Transcripts For DW Arts 20240703

The village star and your team phoenix. Lady in the water with pauls jamante and the happening with mark wahlberg. He was also no stranger to the fantasy genre directing huge blockbusters like the last air vendor. And after or what he may always be best remembered for introducing that little boy who saw dead people in the 6th sense the were actually, you know where we are and now is my office you on a farm i, i live in pennsylvania just outside philadelphia and i think it used to be a kind of the hurdle to get over that. I dont live in in hollywood, but then pretty quickly it became an asset in that its informed to my writing and it made a difference. And im very quiet over here and you know, generally the door is closed and i right, right. Every day i come in and i write for 6 months. And then in the barn where the cows used to be r r a is a theater, and a and i post facility. So thats where we added all the movies and we screened them and we have previews there. And you know, its very much like i prefer, you know, like to think of myself as a craftsman that you know, like that all mesh person, the crafts, the perfect chair, thats my goal. And we both do our work in a bar. In retrospect, i guess that was maniacally driven. As a kid, i dont remember a single reading moment where i wasnt trying to become the rule. This cube champion, or the ping pong champion, or the spelling bee champion, or the number one of the class just to drive to that, or a tennis player. You know, when its, im tournament or this, or that, you know, and i guess i, there was this weird kind of desire to be excellent at something. And what was really interesting was, i was doing filmmaking on the side because i loved it and didnt apply this kind of maniacal drive to that. It was something that i just loved doing. And then i looked up at like 15 and i go out of and this is all i do is make movies. Maybe i should think about doing this for a living. And then i read spike leads, but it was like a really profound moment. Ive actually told spike this, but i was a profound mom and we were at the airport a, j, f. K. And so i went in the bookstore and on the carousel was like 8 bucks. But one of them was spike leaves. Shes got to have it to making of that movie. And i just did the moment when i was thinking this got i, i spent a lot of time making little movies. You know, this is something im interested in. And then i read that book, which for me was a pivotal moment. It gave me permission to make movie is because up until that point, i thought that was something that a magic tribe of people did out in some magic land called los angeles. And, you know, didnt seem like it was a feasible thing, but spike didnt know anybody either. And spices went to school for movie making and became a filmmaker, eliza, or i can go to this place and why you and learn filmmaking . So literally, as soon as i finish the book, id like to my parents, im like, this is what im going to do. The wide awake was my, my 2nd movie, technically. But really was my 1st you estimate of the and was really the 1st movie done with a studio. And i got that by submitting a screenplay to all the studios. And 2 of them were interested in making it. And nearer max, at the time was kind of the, you know, the arch way. The young filmmakers came and the new filmmakers came and they saw my movie that i shot and india and thought it was pretty good. I remember driving home how happy i was, you know, it was literally, you know, its like thats the shape seen rate. And every song, the radio was perfect and i was singing. And on the way back and i was making a movie for me or max, and it was very sad. I was 23. 00 at that time the connection, the, i believe, you know, the, the under failure of the 1st 2 movies, i gave me a sense of nothing to lose. The next time out to the camera. Her to go, i went away and i rode the screenplay. Now we skip the step which is after wide awake i, i wrote a screenplay called labor of love which became like this phenomenon. Script in height with everybody wanted to buy it and i, they bought it and then they fired me off as director as soon as they bought it. And it was a real tragic moment for me in my life at that time. So the next script i wrote, i, i swore i was going to write it and if they dont guarantee that im directing it, im not selling it to anybody. I was not bluffing. I was ready to not make this movie. So i called maintenance. And i said, i wanted to have a new screen play. Im going to send it to you on sunday. I went to auction it off on monday, and i want you to tell everybody its 1000000. 00 minimum that and guarantee directing. Made is a great actually they called up everybody and said, nice guy, this needs to be in play. Its selling on monday. You have to make yourself available. Its 1000000. 00 opening bed minimum bed and hes guaranteed to direct and they said well whats it about . And he goes, i dont know, i havent read it. And theyre like, as bullshit, they just didnt believe it. They didnt believe it. They, you will be kind goes now im ready yet. Any guys. And they got any made. Everybody get available. So then we went out on monday, monday and i flew out and i got a suite at the 4 seasons which i could not afford away from me. A baby and a bed started coming in and like 2 hours after the 1st screenplay was delivered in ones duty after another, a bit against each other and at dinner at dinner time at 6 pm, we sold it for 3000000. 00 and you know, went from i was living in my living in my parents guest room and, and that it was an amazing experience. Amazing, amazing space. And again, i dont remember the to the thrill of the, of the money as much as the opportunity to make it properly. And that everyone, were going to hopefully let me, let me make this, you know, in a, in a real way. And i was, i felt this time i felt ready, like i was, i was ready. I sold that when i was 202522 at 2625 and i just thought i felt like i was ready to direct. Whereas before 100 percent, i was a writer who was learning how to direct this time. I felt like a writer director im, im, im ready. At that point my mentality, what was strange about the success of that movie . I didnt believe it. So i just kept my head down and i was immediately writing, unbreakable, like i was at on it. I was an 6 inches in the theaters for so long that we were in pre production on break. About 0. 06 was still in the theaters in the same year that im breakable came out in that same year. So it was in the same you, i, to movies in the movie theaters. And so i was in deep reproduction. I remember having to leave pre production to go to some awards ceremony or something for the movie. It was, it was just all very on top of that, i felt like someone was going to, it didnt happen to me so much as a kid that movies failed and that was on the precipice of having that thing. And it was, you know, i, i didnt trust the field at all, which is a really healthy thing to do to, to have as a point of view. So i just put my head and i was like before they decided that i shouldnt be in this, in this club anymore. Im gonna make another movie for issue i. Its getting at least one more movie before they kick me out. And so i put my head down and, and, and made unbreakable action. And what ended up happening, i think. And over the last 67 years is i started to leave making movies for young males, adult males. And it started to move towards teen girls because i was raising golf. I had 3 girls in their interest were important to me. And so things like the last there been, there was, it was the cartoon that they loved and related to them was a very empowering to it had a leader all. And i, you can see my movies generally moving towards kind of young females in the last 67 years because of, of being a parent of, of, of the children. So last year been, it was absolutely for my kids to make a family movie for them. The for me, pre production is how you, when, how you, when the game before the game starts. And i need to, 1st of all, because i write my movies, they have to, i can feel it when its when theyre still a problem or when im trying to figure it out later. I dont have the answer to when i can get peace on the screen. Play thats phase number one, which doesnt always happen if you get close, but you dont. But if youre lucky enough to feel peace, then the 2nd phase would be the crew being casting and story boarding, that group of 3. And ive really come to believe that for me its almost like being pregnant. You want to be in the right mindset whoever feels please. Thanks. I think i got to as well as the star in 6 sense because Kathy Kennedy and Frank Marshall asked him, i have they flew, ive met with them. I felt that movie was shooting and they, they asked me to read the screenplay and i told them about me and he read the screen by then he saw wide awake. And then he agreed to do the movie and then we met and i was scared to death. The 1st time i met him. Were very close now. And by the 1st day i met him. It was scary cuz i remember i was sitting with kathy and the assistance like goose pulses in the oliver and, and i was like, oh my god. And then she, she was like, she must be never too cuz she was like, tell me what youre gonna say dont lets, lets role play and im like i and, and then i didnt know what to do. Oh, you know. And then that way to go to the thing. And then he gets off and he comes in the room says hi kathy. I think frank, my think frank was as well as that. I had frank and then he comes around the table to me. And you know, whatever i was going to say or do, went out the window cuz he gave me a hug. And when he gave me the high get really, he had already had a relationship with me based on the screen plan, the movie he saw. And he was super gracious to allow that to be his opinion of me. And so he just mediately became friends and he took an incredible stance of i believe in you, whatever you say goes and nobody messed with them. And so he was like my protective umbrella for the making of the movie. I see that on the list a tell you did it. How did you did it re okay, lets go to the, you know, it was very normal casting process and 0. 06. We just checked out kids from both coasts and they ended up being like 3 finalists and i went and met with 3 finalists, and haley, joel osment was one of them. And when he came in and sat with me and he did the scenes, i just, i didnt even want to make a movie. And i called the counselor address, i didnt want, i dont want to make the movie unless its disc kit. Yeah. Did she broke or you can see yes. Where she standing next to my window. I knew it lightning it just lightning when it hit man and i remember it like to this day i make fun of everybody that was on lakeland producers and things like that where like im not sure about this kid and like good, good instincts, dad. So i show the tape of to its everybody and theyre like, wow, this kids amazing. So it was very, very lucky. The right kid at the right time locked in they got a lot better to do the type of cell making that i do on that scale. Would require 5 years to do that movie. Thats the trip. And those still makers that do that, whether its peter jackson, when he did it with the rings, or even for example, alfonze with gravity all that time that was taken on those movies. I can see that working for years 5 years to do it, but to do it in a compressed timeframe of 2 and a half years to 3 years, which is what these movies are. Its, its scary and youre just keeping up and just physically, a lot of stuff. And there are a lot of filmmakers that love, that kind of stimulation, you know, spielberg and michael bag and all those guys and cameron of the king of the stimuli. I dont have the intellect that they have for those things. And so its, its a very scary time and im always pulling it back to minimalism, which is probably you advised for those movies because im always kind of making it as simple as can be the now, uh, gibson is a, is a, is a, a jokester. He, hell tell he does weird invitations, but the, i guess the funniest thing that happened was one of the funny thing. There was a lot of funny things, but one was my wife and her girlfriends came to the set of signs. And he said it was play gag, you know, theres a dog in the movie and as a dog there says, while were talking, lets just pick up the dog ball and start eating the dog foot. And the dog food was actually just regular food and we had chopped up, but they didnt know that. So hes talking with the girls and he picks up the ball and my walk in and i am mallor talking and with the girls that came her girlfriends and their giggling and all that stuff. And then that he picks up the ball and doesnt mention hes just talking in and hes just eating out of the ball and theyre like, and theyre walking starts eating as a ball and theyre like, theyre so like offended to why they like, what do they do and im like what, im crazy too. Im crazy like mouth like are my need dog food. I dont make a particular protein very well that makes my bones very low intensity. Very easy to break. The sam jackson is, as you probably know, is very funny guy. And hes very kind of, hell make funny a lot and i, we were doing a little as seen and im breakable and hes in a wheelchair and he did, he did the scene and i came over and i forget what i said to him. It was harsh. I said something like, you didnt, you werent, you didnt, you didnt bring it so that was not sure what that was for you. Youre going to need to, youre going to need to bring in right now, because this would be under the movie. And you have the end of the movie youre, its, its, this is about everything. Why you did all this, this character. Why, why the care to did all this . And he stared at me and was like ice in his eyes. And he said, you think im going to bring it for you . And it was like the stand off. And we just stared at each other and nobody said anything after that for a 2nd and was like, its probably better just to roll cameron, see what happens because i definitely provoked them and we will cameras. And he gave this incredibly poignant performance. Thats at the end of unbreakable, this kind of, you know, thing about wanting to be a villain and how it least is somebody important the, the know, you know who i am, the, im not a mistake the, it all makes sense. Comic you know, you can tell with the art billings going to be the exact opposite is so funny and witty. But inside him is all these calls are in motion and instead of provoking something, i saw him on the the street uh the other day. And los angeles, we were driving and he pulled up next to me and he was like, when he gonna put me in another movie. And i was like, yeah, thats how he talks by the delta, the, my mom i said, the going to los angeles at any time, was going to like oz from me. It was a big deal. This is where they lived, you know, Steven Spielberg lives somewhere there, you know, is like a big deal. And so that when i went out to, to go take some meetings, you know, i got an age and this, the agents that come out and take some meetings. And i stayed with a families, family, friend and, and you know, using a guest room and i was terrified and i rented a car. It was, you know, the classic. You rented a big white car and i was so nervous. Um, every at that i locked my keys in my car 3 times. Um is on that same trip to los angeles. I mean i was terrified. I was absolutely terrified. Luckily one was that in mcdonalds, so that was good. So i didnt have to deal with too much of the embarrassment, but the worst one was i went to visit an executive at universal, you know, on dr. Automate yet everything ment. Lot, you know, i drive into the guard booth at the, at the gardens as you come in. See, and you say hi, im nice online. You know, im like, whatever 2122 years of this is awesome. You know, being able to say, you know, and executives waiting for me, but im so nervous and the guy says, you know where to go, you turn rather stay to be and you do this. So i do all that. I find this and hes like, shes in bungalow blah, blah, blah. So do that. I park in front of the bundle i, im not sure i know where i am and of course i have passed ambling at the time. I mean this is, i was out of my mind a little bit feeling like a fraud. Can i get the car and i, stan, im like, im not sure i know where i am and then the exact ladys like hi, how are you . I are you are you night and im like us, close the door and i come in and like great, great. And shes like will come on it and im like okay, and i go to the good now the doors lock, the car is running. And the just remember that the, the meta of this, which is a meeting this lady to let me direct the movie. Shes supposed to give me millions of dollars to put in my responsibility. You know this kid and she sees me like to do warranties like did you, did you lock your keys in the car and im like, yes she goes but its running. Im like yes, its running and its locked. And shes like, oh my goodness and im like, im so sorry. And then shes like, well let me call maintenance so they had to call. Shes on the phone there. Her assistance on the phone. Yes. Yes. And then doing all the same conversations 4 times. Yes, he locked his keys in the car, the car is running. No, the keys are inside, they keep the car was running when he locked the door and they visited constantly retailing my ridiculousness over and over and then so im in the meeting and im not even thinking about what im saying. Im so this is when this is a disaster. And then finally the janitor breaks into our meeting and is like i, youre the one that locked the keys in the car while its running. Yep, thats me. I go out and then the jimmy pop it and i take it and shes like, well, its really nice meeting you Everything Else is great. Great. The you know, have on my wall here in my office a bunch of my favorite movies. You know, i, the 3 movies i have up here at my desk when i, where i write is the actresses the godfather. And just, you know, those 3 movies are really kind of a bell for me to, to, to remind myself of what can be achieved in terms of making entertainment. But without compromising at all the integrity of your voice and your integrity of how you see are you can kind of trying to listen in this area of, of this tree to like past 10, you know, you know, i, you know, its funny i, theres something about the box office of my movies have no correlation at all to how i feel about my movies. They confuse me a little bit actually. And because thats related to cell ability, which is a separate fact or what. So from, from the actual and movie what the movie is, you know, how, how sellable is 5 easy pieces today. I dont know if its a sell a bit of sellable at all. Right . But it doesnt mean that the movie itself isnt fantastic or meaningful to me. Theres some, theres something about lady in the water that i felt i felt like i was really close to something super poor. That was as a fan that was dying and watched lighting the water every single day in his last days. And i sent him, i heard about him and i sent him a script and i signed it. And he died. Holding the script to lady in the water. And when i mean people on plains and stuff like that, it just is theres something religion about that movie and to me as well. Cause i was really trying to be pure when making it without regard to protection, without regard of selling and without guard genre. I wasnt thinking about any of that. In fact, i let it all go the, you know, ill tell you story about fans and people that ive seen my movies and things like that that enjoy the film making. Uh that was one set up at a civil and i was, i was talking with an actor and people started coming up to us and this ticket accurate the fans of this actually kept coming up and they were, they were being silly and they didnt really know them very well, and the people that were coming up to me, they come up and they Say Something really specific about this movie, that movie and what it meant to their life. And what they thought about what i was saying, or the mentor for this, or the colors of this and what that meant. And it was all about, keep, you know, like every single one over and over and over, kept coming up to me and saying, you know, we hear you, we, we love what youre doing, keep going, keep doing thats keep going, dont give up kind of 5. And he lives over, i mean, goes like, you know, your fans or, you know, theres so you, you mean a lot to them, mine just want to take a picture with me and you mean a lot to them. And it really was touching because for me i, when i went home that day by the my team last year. And so when i went home that day, i was thinking how lucky i was to have made a career where i can look at it and almost every single idea i, every single movie it was an idea of mine. Had represents it either my for judy, my ingle, all my questions. And so theres an honest relationship with the audience. Thats who i am. You know, the collective thing of the vc lady and the order number a couple on signs and 0. 06. Youre going to get a good sense of who i am and what i, what i think about it, what i believe about family and life and whats out there and fears. And so its, its been in a, you know, an incredibly uncompromised and precious thing to have this relationship with you guys and hope to just honor it and honor and honor it with purity. So thank you very much. I of the what was the world look like your Oil Companies had told the truth for more than 40 years now. For the reasons have known that c, o 2 emissions cause and global warming. But instead of warning us, theyve been seamlessly manipulating the public climate crisis. The the industry cover up close up in 15 minutes on the w august cove pushing on the inside the ring out. So this new generation, again, stereotype residues for the future. In 90 minutes, on the dw the we say theyre about never giving up every weekend on d w. The discovery stories. Change your mind. Just a click away. Find out best document, freeze on you to see the world, the subscribe. Now to dw documentary, what i mean, i know i might just do it and im hoping dw newport past. Thank strength amounts above is due today about mills. So it has to be traveling around your, facing the history of every day, all set. And thats something right around the wells. And i need to talk to you back, just a subscriber id. Listen to park, gosh, the most like you along to the right. 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