Guys:

I've reprinted the questions below. The answers follow each one.

JC

POSTED BY: MIKE 12/05/2007 AT 07:05 AM
I'M JUST CURIOUS WHEN WE CAN EXPECT ANY MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS WITH KP OR WJ?

Mike:

As soon as I know one way or the other on either WHITE JAZZ or KILLING PABLO,
you guys will be the first to know. I can tell you this: There are two actors that
I'm interested in for WJ. Both are available and both are apparently keen on the
script. But it's all speculation at the point. KP on the other hand, seems likes it's
about to blow and blow big. I've got somebody. We met for an extended period
when I was in NYC and he is my absolute first and only choice for the film since
that meeting. This enthusiasm is mutual. If I was a betting man, I would go with
KP happening quickly. But I'm repeatedly waylaid by the twists and turns of this
business, so to pretend like I know or could even gauge an outcome is pretty
preposterous.

POSTED BY: ANONYMOUS 12/05/2007 AT 07:23 AM

QUESTION- IT SEEMED ON THE (NARC) DISC THAT YOU AND JASON PATRICK REALLY CLICKED, MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING AND RESPECT. I REALLY DUG WHITE JAZZ, WHY ISN'T HE YOUR KLEIN? SEEMS PERFECT FOR THE GIG. ACTUALLY WHEN I FIRST HEARD ABOUT THE PROJECT, ALL I PICTURED WAS YOU TWO BANGING OUT ANOTHER CLASSIC. F CLOONEY, YOU CAUGHT A BREAK. ANY CHANCE YOU GUYS ROCKIN THIS THING?

Dude:

I remain a steadfast, albeit frustrated fan of Jason Patric. As an actor he possesses an extraordinary skill set. He's probably the smartest, funniest guy in the room at any given moment. He also has a very firm personal and professional mandate and it's marked him as a tough guy to work with. I'm certainly no picnic either and I think it was that grist between us and that constant grind it provided, that made Narc work so well. It's a shame because of all the actors, custom-tailored to play somebody like Dave Klein, Jason has to rank up there at the top. But in this business, they bank on the guys that go along and get along and that just ain't Jason. For that, he has my enduring respect. Regardless of your thoughts on him and his career (and his should have been the biggest of them all) he has seldom ever sold himself out. He did one sequel and I think he regrets it to this day. I'm still hopeful we can find something. He's only 40 years old and in the prime of his life and in the age of the dwindling leading man and when guys like Josh Brolin are getting (deservedly so) a shot to carry movies, Jason's reappearance on the scene is long overdue.

POSTED BY: MIKE WILSON 12/05/2007 AT 07:27 AM
HAVING HAD SO MANY PRODUCERS ON NARC DID YOU FIND IT HARD TO MAKE THE MOVIE YOU WANTED TO MAKE AND KEEP EVERYONE WITH THE MONEY HAPPY? OR DID YOU HAVE THE FREEDOM TO DO MORE OR LESS WHAT YOU WANTED?

Mike:

In a situation like Narc, when the lack of money and the almost pathological level of lying practiced by the 'producers' creates a personal rift between you and everybody else, it was wonderful. There were actual producers on that film that were of great benefit but I think they felt hamstrung so they did what they could behind the scenes. Nobody from the money-side bothered us and in retrospect, I wouldn't have had it any other way. Had the financiers been responsible and forthright, it would've instilled a 'proprietary' sense in them, thus giving them more access to me and the movie...but because they were such unilateral c*cksuckers both during and after the shoot, they steered clear and that was exactly what we needed to make that film the way we needed to make it. I'm not complaining either. I'm really not. I owe them a huge debt for standing down, whatever the reasons behind their actions.

And I dug The Kingdom. I think it was a singular vision and Pete didn't deter from that.

Haven't seen P&G and I'm chomping at the bit. I'm trying to host a screening with Ed Norton here in a few weeks.

POSTED BY: DANV 12/05/2007 AT 07:42 AM

DO YOU HAVE ANY CONCERNS THAT JUAN PABLO ESCOBAR COULD BE A MOLE FOR ROBERTO ESCOBAR REGARDING YOUR PRODUCTION OF “KILLING PABLO”? HAVING PABLO’S SON AS RESOURCE OF INFORMATION, PHOTOS AND MEMORIES WOULD BE AWESOME BUT WHERE DOES THE NEPHEW VS UNCLE RELATIONSHIP STAND TODAY? SINCE JUAN PABLO CONTACTED YOU I WOULD GUESS HE JUST WANTS TO MAKE SURE THAT HIS SIDE OF HIS FATHER STORY IS HEARD BEFORE YOU BEGIN PRODUCTION. IT WOULD BE INTERESTING TO KNOW IF JUAN PABLO HAS READ MARK BOWDEN’S BOOK “KILLING PABLO” AND HOW ACCURATE HE FEELS THE BOOK IS TO HIS FATHER’S STORY.

Danv:

I've got it on pretty reliable information that the 'Roberto Escobar' associated with that other project, may be a fake. He might not be the actual Roberto. Now the same might be said for the man purporting to be Pablo's son and that's why a face to face meeting is the only situation I'll accept if I choose to move forward and sit down with him to hear his side of things. The letter I read was obviously written by someone of marked intelligence and a keen understanding of both his father's role in the world wide drug trade and his larger legacy as an enduring, historical icon. Juan Pablo's words don't betray any bloodline, familiar delusion or devotion or attempt to portray his father with anything other than an honest, open context. That's pretty promising but I won't really know any more than that until I sit down with the man himself.

POSTED BY: JD 12/05/2007 AT 07:45 AM

I READ YOUR POST RECENTLY RE: LIONS FOR LAMBS AND, WHILE I APPRECIATED YOUR DESIRE TO STAND-UP FOR YOUR BRO, I ACTUALLY THINK YOU WERE DOING HIM A DIS-SERVICE. I READ THE LFL SCRIPT A WHILE BACK AND I THOUGHT IT WAS TERRIFIC, BUT I THINK ROBERT REDFORD DROPPED THE BALL IN A BIG WAY. HIS APPROACH WAS SO OBVIOUS, CONVENTIONAL, AND ONE-NOTE. HE DIDN'T CAPTURE THE SENSE OF NUANCE, AMBIVALENCE OR AUTHENTICITY OF THE SCRIPT AND HE SENSELESSLY UNDERMINED THE DARK ENDING BY GOING FOR FALSE HOPE AND CUTTING AWAY IN A MOMENT OF INDECISION, RATHER THAN MAKE THE MORE TRUTHFUL, DISTURBING, AND RESONANT POINT THAT THE SCRIPT MADE (IE. BASED ON THE "INSPIRATIONAL" CONVERSATION HE HAD WITH HIS PROFESSOR, THIS CHARACTER INADVERTENTLY DETERMINES THAT AMERICAN SOCIETY WILL ULTIMATELY REWARD HIM FOR HIS COMPACENCY). ANYWAY, THIS IS A LONG WAY OF ASKING IF A) YOU FEEL REDFORD WAS THE RIGHT CHOICE TO DIRECT LFL AND B) DID YOU EVER CONSIDER DIRECTING THIS SCREENPLAY OR ANY OF YOUR BROTHER'S OTHER SCRIPTS (BESIDES WHITE JAZZ, OBVIOUSLY)?

JD:

I think the point of my post was, regardless of your feelings about the film, it deserved to be viewed,
digested and discussed. I thought the amount of vitriol unleashed on the film was bulls*it. I was a bunch of bitchy critics who couldn't wait to dump all over it and take it task for being 'liberal' or 'preachy' or any of the other wonderfully vicious kidney shots they could sneak in. It never even got out of the gate. They took it off at the neck before even giving it a fair shot. I was a big fan of the script and felt, even though I would have handled some of the material differently, Robert Redford did a great job making something cinematic out of what could have been, in lesser hands, a very rote, blackbox theater production of a one act play. That was always the inherent danger with that script. It took balls and foresight to see it through and like one of the producers said to me. "If it had starred Ed Harris and Marcia Gay Harden' it would've been called 'bold' and 'unique' and I couldn't agree more. They had their blades whetted for LFL and they couldn't wait to start carving. The targets were just too tempting. And let's face it: Losers love to sh*t down their betters.

POSTED BY: AJW 12/05/2007 AT 07:45 AM

I WAS JUST WOUNDERING IF YOU EVER PLANNED ON DOING ANOTHER PROJECT WITH JASON PATRIC OR RYAN REYNOLDS AGAIN. THEY SHINED IN YOUR FILMS AND I WOULD LOVE TO SEE YOU WORK WITH THEM AGAIN.

AJW:

I kind of answered this one already. I would love to work with both, should the situation present itself. Getting them in the same flick would be an awful lot of fun too.

POSTED BY: CASEY MOORE 12/05/2007 AT 07:47 AM
IS THERE A FRANCHISE YOU WOULD LOVE TO DIRECT AND IF YOU GOT THE CHANCE HOW WOULD YOU DO IT? I AM THINKING IN TERMS OF BOND OR INDIANA JONES OR ANY OF THE OTHER FRANCHISE CHARACTERS OR SERIES OUT THERE.

Casey:

I'd kill to do something as great as the Indiana Jones series. I think it's tough to commit
to something like that though because it represents such a big chunk of your creative life
and unless you're somebody like Spielberg who has this incredible machine in place that
allows him to function at that level and be able to do something like 'Jurassic Park' in the
same time frame as 'Schindler's List', it's a big sacrifice. That said, I will still love to be
able to do some kind of trilogy and find a character that intrigues me enough to do so.
I have a spec that I'm writing right now that might do the trick. It's a gigantic movie in
terms of scope and scale, so it's not something I could approach lightly. All things being
equal, I would prefer to control the material myself as opposed to going into a situation
like the 'Bond' series. Although I'm a fan of that franchise.

POSTED BY: KEVIN 12/05/2007 AT 07:58 AM

HOW DO YOU BALANCE YOUR CAREER AS A FILMMAKER AND YOUR DUTIES AS A FATHER? AND HAVE YOUR CHILDREN EVER SEEN ONE OF YOUR FILMS YET? WOULD YOU CONSIDER A FILM IF THEY BEGGED YOU TO TAKE IT ON? WHEN I GO AWAY ON LOCATION, IT PAINS ME TO NO END TO NOT BE AN ACTIVE PART OF MY DAUGHTER'S LIFE FOR THAT SHORT PERIOD OF TIME OUTSIDE OF TELEPHONE CALLS AND WHAT HAVE YOU. ALSO THE OTHER THING I FIND SOMEWHAT TRICKY IS EXPLAINING EXACTLY WHAT IT IS I DO FOR A LIVING TO HER. I SUPPOSE I COULD TELL HER THE TRUTH...I SHOOT PEOPLE AND BLOW UP BUILDINGS/CARS FOR A LIVING. BUT SOMEHOW I DON'T FEEL THAT WOULD GO OVER REAL WELL WITH THE OTHER KIDS ON THE PLAYGROUND, WHO WOULD GO HOME AND POSSIBLY TELL THEIR PARENTS ABOUT MY CHOSEN VOCATION.

Kevin:

Thanks for hanging the whole year bro! To imagine how much time you've wasted on my senseless bullshit is to ponder the meaning of the cosmos...HA! Listen, I don't have to tell you how tough it is because you work in this business, so you know the inate hassles and compromises that accompany it like an unwanted rash. I made a deal with myself a long time ago that I was not going to be that absentee asshole that saw his kids before 'Action' and after 'Cut' and in doing so, it put my life into a fairly manageable framework. I wake almost every morning and make my kids breakfast and pack their lunches, all by my lonesome. As I sit here and type this, my son is lying in bed with a bad stomach, still recovering from the chicken pocks...and I wouldn't trade it away for the world. It sounds trite but it's not. There's nothing you or I are ever going to accomplish professionally that will trump your kid throwing their arms around your neck and telling you they love you. All you can do, day to day, is try to connect with them in any way you can. In the most minute fashion, in the most fleeting of moments, these things still matter. You can't help spending time away from your daughters. It's a fact of this business. What you can help is never allowing your connection with them to weaken or flag. And you know what, if my dad did what you do, I would've thought that was the coolest thing in the world. I wouldn't shy away from that one bit. You should be deeply proud of what you do and let your kids know that. Make them a part of that, rather than shielding them from it. I think we try to put blinders on our kids, hoping to spare them from what we view as life's 'harsher realities' and the way I approach that is to take topics that I know might be troubling and explain the hell out of them, while slowly exposing them to whatever that is. Where my films are concerned, no. The only one they've been allowed to view is the short I did for BMW: 'Ticker'. That one I thought was age appropriate. They'll have to wait to see the rest, much to my daughter's displeasure...she just turned twelve you see and twelve is apparently the new 30.

POSTED BY: SHEDRIC BRAGG 12/05/2007 AT 08:06 AM
HOW DID U GET INTO THE BUSINESS BECAUSE I KNOW IT JUST DOESNT FALL IN YOUR LAP YOU HAVE TO BE ON YOUR GRIND 24/7... I'M JUST CURIOUS BECAUSE MY BROTHER AND I ARE INSPIRING FILMMAKERS AS WELL.

Shedric:

We've never found a suitable substitute for hustle and drive and I don't see that ever changing. That's exactly what you have to do...stay on the grind, day and night. When I was working the most miserable, back-breaking job I ever had, at 21 years of age, working from 5pm to 5am, every night, I would sleep for a few hours and then force myself to get up and write. I wrote three scripts in the ten months I had that job. I wish I could pull off that feat today. You have to have the ability to push past the bulls*it and get it done. You have to be ruthless in your intent, not in your personality or your being. As*holes don't pass muster most of the time. Conduct yourself with class and dignity and go after it as hard as you can...and always be thinking. Always, always think of what you're going to do next. If a plan falls apart (And take it from a guy who knows about that as well as anybody) then what are you going to do next? The line of demarkation between the haves and have-nots is pencil thin. It really is. The ones who can suffer the greatest setbacks and not allow the train to leave the tracks are the same ones that will win out in the end. Stumbling and falling is all part of the growth process. Don't try to deny these things and don't try to change what you can't. In a word? ADAPT. You can't do anything better for yourself than that.

POSTED BY: JV 12/05/2007 AT 08:08 AM
QUESTION - GIVE ME ONE PIECE OF ADVICE THAT YOU REALLY WISH SOMEONE WOULD'VE GIVEN YOU AS A FIRST TIME FILMMAKER - SOMETHING THAT AIN'T IN ALL THOSE SHITTY BOOKS, SOMETHING THAT PEEPS IN THE INDUSTRY WON'T TELL YOU, SOMETHING SO TRUE THAT IT'S RARELY SHARED VERBALLY, BUT THAT MADE YOU A BETTER FILMMAKER.

JV:

All I heard was how sh*tty the business was and how bad it was and how nobody ever made it, blah, blah, blah and when I look back now, I realize that all that disparaging crap came from the clowns with no talent. It came from guys who had either washed out, or who had never got wet in the first place. And I'll tell you something. If you really bust your ass and dedicate yourself to your success, then it's not difficult, it's just another step in your professional and artistic growth. You're filling out, the way an athlete does, or a musician. You're trying to reach peak performance. We all are. And if you don't go at it with both hands and an indefatigable heart, then no amount of advice will do. It's meaningless without the will behind it. It's words you put up in a locker room. It has to inspire something deeper than that. Don't be shy. We're going around this rock once for all we know. Kick f*cking doors down and don't you dare apologize. I shudder to think how many careers have been sidelined by social mores or 'doing the right thing' as opposed to following a dream. Don't let that happen to you. And don't let anybody around you talk sh*t about you or what you're attempting. Cut those useless f*ckers loose, TODAY.

POSTED BY: BANA 12/05/2007 AT 08:09 AM
JOE, WHO ARE FIVE ACTORS AND FIVE ACTRESSES YOU WOULD LOVE TO DIRECT IN YOUR LIFETIME?

Bana:

I'll give you five, all in bro. Actors and Actresses, just off the top of my head: Paul Newman, Meryl Streep, Al Pacino, Gena Rowlands, Joaquin Phoenix.

POSTED BY: KENNY 12/05/2007 AT 08:11 AM

I'M CURIOUS WHAT KIND OF WORK (SHORT FILMS, NO-BUDGET FEATURES, ETC) YOU DID BEFORE BLOOD, GUTS, BULLETS & OCTANE, AND HOW THAT FILM LED TO BEING ABLE TO DO NARC.

ALSO, YOU MENTIONED SOME TIME AGO YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO POST STORYBOARDS FROM YOUR TAKE ON MI:III. DID THAT HIT A LEGAL SNAG, OR IS THERE STILL A CHANCE WE MIGHT GET TO SNEAK A LOOK AT THOSE?

Kenny:

Practice makes perfect. Well, it actually doesn't but it does prepare you in a variety of ways and even though BGBO and NARC were as dissimilar as two films could be, the techniques that went into each were very much of the same species. I spent a lot of time doing stuff for ZERO budget and that training, most of it self taught, was huge in helping me navigate the potential pitfalls of a film like NARC. You develop a way or working quickly and efficiently when you're doing it sans funds and you are also able to make critical command decisions when they arise because you know that a failure to do so means a lost day and one you might not recover.

I wish I could show you the MI3 stuff. I probably can now because so much time has passed. Let me work on that one again.

POSTED BY: JEFF R 12/05/2007 AT 08:15 AM

THE BARES BONES OF HOW YOU STARTED YOUR CARRER.

1. WHATS THE VERY 1ST PROJECT YOU EVER DID? WEDDING VIDEO? SHORT MOVIE? ETC.

First thing I ever did was a short film called 'NOOSE' right out of high school before entering
college. I wasn't one of those kids lucky enough to get an 8mm camera when I was a kid.

2. THE FIRST EDITING SYSTEM YOU EVER LEARNED? ADOBE PREMIERE? FINAL CUT PRO?

I learned on a German system called the FAST. It was 1995 and digital editing was making it's first appearance.

3. DID YOU ATTEND/GRADUATE FILM SCHOOL? IF SO, WHICH ONE?

I went to SF State and Sacramento State. No reputable film school would have me and to say my grades were middling would be doing a disservice to the word 'middling.' I sucked in high school. SEE KIDS! THERE'S ALWAYS HOPE! BUT GET THAT G.E.D.!

4. TOP 5 FAVORITE FILMS OF YOURS.

In no particular order and since it changes so much. Right now:

Raging Bull
Hara Kiri
The Insider
Raiders of the Lost Ark
8 1/2

POSTED BY: AMAR 12/05/2007 AT 08:16 AM

MY QUESTION IS, WHAT REALLY ATTRACTS YOUR EYE TO A PROJECT? WITH WHITE JAZZ AND KILLING PABLO YOU'RE OPENING YOURSELF TO MORE EPIC FILMS (I.E. 50'S NOIR AND INTERNATIONAL INTRIGUE). DO YOU SEE EACH FILM AS A PROGRESS FOR YOU TO CONTINUE TO PUSH YOURSELF AS A FILMMAKER? IF SO, WHAT'S THE ULTIMATE GOAL IN TERMS OF CINEMA FOR YOU?

Amar:

I think the goal for any artist is hopefully, self exploration and from that, education and edification. I know that sh*t might drip with pretense but it's really the the most plain way to put it. If you're not pushing yourself and your craft, then what the f*ck are you doing out there? Why waste your time. I understand the need to make money and commerce creates that but if all we did were big blockbuster movies (which has become an alarming box office trend) then were would our more subtle forms of art come from? With both White Jazz and Killing Pablo I felt as though I was taking myself out of my comfort zone.