with fresh voices. Any collaborative endeavour, its a marriage of sorts, its a journey and as great as any script can be, you want to make sure the people you are going to work with are great as well. So i think the people certainly are supplementing access to a project. We may be interested in a filmmaker off ofjust interactions weve had with them, not knowing full well what theyve written or what theyre working on, but thatll be window. Hey, what are you working on and how can we maybe enhance it . While the last decade has seen a radical transformation in the landscape of Film Production, no one knows if the biggest changes are already behind us, or if in this digital age, the medium will continue to rapidly develop. Whats clear is whatever problems arise, filmmakers will continue to rely on their producers to turn those challenges into opportunities. Well, that brings our special producers edition of talking movies to a close. Hope youve enjoyed the show. Please remember you can always reach us online at bbc. Com talkingmovies and you can find us on facebook. From me, tom brook, and the rest of the talking movies production crew here in new york, its goodbye as we leave you some images of producers from the show. Hello. Well, apart from scotland the rest of the country is enjoying a Bank Holiday Weekend this weekend and its going to be a record brea ker already. Temperatures have been broken for the Bank Holiday Weekend. Yesterday 33. 3 celsius at heathrow in london and for many of us today the Bank Holiday Monday could promise to bejust as hot or even hotter. And again we could break some records, warm air coming up for the near constant cooler air looms though over the north atlantic. Behind this cold front which has some rain on it itll gradually work its way eastwards across the country introducing the cooler air over the next few days and that will introduce rain and some thunderstorms. Temperature returning close to the seasonal norm by the end of the week. In the short term though its still very hot across central and eastern parts of the country. Bit more cloud and mist across western areas, perhaps a few showers just pushing into cornwall and devon through the day. And this weather from will be getting ever closer to western scotland and the western side of Northern Ireland so breezy cloudier conditions here not as hot across the central belt of scotland today but another hot one in the southeast 32 to 33 degrees, maybe 3a degrees locally in the southeast. As we head through tonight it looks like those showers and thunderstorms come a bit more widespread pushing it across southwest england into wales and also that weather front bringing some wet weather to western scotland into Northern Ireland. But elsewhere its going to be a dry and clear one very muggy once again across the south east. Tuesday again is another hot day across eastern areas. But temperatures generally lower apart from the south east of england and central and southern england, 32 or 30 degrees celsius once more. High 20s for england and wales, 32 possible. Turning on across northern and western areas, outbreaks of rain, another dry, warm muggy one in the south east. Wednesday, the pressure chart, areas of low pressure chart, areas of low pressure ganging up, arriving towards the end of the week, wet and windy weather. Temperature slowly dropping as the week wears on. Fires World Leaders agree a deal to help tackle the crisis. At the g7 meeting in biarritz they announce £16 million to help fight the fires and support for reforestation. The Prime Minister tells the bbc to cough up and pay for tv licences for all over 75s, notjust those on low incomes. A teenager is charged after firefighters spend the night tackling a blaze at a school in fife. Mosquitoes buzzing. How scientists are learning the language of mosquitoes to try and tackle the spread of malaria. And sweltering in the sun its the hottest august bank