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An Interview with Filmmaker Greg Morgan (Part III)
by Tony Farinella
This is the third and final part of MatchFlick columnist Tony Farinella's interview with indie film director Greg Morgan, writer and director of the upcoming film, The Substance of Things Hoped For.
You can read Part I here.
You can read Part II here.
TF: What do you hope to accomplish with this film?
GM: Of course I'm hoping to inspire people. I'm hoping people love it.
I'm hoping that people like this
enough that they say "Greg Morgan, he knows what he is doing, let's see
what's he's doing next and maybe invest in that film". Or get my scripts
into bigger companies that can fund my next film.
Greg Morgan with Substance co-writer Duke Addleman. |
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TF: For those interested in seeing SUBSTANCE, how can they do so? What's
the current process on it?
GM: It depends and it will be a long, long process. First, it will probably
be
on the film festival circuit and travel the country. Almost every major
city at a film festival near you. Or it might get picked up early, you
never know. Maybe after the first festival, some distributor might say, "We
want this movie." Maybe it will go straight to a theatrical run. Or
straight to cable, or straight to DVD. I don't know what will happen.
It's always the luck of the draw. But I'm sure it will play at least at a
few film festivals, before it gets picked up. That's typically they way
it goes. Every film is different and every distributor is different.
The life path of a film is always different.
TF: Now that you have more films under your belt, do you feel more
confident as a director?
GM: Without question. I finally made a film I can say I love. I'm much
more confident. I'm looking forward to my next film, which will
probably be within the same genre. It's the genre I love.
TF: Who are some actors you would like to work with in the future, if
you had the chance to do so?
GM: There's so many. I would say Johnny Depp, first and foremost. I
would love to work with him. Who else? I don't think I
really have a particular favorite.
If I had to name one right now, I would say Johnny Depp.
TF: How about for actress?
GM: Hmm, can't really think of anyone off the top of my head.
TF: Meryl Streep?
GM: Of course, Meryl. She's the classic pro. I was just trying to think
of someone that would be intriguing. With Meryl, you know she's going to be
good.
TF: How about Robin Wright Penn?
GM: That's a great one, I would love her. Because I have seen her in so
many films, she's wonderful.
TF: Have you seen her in NINE LIVES? She's great in that.
GM: Yes, I have, and that's a great example because she's so underrated.
Just think: Johnny Depp and Robin Wright Penn in a film? Wow.
TF: Being a HUGE Vanessa fan, I have to ask, what was it like working
her?
GM: Vanessa is just a wonderful person. I wouldn't say that if it wasn't
true. I really lucked out with her. She's funny, first of all, has a
great sense of humor. She's very energetic. She's always
the first one on set and ready to work. She's not only fun to be
around, but a great professional. If I'd be getting ready for the shot, I
would tell my first AD,
"I need Vanessa" and two seconds
later she would be there. She's a great professional, a great person, and
she's funny. A great, great girl. And as you know, she's adorable.
TF: Can't argue that. (laughs)
GM: (laughs) I know you won't. She's a lot of fun and willing to do a
lot of stuff. I put her in the ocean and it's September and at that
point, we were having storms and it was not warm water. She would just
go in there like a trooper and freezing her butt off. She would do it
over and over again. For a low budget movie where she's not getting paid a
lot of money. She's a fabulous actress and a real trooper for filmmakers, I
really recommend
her.
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A scene from Morgan's upcoming film, THE SUBSTANCE OF THINGS HOPED FOR |
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TF: Advice to kids wanting to be filmmakers, but don't really know how
to?
GM: The biggest advice which I have given a couple of times in this
interview is to write a script. That will attach you to the project.
Nothing else will. You can go around saying you're a director all day
long and people are not going to really believe in you until you
create some other art. My biggest piece of advice is to write a script.
Period.
TF: What is the best and worst part of being a filmmaker?
GM: The best part for me is simply the expression of art and having people
love your art..
Film making is the art of many people brought together to make one art. But
it's this art that I
fell in love with. Film making is the way I chose to express myself.
The worst part, is the criticism. You have to live with that, and it's
hard. With any art, you're going to be criticized and if you can't handle
that, then you're not going to do well. And honestly, a lot of times, I
don't do well. Because I think, "Well gosh, it's my art! How dare they
criticize it!"
TF: Have you ever wanted to be an actor?
GM: No, I tell people I like being the artist, not the art.
TF: Now that you have three films under your belt, is being a director
what you thought it would be?
GM: No, it hasn't and as I said at the start of the interview, I'm a
down and dirty independent filmmaker. It's not what I thought it would
be. There is not any kind of glamor attached to it. It's just simply
hard work. Sometimes I even wonder, honestly, why I do it sometimes.
I guess I'm always striving to please people and, like I said, I love it
when someone loves my art. That's probably the thing that keeps me
going. When someone says, "Oh my god, this is great." That just makes me
feel like I won the lottery.
TF: What's your thoughts on the current state of the film industry, here
in 2006?
GM: There's three film industries, in my mind. There's the Hollywood
films which are doing nothing but making movies from stories they've taken
from best sellers
or about remaking old movies that have already been done.
The next one is studio independent films, which are really an
independent film paid for by a studio. or a division of a studio. Out of
that comes some pretty good films, for example: BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN.
TF: Could say films like CRASH too.
GM: Exactly. Those are low budget, but to me extremely high budgets. But
for Hollywood, low budget. A lot of good films come out of that. The
third is my level, which is just extremely low budget. They are
sometimes lucky enough to get out there, either straight to DVD or
sometimes lucky enough to get a theatrical release. From there, you get
a new or discovered filmmaker. They make something good enough that
encourages
people to trust you to make a film that has some top names in it.
TF: Pros and cons of a big budget film compared to an independent film?
GM: I don't think there are many pros to a big budget film. Sometimes
you like them and sometimes you don't. Personally, Hollywood doesn't have
any balls. They are just making what they
know will work. I guess you have to give them credit for that, they are a
business. But as
far as art goes, I don't think Hollywood is artistic at all. I think that
Hollywood
is for the young, and for the kids. They make KING KONG and 11 year old kids
see this and think
wow, it's great. But they don't realize, this had been made before.
Come on, use some creativity.
TF: Same with the horror films.
GM: HILLS HAVE EYES, WHEN A STRANGER CALLS, been done before. Every time
I see a commercial film, it's been done before. I tell the kids read the
book or see the original, you'll like it more.
TF: The price of originality is very high in Hollywood right now.
GM: Exactly what I feel too, Tony.
TF: My last question before the name game, is, as we have discussed
through this interview, it's very hard to be an independent
filmmaker, so why do you do it?
GM: For the love of the art and for the people who appreciate my art. That's
really it.
TF: Time for the name game portion of this interview. I name a person or
director in Hollywood and you tell me what comes to mind.
TF: David Lynch
GM: Intriguing.
TF: Cameron Crowe
GM: Enjoyable
TF: John Hughes
GM: The Great
TF: Clint Eastwood
GM: So-So.
TF: Martin Scorsese
GM: Brilliant
TF: Peter Jackson
GM: Fun
TF: Spike Lee
GM: Racist
TF: Quentin Tarantino
GM: Innovative.
TF: Francis Ford Coppola
GM: Genius
TF: Sophia Coppola
GM: Genius Jr.
TF: David Cronenberg
GM: Innovative
TF: Robert Redford
GM: I love him.
TF: Michael Mann
GM: Varied career.
TF: Ang Lee
GM: Versatile.
TF: Coen Brothers
GM: Extremely creative.
TF: Rob Zombie.
GM: Not my thing.
TF: Robert Rodriquez
GM: Interesting.
TF: Eli Roth
GM: Not my thing again.
TF: Roger Ebert
GM: Good, and I agree with most of his reviews.
TF: Ron Howard
GM: Too Hollywood.
TF: Ray Wise
GM: Wonderful
TF: How about yourself? Greg Morgan
GM: No comment!
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