By John DeFore
Special to the American-Statesman

Posted: October 9, 2003

One of the most recognizable faces in attendance at the Austin Film Festival will be actor Eric Stoltz, who appears in two festival films: "When Zachary Beaver Came To Town" was shot here, and the screenplay for "Happy Hour" was a finalist at AFF two years ago. Stoltz spoke with us by phone earlier this week.

Austin American-Statesman: Tell me about your experience shooting "Zachary Beaver."

Eric Stoltz: We shot it in Austin last fall. Shooting in Austin is the best, and I'm not just saying that because I'm coming back to town. The only problem we encountered with filming there was the 42 straight days of rain. In September and October it just rained every single day. But we had a great crew, a great bunch of local actors. It's just a great town — it was somehow easier than shooting a film in L.A., although so few people actually make films in L.A. anymore, it would be better to compare it to Canada. It was easier and more fun — there was none of that attitude you sometimes encounter when you're making a film, that 'what we're doing is the most important thing in the world; you've gotta stop your life while we make this film.' It was just more genial."

AFF is a screenplay-centric festival. Is the attitude toward screenplays different on an indie film than on a big Hollywood production?

Absolutely. There's definitely a little more — I wouldn't say that there's more respect for a screenplay in the independent world, but there is less group consensus needed. On an independent film, there's usually direct access between the writer, the director, the actors and the producers. For instance, on "Zachary Beaver," you're on the set, it's raining for 12 hours, we need to deal with this and shoot — let's rewrite the scene. If it's a studio film — frankly, you would just shut down filming and throw away a couple hundred thousand dollars — but you would also have to consult with the studio people back in Los Angeles and get permission to change the line from "what a beautiful day" to "geez, what lousy weather." And that can be a little debilitating, jumping through all those hoops.

Did the unpredictable weather have a big impact on "Zachary Beaver"?

In the book and the screenplay, it's meant to be the hottest summer on record. And it just wasn't. I think (screenwriter/director) John Schultz dealt with it as best he could. You can't really spray sweat on people when you can see their breath. So common sense ruled the day.