Well, first, I was born into the business. My father has been a veteran of the New York film and television industry for over 42 years. He met my mother when she was a secretary at the company he was at. They worked with Anna Strasberg, the wife of actor and Actor's Studio director, Lee Strasberg. People like Milton Berle and Boris Karloff would come in. Future legendary director Sidney Lumet would call and my mother would occasionally speak with him. Growing up on the Jersey side of the Hudson River, just across from where the World Trade Center used to stand, I had always been around the film business, especially when it was just film, no video, no digital, no computers, nothing. I often went to work with my dad and when he wanted to get me out of his hair, he would send me down to one of the sound stages to watch a television commercial being shot. Now that I think about it, I don't recall my father ever having hair. The offices were set up on a sound stage, just walls with no ceilings, and I could see the lighting grids and rafters above. Since the offices were just unpainted plasterboard, it was my job to take he used red Marlboro boxes that that everyone at the office smoked back then, and wallpaper the office by gluing them in rows. I wish I had a picture of this. I can't believe my dad and all those people haven't died from lung cancer already. I mean, this was a lot of Marlboros. Anyway, finally, by the age of 17, I was working as a messenger at his motion picture film lab in midtown Manhattan. I learned the process by going to the networks, the ad agencies, and all the production and service companies. I eventually went to work for many companies in many different areas of the business. I do know that after working 12, 14, 16, sometimes 18 and 20 hours a day on major studio pictures like Bonfire of the Vanities and The Freshman, I knew I didn't want to be an assistant director or a location manager or anything else that required me to be on a set everyday for that long a period of time. I knew there had to be a better way to move forward, so I learned the business side of the industry; the creative, the financing, and the distribution. It is really the only business I know well and after 21, almost 22, years of working in various aspects of the industry, I can't say that I have a strong desire to do something else, or at this stage of my life (I will be 40 in April, just about the time The Chester Story is being released), that I even have the skills to get into something else. Of course, there is this little New York-style neighborhood tavern that my wife and I would like to open someday so we can do something together (she is a ballet instructor), but that's about it. Thank God I didn't follow my original dream of being a rock star. I worked in the music biz in Los Angeles and saw it firsthand, up close and personal. Talk about a scummy business, worse than film and television combined. Having my hair fall out fairly early solved that problem, although if I keep shaving it I could probably be back in style again. Maybe I should go buy another bass and set of drums and start practicing again.
The Chester Story was made independently with private investors, rather than studio backing. How does your role as Producer here differ from a studio film situation?
Well, I can't fire myself, that's for sure. It is nice to be in control, and keep your hands in the creative side in order to maintain the integrity of a story. But being independent really only means that the financing is primarily being secured outside of the studio system, and that is how most films in the marketplace today are being financed and produced. Independent no longer means "small." You can have a $60.0 million film that is independent. Most of today's successful major producers who work with the studios have their own funding sources. The studio just adds their marketing and distribution to the mix, and takes a nice fee for it. I have many close associates and friends who produce big budget features for the studios. Aside from the hefty producing fee they receive, they never have anything good to say about the process. Having said that, though, I do feel that every filmmaker should have the opportunity to do at least one big budget studio film. If a major studio wants to give me $50.0 million to do a picture, I would certainly take it, and the fee, which would support my other interests. It's certainly better than having to wait tables or drive a cab until the next project comes around. Most of the projects I am developing with my partners in New York and Los Angeles would never have a budget over $25.0 million. Most are probably in the $5.0 to $15.0 range.
As far as your long-term career goes, do you intend to move into other realms, such as writing and directing?
Again, I have been around the business for a long time already, more than half of my life, and I know and understand my limitations. I am a concept guy. I can create stories, but I prefer to bring in a writer or a director and develop the screenplay with them. That is where having sufficient development resources come in. It sucks to have to spend your own money on development. I have written three screenplays and thrown each and every one of them in the trash. Good stories are one thing, execution is another. I am a much better story editor. As far as directing, a few years ago I did an adaptation of a short story by Barbara Kingsolver with the intention of directing it, but I really have not had a strong desire to direct. Within the next six months to a year I may be writing, or co-writing something that I have created, a comedy, but we will see if this turns out to be something that I would want to direct. It may depend on if I can secure the funding on my own and not have to jump though hoops to get some executive to believe that I can direct it. This can be a very painful process and it can be very hard for producers, even those with fabulous track records, to move into directing, using other people's money. Right now, the other area I am working on moving into is distribution. My company is close to entering into an agreement with a 30-year industry veteran whose area of expertise is distribution, exhibition, producer's rep, film buying and booking. My company, Mulberry Street Entertainment, would have its own distribution arm covering 600 domestic theaters in the United States and potentially an international operation. We are presently negotiating with a bank as well as private investors. If we can put all the pieces of the puzzle together, then we will do it. If not, we won't.
Are there any particular genres you're striving to produce that you haven't touched yet?
Lesbian vampire films. Well, not actually striving, but I am told they are big business. You can make them for like $10,000 and sell a lot of DVDs. Presently, we are developing two television series. One is music-based and will take some additional development before we can move forward in pitching it. The other falls into the women's genre, something a Lifetime, WE, Oxygen, or even PAX TV could be interested in. Actually, our Director of Development in New York, Jennifer Klein, is pitching this to a potential partner. With television, you just don't go in and produce a show and get it on the air. Again, if you have development funds, it will help in attracting attention from a prospective partner. One generally has to partner with a company that already has a successful track record in television. If it hits, you can be on your way, and then someday you will run the show. As far as film projects, our partners in New York and I have been trying to bring to the screen for two years the film version of the long-running, off-Broadway comedy, Tony n' Tina's Wedding. The interactive play has been performed all over the world and with a built in audience and a low budget, we feel it is low risk and will be a winner. But as I previously mentioned, the holdup is that the director is a well-known New York producer who has never directed a feature. The team behind this has produced The Thomas Crown Affair, City by the Sea, Rollerball, The Devil's Own, The Devil's Advocate, Eraser, Finding Forrester, At First Sight and Die Hard: With A Vengeance. The wealth of talent we have interested in participating in this film is amazing, yet, the studio people would rather go with an unknown film school grad before they would move forward with the current director. It has been very frustrating but we never give up and continue our efforts to raise the $1.5 to $3.0 million necessary to produce this independently. Also in the hopper are three family films, one of which is a children's project that can be animation or live action mixed with animation, a black western which will sit on the shelf until I feel the time is right for it, a classy kind of drama with light comedy that I believe women and art lovers would find of interest, and lastly another "family" picture, sort of, a film about New York's Gambino crime family that will need the approval of "higher powers" (I do not mean a Studio Executive) and probably some financial consideration before that can get the greenlight. I am not much into sci-fi, special effects or action pictures but that doesn't mean I won't do one, or at least have some aspect of those genres in one or more of my pictures.
What were the highlights during production of Chester Story?
We had a great time in Wilmington, North Carolina, with the four of us, Rebecca, Courtney, their assistant, Zaida, and myself all living together in a four story condo one block from the beach. It was very different for me, the old man, living with these three youngins. Since I had not attended a four year college, and had no experience in dorm living, this was new to me. I did warn them that I do like to spend a lot of time by myself and often jump in my car and go for long rides to nowhere for hours at a time, something I did often living in Los Angeles, Ft. Lauderdale (back when I was working on Miami Vice), and in Louisville, KY, where I lived three times and did a picture there. It was all great fun except for when we had to divide up the grocery, phone and utility bills. Oyyy!!! Of course, the real highlight for me occurred three weeks after arriving in Wilmington. Being a big city guy most of my life, I had become fairly bored, you could see Wilmington in all of about 20-30 minutes. I had a blind date with one Susan Boykin, a former ballerina who had also worked in musical theater. Susan was the dance instructor for the daughter of the accountant at Cine Partners, where we had our offices and rented the grip and electric equipment. Well, Susan and I were engaged 25 days later and after doing post production in New York over the summer, I returned to Wilmington in late September after having experienced the tragedy at the World Trade Center, and was married on October 20th, roughly seven months after we met. The rest is history, as they say. We have a small home here, with our two Jack Russell Terriers, Patsy and Wilson, and a fish, Digger. Neither of us makes a whole lot of money living here, especially Digger, but we are having fun.
Teri Hatcher is the most well known cast member of The Chester Story. What was Teri like to work with?
Teri Hatcher? Oh yeah, she's the girl married to that football player, Howie Long, on those TV commercials, right? The Super Woman girl, right? ARGH!!! I can't tell you how many times I hear that on a weekly basis. I always have to go into my spiel about YES, that is her but NO, she is not married to Howie, she is married to someone else, and NO, she was not Super Woman, but YES, she was on Lois & Clark. I am totally amazed when these yahoos actually know of her work in the Bond film and her other pictures. OF course, I personally love her guest appearance on Seinfeld. I really liked working with Teri but the truth is, I don't really feel like I worked with her. I was always busy back at the office putting out fires or something and I rarely got to the set. Teri and I did not spend much time together, but she has a great sense of humor, very sharp and quick-witted, and can hold her own. It think it would be interesting to see Teri and Jamie Lee Curtis, who I have worked with and can make a crew of Teamsters blush, do some sort of dueling verbal comedy bit. Just curious as to who can outdo each other. If that doesn't work, maybe pay-per-view mud wrestling. Teri did give Susan and I a very nice picture frame as a wedding gift in and also presented me with a book, The Groom's Secret Handbook: How Not to Screw Up the Biggest Day of Her Life. Very helpful. I got past the first part, now I am working on the rest of our lives.
Are there any particular Chester cast/crew members you would like to work with again?
No, I hate them all, each and every one of them. Well, except for the cute one with the butch hair cut that served us lunch everyday. Oh wait, that was Clyde, the caterer. Nevermind. Other exceptions include those who gave wedding presents, lent me money, or covered my bets with my bookie back home in New Jersey. OK, I would like to work with any of the main cast again, especially David Andrews, but only because he is starring opposite "Arnold" in Terminator 3 and might be my meal ticket someday. Other than that, I still hate everyone.
What part of filming The Chester Story do you remember the most fondly? Truthfully, although we had some very wonderful locations provided to us by some truly terrific people, the days that stick in my head the most were the days we shot at Ann and Mack Tate's house, which was used as Jessie and Charlie's home in the film. It was situated in a very peaceful, serene neighborhood on Bradley Creek and it was nice to just go there and hang out and relax for a week or so. It is also the place where I remember going to tell Rebecca and Courtney that I had just become engaged. For those of you who know and understand the story of The Chester Story, life was starting to imitate art and it was pretty magical around that time.
Finally, the first public screenings of The Chester Story are to be held early this year. What do you hope audiences gain from viewing this film?
Well, very few indie films every see the inside of a theater, at least not in front of a paying audience. I am quite pleased that the film has achieved a quality high enough to obtain the interest of not one, but two distributors. Maybe someday when I am traveling the world I will turn on the tele in my hotel room and see A Touch of Fate (the international title) playing on Pay-for-View for $6.95. Then I will instead order up College Girls Gone Wild at Mardi Gras. This is probably one of those very few films that a family can watch together, and I hope that positive word of mouth will allow the film to continue to play in front of as many people as possible. I am sure that most people can relate to many of the situations that the film's characters experience throughout the story and if people can relate to it, then that is usually a pretty good sign that you have hit on something. Whether a film is good or bad, it should at least generate a discussion amongst the patrons and I hope we can achieve that. Other than that, if anyone wants to email me to say hello, or offer me money in exchange for services (produce a film, male gigolo, or mob hit), they may do so at MulberryEnt@aol.com.
