Examples of/interviews on less creative big budget films
October 15, 2019 10:02 AM Subscribe
I'm working with a hs student writing a thesis paper on low budget cult movies. We're looking for interviews/articles about filmmakers talking about how restricted creative freedom (due to studio constraints) made their film worse or unsuccessful. Bonus if the examples are comedies! Double bonus if they are from the 90's-00's!
Our googling fails us, and only offers lists of flops even though we know this info is out there somewhere. My student needs more detail than just lists and the actual words of a filmmaker would be wonderful. We have some tweets from the director of Fantastic Four, but that's it. TRIPLE bonus -- but not a necessity -- if any of this is in audio/video format because my student has some reading difficulties.
THANK YOU!
Our googling fails us, and only offers lists of flops even though we know this info is out there somewhere. My student needs more detail than just lists and the actual words of a filmmaker would be wonderful. We have some tweets from the director of Fantastic Four, but that's it. TRIPLE bonus -- but not a necessity -- if any of this is in audio/video format because my student has some reading difficulties.
THANK YOU!
Oh gosh, totally ignore my suggestion. I completely misread your question—I’m sorry!
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:34 AM on October 15, 2019
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:34 AM on October 15, 2019
The DVD of the movie Darkness Falls (2003) includes a commentary track by the screenwriter, who is very, very bitter about how studio interference ruined the movie, and is very unafraid to talk about it. It’s kind of hilarious.
posted by ejs at 10:43 AM on October 15, 2019
posted by ejs at 10:43 AM on October 15, 2019
There is a very charming anecdote as the first intro piece on some episode of This American Life (the episode name/number escapes me) from a screenwriter who tells the story of his fascination with the Cuban Revolution and how young the main figures in it were, and how his screenplay got turned by the studio into Dirty Dancing 2: Havana Nights.
posted by catesbie at 11:18 AM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by catesbie at 11:18 AM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
> a screenwriter who tells the story of his fascination with the Cuban Revolution
Sounds like Peter Sagal (host of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me)? Looks like it was in This American Life episode 383, "The Origin Story", rebroadcast later as Episode 535.
posted by gabey at 11:35 AM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
Sounds like Peter Sagal (host of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me)? Looks like it was in This American Life episode 383, "The Origin Story", rebroadcast later as Episode 535.
posted by gabey at 11:35 AM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
Blade Runner: Though it wasn't low-budget, it is certainly a cult classic, and an archetypal case of studio interference changing a film for the worse. The film wound up with an incongruous happy ending and widely-reviled voice-over narration, and has resulted in seven different releases to try to undo the damage. Quick googling brings up only a whole lot of listicles (e.g. this), but here's a quick video about the different versions, and the full story is told in the book Future Noir.
posted by googly at 11:35 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by googly at 11:35 AM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I listened to the autobiography of the Duplass brothers, "Like Brothers."
They wanted studio funding but couldn't get it in the beginning of their career, so their first films were super low-budget and self-funded, and they had full artistic freedom.
When they got their first studio contract, they got mired in bureaucracy, re-writes, and various other difficulties from the studio.
I honestly can't recall whether that film ended up getting made, or if they just canned it altogether, but the brothers learned that they need way more creative control than what that studio experience was letting them have. They would rather go low-budget than cede creative freedom.
If you find that book, it's definitely in there, but unfortunately, I can't find any excerpts that fit that section for you. (I got the audiobook free from my library, so that may be an option for your student?)
posted by hydra77 at 1:02 PM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
They wanted studio funding but couldn't get it in the beginning of their career, so their first films were super low-budget and self-funded, and they had full artistic freedom.
When they got their first studio contract, they got mired in bureaucracy, re-writes, and various other difficulties from the studio.
I honestly can't recall whether that film ended up getting made, or if they just canned it altogether, but the brothers learned that they need way more creative control than what that studio experience was letting them have. They would rather go low-budget than cede creative freedom.
If you find that book, it's definitely in there, but unfortunately, I can't find any excerpts that fit that section for you. (I got the audiobook free from my library, so that may be an option for your student?)
posted by hydra77 at 1:02 PM on October 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
Have you heard Kevin Smith’s story about the (never made) Superman Lives movie, with the giant spider?
Video part 1
Video part 2
posted by Huffy Puffy at 4:58 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Video part 1
Video part 2
posted by Huffy Puffy at 4:58 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Liam Neeson was so annoyed after The Phantom Menace that he announced he was quitting film for theater. (Link goes to the Guardian but references a full interview in Redbook.)
Sam Raimi has definitely talked about this too. The only links I found were short summaries of talks, not interviews though.
posted by mark k at 9:12 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Sam Raimi has definitely talked about this too. The only links I found were short summaries of talks, not interviews though.
posted by mark k at 9:12 PM on October 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Not really sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but the documentary Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau might be worth taking a look at.
posted by Bron at 10:57 AM on October 17, 2019
posted by Bron at 10:57 AM on October 17, 2019
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posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:33 AM on October 15, 2019