Tickets for the special screening of GO at Arclight in Hollywood on November 25th are now available for sale. The movie starts at 7:00 p.m., followed by a Q&A with John, hosted by MENACE II SOCIETY screenwriter Tyger Williams.
A couple of nice coincidences: the Arclight is just down the street from the supermarket that served as the inspiration for the movie, and GO’s premiere was held in Arclight’s Cineramadome.
On Tuesday, November 25th, GO is being screened as part of the “Story to Glory” series at the ArcLight Cinema in Hollywood, followed by a Q&A with me. Will I say something profound and brilliant? No. But I’ll hopefully be coherent.
I haven’t seen GO on a big screen since 1999, so I’ll probably just watch it beforehand so I remember the plot. Plus, the ArcLight is by far my favorite movie theater in Los Angeles, since they let you reserve your individual seat. Along with my TiVo and my Prius, the ArcLight is one of my favorite modern conveniences.
The ArcLight theaters are big, so I’m not expecting it to sell out. But as soon as there is ticket information, I’ll put it up.
This film series began in September 2002, and is held every second Tuesday, screening a different movie and interviewing its screenwriter afterwards. It’s run by the Scriptwriters Network.
How did you come to be a co-producer on GO?
–David Demchuk
Although Columbia Pictures ultimately released GO, they weren’t the original
buyer of the script (in fact, every studio in town had passed on it, feeling
the subject matter was too dark). A tiny company called Banner Entertainment
read the script and wanted to make the movie, but since they didn’t have a
lot of money to put up front, they offered a few things a studio normally wouldn’t.
First, they guaranteed I would be the first, last and only writer on the project.
Second, they would give me the right to buy the script back if the movie hadn’t
gone into production within 18 months. Finally, they would keep me on board
as co-producer.
The various flavors of producer credit (executive
producer, associate producer,
co-producer) are tossed around a bit too easily in Hollywood, and all too often
they’re given to people who don’t really deserve them, such as an actor’s mananger.
In my case, I actually earned my masters degree in the film producer’s program
at USC, so I was weirdly well qualified for the job.
For the first week or two, I just sat quietly in meetings, happy to be there.
But ultimately I got highly involved in every aspect of the production, from
hiring Doug Liman to direct it to scrambling for funds when our foreign financing
fell apart (I had just made a deal with Columbia’s sister studio, Tri-Star,
which is a large reason why the movie ended up there). During production, I
was on-set from call to wrap, and sat in on five months of editing. It was
an amazing experience.
In total, there were five producers on GO. The three "full" producers
were Paul Rosenberg, who had set up the script and given me my first two jobs
in the business; Mickey Liddell, who ran Banner Entertainment; and Matt Freeman,
who worked with Mickey and brought him the script. The other co-producer was
Paddy Cullen, who oversaw the physical production, including the budget, schedule
and insurance.
Looking back, it’s hard to imagine making the movie without all those people
doing their part. While GO had some unique challenges, every production needs
its good cops and bad cops, peacemakers and war-bringers. A writer can go off
and work by himself, but a producer needs to lead dozens of other people. It’s
a very different set of skills.
Since GO, I have co-executive produced a television series, and signed on
to produce a big-budget monster movie that I’m writing at Columbia. But even
on projects where I’m "just" a writer, the experience of having produced
is a tremendous advantage in anticipating the needs of the filmmakers.
I was wondering,
do you read reviews of films you’ve worked on? When you’re in a bookstore,
do you go to the film section and check out how many stars Maltin or Ebert
have given the films?
–Brenton
Thanks to the Internet, not only can I read what Maltin and Ebert say about
my movies, I can find out what the Pioneer Press and the Times of London thought.
And yes, I read them obsessively when the movie comes out, to the point where
I’ll be at my computer from midnight until 2:30 a.m. reading the Friday morning
reviews online, before the papers are even printed.
In addition to the "Reviews" links on IMDB, I love Rotten Tomatoes
because it gathers the reviews from thirty or forty different sources. I also
read the "User Comments" section on IMDB,
and sometimes the various be-your-own critic sites.
Honestly, my fondness for reading reviews is more a function of pride than
vanity. I don’t get excited reading my own name, but rather seeing what someone
thought of my baby. And of course, my attachment varies based on my involvement.
For GO and CHARLIE’S ANGELS, I was a veritable soccer mom. TITAN A.E., on the
other hand, was like a friend from summer camp you were never sure you’d see
again.