Back in Blighty

Always nice to get back home, even after a short trip like last week. I managed to catch up with a few friends in LA but the schedule was very tight and I had a specific reason for going so it was all pretty focused on that one thing.  There are several directors being met and considered so I can’t/won’t be specific about what this is.  I’m also pretty sure I’m not at the top of anyone’s list for this gig, though god knows I pitched my little heart out for it.   I met with the producer  (even though arranging the meeting was like trying to juggle mercury) at the very swanky Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills and spent a pleasurable few hours chatting about his work and achievements as well as this project. He’s a director as well and it was really interesting listening to some of his war-stories. He’s not much older than I am but has been far more productive in his time and I was pretty blown away by that sheer heads-down determination and work ethic he’s got. Makes me feel like a lazy underachiever in comparison.  Though he’d seen Solomon Kane and really liked it, the film of mine that he dug most was WILDERNESS.  He responded to the strong performances of the young cast and sheer ferocity of the kills which I think plays to elements of this project.  Interestingly, Bill Duke was sitting just a few seats away… a sign perhaps? Perhaps not.  Then I met with the executives at the studio that’s financing.  Once again, a great meeting with a huge amount of positive energy and enthusiasm from me and them.  I came away thinking that – whoever gets the gig – they’re going to have a really passionate team behind them.   I know people really criticize ’studio executives’ en masse but so far it has been my experience that none of them are stupid and none of them are going out of their way to insult the intelligence of their audiences or make ‘bad’ movies.  And yet, so often in the mix things just don’t seem to go quite right.  On this trip I met the executive who put Terminator Salvation together and also the one helped put Wolverine together.  Neither entirely artistically successful films (in my opinion) despite huge resources and yet both executives loved and respected the source material and wanted to help make something truly special but things just got in the way.  (Their war-stories were something else, I can tell you.)  Part of it, of course, is the need to feed the studio machine itself which really doesn’t care about quality or artistry, simply the bottom line.  If you can somehow satisfy both then…. well, then you’re probably called James Cameron or Steven Spielberg or Robert Zemeckis or…. you get the idea.
Anyway, back home now and awaiting feedback from this trip. It’s a long shot but the game’s not over just yet.  I think I know who’s most likely to get the job out of the other names I’ve heard and if I’m right, then we’ll all get a great movie and if it’s me, we’ll then, we’ll get an even better one

~ by michaeljbassett on June 15, 2009.