Producers Roundtable: Charlize Theron, David Heyman, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Dan Lin | Close Up

[Music] [Applause] [Music] welcome to close up with The Hollywood Reporter producers I'm Rebecca Ford and I'd like to welcome Peter Chernin Sandlin Deborah Martin Chase Emma Tillinger Costco David Heyman and Charlize Theron thank you guys so much for joining us today thank you so I'm gonna jump right in here movies are not easy to get made they said in development for a long time you have to fight every step of the way tell me how you know a movie is worth fighting for but you're gonna put in the commitment and fight for this film I think it's in it's instinctive you feel it if there's sort of an urgency within you that you've got a story to tell you're passionate about you believe the people that are involved in it with you the director the writer director the cast the people behind the camera when you feel that you know that that's something that you've got to fight for you've got to push through and it's worthy of being made it's got to be about something for me anyway something that means something to me I think you know first and foremost you got you have to entertain cuz you get people into the theater but for me this is almost a pulpit and there's their messages that I want to get into the world that I think are important that will inspire people that will you know maybe even change somebody's life so you know with Harriet for instance it's about a woman who couldn't read couldn't write was destined to be a slave her entire life and decided no that's not going to be my destiny and if people can you know get that message that they had could control what happens in their lives that's an important thing and that's worth fighting for mm-hmm it's usually fear pure panic is what makes me stick around I find like usually the projects that scare me the most are the ones that just don't leave you know they're the ones that kind of haunt you and I I've learned to trust that I'm like when something scares the [ __ ] out of me I'm like I should probably do this and some of them take really long and others happen really fast but I think that's that's always been my cage does this scare me for me I asked two questions why tell this story and why tell it now like David you're talking about like the values and themes of a movie if they align of my personal values I think I'm much more motivated telling that story but also I look at white Ellis story now with the Pope we're in a moment in time when you have to post two living popes here at the same time with Pope Francis was like a rockstar Pope there's a story to be told the world is in dissension right now all these different sides fighting each of these popes represents a different side a different point of view so we felt like now's the time to tell us story because it's going to resonate with audiences and there's a important message to get out there so I think timing is important too I think you wake up in the morning ready to fight I think you just start fighting you wake up in the morning you start fighting with people and you keep going some of our learnings eventually but you just keep fighting yeah and you know I guess on some level you got to believe in it enough to keep going where you'll give up but your instinct mode on these jobs is you fight it doesn't have to be your current project but tell me about it the biggest fight you've ever waged to get something made or get something you needed for a project and you know one that you thought maybe I am NOT gonna be able to do this of how many I mean everyone which is where do what Lori starts right I mean listen this movie took me seven years to bring through the screen I've had another Sparkle took me 12 years and any time you're telling a story that may be a little bit out of the mainstream it's difficult I mean and listen when you're telling a story about a historical black woman is really tough you know seven years ago people were glazed over when I brought it up and as times changed you know as Hollywood change this the world changed people became more receptive to the idea that a movie starring a black woman who was was and will be someday on the face of the $20 bill might be commercial another potential debate so it took time I started producing on a film called monster and it just happened that I felt the need to protect a first-time director who was really taking a huge risk wrote a very out of sorts script the character was very unusual and I think initially when we went in to get our financing became very clear to me that there was this need for me to step in because I think the finance here's actually thought they were basically paying for a hot lesbian movie with me and Christina Ricci right and you know having the conversations with patty Jenkins who wrote and directed it and knowing what she wanted to do with it I I knew that we were gonna come up against things and there were a lot of fights as soon as I started gaining weight I had to find one of the finance ears called me up actually his wife saw me and she was like and I got that call like what's going on with that and then this was back in the day where it took like three weeks for dailies to made it make it back here and got a call at 3:00 a.m. from the same guy we don't have to get into names what are you doing you never smile you look so angry you look horrible and so you know you panic a little bit because you're putting yourself out there and you're taking a risk yourself and when you do that you are not a hundred percent sure you're taking a chance so there's a part of you that then second-guessed is great you're like [ __ ] well maybe I did go too far with this and then you realize you have to stand that ground you have to the movie that you set out to make that's the reason why you want to go make that film and that's what you fight for and I didn't have a friend on that film except for patty Jenkins and that's nothing not necessarily how you want to make movies that's really nice when people actually like each other and I that but at the end of the day the movie has to win like that's my philosophy and if it means that you make a few enemies along the way ultimately you want to walk away from it and say the the right thing is to do what this movie deserves I think that Peter talks about waking up and it's a fight because I tell my staff every day it's a war out there I got ready to fight the war and they think I'm exaggerating but I'm really not I think it's a war to all of our movies here we're tough movies to get made and you're fighting against the marketplace the market doesn't want to make these movies so you're already going in with people wanting to say no and I find it's a fight for talent too so I'm the two popes how do I keep my director locked in you know it takes a long time from development all the way through to get a movie made in this case he sold for Anna Maria has sold the pitch with us and we were developing and he wanted to make the movie and then his country Brazil asked him to direct the Olympics so I gotta say no that completely takes you the director out of the picture so we lost them for several years and like how do you keep him engaged how do you make him feel like he's still part of the process very much shaping the movie cuz he's ultimately our leader and luckily the Olympics finish and when we brought him back so it's not only a fight against can the market also like how do you keep your talent locked in when everyone is chasing the top talent I think all of us here work with great directors yeah but but you know in that sense every moment of it is a battle you know it's a making something great as a battle you know light disappearing yeah actors aren't getting along yeah you know the script isn't quite working in this moment you know it's it's and you know and what come to realize is these things are so fragile every moment has to be near-perfect and you only get that by just sort of being relentless about sort of struggling with it and and the struggle is Noble you know what about sending to high falutin that's what you're supposed to do it's not supposed to be easy there's no combination of fighting and then also I've my faith has been reinforced being Hollywood because at some point you just need like the stars to align it's like you push push push push and if you head it in the right direction it's that combination of sheer force of will I'm going to build this into being for me I've been really fortunate this year to work with two incredible directors writer directors and they are both exacting you know they are pushing the envelope every moment of every day in different ways but absolutely but it's always a pleasure if you believe in them and what their vision is so and then believing and when them doing you know being there to really support that because it's a it's a scary endeavor so you don't want to be people who for whom fine is good enough right you want to now push the envelope in again both films it's sort of the high wire act so III and I think probably for all of our for yes they're high wire X there are moments where they could tip over into in the wrong way and and that conversation with the director or having faith in the right to director who will understand of that place is a really exciting place to be you know it's thrilling but it's scary and it's it's and it doesn't necessarily make life easy for the producer or for anybody working on the film I do want to touch on the sort of power dynamic between the producer and the director a lot of you are working with directors of very specific visions what do you do when they tell you something and you're just not sure that's gonna happen they want a three and a half hour movie they have a very specific vision for their story what do you do how do you deal with that mine is neither one of mine really takes no sir so I have to I'm trained very well in the Scorsese filmmaking world where I have learned now over 16 years with him you know he's uncompromising and and extremely exacting and silence was insane that movie to get made from start to finish and I really I learned so much on that and I learned you know keep them safe and protected in with their actor actors and cast and in their locations and they're set to making the day's but but but maneuvering behind the scenes to somehow make it all make it all happen and that's that's how I that's how I work notes it's a it's a weird two-port struggle I think it's your job to argue with them quietly I'm sure and to fight for them it's learn anything anything involving your director you fight for on the outside and if you disagree with it you argue with them quietly on the inside yeah let me be clear we definitely there's a lot of in trailer really what know what you're getting okay no no what I need to do when I come out of here how did you react when the sort of d aging of the actors came up as way that that movie was going to be made well we had you know we had Pablo Hellman from ILM as our visual effects supervisor on silence and he had known he'd been reading about this project and he's the one who approached us and said I think we can do something so we you know there had been from three four years of R&D before we decided to make the move in we saw a test and we saw what it could be and very very promising what we saw it was very very easy technology to work with you know there's there was no head cams no dots no II mean you were free to do what you needed to do because it was all essentially done in post the camera rigs were easy to work with it didn't add time to our days it was it was actually pretty when we did the first Apes movie we didn't see a second right of Apes until after we'd finished shooting we basically shot a movie with guys in great pajamas right and had no idea no on gravity the same thing we began the journey we're not having a clue how we were going to do it and we went down some really strange paths and dead ends but again I think for all of us here if you have a director who you believe in you go on that journey and you know Alfonso or no orc went north I'm really lucky to work people like Harry who won't settle won't take no and actually you take a leap of faith because in your belief in them and they we will figure it well it's empowering and you want you want to you know you want to go to the mat for them you want it you want to do whatever you can to make it happen they're there the passion and that and the vision is so important any you know you feel that you know I think mmm that it's a disservice to your director if you're not honest yes and I think I think we sometimes think like oh we don't want you know you don't want to rock the boat but ultimately it is your job to you know bring what you know or what you've experienced to the table and I think it's a it's a huge disservice to your director if you can't if you don't feel like you can be honest and and I agree with you know what all of you guys have said there's a way that you do that and I think you also some directors like to just have you be direct they like the they don't want the small talk they just want and and they feel comfortable they're not overly sensitive and then you have other directors where you have to you know you you can't use the same recipe for every single one so I think the first you know when you're in that pre-production period it's really important to kind of like try and gauge what is the best way to communicate with this person because the same way it doesn't work for everybody and I've definitely found with some directors sometimes it's better to just not even don't Hammer it like like if you just take a step back and let it play out a little bit they they almost get there on their own absolutely without you having to be like and say that's it's like every time it's like you're you're dating somebody new and you have to kind of treat it that way it's it's the art of negotiation I mean at the end of the day you want you you know you want you need to be honest because if you're all trying to create the best product you're you're bringing your point of view your experience as you said and and you end to trustee should be a relationship of trust that they know you're going to be honest and they're gonna be honest with you because you're both working to this towards the same goal but you know in the art of negotiation everybody's different yeah so you know to you handle people you know according to their personalities and and what you know is gonna be most effective and true and get you to the right place charli's I know with bombshell the financing had some trouble with Annapurna as you're going through the process tell me what the date that day was like when you found out that they know what you do as a producer okay a lot of the miracle of getting a movie made is like having everybody available and on this film we aimed really high and had a lot of actors who are very very busy and so our sket the scheduling was the biggest problem with the financing falling through because we were two weeks out from shooting and we had cast everybody and so beyond that I mean we had people we had the tuning we needed a cash-flow like you know and Jay was on Jay Roach our director was on a scout with you know all of his head of departments and right after I got the news that Annapurna was dropping the film I I couldn't call him I literally couldn't I called Aaron first I was like I there was a part of me that it was just so it was so crushing that I called Aaron first and and then somebody else called him and Jay Jay was like no I know about it and I was like don't get demoralizing we're gonna do this so you're just trying to link patch the pieces together but I do think sometimes things happen for a reason again I'm lucky I think we all right you you're lucky when you can pick up the phone and call a previous financing partner that you've had a great experience with and in this case it was Braun and I called Aaron Gilbert right after I got the news that an apartment was dropping the film and I just said do you can you put your cape on and come and rescue me and I've had great experiences working with him and there's a level of trust there so you know five hours later he called me back and he said we'll do it and then you know within two days we knew we had the financing and then there was a real interest in the film so that was not the the problem like and I think ultimately we made that movie the exact way that it was supposed to be made have any of the rest of you had sort of that 11th hour panic when things are on any of your films that you had to sort of yeah scramble to get them I mean I had it on Joker but many many many $11 families happens or you get that last-minute you know what you know you're always over budget so it's like we got to figure out how to take out you know X million dollars to get to like get greenlight and you're like a few weeks out so you're like what do we know what are we cutting what do we know you know if that's the nature of the beast almost yeah I think there's a certain misconception that there's a sort of formal moment of green lighting I guess you just keep going yeah yeah you don't ever let them stop you know but there's no moment where they go okay you're greenlit and then leave you alone it's just you sort of constantly plugging and you know they got you got to force them to stop but it's funny because it's like really you don't think we know we're actually in Greenland where now you're however many millions and once we're weeks out and you're still pretending like we're not Greenland I love that that's my favorite game defected what Shirley's was saying where basically you push push push push don't give up complete determination and then you also have to know when you it's time to just say okay you know what time to pivot you're like and and and the wisdom to know the difference between the two because sometimes you can be pushing yourself over the cliff yeah right and usually I have learned this is where the experience comes into play that when I get to that point I instinctively know hmm take one just just stand down for a second and I what I'm gonna end up has always been better yeah I'm where I would have gone we were a day away on the day that we were supposed to sign a contract for a straight-to-video with blockbuster on on monster because no distributor would pick it up literally the lawyer was coming to the editing room and Patty and I were gonna sign the agreement was the day that we got a call from Bob Burnie and passion of the christ' was pushing mal wanted to go back and shoot six six more scenes and it was like a six-month push and those those things happen when you can't when you stop kind of like trying to write where you almost just you have to give up and surrender and let go but then magic happens and I think you know we always say that it is a little bit like we work in a business where we were trying to constantly capture that lightning a bottle rate and if it was all about just manufacturing it then I think everybody would probably be able to do it there is a level of this thing that happens that you can't control that you can't that you have to always make room and space for but and also don't just rest on those laurels but right but that's usually when great things can happen yep when Charlize talks about give in and surrender I think that's like a huge thing for us I think all of us here probably control freaks you want to control her yeah and part of me I produce sometimes you do have to give up your surrender you're not about at all major I'm a major one in our case it was a different name bombshell in our movie our issue was not a greenlight issue but in the middle of shooting we took a huge hiatus it was much longer than we expected so we shot in Rome and there's expected hiatus and that'd be much longer for ya weather issues scheduling is shadows and then so we're like are we even gonna be able to finish the movie we need to have the movie right so that's when you have just kind of give up and surrender okay it's all just gonna come together at the right time in the right place but they're just there's nothing you can really do as how long did it end up being and it being four months oh my goodness yeah so luckily everyone came back everybody came back yeah but it was tough to make sure everyone's good who ended up gaining weight jobs in between and came back David I do want to ask you about working with Quentin on once upon a time in Hollywood it's obviously such an ambitious film what was the one thing he really wanted or needed that you had to make sure they delivered for him well I had great partners as producers I had Shannon Mackintosh would work with him a while and Georgia Candace who had been on what actually even longer than me so I think for all of us it was giving you know Quentin is very detailed and is pushing the envelope and and and he wanted to recreate la of his childhood with great specificity and things like you know turning Hollywood Boulevard into how it looked in 1969 while some of it looks like he did an awful lot of it doesn't and so we needed to work with all the local vendors but Quentin to his credit you know he went down and spoke to the Hollywood you know the city of Hollywood he actually really engaged in the process and that's the thing about Quentin he doesn't sit back he steps forward in every which way and so you use a movie with him before the soaps of the first time was my first arts it was about as much fun as I've ever had on any movie in my life the crew is his family he treats everybody in front of and behind the camera the same with great great respect and he's demanding of everyone you know if you don't put your weight you know you'll know you're supporting his vision but he at the same time you know is is open to suggestions and the mistakes or things that happen during the day and embracing this it was an amazing amazing experience Peter you also had to sort of recreate these extremely intense car racing scenes what about that was sort of the most challenging for you well the thing that was crazily challenging is those race scenes we shot generally in four different locations at different times month supports that we show the cars going into the turn in one location which home in the turn later we had to LeMans doesn't look anything today what it looks like so we sort of had an idea of how to recreate the racetrack we built the grandstands in an airport and Santa Clara yeah not far from here and we were shooting them months apart with different cars and you know so it was incredibly complicated to sort of just get the choreography of the race going on how much is driving us christian bale doing himself in this race he's doing very little dry funnily enough driving is a big part of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and you know we watched quite a lot of films about Los Angeles in 1969 of driving shots Brad loved driving along Hollywood Boulevard and you know the freeway filled with cars from 1969 and there abouts being able to go it much faster than he would be no ironically Brad was attached to Ford versus Ferrari I mean right and Tom Cruise Tom Cruise is attached brothers attached it's had like five directors I think it's 15 years in development the movie the Tom fallout because you wanted to make it about planes guys I have a great idea I'm just wants to do anything fast yeah it's true Peter tell me how you deal with that when someone like Tom Cruise or Brad Pitt drops out of a project does it feel like a loss or you it's just part of the system for you you know this was one of those things where we were different people you know it's one of those we're just trying to line up a couple of actors a director and the studio financing and drive a nail through it at the right time and so people were coming in and I was so originally Michael Mann's project for a long time and and so people you know it was just sort of trying to get them all to line up but it wasn't so much people dropping out as you were just trying to get it all - mm-hmm you think at the same time you know there's been some discussion about the star the value of a star is it's like it was you know a few years ago how important is it to have that name leading your movie what do you think does it still need a big movie star like Tom Cruise or someone to get a movie made these days I mean I you know here you know Harry Tubman and it was about finding the right actor right because the movie lives and breathes on that performance so I'd actually saw Cynthia in the color purple before the Tony nomination blew me away and I was like this is Harriet Tubman I mean just the breadth of her talent was clear everything about her was right and when I sat with her a couple weeks later I was like this Mike this is our this is our actress and and it was a risk in that sense but it wasn't a risk because she was the one the two popes it was critical I mean Stuber I loved him and he was very clear with us saying this is the cast you need to get and you'll get the green light it was Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins there was literally no backup this if you want to be in light this is the assignment so I appreciated the honesty was okay it's very clear as a producer this is the assignment you lay these actually if a green light you don't you have no movie but it's very very specifically a casting in general I think it's less important than it was 10 20 a great you know you know I think the movies speak for themselves and in general actors don't drive box office as much as they used to that's no it's international market now but there's certain movies certainly once upon a time hard to imagine it without sort of big-name movie stars and I think same thing with our movie yeah they just felt like you know they're they're very similar movies in odd ways which they felt sort of old-fashioned Hollywood movies anyway isn't hard to imagine either without big cast but in general the sort of need for movie stars I don't think is what it was Emma you touched on this a little bit obviously Joker has been a huge box-office yes but there was some controversy around it did you see that coming as a producer when you were working on it ah not not while we were making it really the trouble didn't start brewing until we started screwing woods till we screened it really for the first time and just wanted to be very very aware and careful given the you know the subject matter and yeah it's been it's but it's been interesting I'm just glad that we opened and quiet quiet on the western has been amazing so that's wonderful but just that but know sometimes you don't know right and then sometimes you do and you have to literally just like strap on your flak jacket and lean into it yet oh no I mean we just made a movie and I'm sure we're gonna have numerous lawsuits exactly it's like at some point you have to just go if that happens and that happens and ultimately again like did you stay on the road of you know what you wanted to achieve is that is that is that really the film and did you do that with integrity and hard work of making sure that the research was there and you know I I've never understood when people were like well it's a true story and say well hold on like it's never really a true story right it is it's you're you're you're chasing the greater truth correct right because in intimate conversations you're never gonna know what that is right so that's always where I find myself whenever we do these kind of like you know real life movies where you just have to kind of make peace with that and and and do as much work as you possibly can and then when everybody starts saying well don't do that because we're gonna get sued it's like well maybe we should get smooth then well maybe yes exactly so yeah I mean I hope nobody's it's not like I'm inviting it in but I think you have to you you have to be pragmatic yeah what that looks like obviously you do your best to protect yourself and and as long as everybody is on the same side you're financiero your distributor so that you're all in you know facing it together that maybe you don't just be hanging out there by yourself yeah I just art of looking at stuff and I was like oh boy cuz you know I don't do deep dives into the dark webs and stuff it you know it was like I was like oh god maybe this movies never gonna see the light of day wow you know two weeks out from our opening you know but I really commend Warner Brothers they really you know stuck right by our side and and never wavered never wavered I think they handled it beautifully and it was you just be careful to online you know we experienced Aladdin you can't do the deep dive one's gonna know is it a minority speaking for the majority of their online trails like yeah I just don't wanna start Kenny I gotta just step out I also there's ether about the dark where there's a large darkness and we're in a environment out everyone wants to take people down and get better about themselves and so I think it's I don't know I think as a producer part of it it just okay engage a little bit understand what's going on in the world but I think is important just to not to going down the rabbit hole right you ever know it might be a few people you know people can say these ugly horrible things because they're not being held accountable for it so keep it in context if you feel like people think they can predict a movie like you know the hero title or the casting or the director and then all of a sudden they it's like they know exactly what that movie is gonna look like and I think it's it's such an unfair position for films it's also a fun challenge because it is a little bit like singing song like you get to like rub it in their faces yes but I think when when you do something that is controversial that's maybe a story like bombshell like there was definitely this idea this confidence that came across that you're just like oh you're so confident that you think you know what this movie is that this is actually gonna be a really nice surprise right and what a nice challenge let's take something a subject matter like sexual harassment and turn that on its head so it doesn't feel like this thing that you think you're gonna see I think the that is the medicine that we're gonna ask you to take but how do you make it entertaining right ultimately that was the thing that I relished the most was every day going to work with our incredible cast and then having Jay Roach as that Shepherd and knowing that what he was going to do with the story was totally gonna be something that nobody could predict you know we approach from the very beginning Harriet is not a movie about slavery it's a movie about freedom and empowerment and one woman's drive to change her life in the world and so people like they don't see them again that's because it's you they have the anonymity they haven't seen the movie they don't even know what it's about and they were already saying well we don't want to see this and we don't want to see that mm-hmm the filmmaker everybody have to bet on your own gut yeah yeah you have to say I'm not an alien I'm a human I'm emotional I want to laugh I want to cry or be moved by things okay and take a sense of responsibility I believe that this is a responsible telling of this story absolute may indeed be controversial but I believe it's cultural for a reason and then the hell with it hopefully work and it may not work but you know you can't you can't sort of second-guess you know it's the guy who's used to say that you know these these jobs are wildly subjective yeah with one exception which is you know your own thoughts and feelings that's probably well and it's the one thing you know with certainty and you know when you read this read the script for the first time but this thing moves me or I think is exciting or this thing is funny or whatever those things are and that's the we subjective thing in the whole process and in a world of complete subjectivity your own God is the one thing you know objectively right and you should listen to it embed on it and actually I don't think the controversy is a bad thing I think you know in a world where that we live in which is there's not much conversation there's only polemic I think to actually put things out there that encourage a conversation of some kind or other is really healthy and I think it's important I agree I mean my mentor in this business man is a man named Frank price and that's precisely what he taught me among many many things was at the end of the day my god you know it'd be educate my gut so that I'm understanding what's going on in the marketplace and obviously what's going on in the world but at the end of the day it's about emotion it's about connecting with your material with people and if I'm connecting with it in a really important and intimate way probably other people will too yeah but isn't that true of every step of the process you have to trust your instinct because otherwise you're not going to be able to you're choosing a piece of material for third person it's commercial that's not it's got it you've got have a personal reason for doing it then every step of the way who you work with the conversations you have the right it's all personal subjective but that's the only way you can be able to make your case that's right when I think death is when you approach something cynically saying I don't really like this but they'll like it yeah that is you know I've made movies like that in my life and I'm ashamed to them 25 years later I'm ashamed yeah we want to say which one [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] so three of the movies here are being released by Netflix which has been a major disrupter in the industry for the last few years did any of you pause before signing on to work with them we we did not pause we Marti and Bob were determined to get the smell made stupors been trying desperately to get you know theatrical you know negotiating all of that we were promised that we would have something and that was okay for Marty you know and he knew what he was getting into and happy to explore that that experience and Scott is the most supportive and Ted surround us the most supportive and we just had a great time and are still having a great time and I would do every movie with them hands down I love them so we didn't have a pause but we took our pitch out to market based on Anthony McCartney's original play yeah and so we had multiple bidders that we did have a conversation though do we go traditional or do we go streaming and in this case with Fernando our director we wanted as many people to see them as possible globally and we knew is a hard movie to get made and hard wanted to get people to go to the theater for it's a faith-based movie that plays to believers and non-believers alike but with Netflix as you guys know it's day and date all over the world yeah Alton we thought that was the best way to get people to see it yeah for us when stupid cold and said we want to do it there was not a moment's hesitation and I think we'll all say this the support in the process of making the fur animal and the support in distributing the film marketing district distributing the film has been incredible a film like marriage story is you know would never be seen as Dan said by as many people heard about by as many people as it would without the marketing of Netflix their support from stupor and Ted to Lisa Tabak in their marketing yeah and Julie has been unwavering and also there understood there their analysis and understanding I'm not working analytics I'm just talking creative of every single aspect of the process has been really really impressive and they are great partners and like you I would make another film there in a heartbeat with us they've the condition of making it was that they would guarantee us significant distribution so we we have four weeks yeah I think you know we're up for a month prior to going on on on the service we begin small we expand and then in a way that going broad is that it is going wide is when we went when we got hit the streaming but they're also talking about keeping the theaters through February March April isn't Ramos so I mean clearly they are about the you know the service and that's the most important thing for them but they also want to attract filmmakers and support the filmmaking experience and then the theatrical experience so for me it's been for us for NOAA for Nev I do think there's a misconception about Netflix though because filmmakers come to me and say have you work with Netflix do you get no notes do you have to do whatever you want to do know for us it's you get the right notes it's like the right amount of touch I think it's a paralytic operation we talk about being a producer work with the director they give you the right notes and they step into the right points but it's not as aggressive ya know it's and touch as with a traditional student I think the the marketplace has also changed significantly and it is really hard for a lot of these whatever you call them smaller movies to find any home in the marketplace right now I think between the price value relationship of Netflix on the one hand where people go should I take my family on spend a hundred bucks right in movies or should I subscribe to Netflix for a year for 120 but right yeah and then on the other side you get squeezed by Disney superhero movies which it's really hard to find a weekend to get open on and so I think for a lot of these sort of smaller more specialized movies you get cute look I made this sweet little movie in the spring called Tolkien we got killed you know five years ago that movie would have done 5060 million dollars worldwide and I think we did 1520 there's just no one's going out to the movie theaters for these small news right and there's no stigma anymore I mean that was you know initially it was oh god you know my movie is worthy of theatrical no it's about what is the right distribution platform to get as many people as possible to see the movie I think both Quentin Eaton and Noah who both shoot on onset you're on film the theatrical experience is very important for both of them but again to Netflix is credit they understood that they understood the filmmaker they were working with and they gave them what gave him what he wanted to the best of that's what's so important is that they understand when they're working with certain filmmakers that there's a there's there's something there that you have to kind of respect and surrender it to like if you're gonna work with somebody like David Fincher or these filmmakers and they're there they don't just resentfully do it they do they invite it they you know the rails are the right thing you do because ultimately that's how you I mean that's we all know that right once you support and give your director the things that they mean ultimately that's how you make a great moments when you try to step in there and be like micromanaging everything right I've had a great experience with them - I I started with television and I mean David Fincher who I did mine hunter with he just had such I mean he basically like launched Netflix yeah so he was like the the first person to really I think tap into this important role that that entity would kind of Harry I remember so vividly like 25 years ago working with Tom Hanks and he wrote in my script promise me you will never do television isn't that unbelievable 25 years ago Wow and look at him now he can't stop making television right but it is when I was starting out in this industry I mean it was thought of as like no you know total and now it's all I want to almost say the reverse it is a lot of these places are shaking us and waking us up to how we need to bring back a little bit more bravery we need to push the envelope we do scary things because when you make television those are the things that are really encouraged those are the things they almost expect and I've yeah it wasn't until I started producing television that I would sit in pitch meetings and hear people go well can you go further with that and usually it was the reverse when it was when you were trying to sell a film so can you pull back on that black on that and I think it's been a good thing for us to wake up and go well we need to bring this back and our industry we need to start challenging the status quo and what that is and stop being so risk protective yeah I think the key to longevity in this business whether you're Marty Scorsese or your us is paying attention to what the changes that are taking place have lighting her and have to stay current on half the current open you have to stay nimble I mean the technological changes now are happening you know every day something's different you know the marketplace is changing back like you said back in the day when I started out and I was doing television I am people were like why are you doing TV yeah I'm like it was bringing down my you know my brand at that point now then it was like oh my god you were in TV early you know it's just you have to just keep mindful of what's going on and move with it when times push forward yeah that's what I love about Marty at 70 yeah he's 7 years old I mean he's he's he's relevant he's totally he's not afraid to try anything new he's just he's just roll with a secret I just saw they Telluride he had more energy than the rest of the room it's it's his just you know total passion it's like trying to get him off the set is like oh my god you know he he'll shoot at 16 17 hour days easily so inspiring it was great an irishman because we had others who couldn't quite you know keep up but you know 108 days of that is you know no it's it's it's his passion you know there's nowhere he'd rather be than on that set you know and the fact that he can still operate at the highest levels from with all that you know the the respect yeah at that age like why not yeah David when it comes to marriage story that's a very personal story for the director Noah Baumbach you know he had been through divorce himself his parents had been divorced and he's a filmmaker who needs a lot of time to make a film what sort of demand did that put on you it was a personal story for Noah but it's also a personal story for so many people working on the film and I think small story for many people we he knew no interviewed a lot of people he always had Adam Scarlett and Laura involved and spoke to them about divorce because and about marriage but fit for me in terms of my role the most important thing was Noah likes a very intimacy set in a very quiet set Quentin's are more expansive character both of them don't allow mobile phones on set which by the way I recommend really highly it's a fantastic thing so for me it was about creating an environment where Noah and the actors could have the quiet and the intimacy in the space to create no does a lot of takes he takes time so in terms of the schedule it was allowing for that and Noah's Direction is quite invisible it's not a it's not doesn't draw much attention to itself but but every choice every decision is you know it's considered and so it's again allowing Manisha have to work together yeah and he needs the time of the space to do it we started talking about how hard it is to make a movie do any of you have a project that is the one that got away a movie you're still hoping to make that's been Peter but you've got I bought the rights to Travis McGee when I was running the studio close to 30 years ago with Harrison Ford attached and there must be 25 million dollars in development costs against you don't give up we're gonna get made one is this yeah you just know you will the Stars will alive it's perfect I want to knock on wood so I don't jinx myself but we try to bake the last Lethal Weapon movie and Dick Donner is coming back the original cast is coming and it's just amazing the story itself is very personal to him Wow Mel and Danny are ready to go so it's about that's a Miss script oh my god amazing David you got one in your pocket I've I've there was a book called a Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time 25 years ago and we hired a writer director and he spent around nine or ten years writing it but he never actually got to write it and and then it's just a journey a time about trying to find the right person people to I'm doing it with plan B or great partners in fact we had the book for so long that they only allowed us to extend it provided we came the option to be the play thankfully they did I I was approached by Park Chang walk like around 2005 and he basically handed me the rights to one of his trilogies on vengeance sympathy for Lady vengeance which was just so unbelievable but he came to me and said I would love for you to try and tell this and a Western play as a Western story and and that's that's been the biggest challenge but it's definitely a project that is like I just I have to just figure out how to get this right and it's been many years and in a weird way is I think it's good because the character goes to prison for a long time and I I think if I had made this movie you know 12 years ago or 13 years ago I think it would have been different I think I think it's all playing out the way it's supposed to that's what at least what I'm telling myself yeah I there's a book called the black Calhoun's which is written by Guillemette Buckley who with Lena Horne's daughter that I have been trying to make for a very long time and I it will stay in my pocket until I get it done I'm idea for we have a ton timing tons I mean there's millions and in development and millions of Marty's have has you know wanted to to make over the years but the one was the one that we finally got made was silence and that was the big one and that sort of that that we had to we had to do and thankfully we did it so there is hope and he will get it done there's too many there's the what I always say to him we've got it we got a we're gonna make some cuts here buddy we can't we can't keep trying to get all these but yeah that was the big one and and that was 30 years and came together yeah so I'd love to hear about what is something from your childhood a value or a skill or something from your childhood that you have taken that has made you a great producer reading yeah yeah yeah I don't found a great producer by the way but reading mine was um being raised by wolves essentially and having to fend for myself very early and I love you mom and dad no offense but honestly I'm just having to really produce my life from a very early age my dad was the biggest film and television buff that I knew so he instilled in me a love of a passion for film and television and an understanding of its impact how the images that are on screen are just so important positively and negatively mm-hmm for me I'm an immigrant I was born in Taiwan and so coming here it's partly I think diligence just that I felt like I do I was outside I had to work harder and I had to learn the system and I think that's helped me in producing mm-hm I'm an immigrant as well I was born and raised in South Africa and I lived in a in a lot of isolation like on a farm only child but my my mom I think picked up early on that I was a storyteller and I think that you know her encouragement whether it was like putting me in dance and ultimately that's where I felt like I learned how to be a good storyteller if you can do it without saying anything then I think you're right you're ahead of the game and that's probably more powerful but I can really like sit with things and not feel overwhelmed by them and I think it's because of how when where I was raised yeah very much like you books but I was raised in an environment where curiosity was encouraged where I watched a ton of films and have a love of cinema but also art and theater and actually travel meeting people who are different and the big thing I think was it's okay to be different and celebrating difference and the people of people the world over and to treat people with respect no matter who they are absolutely metal where they're from so to me I think that was the great lesson that my parents told me yeah hopefully I try and apply to the work they do mm-hmm it's so lovely when you just said it reminds me when I was working with Jay Roach when we had her first like big meeting with all our department hence he said something like that he said be kinder than than what is necessary yeah it was so beautiful I love that's sort of my mantra and how I run my set is just everybody needs to like lips let's have fun it's hard enough you know it's a hard job really challenging together yeah we're lucky yeah perspective yeah yeah what is the one film you would tell every aspiring producer to watch aspiring producer I think you watch as much as you possibly can yeah I think watch bad movies sakes you know it's like we I'm a lawyer and so you know there's legal precedents well the film other films are the precedents here you know what works what didn't work it just watch as much as possible mm-hmm and you're right truly watch a lot of bad movies yeah you know not you know what not to do recommend is actually a documentary and many of you probably seen the hero Dreams of Sushi yeah because he's a sushi master but I think those are the kinds of people we work with perfectionists and the directors actors other producers other craftsmen MMA if you can see kind of the mentality and the drive of someone like Hiro then you can work with those people so that actually was very informative for me so he's aspiring to perfection but he never achieves it and I think that that's true of every filmmaker and every producer name very working as we reach and we are ambitious yeah but there's not a film that I've made that I yeah yeah exactly Peter you didn't give an answer you got a film you know probably I'd say Titanic mm-hmm just because it was such an extraordinary impossible production right it was a tall order yeah yeah it's the same Li difficult challenging and sort of through every imaginable problem Matt mm-hmm trying to make a movie and you know at the same time had as big an impact as arguing any movie in history and so it sort of both shows you the promise of what you could potentially achieve but it was hell even now you still feel that many years later it was it wasn't last time you saw it I haven't seen it in a while I see bits and pieces of it but yeah when I greenlit it it was the most expensive movie ever yeah yeah and we went more over budget than the budget was oh my gosh Wow Wow or with your Muslim production yeah 105 million dollars oh wow yeah but it was also a great lesson because it was in here sort of out-of-body experience which is everything public about the movie was a disaster and every personal interaction I had I thought it was phenomenal was a phenomenal pitch it was a phenomenal script as frommel dailies look in that sort of situation you've got three alternative shut it down entirely that seemed like a bad idea 140 million dollars in replace the director it seemed like a bad idea or try and make it great yeah just seemed to me it seemed clear to me the only hope was to make it great you're right you do have a good gut okay thank you so much for joining us today hi I'm Debra Martin T hi I'm Dan Lynn I'm Peter Chernin hi I'm Charlize Theron and thank you for watching thanks so much for watching thank you for watching the hollywood reporter roundtable hollywood reporter roundtable roundtables on youtube on youtube

Channel: The Hollywood Reporter

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Keywords: thr, the hollywood reporter, hollywood reporter, entertainment, hollywood, close up, close up with thr, thr roundtable, thr roundtables, interview, charlize theron, david heyman, emma tillinger koskoff, debra martin chase, dan lin, peter chernin, bombshell, once upon a time in hollywood, joker, the irishman, harriet, the two popes, ford v ferrari, producers, producers roundtable, roundtables, close up with the hollywood reporter, the hollywood reporter roundtable, film, movie, 2020

Id: 0ALe_MuIKv0

Length: 53min 20sec (3200 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 27 2020