Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Even top Hollywood directors feel like outsiders
Yahoo!
My Yahoo!
Mail
More Yahoo! Services
Account Options
New User? Sign Up
Sign In
Help
Yahoo! Search
web search
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Asia Pacific
World
Even top Hollywood directors feel like outsiders
Reuters - Wednesday, December 16
Send
IM Story
Print
Canadian director James Cameron poses for a photographer during a portrait session with Reuters in central London December 12, 2009. REUTERS/Jas Lehal
By Elizabeth Guider and Matthew Belloni
LOS ANGELES -- gathered recently for a candid discussion of filmmaking, hilarity ensued immediately as they swapped war stories.
DO YOU GUYS CONSIDER YOURSELVES OUTSIDERS OR INSIDERS?
Jason Reitman: Dead silence.
James Cameron: If we're all outsiders, who's on the inside?
Quentin Tarantino: Well, actually, that's a very interesting question to start off with because I did my first movie in '92, so this was the year I actually counted how long I've been in the business. Officially as a director, that's 17 years, and I think for the first 10 years I did consider myself an outsider. But if you last this long and you're not just doing marginal work -- which could be great work -- but you're not just doing marginal work for the people who like your stuff at film festivals, then I guess you actually kind of are in the inside. I remember going to the Governors Ball dinner and actually feeling like I was part of the room -- that these are my people.
Peter Jackson: I guess I'm the guy with the geographical situation, living in New Zealand. So I definitely feel like an outsider. Like, in New Zealand, we don't film ourselves having breakfast. It just never happens.
Reitman: I've done this every day of my entire life. My father set up a camera.
Jackson: To me, this is an alien culture. Hollywood is the other side of the world and it's another planet.
EVEN THOUGH YOU DIRECTED ONE OF THE MOST WELL-RECEIVED TRILOGIES IN FILM HISTORY.
Jackson: I'm not really thinking about filmmaking as such. I'm thinking about the culture of Hollywood and the business. We're so far removed from it, which I like. I'll be staying down there, having my breakfast in peace and quiet.
Cameron: I'd like to answer his question for him. You're an outsider by process but you're an insider by the types of films that you make. You love the big spectacle films.
Jackson: Yeah, sure I do.
Cameron: And I think I'm probably the same in the sense that I like to make films for the mainstream, for the global audience. I'm not interested in making a film for film-festival crowds. I'd just as soon not meet people and talk about the movie. And I don't mean that in some disdainful way, it's just the movie should be the movie. But I don't consider myself a Hollywood insider in the sense that, well, first of all, I didn't have an agent for 15 years and don't have a manager, don't have a publicist, I just like to live quietly and stay out of the public view as much as possible. I don't go to parties, don't do lunches, don't do dinners, I just like to hang with the fam when I have free time. So I guess that's an outsider by process and insider by result, maybe.
Lee Daniels: I feel like an outsider, and even the films I've produced have been done in Harlem and I only come here to cast. I never felt embraced.
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE STRONG RESPONSE IN HOLLYWOOD TO "PRECIOUS?"
Daniels: It's really nice. Now I feel sort of embraced. I feel this weird, sort of, "Am I part of ? Oh my God, I guess I am. I don't know.
KATHRYN, YOU'VE SEEN FILMMAKING FROM INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE SYSTEM, CORRECT?
Kathryn Bigelow: Actually, all my films have been independent. So even though some people think they're studio films, they were only studio at the end of the day when we had a distributor.
OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS STUDIOS HAVE BEGUN QUESTIONING THE VALUE OF CASTING STAR ACTORS. DO YOU AGREE?
Bigelow: You cast not for marquee value but for performance and talent. The right actor for the part. Anything else is a compromise.
Daniels: I like working with friends that I'm comfortable with, that know my DNA and also fit the character descriptions. I'd rather work with someone I know personally than a mega-star or a really talented, brilliant actor.
Reitman: George made my movie so much easier to make. And most importantly he was perfect for the part. But there was just as much interest in Ellen Page playing Juno as there has been in George playing Ryan Bingham in "Up in the Air." So it was a blessing to get the movie made, but once we were making it, he was perfect for it, and now that we're actually putting it out there, I've found that there's just as much excitement about what he's bringing to the role as there was about this young girl who's playing Juno.
Bigelow: I found the same thing with Jeremy Renner. Same kind of interest. Who is this guy?
BUT JIM, YOU MUST HAVE KNOWN YOU'D HAVE AN EASIER TIME INTERESTING A MASSIVE AUDIENCE IN "AVATAR" IF YOU'D PUT A MAJOR STAR IN THE LEAD ROLE.
Cameron: We figured we were going to be spending so much on the effects that there wasn't going to be a whole lot of coin left when you turn the bag upside down to hire a $20 million actor. And I think the studio felt the same way. I'm comfortable working with unknowns or relative unknowns and making my own judgments on whether they're the right people for the roles. The only real stars I've worked with were Sigourney , if you think about it. I worked with Arnold three times but the first time he wasn't a movie star yet. He's a friend and Sigourney's a friend, so I feel very comfortable working with them. For me to work with a star, it's not something I wouldn't consider, but I'd have to do my due diligence, find out what they're like, get to know them. Find out if we can be eye-to-eye.
WHAT'S THE TOUGHEST SCENE TO FILM?
Daniels: There was a dance scene, a party scene in "Precious" where Precious got her award. And it didn't feel like a party to me. It didn't feel real, it didn't feel honest. I fixed it to my liking in post where I actually went into parties and the environment and actually put a mike around and brought words and sentences and phrases into the scene to make it honest.
Tarantino: The scenes that always give me trepidation leading up to them are the big cinematic scenes, big action scenes. Because I don't want to be a piker. I want them to be awesome, all right. So if I'm doing the car chase in "Death Proof" I want it to be one of the greatest car chases of all time. But I've never shot a car chase before. Part of it, if you haven't done it before, is you're gonna learn how to do it as you do it. You gotta know, I'm not going to know exactly how to do it on the first day, but I'll figure it out over the course of it and that's going to be cool.
Bigelow: Shooting in a Palestinian refugee camp, there was a lot of trepidation. Everybody said, "That can't be done." We had a little extra security. I was determined to shoot there, architecturally it was perfect and you know what it's like when you get it in your head, this is where you want to shoot.
THE DIRECTOR RENOIR MADE A LOT OF FILMS AND THEN STOPPED TO WRITE NOVELS. IS THERE ANYTHING YOU'D CONSIDER DOING INSTEAD OF DIRECTING?
Tarantino: I intend to quit at 60 . And I'm going to do exactly what he did. I'm going to write novels and cinema literature, stuff like that.
Cameron: I want to die directing. But I took my hiatus already because I figured I can still be directing when I'm 80 but I can't be doing the deep ocean expeditions, riding around in a zodiac on a 20-foot sea when I'm 80, I'll break my neck.
Daniels: I'd like to teach acting in the Bronx.
Reitman: I'd want to tell stories in one way or another, whether it was just convincing people to listen to me or whether I became I writer.
Jackson: There's one area of directing that I'd love to improve upon. I tend to get involved in big movies that take two or three years of your life and I see what Clint Eastwood does and what Ridley Scott does, and they're able to do those films and also mix it up with these in-n-out, seven- or eight-month . I think that's a real skill and talent. I'd love to learn how to do that. So not everything took three years for one project. I'd love to reinvent the way I work, to some degree.
Recommend
Send
IM Story
Print
Related Articles
US-ENTERTAINMENT Summary Reuters - 1 hour 20 minutes ago
Metallica, Slayer to tour together Reuters - 1 hour 20 minutes ago
Once an underdog, Reitman now an Oscar favorite AP - 1 hour 48 minutes ago
Golden Globe nominations boost underdogs Reuters - 1 hour 49 minutes ago
"Avatar" starts long march toward profitability Reuters - 1 hour 51 minutes ago
News Search
Top Stories
Boeing's Dreamliner in maiden flight
Earliest proven case of leprosy found in Israel
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner takes off on maiden flight
BA launches legal action to stop Christmas strike
Latin Americans, EU strike historic deal on banana trade
More Top Stories »
Related Full Coverage
Hollywood NewsGet the latest Hollywood news
All Full Coverage »
ADVERTISEMENT
Most Popular
Most Viewed
Most Recommended
Boeing's Dreamliner in maiden flight
Plastics component affects intestine: study
Coconut-carrying octopus stuns scientists
Dubai to pay debt with $10 billion Abu Dhabi fund
Courtney Love loses custody of daughter: court
More Most Viewed »
Global stocks mixed amid Dubai debt crisis
Tiny magnetic discs could kill cancer cells: study
Virgin unveils spaceship to offer space tourism
Tiger Woods' girlfriend apologizes in TV interview
Dubai blackout over debt plans to hit Gulf markets
More Most Recommended »
Elsewhere on Yahoo!
Financial news on Yahoo! Finance
Stars and latest movies
Best travel destinations
More on Yahoo! News
Home
Singapore
Asia Pacific
World
Business
Entertainment
Sports
Technology
Subscribe to our news feeds
Top StoriesMy Yahoo!RSS
» More news feeds | What are news feeds?
Also on Yahoo
Answers
Groups
Mail
Messenger
Mobile
Travel
Finance
Movies
Sports
Games
» All Yahoo! Services
Site Highlights
Singapore
Full Coverage
Most Popular
Asia Entertainment
Photos
Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte. Ltd. (Co. Reg. No. 199700735D). All Rights Reserved.
Terms of Service |
Privacy Policy |
Community |
Intellectual Property Rights Policy |
Help
Other News on Wednesday, 16 December 2009 Hamas blames Israel for breakdown in Schalit talks
Berlusconi to curb his public duties after attack
YouTube looks at subscriptions, more ad dollars
Wall Street Journal launches Japanese website
Latin Americans, EU strike historic deal on banana trade
Contractor arrest may ruffle Obama's Cuba overture
|
Microsoft suspends Juku amid plagiarism charges
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites
Red Cross sees Taliban captives in Afghanistan
Bullock, Streep, Damon Score Double Nods At The Golden Globes
US industrial production regains vigor, up 0.8%
S.Korea's LG aims to sell 400,000 3D TVs next year
Jay-Z's 40/40 Club Sued For Beating Patron
Germany's largest-ever class action suit kicks off
Sun Micro wins intellectual property cases
Grammy Nominee Buju Banton Arrested On Drug Charges
Leona Lewis' Attacker Detained Under The Mental Health Act
NATO to seek Russian kit, trainers for Afghanistan
|
Mexico's Calderon seeks broad electoral reform
|
"CSI: Miami" Star Jonathan Togo Arrested For Domestic Violence
Courtney Love Loses Custody Of Daughter Frances Bean Cobain
French minister tells Muslims to speak properly
|
S.Korea's LG aims to sell 400,000 3D TVs next year
"30 Rock" Actor Grizz Chapman Needs Kidney Transplant
Kid Rock And Dave Grohl Sue Small Town Bar Over Copyright Infringement
Taylor Swift Donates $250K To Public Schools On Her 20th Birthday
Arlington, Va., educators cancel Taliban debate
Jury: Naveed Haq guilty in Jewish center shooting
Snow storm stalls search for missing Ore. climbers
Blast kills 33 near lawmaker's home in Pakistan
Mass. 2nd-grader sent home for crucifix drawing
Suicide blast kills 33 in crowded Pakistani market
Google investing for growth in display ads
|
3 RI cops shot in drug raid released from hospital
YouTube looks at subscriptions, more ad dollars
|
China official's royal audience stirs ire in Japan
Schools, roads close as heavy rain drenches South
Comcast rolls out Web TV service nationally
|
Gotta love it! NYC holds condom contest
Blast kills 20 near minister's home in Pakistan
Gitmo detainees not free in US after prison
Japan to halt new missile defence spending: media
Spymaster sees Israel as world cyberwar leader
|
'Goodfellas' mobster blames alcohol for arrest
Philippines wins marathon double at SE.Asian Games
Lieberman indicates support for health bill
Myanmar allows Suu Kyi to meet ailing party elders
Suicide bombing blast near former VP home in Kabul
China says Uighur asylum seekers are criminals
Pakistan market bombing kills 27: official
Chinese firms slam UN wind farm rulings
'Up In the Air', 'Avatar' head Golden Globes contenders
Golden Globe nominations announced
Golden Globe animated film nominations announced
Quirky Glee hits high note at Golden Globes
|
Cameron and Weaver on 'Aliens,' and 'Avatar'
Quirky "Glee" hits high note at Golden Globes
Lindsay Lohan's father arrested in NY
Lil Wayne heads to NY jail in February
Binge drinking soars among German youth, data show
'Up In the Air', 'Avatar' head Golden Globes contenders
Spanish catering industry protests planned smoking ban
Madrid's Prado woos art lovers despite crisis
'Goodfellas' mobster blames alcohol for arrest
CORRECTED: "Nanny Returns" to New York's now troubled elite
U.S. House passes Iran gasoline sanctions bill
NATO chief in first Russia visit to rebuild trust
For tsunami's Baby 81, fame brought misfortune
|
Iranian elections top Twitter topic for 2009
Britain urgently seeks changes after Livni arrest warrant
Boeing's Dreamliner in maiden flight
BA launches legal action to stop Christmas strike
YouTube leads Google charge in display ad market
WITNESS: Failed state? Try Pakistan's M2 motorway
|
Earliest proven case of leprosy found in Israel
Iran students hold rival rallies, bazaar closes
Twitter gets more business friendly
Baby among five killed in Iraq attacks
Boeing's 787 Dreamliner takes off on maiden flight
Cocaine and rebels haunt Peru's remote jungle
|
Miami Herald asking online readers for contributions
Israel responsible for delay in freeing Shalit: Hamas chief
Border stability to top China-Myanmar talks
|
OMG! Text messaging up sharply in US since 2003: study
Iran ex-rebels defy police orders to quit Iraq camp
US-TECH Summary
Hundreds evacuated after quake rocks central Italy
|
Borders jumps into digital books fray
USGS turns to Twitter for earthquake reports
Italy to beef up security after Berlusconi assault
|
Spymaster sees Israel as world cyberwar leader
Mobile sales to fall 0.7 percent this year: Gartner
Car hits horse-drawn Va. holiday hayride; 12 hurt
Pittsburgh City Council set to vote on tuition tax
FBI squad to assist NYC terror trial prosecutors
Vietnam asks China to return seized fishing boats
Report: NKorea presses for lifting of UN sanctions
Borders jumps into digital books fray
|
US House approves Iran energy sector sanctions bill
Weather forecast for the Asia-Pacific region
Attorney: Missing Utah mom's husband met with cops
Police kill separatist rebel leader in Papua
80-year-old sailor rescued in Gulf of Mexico
Smog sinks Hong Kong's famous skyline
Border stability to top China-Myanmar talks
Envoy delivered Obama letter to NKorea leader: report
Man pleads not guilty to 1981 Calif. triple murder
One woman's fight against pollution in China
Google phone with T-Mobile contract in Jan: source
|
New Zealand teen flashes driver, gets hit by car
Asia leaves its mark on 2009 in sports
Pakistani rupee trades at record low of 84.55
Even top Hollywood directors feel like outsiders
WRAPUP 1-S.Korea signals exit strategy, mortgage squeeze
US presses for Asia-Pacific trade deal
FACTBOX-South Korea to tighten banking rules
China: foreign direct investment up 32 pct in Nov
Taiwan dlr eases on stocks ahead of US Fed meeting
Seoul shares turn lower; techs, shipbuilders weigh
S.Korea bonds fall on U.S. lead, strong shares
Golden Globe nominations boost underdogs
|
S.Korea won down; fin ministry to report 2010 focus
Even top Hollywood directors feel like outsiders
|
"Avatar" starts long march toward profitability
Seoul shares open flat;tech exporters lend support
ABBA, Stooges to join Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
|
Feast or famine for Golden Globe nominees
Avatar starts long march toward profitability
|
Even top Hollywood directors feel like outsiders
Metallica, Slayer to tour together
|
Washington city votes to legalize gay marriage
Feast or famine for Golden Globe nominees
|
Smog sinks Hong Kong's famous skyline
Mundane Morgans wastes talented cast
|
Europeans dominate Golden Globe foreign film group
|
Michael Jackson estate administrators seek payment
Fitness guru Jack LaLanne undergoes surgery in LA
Scorsese, Polanski thrillers join Berlin lineup
|
True Blood finds its sexy werewolf
|
CORRECTED: Europeans dominate Golden Globe foreign film group
'Dance' finale expects a well-behaved Lambert
Scorsese, Polanski thrillers join Berlin lineup
Abbas says peace deal possible in 6 months
Architect of Russia's shock therapy reform dead
US university coding future of news
Century-old butter found in Scott's Antarctic hut
Iran tests long-range missile, raises ire of West
Iran tests missile, warns opposition leaders
|
Bing app for iPhones hits App Store
PLO keeps Abbas as Palestinian president
Fed set to keep extra support for fragile US economy
Pakistani Supreme Court reconsiders amnesty ruling
|
Afghan surge troops won't target drug crops
|
Kuwait's prime minister survives key vote
Nigerian government sued over president's absence
|
Iran test-fires missile, drawing Western censure
Cyprus seeks Interpol help to find stolen corpse
|
Iran says U.S. fuel sanctions move will fail
Muslim revival brings polygamy, camels to Chechnya
|
Man arrested outside Berlusconi hospital room
|
I shot Guinea leader soldier tells French radio
|
Germany must pay Afghan victims of NATO raid: Lawyer
|
Obama to host new safety chairwoman, NASA chief
Protest erupts in Indian parliament over inflation
Filipino dictator's son open to presidency
Federal Trade Commission sues chip giant Intel
|
Microsoft browser pledge ends EU dispute
|
Study: Sexually active girls at risk of infection
AP source: Obama writes letter to NKorean leader
China's anti-porn drive to run until May
|
Lava flow from Philippine volcano continues: govt
SC legislators consider formal rebuke of governor
Japan PM under fire over delay in US base row
Indonesia police say Papuan rebel commander killed
'You lie!' on Yale list of year's memorable quotes
US calls Japan base delay decision unfortunate
Custody dispute may have led to shooting deaths
Indonesia to separate child inmates from teens
House rushes to finish its work for year
N.Korea's Kim raps foreign hairstyles: report
Myanmar opposition leader meets party elders
Mo. farmers with best land face 2011 tax rise
SPIN METER: No real consensus on bank overhaul
Documents in probe of wayward plane to be released
Banks to get more time on new global rules: report
Thai auto sales growth highest in years: industry
China's Chery dismisses foreign car purchase plans
China defends home grown tech purchase rule
India's Bharti to buy Bangladesh mobile operator
S.Korea bond futures dive on rate hike, Fed fears
Japan enters high-speed train sales race
Swiss won't decide on Polanski extradition until 2010
|
'Glee' cast joyful over Globe nods
Layered cake breathes life back into tiny US island
Metallica, Slayer to tour together
Seychelles getting 'sinking feeling'
Once an underdog, Reitman now an Oscar favorite
Golden Globe nominations boost underdogs
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights