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We have talked about this before,
but do bring us up to speed: Your new movie Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey - in a few words, what is it about?
It’s about first love and first sex under the looming shadow of the
H-bomb -- a time when, after the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, many were
convinced that World War Three was imminent and that it was entirely
possible "the world could end in 15 minutes.” Though not really autobiographical, the film is made up of fragments
from my own life and times — experiences I've had, places I’ve been,
people I’ve known, phrases I’ve heard, questions I’ve had. There
are many ideas I got from my father in the film (“four fingers”,
“I want the rent”), and I dedicated the film to his memory.
With Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey having been made in 2015, what made you want to
revisit the film now and release a director's cut?
Two things: Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey was always a passion project. I
wrote it in the ‘70s and it was slated to be the first feature film
production to be produced under an American Film Institute program to be
funded by the studios. George Stevens jr was head AFI and liked my
documentary work for David Wolper Productions and for the U.S.I.A. while
he headed it. Unfortunately, the studio deal fell through and the
production program never materialized. I put the screenplay on the shelf
where it stayed for 45 years until Jessica Sanders, my filmmaker
daughter, read it and said, “Dad, why don't you make it?”
By 2015, of course, the story had became a challenging period film with
all the locations, vehicles, costumes and everything else far more
expensive to replicate. Unwilling to update the time period which I felt
was essential to the story, and not having particular access to
production money, I decided to figure out a way to make the film on an
ultra low budget, taking advantage of the Screen Actor’s Guild special
ultra low budget contract. I decided the way to go was to shoot the film
using a small, but highly skilled, documentary crew and shoot it as if I
could go back in time and film, documentary style, two actual kids who
run off on a motorcycle up the coast of California. Having the
collaboration of my long-time cinema verité documentary cameraman Erik
Daarstad, was key to the project and I doubt if I could have made it without him.
The film was finished and released in 2017, and I was happy with it, and
happy I’d made it, but though it opened in two theaters in New York
and Los Angeles, there was no money for distribution, promotion,
advertising and publicity which any film needs to make itself visible in
the theatrical market. And, of course, though it introduced two
wonderful young actors, Mikey Madison and Sean H. Scully, it had no
stars to draw in audiences.
Flash forward: Recently, when Mikey began to emerge as a widely known
actress, and particularly after Anora won at Cannes, I realized Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey now had a star and decided Mikey’s debut film, deserved a second
chance with a “Director’s Cut”. In
what way has your new cut changed/improved your movie, and what was it
like revisiting Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey 10 years later? And in hindsight, would you have
done some things differently to begin with?
Sometime after the film was released in 2017, I realized that I’d
erred in a key element of my editing. The opening of the film wasn’t
strong enough, wasn’t powerful enough to convey the apocalyptic threat
of the BOMB. The story is “bookended” with the ritual (and stupid)
“duck and cover” drill in school, practicing sheltering under your
desk and protecting your head. A "duck and cover” PSA opens Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey and a school room "duck and cover” scene with Liza and her
classmates comes at the end. I realized that in my initial editing, the
drama of the existential threat of the H-bomb, which hangs, and must
hang, over the whole story of Liza and Brett wasn't clear enough. To
make it crystal clear, I reached back to a film I’d made for the USIA
in 1966 on the “avoidance of nuclear war” and pulled out a
terrifying, mind-numbing shot of an H-bomb blast and made it the first
shot of the film. That was the main, but very important, and to my mind,
crucial change in the director’s cut. What really
fascinated me about Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey was its very unexcited, slice-of-life approach -
so could you elaborate on this for a bit, and do you think this has to do
with your background in documentary filmmaking?
Definitely, this has to do with my background in documentary filmmaking.
Over the years, I’ve made 70 or 80 films, many of them cinema verité
with small (5 person) crews where we follow people with a (highly
skillful) handheld camera (which Erik Daarstad and a few other
cinematographers are capable of) and capture “life as it happens”,
capture “reality”. That was the feeling I wanted to achieve as
opposed to constructing a theatrical “photoplay”. We of
course have to address the elephant in the room, Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey was the feature film debut of current Academy
Award winner Mikey Madison - so what made you choose her back when,
what was it like working with her, and did you see or even imagine an
eventual Oscar in the cards for her?
Casting Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey was a challenging and fascinating experience. I knew
there was no way I could even think of starting the film without knowing
who was going to play Liza. I also decided, to make my life easier as a
director, I would cast an actual 15 year old actress rather than an 18
or 19 trying to play a 15 year old. I worked with two terrific casting
agents, Meg Morman and Sunny Boling who sent out a casting call and I
auditioned about a dozen young actresses. Mikey came with her
psychologist mother and did a short scene with another actor.
What struck me immediately about Mikey, besides her physical persona,
was that the lines she spoke from the screenplay never sounded
“read”. They always seemed to be spontaneous, “coming from the heart".
Mikey was always very focused, very hard working. Both she and Sean came
up with many ideas for their characters. My main job was closely
observing, giving them notes and “direction” and making sure I felt
it always felt “real” as opposed to “theatrical".
As far as my “imagining" an Oscar in her or Sean’s future, the
reality is I’ve produced and directed or co-directed three dramatic
feature films over the years, and each one introduced young actors who
became major stars: George Hamilton in Crime and Punishment USA, Robert
Redford in War Hunt, and Mikey Madison in Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey. Having
talked about Mikey Madison, it would be unfair to not also talk about the
rest of your cast, so please take it away!
Sean H. Scully could also be a major star. But you have to want it and
really work for it. You have to have the drive. Mikey also had the
support of two wonderful parents. I was very happy with Sean’s
performance and he worked very well with Mikey. I also thought Kristen
Minter, who played the Mother was interesting and believable. What can you
tell us about the shoot as such, and the on-set atmosphere?
I think everyone involved in the production realized this was a passion
project and were caught up in the enterprise. Everyone was paid $100 a
day, and we always had hot meals (very important). Everyone was treated
with respect and appreciation for their participation.
All of the cast and crew, I thought, did a great job, and I think we all
had fun making the film. I’m in debt to them all and to my producing team.
From what I know, Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey was your last foray into fictional filmmaking -
so any chance you'll ever return to dramatic features?
Not sure. Over the years, there have been many “fish that got away”.
I spent ten years writing, researching shooting screen tests for a
dramatic feature on the story of Tokyo Rose, Iva Toguri, the patriotic
young Japanese American, born on the 4th of July, who became the first
woman in American history to be convicted for treason — and she was
completely innocent. I came close, had Martin Sheen on board to play the
defending lawyer, but I was never quite able raise the millions the film
would cost. What
can you tell us about your filmwork since Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey, and any future projects you'd like to share?
After Liza,
Liza, Skies are Grey I made 9th Circuit Cowboy: The Story of Judge Harry
Pregerson, a documentary about a famously liberal appeals court judge who
died still on the bench at 94. A marine seriously wounded in the battle
for Okinawa, he became a lawyer, a judge, and an inspiring champion of
the underdog, the homeless and veterans. Your/your
movie's website, social media, whatever else?
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Feeling lucky?
Want to
search
any of my partnershops yourself
for more, better results?
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The links below
will take you
just there!!!
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The website is LIZALIZAMOVIE.COM.
It has a great deal of information on the film including a 20 minutes
“behind the scenes” short. Anything
else you're dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask?
My company American Film Foundation’s website is
americanfilmfoundation.com.
It has information on 40 or 50 of the films that I, my partner Freida
Mock and my daughter Jessica have made over the years. Thanks
for the interview!
THANK YOU!!
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amazon.com
amazon.co.uk
amazon.de
eThaiCD.com
