Women's Panel - Creative Forces: Women in the BusinessIntroduction| 00:00 | (Music playing.)
| | 00:29 | Bonnie Arnold: When the film was over he
invited me to come work for him at Columbia Pictures,
| | 00:33 | and I asked someone, should I do this?
| | 00:35 | And they said, well, when you get
invited to Hollywood, you got to go.
| | 00:38 | Rachel Tenner: I walked down the street and
I'll see somebody, and say, oh my God, that's such
| | 00:40 | a Coen brother face.
| | 00:42 | Joan Sobel: Sometimes you get a chance to work
with someone who is just so amazingly creative.
| | 00:46 | Sarah Siegel Magness: Once you make a film like
Precious, it's impossible to stop thinking about those girls.
| | 00:51 | Eris Cressida Wilson: That's part of a blankness
that is a gift that you can go to your beginner's mind,
| | 00:57 | and go "I'm blank," and
the stuff start to come in a pure way.
| | 01:02 | Amanda Pope: You need to develop your ability
to go and do the most difficult thing in front
| | 01:08 | of you, because it's a
more interesting way to live.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Getting in the door| 00:00 | (Music playing.)
| | 00:07 | Jeff: Welcome all of you to today's panel,
Creative Forces: Women in the Business.
| | 00:13 | It's my honor to introduce our panel today, starting
off with Erin Cressida Wilson, screenwriter of Chloe.
| | 00:25 | Rachel Tanner, casting of A Serious Man,
and my wife Margo's cousin, Joan Sobel,
| | 00:38 | editor, A Single Man.
| | 00:46 | Our favorite moderator and a great
friend of our festival Madelyn Hammond.
| | 00:56 | Amanda Pope, director,
The Desert of Forbidden Art.
| | 01:06 | Sarah Siegel-Magness, producer of Precious.
| | 01:14 | And Bonnie Arnold, producer of The Last Station.
| | 01:17 | Welcome, and have fun.
| | 01:21 | Madelyn Hammond: So it is my
pleasure to moderate this panel.
| | 01:25 | I think this is fourth year in doing it.
| | 01:26 | It's one of my most
favorite things I do all year.
| | 01:30 | So I want to just introduce our
panelists just a little bit more, give you an
| | 01:33 | idea of some of their accomplishments,
because they're pretty extraordinary and
| | 01:36 | I'm delighted to be here.
| | 01:38 | And by the way, we have, as Jeff pointed
out, Precious that Sarah-- Where's Sarah?
| | 01:43 | Sarah, Precious has been nominated for
6 nominations, Best Picture, Director,
| | 01:54 | Adapted Screenplay, Lead Actress,
Supporting Actress and Film Editing.
| | 01:57 | And Last Station, Bonnie on the end, two
nominations. Best Actress for Helen Mirren.
| | 02:05 | Best Supporting Actor, Single Man.
| | 02:10 | Colin Firth, for those of you that
are here tonight, he will be here.
| | 02:14 | Serious Man, Best Picture, Best Original
Screenplay, and on the end we have only
| | 02:22 | Erin who's has got Chloe coming out on
the March 26 through Sony Classics, so.
| | 02:26 | Okay, so to give you a little
bit of insight into the background.
| | 02:32 | So, on my far right Bonnie Arnold, yes,
she's producer of The Last Station, but
| | 02:37 | she's been in animation for 17 years.
| | 02:40 | She did Toy Story, Tarzan, Over the Hedge.
| | 02:43 | Her early producing work was
Slugger's Wife, Mosquito Coast, Mighty Queen,
| | 02:46 | Revenge, Dances with Wolves.
| | 02:47 | She worked with Kevin Costner on a few films.
| | 02:50 | Sarah, producer of Precious as we said,
and she is co-founder of a company
| | 02:56 | called Smokewood
Entertainment with her husband Gary.
| | 02:58 | Not only had they produced Precious, but
they also executive produced Tennessee.
| | 03:02 | That's were I guess they met Lee
Daniels, which we'll talk about, and her
| | 03:05 | upcoming projects include a film based
on the Judy Moody book series, and she's
| | 03:09 | doing a documentary about
indigenous tribes in Brazil.
| | 03:13 | Amanda Pope is a director, producer,
writer. Most recently she directed, this is
| | 03:18 | the best name, "The Legend of Pancho
Barnes and the Happy Bottom Riding Club."
| | 03:22 | (Laughter.)
| | 03:25 | I love it.
| | 03:26 | It's about a woman aviator from
Pasadena society, and we'll talk about
| | 03:30 | that in just a minute, but I love that title.
| | 03:31 | Also she's done Basis of Change, about
the emerging leaders in former USSR, and
| | 03:36 | as Jeff said, Desert of Forbidden Art.
| | 03:38 | It's her most recent one.
| | 03:39 | In addition she's also done
public television documentaries.
| | 03:41 | Jackson Pollock, Houseman
Directs Lear, and Cities for People.
| | 03:46 | Joan Sobal. Sobal or Sobel?
| | 03:48 | Joan Sobel: Sobel.
| | 03:49 | Madelyn Hammond: Sobel, to my left, editor.
| | 03:51 | She began her editing career as an
assistant editor for Academy Award nominated
| | 03:55 | document-- for two documentarian women,
Susan Bowman and Barbara Coppel, who I'm
| | 03:59 | sure many of you in the
audience know and they are fantastic.
| | 04:02 | What a way to learn the business.
| | 04:04 | She also worked with Paul Thomas
Anderson, Quentin Tarantino on Kill Bill, and
| | 04:07 | her work includes, The Quiet,
Harsh Times, Suburban Girl.
| | 04:11 | Rachel Tenner, casting director.
| | 04:13 | Oh, we'll clap, we can clap all the way
thorough in the beginning, middle and end.
| | 04:18 | They are pretty extraordinary.
I think we should erupt into it.
| | 04:21 | Rachel Tanner, casting director and producer.
| | 04:23 | 15 years she's worked on Hudsucker Proxy,
Fargo, What Women Want, Altman's The Company,
| | 04:29 | Good Night and Good Luck, Leatherheads.
| | 04:30 | She worked with the Coen brothers a lot,
on Intolerable Cruelty, Lady Killers,
| | 04:34 | No Country for Old Men,
Burn After, A Serious Man.
| | 04:37 | In addition she is a producer and
she's produced a film call Quick Stop.
| | 04:41 | And last but not least Erin Cressida Wilson,
screenwriter, playwright, author, professor.
| | 04:48 | As I mentioned she has Chloe
coming out through Sony Classics.
| | 04:53 | Currently wrote and executive
produced a pilot with for Oprah for HBO.
| | 04:58 | She has adapted Penny in Love,
a novel, for Tony and Ridley Scott.
| | 05:02 | She is a professor and the Head of
Dramatic Writing at University California at
| | 05:06 | Santa Barbara, which is great.
| | 05:10 | She is writing her first children's
book and before all this, her prior work
| | 05:14 | included screenplays that she worked
on, that she did for Secretary, for
| | 05:17 | Imaginary Portrait Of Diane Arbus,
and next out for her is The Hunger, for
| | 05:21 | Tony Scott through Warner Brothers, and a
film called The Resident, starring Hillary Swank.
| | 05:27 | So I just wanted to do that.
| | 05:28 | I mean, gosh, when you look at this, it just
gives you an idea into these amazing women.
| | 05:32 | I'm so pleased to be here and my first
question to each of you, just to kind of
| | 05:36 | get thing's going is, we all got
into starting the business somehow.
| | 05:40 | Someone reached out and gave us a break,
and so I'm going to start with Erin.
| | 05:45 | Who helped to get into the business,
and tell us just quickly about why this,
| | 05:49 | how it all came about,
and who there is to thank?
| | 05:52 | Erin Cressida Wilson: Well, that would be
Steven Shainberg, who directed and produced Secretary.
| | 05:59 | I had been working for
over 10 years as a playwright.
| | 06:03 | And I had my initial bump
from George Lynn, my agent.
| | 06:06 | He's my agent to this day for over 20
years, but Steve sent me the short story
| | 06:11 | of Secretary and asked me
to make it into a screenplay.
| | 06:14 | And we had been friends and known
each other, because he knew my plays.
| | 06:17 | I had written stage plays for a long
time in New York, and he taught me to write
| | 06:24 | screenplays, basically.
| | 06:26 | And then we did another.
| | 06:27 | He's it.
| | 06:29 | I thank God for him, and I think we all
need that "it person," who pushes us over the edge.
| | 06:37 | Madelyn Hammond: Or who believes in us. Rachel...
| | 06:40 | Rachel Tanner: Mine would be a
woman in Jane Brody in Chicago.
| | 06:43 | She had a company called Jane Brody
Casting, and when I graduated from college,
| | 06:46 | and was trying to figure out what I was
going to do, allowed me-- Not only did I
| | 06:50 | start as an intern, but she gave me so
much responsibility from the get-go, so
| | 06:55 | that I really got to fully
understand and practice casting immediately.
| | 07:01 | So it allowed me to basically be part
time, full time, and buy the company, like
| | 07:06 | within two years and it's been
the only thing I have ever done, so.
| | 07:09 | Madelyn Hammond: That's pretty amazing. Joan...
| | 07:12 | Joan Sobel: Well, I think there is a lot of
luck involved in getting into this business.
| | 07:16 | I started out as an illustrator.
| | 07:18 | I was an artist, and actually got into
the business through a friend of mine who
| | 07:22 | was working for the BBC and did a small
documentary back in New York, and asked
| | 07:27 | me if I wanted to work in the cutting room.
| | 07:28 | And I found that I loved it so much,
because it was so visual, and it was a way
| | 07:33 | to almost expand upon what I
was working on with illustration.
| | 07:38 | So I have to thank my friend Kathie
Newcome, who got me into the business, and
| | 07:43 | then there were so many
other people who I would thank.
| | 07:45 | Caryl Littleton has been a wonderful
friend of mine, and Steven Marioni, who
| | 07:50 | you are probably working with.
| | 07:53 | I would have to say them also.
| | 07:54 | Madelyn Hammond: Amanda.
| | 07:55 | Amanda Pope: Oh, I think one of the most
important things for anybody interested in coming
| | 08:00 | into the business is to volunteer.
| | 08:03 | Now this is volunteering with
a little bit of discretion here.
| | 08:10 | You don't want to volunteer for just
anybody, but if you look around your
| | 08:15 | neighborhood, I was in New York.
| | 08:18 | I volunteered to work actually to
rewrite the narration for a film on Albert
| | 08:24 | Schweitzer, and the editor who had
volunteered, just because that's the kind of
| | 08:30 | person she is, is Dede Allen.
| | 08:32 | And Dede Allen is one of the great editor.
| | 08:34 | She edited Reds, Bonnie and Clyde, and
it turned out that her husband was the
| | 08:40 | head of a documentary unit at ABC.
| | 08:43 | And I didn't know that when I offered
to work on the project, but that's how
| | 08:48 | I got into the field.
| | 08:49 | Sarah Siegel Magness: Well, I'm actually an
entrepreneur person foremost, which we all are, of course,
| | 08:58 | in the film business.
| | 08:59 | But I started out in the business world
and somebody who worked for with Lee Daniels
| | 09:04 | came to my husband and I, about Tennessee.
| | 09:06 | And we came in late in the
game as executive producers.
| | 09:09 | But Lee Daniels and I, and my husband,
ended up cultivating an amazing relationship.
| | 09:15 | And he sort of is not only our
partner, but really my mentor.
| | 09:19 | I've spent the last three
years making films with him.
| | 09:22 | We've done two together, and I have
really gotten my 'MBA' in movie making by
| | 09:28 | working with somebody like Lee, who
is just a maverick in this business.
| | 09:35 | So I was lucky enough to fall into it,
and privileged to be able to continue to
| | 09:40 | work in this business, and
actually be making projects that are being
| | 09:47 | recognized, which is wonderful,
and having audiences go see them.
| | 09:52 | Madelyn Hammond: And Bonnie...
| | 09:53 | Bonnie Arnold: Well, I think the big change--
Actually, I'm from Atlanta, Georgia and
| | 09:59 | I was working in Atlanta on small film
projects. That's what I always wanted to do.
| | 10:04 | And working there in the community.
| | 10:05 | And I ended up working on a very small
film with David Picker, who was a well
| | 10:10 | known studio executive in Hollywood.
| | 10:13 | And he was producing kind of a low
budget film, and during that film he was
| | 10:19 | called to become the President of
Columbia Pictures, and he asked me, I was the
| | 10:23 | production coordinator.
| | 10:25 | So I was always, you know, already
working small jobs in a small market.
| | 10:28 | And he said, what do you want to do?
| | 10:29 | And I said I want to be a producer.
| | 10:31 | And he said, well, you
have to get out of Atlanta.
| | 10:33 | So when the film was over, he invited me
to come work for him at Columbia Pictures.
| | 10:38 | And I asked someone, shall I do this?
| | 10:40 | They said, well, when you get
invited to Hollywood, you got to go.
| | 10:44 | So I picked all up and moved to Hollywood.
| | 10:48 | Madelyn Hammond: Bonnie and I similarly, I grew
up in Atlanta. I worked for Coca-Cola. At one time
| | 10:52 | Coca-Cola owned Columbia Pictures, and
I was the-- And I worked for Picker too.
| | 10:56 | Maybe we were there around the same time,
and my first job was making sure that all
| | 11:00 | the trailers before the films got up on screens.
| | 11:03 | So I packed up the bag
and came for the same thing.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Working with talent| 00:00 | (Music playing.)
| | 00:07 | Madelyn Hammond: Joan, first question.
| | 00:08 | I want to ask you about Tom Ford, the director
of A Single Man. It was his directorial debut.
| | 00:13 | Was it challenging or was it there -
did you have to handle things a little bit
| | 00:16 | differently because formerly he had
been very famous in the fashion world?
| | 00:20 | And now I am sure he was mecurial in terms of
how he saw things, and how did that work for you?
| | 00:26 | Joan Sobel: You know, sometimes you get a
chance to work with someone who is just so
| | 00:32 | amazingly creative, and Tom is fabulous.
| | 00:37 | I did not have to do anything differently.
| | 00:40 | He had an innate sense for movies.
| | 00:43 | He loves movies.
| | 00:45 | And one of the things I think that we
found out about each other is how much we
| | 00:48 | have this passion for film that
goes back to really old movies.
| | 00:53 | And we would sit in the cutting room
and talk about old movies all the time.
| | 00:55 | And there are a lot of influences in
The Single Man I am sure that people can
| | 00:59 | pick up, that we were both very aware of.
| | 01:05 | Tom is just an amazingly generous and
creative person in the cutting room.
| | 01:13 | He, unlike a lot of first directors,
sometimes they tend to hold on to things,
| | 01:18 | and he did not.
| | 01:19 | He was willing to be experimental,
willing to be creative, willing to listen to
| | 01:25 | ideas, and the best thing about working
with Tom was, the buck stopped with Tom.
| | 01:32 | There was nobody else involved in this movie.
| | 01:34 | It was just Tom and me in the cutting room.
| | 01:38 | And we did not have to answer to
anybody because Tom was both the producer and
| | 01:42 | the director and the writer.
| | 01:45 | So it made for a wonderfully
vibrant, creative, freeing experience.
| | 01:52 | It's something that you really
dream of as an editor to be in there.
| | 01:55 | And I have been there a few times.
| | 01:57 | I have worked with some really
wonderful people, but I have to say Tom is
| | 02:01 | right at the top.
| | 02:02 | Madelyn Hammond: I saw a Q&A with him and I
was surprised at what an amazing knowledge of
| | 02:06 | film history he had.
| | 02:10 | He is quite extraordinary.
| | 02:10 | Joan Sobel: Huge. I think actually when he
interviewed me he thought that he had more
| | 02:15 | knowledge than I did, and I think
that was probably the charm, because we
| | 02:18 | were pretty close.
| | 02:20 | So what I think it intrigued me a little bit.
| | 02:22 | Madelyn Hammond: So, I just want to know, did
you feel like you had to dress up all the time,
| | 02:25 | because this guy looks
perfect every second of every day?
| | 02:28 | Did you really?
| | 02:30 | Joan Sobel: Everybody asks me that.
| | 02:32 | And what was so funny that Tom came into
the cutting room every single day, impeccable.
| | 02:37 | Every single day.
| | 02:38 | I mean, it would be raining, it would be
hot, it would be- Every day impeccable,
| | 02:42 | and of course that is not me.
| | 02:44 | I mean I wear my red Keds, and every
day he comes in and he goes, "Oh Joan, what
| | 02:50 | color Keds are you wearing today?"
| | 02:52 | (Laughter.)
| | 02:56 | Madelyn Hammond: You are brave.
| | 02:59 | Next question to Bonnie.
| | 03:00 | Bonnie, about 20 years or so that you
had to keep the faith for- to make
| | 03:04 | The Last Station, how did you do that?
| | 03:07 | How did you just, one day just said, that is it.
| | 03:09 | I am moving on.
| | 03:10 | All my friends, all my relatives, are
sick of hearing me talk about this film.
| | 03:13 | What was it that kept it going?
| | 03:14 | Bonnie Arnold: Well, I will
just tell you really quickly.
| | 03:18 | The first time I found out about the book, The
Last Station, was from the actor Anthony Quinn.
| | 03:23 | I worked with him on a film called
Revenge, and he bought the book for himself
| | 03:27 | to play Tolstoy, and asked me if I
wanted to get involved with the project with
| | 03:31 | him as the producer, and I knew
it was a good movie, would be.
| | 03:34 | I had read the book. I thought
this is a movie I would want to see.
| | 03:37 | And whenever you are involved in a
project over the long haul, and I guess when
| | 03:43 | I made the transition from live action
to animation, it was a big change because
| | 03:48 | a day in live action is equal
to about a week in animation.
| | 03:51 | It's like the sprint and a marathon.
| | 03:52 | So I was sort of, I had gotten
used to this whole marathon thing.
| | 03:55 | But I think when you have a project
over a 20 year period or involved with it,
| | 03:58 | you have to sort out there are
days that you are just not working.
| | 04:00 | You cannot think about it at all.
| | 04:02 | And then there are times when you are
just like, Okay, now I am going to get
| | 04:05 | back into it again, and I am going to
figure out how to take the next step.
| | 04:08 | And I think it's almost like when you are
wanting to be in the business or looking for a job.
| | 04:12 | You just have to keep putting it out there.
| | 04:14 | Any time, sometimes, I did not work
on it for a while, and things were not
| | 04:18 | going, you know, nothing
was happening on a project.
| | 04:21 | But then I would meet somebody and I said,
and I would think in my head, this is
| | 04:23 | the person I am going to
mention The Last Station to.
| | 04:26 | And it ended up that a producer friend
of mine in LA that I had mentioned the
| | 04:30 | project to, just as sort of
venting one day about what I'm going to do,
| | 04:34 | I think I am just going to-- I do
not know what to do with it anymore.
| | 04:37 | I had mentioned it to her.
| | 04:38 | It ended up she had produced a
Michael Hoffman film a number of years ago.
| | 04:44 | Michael Hoffman ended up
directing The Last Station.
| | 04:47 | So she called me one day and she said,
you know, Michael Hoffman is interested,
| | 04:50 | this director, and he was
interested in this project.
| | 04:53 | And would you like to meet him?
| | 04:54 | And that was the thing, the final
thing, that actually came together that
| | 04:58 | actually made the film so.
| | 05:00 | I think it is about, like I said,
just keep putting it out there.
| | 05:02 | Something is going to snap at some point.
| | 05:05 | And then a lot belief actually in the
book author, I mean belief in me, by
| | 05:10 | the book author as well to sort of keep
encouraging me "we are going to get this movie."
| | 05:14 | Madelyn Hammond: But also you were fortunate
in that you could do your day job and keep the
| | 05:18 | animation thing going.
| | 05:20 | Your bosses were
understanding, and they let you -
| | 05:22 | Bonnie Arnold: Oh, yes, lots
of thanks to Jeffrey Katzenberg.
| | 05:24 | Who sort of I worked for and
produce animation for, and has sort of allowed
| | 05:30 | me the space to also do
The Last Station on the side.
| | 05:33 | Madelyn Hammond: Great.
I just think that's so great.
| | 05:36 | So, next question is directed to both Erin
and Amanda because they are both teachers.
| | 05:41 | Erin, Professor of Playwriting.
| | 05:43 | Before that I think you also taught at
Brown and Duke, and you as well like to
| | 05:48 | teach, if I am not mistaken,
Documentaries and Fiction Directing.
| | 05:51 | What was it that draws both of you?
| | 05:52 | I will start with Amanda first.
| | 05:53 | What draws you to teaching?
| | 05:55 | And is that just been something that
you always wanted to do, or you feel what
| | 05:59 | is your way of giving back?
| | 06:01 | Amanda Pope: No, it is really interesting.
| | 06:02 | I teach in the Production Division at
USC and I did not go into teaching
| | 06:09 | until I was 50 and we are talking 20 years ago.
| | 06:14 | So, I was - I did not even - I was too,
too busy making films and then there
| | 06:23 | came a point when practically I needed
as a documentary filmmaker, very often
| | 06:28 | we are doing what we call righteous projects.
| | 06:31 | So, current one that I am doing with a
former student, Tchavdar Georgiev, who
| | 06:35 | has been out for ten years is a
film to help this museum in Uzbekistan.
| | 06:40 | And there is no way that we
could get major funding for this.
| | 06:46 | And so for me teaching was both a way
to connect across generations, and I love
| | 06:54 | working across generations.
| | 06:56 | It is so stimulating. It's just fun.
| | 07:02 | Also, I think that practically speaking,
a university is a safe harbor for a
| | 07:13 | filmmaker on one condition.
| | 07:15 | Do not go to a university to teach early
on in your career because then you will
| | 07:20 | be slid in there as an adjunct.
| | 07:23 | Go to a university once you have major credits.
| | 07:27 | Then you come in with a certain amount
of authority, and then you have to have a
| | 07:34 | lot of energy. Because we are expected,
even though you get, I have tenure,
| | 07:39 | we are expected to be fully
functioning in our field.
| | 07:42 | So that means making
films and teaching full-time.
| | 07:46 | So you have to love what you do.
| | 07:48 | Madelyn Hammond: Erin?
| | 07:50 | Erin Cressida: She answered
the question for me in many ways.
| | 07:53 | You know, I am in agreement with all of
that, and sort of did the similar thing
| | 08:00 | at a different age but the number one word
that I took from what you said is fun.
| | 08:07 | I ran into a couple of students before
I came on stage, and I went from I am
| | 08:13 | nervous, I am going to get a migraine.
| | 08:15 | I hope that I am okay, my hair sucks,
it always sucks, they are going to put
| | 08:21 | pictures on the internet of me, I am
going to-- My ex-boyfriends will see them,
| | 08:26 | and then I saw my students and I was
completely taken out of my neurotic head.
| | 08:33 | And they delight me.
| | 08:37 | And I teach up here but I live in
Santa Monica and sometimes I am like,
| | 08:41 | uh, I have to drive
all the way to Santa Barbara.
| | 08:44 | And then I get into class, and the
spirit and the energy that happens when I
| | 08:51 | get to teach them.
| | 08:53 | And they get to teach me also, and
I have learned so much from them.
| | 08:58 | And as a writer, I am really
sequestered within a room that is inside my own
| | 09:05 | fantasies so much, and it is so
glorious, but it is also so dementing that to
| | 09:11 | come out and to give back and to teach,
and to be refreshed with the fountain
| | 09:17 | of youth is amazing.
| | 09:19 | And the final reason, and this is
a very big reason I teach also is
| | 09:23 | freedom, artistic freedom.
| | 09:26 | So I do not have to take
a job I do not want to take.
| | 09:30 | I do not even really have to work in a
film in order to make money because I
| | 09:36 | make a living as a teacher.
| | 09:38 | And that way I can-- I make things that
I want to make, and that is, if it were
| | 09:45 | not that way, I do not think I could do it.
| | 09:49 | Madelyn Hammond: It's interesting that
your teaching is funding your film career.
| | 09:52 | I would have thought it would have been
your film career funding your teaching.
| | 09:55 | That's kind of cool.
| | 09:58 | Rachel talk to us about the crazy Coen
brothers. What it is that they look for
| | 10:02 | because they cast all these very
interesting character type people?
| | 10:07 | So as a casting person this must be
incredibly challenging but it must
| | 10:12 | be difficult because--
| | 10:13 | Rachel Tenner: But it is
way more fun than difficulty.
| | 10:16 | Madelyn Hammond: Absolutely.
| | 10:17 | Rachel Tenner: I mean besides just
A Serious Man but all their movies.
| | 10:20 | They are the most open to different
looks and personalities and they love the
| | 10:26 | more awkward, or the more character,
the more you know something off on them,
| | 10:30 | they just embrace it so much.
| | 10:31 | So it is so fun because once you
kind of click into what they want...
| | 10:36 | I'll walk on the street and I will see
somebody and say, oh my god that's such a
| | 10:39 | Coen brother face and sometimes I am
kind of crazy that I can stop them and get
| | 10:43 | their name or I will take it as far--
| | 10:45 | Madelyn Hammond: Is that a compliment?
| | 10:47 | Rachel Tenner: Yeah, exactly. It can be.
| | 10:49 | But it is funny because it is such a
pleasure not to have to work on movies
| | 10:54 | where everyone has to be
pretty and young and this or that.
| | 10:58 | Like they really celebrate every style
of person and it is really a joy to cast.
| | 11:04 | And they let you take it as far as you want to.
| | 11:07 | For "A Serious Man," I keep
wanting to say "A Single Man."
| | 11:10 | We have been doing all day long.
| | 11:10 | Well I did "A Single Man."
No, what I did is "A Serious Man."
| | 11:13 | I would literally hang out in the back
of the synagogues every weekend and just
| | 11:17 | like look at everybody.
| | 11:18 | And then at kiddush, I would go up and
introduce myself and say I am working on a
| | 11:22 | movie and just pull people
in from it and they love it.
| | 11:26 | They think it is great, they think it is such a--
and they get a lot of joy out of it too.
| | 11:30 | So the process is really quite, and it
is like Joan saying before about having
| | 11:35 | the autonomy because they
don't have to answer to anybody.
| | 11:38 | So you really get to just do your business.
| | 11:41 | Madelyn Hammond: In temple they
probably thought it was the Coen brothers.
| | 11:44 | Rachel Tenner: Yeah, that was in Minneapolis
so they were all like "of course I know their
| | 11:48 | father, I know their
mother, I know their sister."
| | 11:51 | And then they would ask me "are you
Joel Tenner's sister?" And I go, oh my God,
| | 11:55 | because I am Chicago and from a
conservative Jewish community too, so they all
| | 11:59 | know each other. It was really funny.
| | 12:03 | Madelyn Hammond: God, I
just -- can you imagine though?
| | 12:06 | Did you ever go to them and say I
have someone in mind and they were like,
| | 12:09 | that's almost too quirky?
| | 12:11 | Rachel Tenner: Oh, yeah.
| | 12:11 | Madelyn Hammond: Really?
| | 12:12 | Rachel Tenner: Oh for sure.
| | 12:12 | Madelyn Hammond: Then you
know that you are really --
| | 12:13 | Rachel Tenner: There is a fine line
that can go into like too cartoony.
| | 12:19 | Like we don't wanted to be too cartoony
or too grotesque or too something but
| | 12:24 | it is a really great pleasure.
| | 12:26 | I do. I feel so lucky.
| | 12:28 | I just actually got back from working
on a True Grit, which is their new one,
| | 12:32 | which is the Western and
a remake of the old Western.
| | 12:34 | And I just was in the South for 13
weeks and saw 5,000 girls, read 2,000 and one
| | 12:41 | has a final callback actually today to
see if she is going to get the movie.
| | 12:44 | But you know they are just so open to
just finding anybody. Do you know what I mean?
| | 12:49 | Because they want that excitement.
| | 12:52 | Madelyn Hammond: Now is that going to be
challenging doing True Grit since it is a remake cause...?
| | 12:56 | Rachel Tenner: Not for them.
| | 12:57 | Jeff Bridges is going to be Rooster
Cogburn and Matt Damon is the Glen Campbell
| | 13:02 | role and Josh Brolin is Tom Chaney.
| | 13:06 | Then hopefully this girl from
Austin can be the Kim Darby role.
| | 13:09 | But she is truly 14, so they are not
going to do a 23-year-old playing 14.
| | 13:13 | So, that's good.
| | 13:16 | Madelyn Hammond: Well since we are talking about
casting, I can't help to talk about Gabby Sidibe
| | 13:19 | who is in Precious and even though
I know that, Sarah, from conversations
| | 13:24 | that we have had that you were
there almost every step of the way.
| | 13:26 | Did you know when Gabby walked in that room?
| | 13:28 | I have heard Lee tell the story and many
of you may have heard that they auditioned
| | 13:33 | a million people and it was very
important to him to have that authenticity that
| | 13:37 | this character really be Precious.
| | 13:39 | But she walked in, did you know?
| | 13:41 | Sarah Siegel Magness: Well the thing was that,
we had a camp for like, first of all it was 500.
| | 13:47 | We solicited everywhere for a Precious
because it would be nearly impossible
| | 13:52 | to cast in Hollywood.
| | 13:54 | (Laughter.)
| | 13:57 | Sarah Siegel Magness: So then we had about--
Madelyn Hammond: Full figure.
| | 13:59 | Sarah Siegel Magness: Yeah,
then we have about 500 girls.
| | 14:02 | We narrowed it down to a small group
that we had sort of like a Precious camp
| | 14:06 | where we had an acting coach that went
through and worked with these girls, none
| | 14:10 | of which were actors, and to
see which one we wanted to choose.
| | 14:16 | Well, then Gabby comes.
| | 14:18 | Billy Hopkins actually in New York
finds her and I remember Lee and I were
| | 14:24 | actually away on vacation for my
birthday and he shows me this video and I mean
| | 14:32 | I can't explain to you how incredible
this audition tape is and I actually think
| | 14:36 | it is in YouTube, if you
guys ever want to. Fun facts.
| | 14:40 | But you can watch it and Gabby is so
different from Precious and to see that audition tape,
| | 14:48 | I mean she blew us away and
then it was like, oops sorry girls.
| | 14:51 | So all the girls that have been doing this camp.
| | 14:54 | Gabby stole it, but she really was...
| | 14:57 | I mean we knew that was it.
| | 14:58 | All of us were like, okay it is done.
| | 14:59 | But it was a very interesting process
and Lee is super open as well and he works
| | 15:05 | with Billy Hopkins, but to finding
talent in really different places and you can
| | 15:11 | see that in the casting of this film.
| | 15:14 | Madelyn Hammond: Bonnie, I have got to
talk for a second about distribution.
| | 15:20 | When I first met you, which was at
Telluride, which was the very, I think if I am
| | 15:23 | not mistaken, the first time
The Last Station was screened.
| | 15:25 | Bonnie Arnold: Yes.
| | 15:26 | Madelyn Hammond: And then it was
picked up eventually by Sony Classics.
| | 15:28 | Bonnie Arnold: Correct.
| | 15:30 | Madelyn Hammond: Did you along the way though
have in mind if this doesn't get picked up by
| | 15:33 | distributor, I want to get this thing seen?
| | 15:35 | Obviously it has got Helen Mirren and
just amazing cast. Christopher Plummer.
| | 15:39 | Did you have kind of an
alternative plan B in mind?
| | 15:44 | Bonnie Arnold: Well no, because everyone turned
down, including Sony Classics at first, and the
| | 15:51 | great thing about Telluride, the film
festival in Telluride which is every Labor
| | 15:55 | Day weekend, which I can't say enough
great things about, is the audience,
| | 16:00 | the response of the audience.
| | 16:01 | And it is not a real sales festival, but
it happened that Sony Pictures Classics
| | 16:07 | was there and saw the response to the
movie of the audience and it is just
| | 16:12 | ultimately a business decision.
| | 16:14 | They thought they could actually make
money on the film because people would
| | 16:17 | actually go see it.
| | 16:18 | And they end up picking up the film
after that, but it was frightening in a way.
| | 16:23 | Especially I am sure for the bank
because they are the ones that took the
| | 16:26 | biggest risk and it is
just unbelievably difficult.
| | 16:31 | I am not sure what we would have done.
| | 16:33 | I mean I had been reading and talking
and talking with the other producers and
| | 16:39 | myself and try to figure out what would
we have done. Because there actually are
| | 16:43 | a lot of films that don't get seen,
good films that don't get seen, and even
| | 16:48 | more difficult these days with the
demise of the sort of more independent arms
| | 16:57 | of the majors and some of these
just independent distribution companies.
| | 17:01 | So definitely the dynamics
of the business is changing.
| | 17:04 | So I am not sure.
| | 17:06 | I don't know what would we have done.
| | 17:08 | I hear all these ones about now there
are some companies that do sort of this
| | 17:13 | premier on cable and direct to video but
that's not the ideal thing when you make
| | 17:19 | a film that you wanted to be seen
in movie theaters and that's I think
| | 17:24 | everybody's first choice.
| | 17:25 | Madelyn Hammond: Especially
for a film like Last Station.
| | 17:27 | I can't really see the YouTube crowd
necessarily or the Netflix crowd doing it.
| | 17:32 | Well Netflix actually would.
| | 17:34 | I was looking at some data recently
about independent film and there is like 11
| | 17:39 | different ways to release a film now.
| | 17:42 | You have theatrical, you have the
downloads, you have got video on demand,
| | 17:45 | you have the hybrid forms.
| | 17:47 | There are so many different ways,
which is good for emerging filmmakers.
| | 17:50 | But for established actors it
presents a little bit of a challenge.
| | 17:52 | Bonnie Arnold: Even with our cast.
| | 17:54 | I mean this is the stuff
that people say all the time.
| | 17:56 | Even with your cast, I mean Helen
Mirren and Christopher Plummer, James McAvoy,
| | 18:00 | Paul Giamatti, nobody wanted to--
nobody thought everyone would go see it.
| | 18:03 | Whatever they thought.
| | 18:04 | I mean it is just as quite amazing.
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Giving back| 00:00 | (Music playing.)
| | 00:07 | Madelyn Hammond: Sarah, so in addition to all
the things that you and you mentioned you're from the
| | 00:10 | business world also you're very
begin to giving back in philanthropy.
| | 00:14 | So I know you do the Food Banks and
Energy UP Organization, Fresh Air Fund.
| | 00:20 | Was this something that was kind of
engrained in you from your parents something
| | 00:23 | you did based on your desires or how
did it come about and how active are you
| | 00:29 | still today with limited time?
| | 00:30 | Sarah Siegel Magness: Oh, we're very active.
| | 00:34 | This movie has given my husband and I
an opportunity to really help people in
| | 00:40 | a way that philanthropy does without having it be
philanthropy, with spreading a positive message.
| | 00:45 | I mean ultimately this film is about hope
and we hope that people take that message away.
| | 00:51 | But actually my husband and I are
building with the Fresh Air Fund, a Camp
| | 00:56 | Precious, which we haven't really
talked about, that will house 209
| | 01:02 | campers, inner city girls that are
underprivileged, and it will focus on literacy.
| | 01:08 | We're really excited about it.
| | 01:10 | We're dedicating a library of like
the best works to Sapphire and we'll
| | 01:16 | continue to fund this for a long time and
hopefully get a few other people involved in it.
| | 01:22 | But I love film, because you really
can do what you do with philanthropy and
| | 01:31 | have it be a business and then also we
like to take it from film, but continue
| | 01:39 | to spread the message like that.
| | 01:40 | Once you make a film like Precious it's
impossible to stop thinking about those
| | 01:45 | girls and I think it would be
irresponsible of my husband and I and Lee Daniels
| | 01:52 | to really walk away from what
we've learned from this film.
| | 01:55 | So my job as a filmmaker, but also as a
philanthropist and businessperson is to
| | 02:00 | continue to help these girls on a very
personal level, whether it's giving time,
| | 02:06 | building Camp Precious or meeting
other organizations like today, Girls Inc.,
| | 02:13 | and figuring out ways to
continue to do the work.
[00:02:16.6 8]
Madelyn Hammond: Well, it's in extending that
message so it goes way beyond when the film is
| | 02:21 | out of the theatres and you've kind of lit the
fire and now you're just fanning the flame.
| | 02:26 | That's a nice thing.
| | 02:28 | It's good.
| | 02:30 | (Applause.)
| | 02:35 | Amanda, talk to us about it.
| | 02:37 | It doesn't have to necessarily be
philanthropy, but I'm sure along the wayswith
| | 02:41 | the work that you've done, you've must
have come across, particularly with the
| | 02:44 | former USSR and the other film that
you've mentioned, along the way where you
| | 02:48 | were just touched in such a way you thought
I've got to do more and what can I do
| | 02:52 | and get involved?
| | 02:53 | Amanda Pope: Well, really I think the current
film that Tchavdar Georgiev and I are doing,
| | 02:58 | The Desert Of Forbidden Art, is a
wonderful example of something that we--
| | 03:04 | An art collection and stories that we
found out about doing another project and we
| | 03:10 | were just-- It was so impossible,
we immediately became interested.
| | 03:15 | Then the whole idea of doing a film
that could bring a collection that was
| | 03:23 | close to inaccessible.
| | 03:25 | You can go to the city where this collection is.
| | 03:28 | It's in Nukus. It's the far western desert of
Uzbekistan and when we were filming there it
| | 03:35 | got to be 122 degrees.
[00:03:37.38
So I mean you can go there in the summer.
| | 03:40 | You can in the winter.
| | 03:41 | It gets below 30.
| | 03:44 | It's not-- The film can bring this
collection of 40,000 paintings and graphic art,
| | 03:55 | which are really, it's a
missing chapter of Russian art history.
| | 03:58 | And if by doing the film we can
bring international attention to this
| | 04:04 | collection, which will protect it.
| | 04:07 | Because once it's known we have the
paintings there somebody can't just go in
| | 04:12 | and say well I think I'll take this home with
me, if you're a bureaucrat or wicked person.
| | 04:21 | So by doing the film and then we hope
to be able to-- We're working on doing
| | 04:30 | a book to go with it.
| | 04:32 | People, universities, many people can
have access to this art and they can
| | 04:40 | study it and at the same time mobilize
support and interest in this museum and
| | 04:47 | hopefully turn around the whole
attitude of the Uzbekistan government, which
| | 04:55 | can-- One can do well to push them in a
progressive direction and if they could
| | 05:03 | only see this collection as a way to bring
people to their country and also bring resources.
| | 05:11 | It's great to do a film that is
challenging aesthetically and then as well can
| | 05:21 | open people's hearts and their aesthetics.
| | 05:25 | So that's what the film can do.
I mean that's what our hope for it is.
| | 05:31 | Madelyn Hammond: Is there
going to be a book as well so that?
| | 05:34 | Amanda Pope: That's what we hope,
| | 05:36 | in the shameless promotion department.
| | 05:38 | We do need to raise the funding for it,
but we have two wonderful people that we
| | 05:45 | hope to work with here in Santa Barbara.
| | 05:50 | So just as you say, once you
do a film you don't walk away.
| | 05:54 | People say, what's your next project?
| | 05:57 | The next project is putting this film
out in the world, getting the book done,
| | 06:04 | taking it to Russia.
| | 06:05 | Can you imagine in Russia
people have never seen this art?
| | 06:09 | They're going to flip.
| | 06:11 | It's these artists went from Russia
to Uzbekistan and got inspired just as
| | 06:19 | Gauguin went to Tahiti.
| | 06:21 | So it's great.
| | 06:22 | It's hard work, but it's great.
| | 06:24 | Madelyn Hammond: Are you using social networking
or anything viral since the budget is limited in
| | 06:28 | terms of getting a word out?
| | 06:30 | Amanda Pope: My partner Tchavdar is teaching
me about social networking and we are moving in
| | 06:37 | that direction and thanks to him
I may even learn what to do when I get
| | 06:44 | something saying in Facebook
when somebody wants to add me to.
| | 06:48 | Madelyn Hammond: Could be your ex-boyfriend.
| | 06:50 | Ask Erin about that.
| | 06:51 | (Laughter.)
| | 06:52 | Amanda Pope: But I think actually social
networking is the way for us in the nonprofit world
| | 07:00 | and for those of us who have a small
idea or big idea, it is the way for us to
| | 07:05 | get our message out there.
| | 07:07 | Madelyn Hammond: Particularly with a
limited budget and a message like that.
| | 07:10 | On How to Train Your Dragon.
| | 07:13 | Bonnie, are you guys do anything
special with respect of viral marketing?
| | 07:18 | Madelyn Hammond: I guess you
don't really need to for a film that big.
| | 07:22 | Bonnie Arnold: What aren't we doing?
| | 07:23 | So this is my film that's coming out on
March 26th, if you don't mind me saying,
| | 07:30 | from DreamWorks Animation
called How to Train Your Dragon.
| | 07:32 | So this is a big whole animated movie.
| | 07:37 | We're doing everything, all over the place.
| | 07:39 | I mean we have websites and I mean
over the next six weeks to be honest with
| | 07:44 | you, we're working on it, because this is
of day and date world-wide release in 3D.
| | 07:48 | Madelyn Hammond: In 3D?
| | 07:49 | Bonnie Arnold: Moving up to that we'll be doing--
I think we'll be doing a lot of that type of
| | 07:53 | thing and I know we have a website.
| | 07:55 | We have all types of things.
| | 07:57 | Madelyn Hammond: It's funny you can do such a
small film like Last Station with a somewhat older
| | 08:03 | cast and then complete other direction
at the same time, because you are still
| | 08:07 | juggling Last Station.
| | 08:08 | Bonnie Arnold: It's definitely a whole--
It's just so interesting just to study and just a
| | 08:16 | completely different thing.
| | 08:17 | There's never been, like Precious,
there's probably never been a real more
| | 08:20 | independent film than Last Station in
terms of raising the money completely from
| | 08:24 | whatever, versus a big studio film.
| | 08:27 | And it's just interesting the
differences and the types of things that you have
| | 08:32 | to be concerned about on a daily basis.
| | 08:33 | Madelyn Hammond: But Amanda,
it's about the last days of Tolstoy.
| | 08:35 | So there's a whole Russia.
| | 08:36 | Bonnie Arnold: Yeah, we have a connection
in the whole Russia thing, because
| | 08:39 | definitely we get to have support of
the Tolstoy family when making The Last Station.
| | 08:44 | Amanda Pope: In last February I was in
Russia and was in the Tolstoy home in Moscow.
| | 08:50 | In a snow storm you look outside the
room where Tolstoy was and it's snowing
| | 08:56 | outside and there are Russian
crows on the trees, oh, my goodness!
| | Collapse this transcript |
| Special challenges| 00:00 | (Music playing.)
| | 00:07 | Madelyn Hammond: So, Joan there are some not so
great statistics out about there is fewer women
| | 00:11 | directors and editors this year than last year.
| | 00:13 | It seems like there is sort of
downward spiral which makes me unhappy.
| | 00:17 | It seems like the writers are maintaining but.
| | 00:20 | Talk to us about this.
| | 00:21 | Is there something going on?
| | 00:23 | Do we need to mentor more?
| | 00:24 | Is it that girls just don't feel like
this is an avenue that they could take?
| | 00:29 | Joan Sobel: Well, I definitely think we
need to mentor more, but it's really and
| | 00:33 | especially with editing, I think it's
really difficult because the technology
| | 00:38 | has changed and before when you would
be editing on film, your assistants would
| | 00:44 | be in the room with you and
they'd really learn about editing.
| | 00:49 | That doesn't happen anymore, which is
really sad, with Avid and Final Cut.
| | 00:55 | Now even with Final Cut,
people are cutting at home.
| | 00:58 | I think it's really difficult to
break in and to really learn the craft.
| | 01:04 | I think it's sad that there is
no real apprenticeship anymore.
| | 01:08 | Because we really did learn the craft
that way and I think in many it shows.
| | 01:14 | But as far as women it's just--
it hasn't changed that much, which is very sad.
| | 01:23 | I wish it was. I mean at least there
is one woman now up for best director.
| | 01:31 | (Applause.)
| | 01:34 | And a wonderful movie she did.
| | 01:36 | I think Hurt Locker is a fantastic
film, but it's just so difficult and
| | 01:42 | it's frustrating.
| | 01:43 | I think it's frustrating also in
editing, because in many ways editing used
| | 01:48 | to, be way back when movies started, it used
to be a field that was relegated to women.
| | 01:54 | It was considered like sewing or something.
| | 01:58 | Then things changed, it became
prestigious and as soon as
| | 02:03 | there was a width of prestige attached to it,
then men moved in and the women went out.
| | 02:10 | Actually it's interesting because one of
the women who I think is one of--
| | 02:14 | not even that she is a woman, but
who's the greatest editor is Dede Allen who
| | 02:18 | you mentioned before.
| | 02:22 | It's kind of interesting, because when
Dede Allen cut Bonnie & Clyde, it sort
| | 02:27 | of changed the face of the
editing. In the United States, anyway.
| | 02:30 | As soon as that happen I think a lot
more man went into it and it's sad.
| | 02:37 | It's like a woman led the
way, but the door is closed.
| | 02:41 | Madelyn Hammond: Well, Kathryn Bigelow,
similarly because the film that she directed that she is
| | 02:46 | nominated for it, isn't a
typical woman, woman type thing.
| | 02:48 | Joan Sobel: No.
| | 02:49 | Madelyn Hammond: So it's kind of interesting.
| | 02:51 | So may be it will open up more doors.
| | 02:53 | Although, I am pleased to say that for those
who follow the box office that a chick flick,
| | 02:59 | the ultimate chick-flick, Dear John, was
the film that unseated Avatar after seven
| | 03:05 | weeks, the largest grossing film of all times.
| | 03:08 | So there is a lot of power in
women in terms of going to the movies.
| | 03:14 | So I wanted to, I am going to ask --
I am going to open this up to anybody, but
| | 03:18 | I am going start with Bonnie.
| | 03:20 | Bonnie, has there ever been a time, and
you have been in the business for a long time,
| | 03:24 | but has there ever been a time
that you are just like, sometimes I feel
| | 03:30 | like I am going to be found out to be
the imposter I am, like how did I get
| | 03:34 | this, what am I doing?
| | 03:35 | (Murmured agreement.)
| | 03:37 | There is book that I thought was
phenomenal called the Imposter Phenomenon and
| | 03:41 | it's very prevalent amongst women.
| | 03:43 | So I want to open this and see if
anybody feel sometime like gosh, I just hope
| | 03:47 | that I can continue to do the
job I do and keep under the radar.
| | 03:51 | Bonnie Arnold: I mean I say this with all modesty,
but I don't feel like I am an imposter at all.
| | 03:58 | I feel like I worked my ass
off to get where I am now.
| | 04:01 | (Laughter and applause.)
| | 04:07 | But I do feel that I had an
incredible amount of good luck, but I think you
| | 04:12 | also have to make your luck, because
you have to be ready to take advantage of
| | 04:17 | every opportunity.
| | 04:18 | I've been very fortunate enough just
in that I am not living on any kind of trust
| | 04:25 | fund or anything like that and I
wasn't sleeping with anyone in the business
| | 04:29 | or whatever, but I worked really hard.
| | 04:33 | I was willing to do just about anything
and I think, like I say this is in all
| | 04:38 | modesty, I always wanted to
work in the film business.
| | 04:42 | I think again it's just about taking
advantage of these opportunities and being
| | 04:49 | willing to take certain risks,
calculated risks, whether it would be financial or
| | 04:54 | otherwise for a little money.
| | 04:56 | I feel like, I never took a job,
because of the money, I just didn't. But then I
| | 05:01 | was fortunate enough to be able to
have a very supportive husband who played
| | 05:07 | that game with me a bit in terms of
going on locations for a long amount of time
| | 05:12 | or taking something that I thought was
going to get me to the next job or what
| | 05:15 | next, you know position wise.
| | 05:16 | Madelyn Hammond: Now that's interesting because
you have a supporting husband and I met Sarah's
| | 05:20 | husband Gary, is that both of them
have to realize that this not just a hobby,
| | 05:25 | this is what you do and they have to
kind of step up and they do, right.
| | 05:28 | Bonnie Arnold: Right.
| | 05:31 | Well, I think it's like, I think my
husband at least realized I was really
| | 05:35 | passionate about what that thing I
wanted to do and I have one daughter.
| | 05:40 | He really helped me with her
and support her and be around for her
| | 05:49 | when the things came up.
| | 05:52 | Also I think, I will tell you what he
is really good about, I wish he was here
| | 05:55 | to hear this, but he always gave the man's
perspective on things, because the film business
| | 05:59 | is very much, a very, very especially
as I was coming up through the film business
| | 06:03 | and I have been working in the
film business for almost 30 years now.
| | 06:08 | It's gotten better, a lot more women
and stuff, but it was really a man's world
| | 06:11 | and he would always come in and we
would talk and he would say, "you know what a
| | 06:14 | guy do, they would blah,
blah, blah" and I go, oh!
| | 06:16 | And I never though that,
because I don't think that way.
| | 06:18 | I am a woman.
| | 06:20 | So that was actually quite-- he was
my coach and gave me really great advice
| | 06:25 | about doing to that world.
| | 06:26 | Amanda Pope: My husband
is the complete opposite.
| | 06:29 | He does not want to talk, he does not want to.
| | 06:32 | He literally at every event, it's
like I am not saying word, but he is an
| | 06:37 | amazing supporter and I think that
when we ventured into the movies.
| | 06:42 | He did not expect to be where we
are now, obviously in the Oscar race.
| | 06:48 | I am not sure he doesn't resent it a little.
| | 06:52 | But it's hard. I mean this sounds funny,
but there is lot of expectations out
| | 06:57 | there when you get into something not
totally knowing if it's exactly what you
| | 07:01 | want to do and then finding out that
your wife is in love with the business and
| | 07:05 | then and all the exposure and all of that.
| | 07:08 | It can be hard on a relationship.
| | 07:10 | I mean it was hard working with him on
this film, because we had to deal with
| | 07:14 | a lot of issues on Precious, but
ultimately I think it's great to be able to work
| | 07:19 | with your family if you can or have a
husband that supports what you are doing.
| | 07:23 | Madelyn Hammond: What about you guys?
| | 07:25 | Did you ever have those feelings where
you are gripped with like oh, my God?
| | 07:28 | Rachel Tenner: Oh my God, l feel
that way every time I start a project.
| | 07:31 | I have at least three days prior to
project where I am like I have no idea
| | 07:34 | what I am doing.
| | 07:35 | I have never done it.
| | 07:36 | It's almost like I have never done it before.
| | 07:38 | I am starting a new movie now and I
needed get together like a list of British
| | 07:42 | actors, female actors, and I
was like, well, they don't exist.
| | 07:46 | I was just like, well, I can't think
of a single one and then I was like I
| | 07:50 | don't know what I am doing.
| | 07:52 | It's just like two days of that and all
of a sudden I was just-- then it just
| | 07:55 | leaves and then I start and
everything clicks and obviously.
| | 07:59 | But I think sometimes that neurosis
like actually gets me to work a little bit
| | 08:05 | harder and really stay super-focused.
| | 08:07 | But it did hear the story that Meryl
Streep like every movie she does a week in
| | 08:10 | to her movie she says "I don't know what I
am doing," and like wants to quit every movie.
| | 08:14 | Joan Sobel: She still thinks
she doesn't know how to act.
| | 08:17 | Rachel Tenner: Yeah, exactly. She says
she doesn't know how to act and everything.
| | 08:20 | Madelyn Hammond: I love that, I love rampant insecurity.
| | 08:21 | Rachel Tenner: Yes, exactly, exactly.
| | 08:23 | Joan Sobel: I think it's interesting
though that I never hear men say that.
| | 08:29 | Madelyn Hammond: No, I know.
| | 08:30 | Joan Sobel: Secretive, only once in a while, very
secretive, they'll say "I don't know what I am doing."
| | 08:36 | Rachel Tenner: Oh! You are
not hanging out with actors.
| | 08:38 | Joan Sobel: Oh! No that's true.
| | 08:38 | I am in the cutting room.
| | 08:41 | Rachel Tenner: All the
actors are like "I am the sh*t."
| | 08:41 | Joan Sobel: But I always feel that way,
always feel that way and most women that I speak to
| | 08:46 | always say the same thing like "I don't know."
| | 08:48 | "I have no idea what we are going to do."
| | 08:49 | When I made the switch from, because I
was a first assistant editor for a number
| | 08:57 | of years and worked with Quentin
Tarantino and Paul Thomas Anderson and
| | 09:00 | I worked with Sally Menke.
| | 09:03 | When I made the switch, I cut a 40
minute short and I was like I have no idea
| | 09:09 | what I am doing and the 40 minute short
ended up winning the Academy Award, but
| | 09:12 | you still have to go,
"I don't know how I did that."
| | 09:18 | Erin Cressida Wilson:
I am right on board with her.
| | 09:20 | I worked too hard to ever feel this way and
I don't, because it was too hard to get here.
| | 09:27 | I mean it was outrageously hard for me.
| | 09:31 | I have spent 20 years in New York
theater, which is, if you think it's hard to
| | 09:34 | get in the film business, try to
get into the New York Theater,
| | 09:38 | it's practically impossible.
| | 09:39 | I won't go into that right now,
although I have a whole thing on it.
| | 09:42 | But what I want to say is that when you
said I, for week and half, I don't know
| | 09:48 | who I am going to cast.
| | 09:48 | And Meryl Streep says I don't know how
to act, that's to me, that's part of the
| | 09:54 | creative process, that's part of a
blankness that is a gift, that you can go to
| | 10:03 | your beginner's mind and go "I'm
blank" and the steps starts to come in
| | 10:08 | in a pure way.
| | 10:10 | To have that ability and not be like
"I know exactly what I am going to do, I am
| | 10:12 | going to do this, I am going to
pitch it like this and blah, blah, blah."
| | 10:15 | It's like actually I am going to sit
back and it's going to come to me and I am
| | 10:19 | going to make something
quite hopefully beautiful.
| | 10:22 | So I think that insecurity
can be looked at as a gift.
| | 10:28 | Madelyn Hammond: Yeah, I would think because then
the process is much more organic, it just flows in
| | 10:33 | the way that it's supposed to
and it's different for each of us.
| | 10:36 | You don't strike me as ever
been insecure about anything?
| | 10:39 | Amanda Pope: Oh yeah. Actually I think the
margin or the measure of whether you are up to
| | 10:46 | something that's really sufficiently
challenging is if you feel that total
| | 10:55 | panic and openness.
| | 10:57 | I mean that is the measure that
you are really challenging yourself.
| | 11:02 | I think to say what I would say is
you want to in the same way as you go to
| | 11:08 | Gold's Gym, hopefully to stay in shape
or you run here, because it's beautiful.
| | 11:12 | You need to develop your psychic nerve,
you need to develop your ability to go
| | 11:20 | and do the most difficult thing in
front of you, because it's a more
| | 11:24 | interesting way to live.
| | 11:27 | Madelyn Hammond: Well put!
| | 11:28 | (Applause.)
| | 11:34 | So before we wrap I am going to ask one
question to each of you super fast and
| | 11:37 | we'll start with Erin.
| | 11:38 | Erin, no. There is no notes.
| | 11:41 | Joan Sobel: No notes!
| | 11:42 | Madelyn Hammond: If you could -- who's the one
person that you would want to work with for one year
| | 11:47 | if you could work with anybody?
| | 11:48 | Side-by-side who would it be?
| | 11:52 | Erin Cressida Wilson: Scorsese.
| | 11:53 | Madelyn Hammond: Scorsese. Rachel?
| | 11:56 | Rachel Tenner: Oh God, I can't answer.
| | 12:00 | I think Clint Eastwood.
| | 12:01 | Madelyn Hammond: Clint Eastwood. Joan.
| | 12:05 | Joan Sobel: Dede Allen.
| | 12:07 | Madelyn Hammond: Awww. But you
could work, you worked with Dede Allen.
| | 12:10 | Joan Sobel: No, I've
never worked with Dede Allen.
| | 12:12 | I worked with Carol Littleton
but I never worked with Dede Allen.
| | 12:14 | Madelyn Hammond: Okay, Amanda.
| | 12:15 | Amanda Pope: Well, I'll just like to
continue doing more projects with my current
| | 12:21 | partner Tchavdar Georgiev.
| | 12:22 | Madelyn Hammond: Wow!
| | 12:23 | Madelyn Hammond: I mean
we love working together.
| | 12:27 | Sarah Siegel: Mine so
commercial. Sandra Bullock.
| | 12:30 | Madelyn Hammond: Bonnie?
| | 12:32 | Bonnie Arnold: Living or dead?
| | 12:34 | Madelyn Hammond: Oh, living.
| | 12:35 | Bonnie Arnold: Oh, because I
was going to pick Irving Thalberg.
| | 12:37 | Madelyn Hammond: That would be good.
| | 12:40 | Bonnie Arnold: Yeah. If I could it over, it
would be Irving Thalberg's or David O Russell.
| | 12:44 | Madelyn Hammond: But what if they were living?
| | 12:45 | Bonnie Arnold: Living? That's a hard one,
but I almost have to pick Scorcese too.
| | 12:48 | I think he is one of the greatest living
filmmakers and I'd worked with lots of folks,
| | 12:53 | but I have never worked with him.
| | 12:53 | Madelyn Hammond: I'd pick George Clooney.
| | 12:54 | (Laughter.)
| | 13:00 | Madelyn Hammond: So guys
thank you, thanks everybody.
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