Y'all know me. Know what I do for a livin'. Well, okay, so maybe you skids don't.
Why should you? Fair enough. Once, I did happen to direct, edit and co-write a feature film called Free Enterprise.
If you've never heard of it...you're in good company. The film did win a few awards. Some people really love it. "You put
my life on film," they say. Others think I took the worst parts of Doug Liman's and Kevin Smith's act and didn't pay
enough attention to them. To me, it's just another movie Lucasfilm denied the filmmakers use of Star Wars action figures
for because they couldn't guarantee a PG-13 rating. Whatever. Just because George Lucas leads a PG-13 life doesn't mean
my action figures and I have to.
But I digress.
What we have here is a little weekly chit-chat about various facets of my current day job. Damn straight, constant
viewer, this column deals with my five-days-a-week, nine-to-five situation as a producer of "Added Value Material"
for special edition DVDs. Yup, I'm an editor, writer, producer and director of all those great special features we
salivate over. This job was recently described on the "Video Premiere Awards" Web site as one of the "hottest jobs
in Hollywood," whatever that means. I don't really agree with this, as I've yet to meet Sherilyn Fenn and get all
Two Moon Junction with her. Either way, whether you prefer Duchovny-era Zalman King, or know the names of
every Vivid Video girl for the last eight years (I'm partial to poop shoot loving Dyanna Lauren myself), I'm sure
over the coming weeks I'll eventually get around to a DVD topic you'll find worthwhile. At least, as Paul Reiser
says in Aliens, "That's the plan."
While working for my employers, Jeff Kurtti and Michael Pellerin...some of my more recent efforts include the "Disney
through the Decades" pieces on Snow White, the entire The Usual Suspects special edition, the
feature-length "Making of Tron" documentary on that 20th anniversary DVD and a few pieces on New Line's upcoming,
four-disc Fellowship of the Ring. Incidentally, for those of you few poor souls actually following the DVD
producer road rally, let me state for the record that my boss, Michael Pellerin, the producer behind New Line
Cinema's monster DVD of Peter Jackson's masterstroke, has conjured up, Istari-style, the single greatest DVD
ever created. Or will ever be created, with the possible exception of the other two films in the Lord of the
Rings trilogy. A bold statement, I know, but after you buy the fucker in November (and you will), tell me if I'm wrong.
Which finally brings me around to the topic of this self-congratulatory introductory missive. The single most
moronic question I've heard far too often over the past six months. A comment made to me in passing which really
pisses me off, if you won't begrudge me a little Big Trouble in Little China reference. At screenings,
parties, massage parlors and even strip clubs, I get the same shit, sometimes presented as a suggestion offered
to me with the best of intentions, as if the questioner believes the idea obviously never crossed my mind.
Here's the statement:
"Dude...you totally should have got David Warner to be in your Tron documentary."
And I always answer, "Oh my god. You are so right. I never thought of that."
 |
| A pre-production painting for the sequel, "Tron 2.0" |
For those of you without a fondness for this early-eighties computer-generated confection from the Walt Disney
studios, actor David Warner played Tron's villain Dillinger, the nefarious head of the Encom corporation and his
computer avatar, Sark. In the film, he hopes, with the aid of the dreaded Master Control Program, to take over
both the real and computer-generated worlds.
I spent the summer of 2001 creating the feature-length "Making of Tron" documentary for the DVD. I made endless
phone calls to both the filmmakers and stars of Tron hoping to enlist them to participate in on-camera interviews.
I shot, then edited these interviews with artwork and photographs to create what I'd like to think of as a living,
breathing Cinefex magazine article. As a filmmaker, film student and film fan, I take my DVD work extremely seriously.
As seriously as my work on features themselves.
 |
| Jeff Bridges with Flynn helmet he wore in Tron |
For the most part, I was successful, gathering up everyone from writer-director Steven Lisberger, effects maestro
Harrison Ellenshaw, Disney Chairman Dick Cook and star Jeff Bridges, who even brought the Flynn helmet he wore in
the film with him to the interview. All of them, I'd like to add, participated for nothing more than the joy of
doing so. They did it enthusiastically out of their affection for the project and the place it holds in their lives.
Except for David Warner. His people told me no.
David Warner's agent, who shall go nameless, told me since Disney was putting out the disc, they should pony up
$75,000.00 for the man's participation in the documentary.
I very politely declined the offer. I didn't mention the figure he quoted encompassed practically the entire budget
for the project. Nor did I mention I knew Warner was interested in participating. Which is what really killed me.
If the agent had only run the offer by Mr. Warner, I'm sure he'd have said yes. Especially knowing Jeff Bridges had
already agreed to appear for free. Maybe I'm wrong about this...but I'd like to think not.
This situation raises a number of issues, most of them without easy answers. On one hand, I actually agree with the
agent's position. Yes, Disney will probably make millions of dollars in cash from the re-issue of Tron and
all of its tie-in products. I know I bought the Kubrick figures, the Medicom Lightcycles and the CD soundtrack. Some
actors feel they should benefit from this added revenue stream. The various motion picture Guilds, like SAG and the
DGA, believe if a documentary runs over 30 minutes, it's no longer just a promotional device, but new programming,
a separate entity which falls under re-use clauses and talent payments. The studios must pay up for this programming,
because they're cashing in yet again on the abilities of the many people involved. This is also WHY you don't see
more DVD documentaries running over 30 minutes unless they're split up and unified with a lovely "Play All" button.
Any of you watch Jeffery Schwartz's new "Starship Troopers" featurette? Pretty kick-ass, wouldn't you say? But I'll
bet you could've watched Automat's documentary for another hour.
However, the studios have yet to create DVD production budgets as a separate entity. The money used to produce
special editions falls under the auspices of studio marketing departments, which only have so much money annually
earmarked for their entire operation, much less DVD production. They simply don't have the money to pay exorbitant
prices to name talent. If they did, the money would have to come out of somewhere else, like the ad budget of the
latest low-budget horror film. And we wouldn't want that. The studios also know it really doesn't matter whether
or not a star participates, because most of the American public won't care anyway. They just want to chow down on
barbecue on a Saturday afternoon and watch the movie itself. In full-fucking-frame.
My own feelings lean in this direction; if an actor is doing what they do, performing as a character or reading
scripted narration, then they should get paid for their efforts. They're on the clock. However, if an actor is
simply being interviewed or doing an audio commentary, they're now civilians, supporting work they've already made
and been paid for and therefore shouldn't be compensated.
On a historically important film like Tron, the first motion picture to make extensive use of CGI, my
documentary may be the last word on the subject, so why should an actor price himself out of his own posterity?
It's more important today than ever before that actors participate in DVD documentaries, because the legacy of
the motion-picture art form is being preserved like never before.
I understand an actor may choose not to participate for very valid reasons, such as illness, a scheduling conflict
or a real hatred for the director, but I don't think a lack of payment should be one of these. Think of the folks
who will watch this stuff in 50 years. They'll want to know.
Besides, if one pays an actor for an interview, they tend to slip into "performance" mode. "It was fantastic
working with so and so. The experience changed my life." Worthless. You don't get the dirt. You don't even get
a sincere smile.
On the The Usual Suspects disc I produced, all of the actors participated for free. Two of them are
Academy-Award winners. The only one of the suspects who made any demands at all was Kevin Spacey. He agreed
to participate only if the rest of the suspects and director Bryan Singer did so as well. Coming off an Oscar
win, he didn't want to overshadow his fellow actors, including Stephen Baldwin. Who knew Mel Profit could be
such a class act? The rest of Hollywood should take a cue from guys with demands like Spacey.
So film fans the world over are left without Sharon Stone speaking about her controversial role on the latest
Basic Instinct DVD (and hello, where were the extensive interviews which appeared on the Pioneer
special-edition laserdisc?). Tom Cruise lovers will remain perplexed by his choice of playing Jack O' the Green
in Ridley Scott's Legend. And the thing that will vex me until my dying days, especially after learning
he's on the commentary track for Time After Time, is how my favorite cinematic Jack the Ripper felt about
playing the screen's first villainous anthropomorphic computer program. And that makes me sad.
Have a better day.
Now, a final note about the title of this column. Some of you may fondly remember the mid-nineties genre magazine
Sci-Fi Universe I used to write for. A buddy of mine, David Hargrove, wrote two columns called "Dave's
Retinal Fetish" before Larry Flynt sold off the magazine out from under us. The column was obviously named after
the club in Katherine Bigelow's woefully under-appreciated Strange Days. I always loved his title, so I
called up Dave and asked him if I could resurrect it and use it for my own purposes.
He said yes.
NEXT WEEK: A few words on the four-disc DVD set of the ORIGINAL versions of the Star Wars trilogy
I recently picked up, complete with a full disc of supplemental materials including the Boba Fett cartoon from
the Holiday Special, 1978's "Making of Star Wars" and the deleted "Biggs and Luke in Anchorhead" scene. No, I'm
not telling you where it came from.
SHOOT-BACK HERE! |
ARCHIVES
