InsIder’s PoInt of VIew: dIrectIng
One to watch
been there before and, while my faults may otherwise generally beaten up by our talk.
be many, I do know enough to put on the Surprised that he had taken my comments
Directing
brakes when I am heading toward a cliff. I so personally, and having had a bad feeling
stopped everything, brought the crew back about the entire venture from the get-go, I
to the set, and restaged the entire scene as called the producer and bowed out of the
the actors were doing it, the two of them project. (I will admit to a bit of schadenfreude
just standing there talking, with a simple, when they made the film anyway, without
single moving shot which ended in a close- changing a word of the script, and it not
up on the one with the last word. only tanked financially but also managed
It worked flawlessly. Sometimes, and I say to alienate critics, adults and kids alike…)
this knowing full well that every writer out Contrast this with a recent experience I
there is about to nod quite smugly, the had with a young lady whose delightful if
director just needs to get out of the way. slightly muddled romantic comedy I had
Mike Reilly
Mike Reilly’s Road to Victory has garnered several
awards on the US film circuit. Having written and
Surprised that he had taken my comments so
directed the film, Reilly also stars as Elliot, a star
college athlete whose battle with a taboo medical
condition throws his life into turmoil.
personally, and having had a bad feeling about
What training have you received?
the entire venture from the get-go, I called the
I received my undergraduate education in theatre
and pre-med at UC Davis, as well as graduating from
producer and bowed out of the project.
the Vancouver Film School. However, the greatest
influence over me, and my work, has been literature.
I’d like to address just how powerful books can be,
as filmmakers should take note. In 1997, UCLA
But wouldn’t it be better if, instead of been hired to direct. After several tipsy
conducted a study with four groups of depressed
patients, each receiving different types of therapies:
getting out of the way, the director and the dinners full of laughter, arguments and tears
one received Prozac, group two received
writer could work hand in hand? as we reworked the script together it became
psychotherapy, the third received no treatment, and In the case of the writer SLASH director, an enchanting ratings hit for the network
the fourth were asked to read a book about Cognitive
this is practically a foregone conclusion of and an utterly wonderful time for all of us.
Behavioural Therapy, called Feeling Good by Dr. David
course. It is surely no coincidence that the Same methods, different results. It is all
Burns. The group that showed the greatest
improvement was the group that read the book. The
writer/producer driven world of television has about human interaction, I suppose; some
researchers were forced to conclude that this was a
been an endless series of static shots and of us are good at it, some of us are not.
new type of therapy, which they called Bibliotherapy. talking heads, at least until the recent But it is finally all about respecting each
The books that have had the greatest influence for me
explosion on the scene of the brilliant J. J. other’s territory, and the strengths and
as a filmmaker include The Hero with a Thousand
(Lost, Alias) Abrams, a writer/DIRECTOR/ weaknesses inherent within, and finding
Faces by Joeseph Campbell, and Love’s Hidden
Symmetry by Bert Hellinger. Both of these books not
producer who has brought some much needed some way to communicate; the ultimate
only changed me as a person, but describe for us
visual style to our TV sets. function of art.
with unwavering certainty why the elements of story However, when the writer and director are With this in mind, I sought out the young
truly are reflections of the human psyche. As such,
two distinct entities, both with hopefully woman whose script I had ruined, tracking
when these elements of story are tapped, we are
healthy egos, a certain détente is required. her down by way of her website. I had
allowed to experience the film on a purely emotional
level, which, as the great editor Walter Murch says,
The writer, responsible for giving birth, thought to, at the very most, ask her what
is every filmmaker’s ultimate goal. I personally feel
as it were, needs to understand that at a she felt I had done wrong or, at the very
that it is these sublime moments of humble insight certain point this kid is going to have to least, simply apologise for doing what I
that mark the greatest moments in a director’s career.
walk on its own. By the same token, the thought was right.
director must prepare the youngster for the But there, among some rather one-sided
What kind of projects attract you?
Stories that unflinchingly examine the human
world at large, hopefully by carefully discussions of her work, both cinematic
condition in all its flaws and wonders: how we
guiding it down the path to adulthood and literary, I was surprised to discover that
embody these characteristics differently as without grabbing it by the throat and while she publicly lamented what had
individuals as well as parts of a system. These are
slamming it against the nearest tree. happened to her precious screenplay, she
the stories that move people, stirring something
Unfortunately, there are no road maps for apparently did not harbour enough shame
within them that they could not look at before.
this particular journey. to keep her from posting the positive reviews
You’ll die happy when…
Several years ago I met with a writer to for the DVD.
I’ll die happy when moviemaking returns to its roots, discuss the changes I wanted in his script The notices were quite good, actually,
which is theatre. And I say that because the original
for a large scaled family film based on a and most of them commented on the slightly
intention of the theatre was to educate through
classic and much loved novel. Following tongue-in-cheek qualities of the performances,
entertainment. There have been movies over the years
that have moved us to think and feel in new ways,
what I thought had been a frank and friendly the sometimes-witty screenplay and the
offering us new perspectives and perhaps even
chat—he was, after all, an experienced robust energy of the direction. We managed
changing the way we live our own lives. Sadly, it is screenwriter with several produced credits to look pretty good together, the writer
not every year that we are lucky enough to experience
and was certainly used to some constructive and myself, even if we had only managed
such a film, but I’m hopeful that this will change. n
criticism—he sent me a long e-mail telling to do it while apart.
www.rtvfilm.com
me he had felt belittled, betrayed and Not bad for a ruined script. n
24 By fIlmmakers. for fIlmmakers.
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