Interview conducted by Josh Horowitz
July 23, 2003
You’re either hopelessly addicted to PROJECT GREENLIGHT or you’re not. And if you’re not, you might as well click away from this article right now. Still with me? Good. Last year, Miramax and the GOOD WILL boys’ grand experiment in granting an unknown a Hollywood cast, crew, and oh did we mention legions of HBO cameras detailing their every move, resulted in a forgettable film called STOLEN SUMMER and a vial of TV crack called PROJECT GREENLIGHT.
This year, with three civilians (two directors and a screenwriter) thrown into the Miramax cauldron, the fun has not let up. As surely as FRIENDS fans enjoy the comfort of regulars like Monica and Chandler, us GREENLIGHT folk have come to embrace our own stalwarts of the cast, in this case producers Chris Moore and Jeff Balis.
I caught up with Jeff Balis recently as the cameras continued to roll on PROJECT GREENLIGHT and the finishing touches were being put on THE BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS, now in post-production.
Josh Horowitz: Hey Jeff. It’s Josh.
Jeff Balis: What’s up Josh? How ya doing?
JH: Pretty good.
JB: You know we interviewed Kevin [Smith] on the show last year. He busted the shit out of me and got me in trouble with Miramax. So it was with great reservations that I decided to say yes to this. I’m just kidding.
JH: So is there a camera in your face right now? How often are the cameras around you?
JB: No. They’re around when I’m doing shit.
JH: How do they know when you’re doing shit?
JB: I attempt to keep them out of my private life as much as possible. Anything film-related like if I’m in the production office, they’re filming. I knew they would never give me the ability to have any control over my image. I pretty much expected to take a beating both times going into it.
JH: Unlike last year’s PROJECT GREENLIGHT, you all are still putting the finishing touches on the film while the show is still on the air. How bizarre is it that the show is already on even while you’re still making the film?
JB: It’s very bizarre. It’s definitely weird with the directors as they get a little bit beat up on the show and I still have to deal with them. Fortunately I haven’t said anything compromising yet. The big fumble last year was that the film was released two months after the show was off the year.
JH: You feel you lost that momentum from the show?
JB: Unquestionably. The heat dissipated. People wanted to see it [STOLEN SUMMER] and just didn’t know when it was coming out. Fortunately this year Miramax was really good about understanding that the movie needs to come out while the show is still on.
But it’s been crazy for us because our whole production schedule has been ridiculously short. It’s also brutal for the TV show people as well because they have four weeks to edit a show whereas last year they had four months. And there are some big fights we’re having right now in post- production, probably bigger than they anticipated.
JH: So what are the big fights you guys are having now?
JB: Things are just coming to a head. The directors have a different vision for the movie. The studio has a different vision. We’re trying to make the most marketable film. It’s basically a continuation of the fights you’re starting to see on the show between the directors and the writer.
JH: In the first couple of episodes, the directors don’t come across so well. But it seems clear from the glimpses of their audition tape that these guys know how to direct. How did they do on the set?
JB: I don’t feel like the show is misrepresentative. I think they’re very talented. They know how to put together a scene and how to direct things. The big struggle is to try and get their sensibilities to jibe with the script that Erica wrote. And that’s something we’ve definitely struggled with, finding the right tone. The problem is getting them to collaborate with other people. In my opinion, they know just enough to be dangerous. In post, a lot of those issues still exist.
JH: What are your best hopes for SHAKER HEIGHTS? Can this film make money? Is it a more commercial concept than STOLEN SUMMER was?
JB: I’m actually very happy with the film. I like the shot that we got. It’s very hard to make a small movie that’s going to make several million dollars. The biggest thing I think we have going for us I think is this kid, Shia LaBeouf who is the lead. He is unbelievable. If he wasn’t in this movie now, maybe I would be telling you that the movie was going to be D.O.A. but he is just amazing. That opens things up considerably. He is so fun to watch.
JH: How does it feel to be a reality TV star?
JB: It’s very weird. I tend to have kind of a jackass kind of personality.
JH: What’s a jackass personality?
JB: I tend to screw around a lot. I tend to goof around and it’s sort of made me more uncomfortable doing that. You have that weird moment where people say “my friend saw you out last week.”
I’m less inclined to act like an idiot, which I guess is good and bad. It’s been fun. It’s made it easier for me to make contact with people in the business. It’s a little bit funky.
JH: Do you keep in touch with Pete Jones?
JB: I do. I talk to Pete Jones pretty regularly. He’s going to be directing a film in Chicago in September.
JH: Did he get a bad rap? He was put in a tough position.
JB: Pete I think did get a bad rap. I think he’s a very smart guy and I think he’s much savvier than he appears on the show. And he’s just a good guy. I think he’ll be able to bounce back particularly because he’s a good writer. The shocking and funny thing for me now is that his crew for the next movie is Pat Peach, Pete Biaggi, and the rest of STOLEN SUMMER crew.
JH: You’re kidding me! Are you keeping in touch with Pat Peach too?
JB: No surprisingly, I haven’t talked to Pat since around the time of the first one. I don’t know if you find that hard to believe.
JH: No, I don’t. As much as the show strives to be a behind the scenes look of how a movie is made, you guys have to realize a lot of it is artificial by its very nature.
So does the construction of the show adversely affect the creative process of the film?
JB: The film is adversely affected in two very big ways. One, because the timing is grossly compressed. It’s not conducive to making a good movie. That was the first thing that was a huge kick in the balls. I’m very pleased with what we did with that but that was really hard. The second thing is a lot of filmmaking is politics and the TV show just makes it really complicated. You can’t really tell exactly what anyone’s agenda is. Are they just trying to win this conversation because they want to look smart in this scene of the TV show? Usually people aren’t trying to do that but you never really know. You can’t have little conversations. Every little conversation can have the scope of the biggest conversation you’ve ever had.
JH: Some things from the first few episodes of GREENLIGHT: you knew that it was absurd for Efram and Kyle to say they didn’t need a production designer or editor. Chris Moore knew it. Even I knew it and I’ve never made a movie. Why didn’t they know it?
JB: The editor is a reasonable argument for them to make it because they’ve been editing their own films for a while. I was a little bit scared when they made the production designer argument. They were betraying their lack of knowledge about how to make films. It was much less the fact that they didn’t think they needed a production designer and more the way they went about it. It was much more of a style thing. What I was hoping for was more of a collaborative spirit. And sometimes we achieved it and sometimes we didn’t.
JH: Let’s talk about the chair incident wherein Chris Moore’s chair was completely decimated beneath him.
JB: Probably the funniest thing I’ve ever witnessed.
JH: I think it was obvious to anyone watching that you took more pleasure in Chris Moore demolishing that chair than anyone. What do you have to say for yourself?
JB: I knew he had a sense of humor about these things. I knew he wasn’t hurt and that as embarrassing as it was, two weeks into them knowing him, they [the directors and screenwriter] didn’t want to laugh at him.
JH: Another moment from the show that keeps popping up in my head was when the directors were beating up on Erica and you walked in the room. Let me ask you, do you often “see sad” when you walk into a room?
JB: I saw sad on Erica. It’s shocking to me. I can’t tell if its them [the directors] not wanting to see it or if it’s them bullshitting to get what they want or if they were just clueless.
A number of times I’ll see somebody who could not be more pissed off and they’ll say I didn’t realize she was upset. It was immediately apparent that they were beating her up.
JH: If BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS tanks, will there be a third GREENLIGHT?
JB: I don’t know. I think it’s very important for it to do well. I can’t say that it would kill GREENLIGHT. It would hurt it. I think the show seems to be more popular than ever. If people are interested and want to see it, they have to get off their asses and watch the movie.
JH: Would you participate in GREENLIGHT again?
JB: It’s a lot of fun. But right now I’m leaning very much towards no. It’s really hard.
There’s a lot of exposure, not just television exposure but dangerous exposure where if someone gets hurt on the set for instance. There are many instances where things could go very wrong. Any number of career wrecking instances could happen on that set. There’s a lot of risk involved doing it. And I come off as a stammering idiot in the show, I think. Producing is not the easiest thing in the world to do but particularly when there’s a show there and you have to think about what the unintended results are and wonder if I’m going to be taken out of context. There’s a lot going on. It’s enough to make your head explode.
JH: Has your celebrity affected your social life? Are you now getting the Ben Affleck cast-me-offs?
JB: I’m absolutely not getting anywhere near the Ben Affleck cast-me-offs. I guess it makes dating a little bit easier. But unfortunately I think he’s quite a bit better looking than I am.
JH: What’s coming up for you away from the GREENLIGHT cameras?
JB: With my production company, Wisenheimer Films, I’m doing something called WAITING. It stars Ryan Reynolds, Luis Guzman and Busta Rhymes and we’re shooting it in September. It’s basically CADDYSHACK in a restaurant and it’s a fantastically written little movie.
PROJECT GREENLIGHT airs on HBO Sunday nights at 10:30pm. THE BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS opens August 15th.
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