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The ”ON THE WAY” film festival presents “First Time at Ridgemont High”, “Say Anything”, “Singles”, ”Jerry Maguire”, “Almost Famous”, “Elizabethtown” –films by one of cinema’s most highly renowned directors Cameron Crowe. They paint a road trip of discoversing passion while pursuing dreams.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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BIOGRAPHY FILMS INTERVIEW SCHEDULE LOCATION CONCERT
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BIOGRAPHY
Cameron Bruce Crowe was born July 13, 1957, he is an American actor, author, director, producer, screenwriter and journalist. Before moving into the film industry, Crowe was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine, for which he still frequently writes. Crowe has made his mark with character-driven, personal films that have been generally hailed as refreshingly original and devoid of cynicism. Michael Walker in The New York Times called Crowe “something of a cinematic spokesman for the post-baby boom generation” because his first few films focused on that specific age group.
Crowe landed his biggest hit, though, with Jerry Maguire. After this, he was given a green light to go ahead with a pet project, the autobiographical effort Almost Famous. Centering on a teenage music journalist on tour with an up-and-coming band, it gave insight to his life as a 15-year-old writer for Rolling Stone. For his screenplay, he won an Academy Award. Also in late 1999, Crowe released his second book, Conversations with Billy Wilder. He won Academy Award Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen for Almost Famous (2000) and BAFTA Film Award Best Screenplay – Original for Almost Famous.
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FILMS
FIRST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH SAY ANYTHING SINGLES JERRY MAGUIRE ALMOST FAMOUS ELIZABETHTOWN
FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH
A group of California high school students are enjoying their most important subjects: sex, drugs and rock n’ roll. Follows a group of high school students growing up in southern California, based on the real-life adventures chronicled by Cameron Crowe. Stacy Hamilton and Mark Ratner are looking for a love interest, and are helped along by their older classmates, Linda Barrett and Mike Damone, respectively. The center of the film is held by Jeff Spicoli, a perpetually stoned surfer dude who faces off with the resolute Mr. Hand, who is convinced that everyone is on dope.
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Director: Writer: Stars: Country: Language: Release Date:
Amy Heckerling Cameron Crowe (screenplay), Cameron Crowe (book) Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Judge Reinhold USA English 13 August 1982 (USA)
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SAY ANYTHING
A noble underachiever and a beautiful valedictorian fall in love the summer before she goes off to college.
Director: Writer: Stars: Country: Language: Release Date:
Cameron Crowe Cameron Crowe John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney USA English 14 April 1989 (USA)
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SINGLES
A group of twenty-something friends, most of whom live in the same apartment complex, search for love and success in grunge-era Seattle.
Director: Writer: Stars: Country: Language: Release Date:
Cameron Crowe Cameron Crowe Bridget Fonda, Campbell Scott, Kyra Sedgwick USA English 18 September 1992 (USA)
JERRY MAGUIRE
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When a sports agent has a moral epiphany and is fired for expressing it, he decides to put his new philosophy to the test as an independent with the only athlete who stays with him.
Director: Writer: Stars: Country: Language: Release Date:
Cameron Crowe Cameron Crowe Tom Cruise, Cuba Gooding Jr., RenĂŠe Zellweger USA English 13 December 1996 (USA)
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ALMOST FAMOUS
A high-school boy is given the chance to write a story for Rolling Stone Magazine about an up-and-coming rock band as he accompanies it on their concert tour.
Director: Writer: Stars: Country: Language: Release Date:
Cameron Crowe Cameron Crowe Billy Crudup, Patrick Fugit, Kate Hudson USA English / French 22 September 2000 (USA)
ELIZABETHTOWN
During an outrageous memorial for a Southern patriarch, an unexpected romance blooms between a young woman and man.
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Director: Writer: Stars: Country: Language: Release Date:
Cameron Crowe Cameron Crowe Orlando Bloom, Kirsten Dunst, Susan Sarandon USA English / French 14 October 2005 (USA)
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INTERVIEW
Be Honest And Unmerciful: Cameron Crowe Talks Almost Famous By TODD GILCHRIST
There are few films that capture the experience of being a fan better than Almost Famous. There are also few films that capture the experience of being a journalist better than Almost Famous. A chronicle of writerdirector Cameron Crowe’s fledgling days as a music lover and reporter disguised as a fictional coming of age story, the 2000 opus rests at a crossroads between personal passion and professional obligation, sympathetic complicity and trenchant objectivity. And particularly in an age when social media allows fans to interact with their favorite artists, and the media examines every aspect of their lives, the film’s underlying message about that tenuous relationship seems more relevant than ever: “Be honest, and unmerciful,” as Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) succinctly puts it. Crowe, who’s currently working on a romantic comedy about a defense contractor who falls for an Air Force pilot, generously spoke to Birth. Movies.Death. via email to answer a handful of questions about Almost Famous. Having carved out a career for himself as a director to whom soundtracks are at least as important as the movies they accompany, Crowe spoke to the film’s authenticity as a portrait of rock journalism in the 1970s, as well as its unvarnished honesty in documenting his own transition from fan to reporter -- and perhaps most importantly, where the lines between those roles continue to blur.
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The film is obviously a loving tribute to your experiences — one which every journalist wishes he or she could have gone through. When was the moment for you when you went from being a fan to being a journalist? Was there a moment, even in retrospect, where you felt you made that transition?
There are a couple. One was the first cover story assignment on the Allman Brothers Band, which became the basis for much of Almost Famous. On the eve of leaving the tour with a ton of interview tapes and research, Gregg Allman asked for my tapes back, believing that I was actually an undercover cop sent to spy on the band. The band had been burned by a Rolling Stone reporter before, and he had become worried that this too would be a doomed endeavor. I was incredibly disillusioned, and expected to be banned from writing for Rolling Stone over the incident. Luckily, Gregg returned the tapes a couple days later, and blamed it on exhaustion and personal confusion. I was grateful, but the lesson was learned — each assignment would be different, with a different mix of personalities and a standing duty to deliver the story. With the help of Ben Fong-Torres, we put the article in shape, developed a clear-eyed perspective on the band, and I’ve never looked back. Also, at 19, I wrote a story called “How I Learned About Sex,” which was hampered by writer’s block until I just gave up and wrote it as if I was writing a letter to a friend. That was another breakthrough. It felt like I had found a writing voice that might stretch beyond rock journalism. The tone of that article is the same tone as the movies I’ve made.
There are so many great conversations between William and Russell where Russell could just as easily be manipulating William as being honest with him. Even if they didn’t realize it at the time, was there ever a moment when you were aware they were using maybe an uncharacteristic “honesty” to try to manipulate you into “making them look cool?” Sure, almost every time. But that is the dance between any reporter and his interview subject.
The “Tiny Dancer” sequence is one of the truly wonderful sequences in cinema of the last few decades. But was there any experience that inspired it? Or even, did you ever experience a moment where a song sort of brought a band together in the way that Elton John’s did there? Many times. Sometimes it was a jam session, sometimes a song on the radio, and sometimes music that a band traveled with — Led Zeppelin were very enamored of Joni Mitchell, Bob Marley and the Guess Who. Much more than drugs or sex, music was always the baseline passion of the groups I covered. Which is not to say that there weren’t wild days and nights of debauchery, there were, some of which I witnessed and some of which I saw the effects of the next day... but in the years of covering and touring with artists for RS and other publications, I never ran across a single musician who wasn’t transported while talking about or playing music they loved. It was always my common ground as a reporter. I love music too. It wasn’t a job to me. It was a miracle of serendipity.
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What to you was perhaps the most painfully honest thing you included in the film about your own experiences? What is the moment where you were the least sure, or maybe now, the most sure, you wanted the world to experience through William Miller’s eyes that you went through yourself? Probably the relationship with Zooey [Deschanel], who plays a character based on my sister. Music was a big common thread in our family, and sometimes our best way of expressing passion and love to each other.
The internet has become a great democratizing force for journalism and writing about art. How do you feel about the divide between journalism and fandom today? Are people closer than ever to the bands that they like? And if so, is that a good thing? I think Lennon said it best, paraphrasing, that music is a big rushing river and there are many tributaries that lead into that river. But the river is a constant, it never changes... music will always be a single essential language shared by everybody, and it continues to be, regardless of format, price, social networking, sex, nationality, concert tickets or technology. That’s pretty much the inner theme of Almost Famous. And thanks to the time and the era in which we made it, we had the money to make the movie correctly. I’ll always be so proud of it.
What ultimately was, is or would be the threshold for you telling a warts-and-all story about your experience with a band? What value do you see in reporting the peccadilloes of a band “struggling with success,” and all of their problems, versus, say, profiling them in a cleaner or perhaps more diplomatic way?
I think you have to step back and look at the big picture. What is the mood, the feeling, the truth about the atmosphere and intention of the people you’re profiling? Of course, a twenty minute session at a hotel ballroom junket won’t get you far. You are blur to the person you’re interviewing, and they are a blur to you. You are not seeing a person, or even having a conversation, you’re essentially creating content with a mutual understanding that neither of you will ever remember [from] the encounter later that day. It’s a recipe for cynicism, unfortunately. Almost Famous was about a time not so long ago, when people depended on each other a little bit more to explain their art and purpose. I always respected JD Salinger for walking away from publicity entirely, but I respected John Lennon more for sitting down with Jann Wenner for that first long Rolling Stone interview. Together they brought a fuselage of truth, letting the chips fall where they might, and they created the modern confessional interview. I was lucky enough to come along in the aftermath, and Almost Famous is about the implied contract between a reporter and his subject in the early seventies — Lennon had set the standard. So now... how truthful are you going to get? It was always a fascinating negotiation...
“Is it that hard to make us look cool?” —Jeff Bebe
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Cameron Crowe Takes Us on a Musical Tour Through His Filmography
After over 30 years as a writer and director in Hollywood, Cameron Crowe’s reputation precedes him. Though his films range a bit in time period, genre, and location, there are a few things you can rely on from a Crowe film. For one, his heroes are refreshingly earnest; this isn’t a filmmaker that dabbles in irony. For another, there will always, always be a killer soundtrack. Cameron Crowe famously got his start as a teenager writing about music for Creem, Circus, and—as chronicled in the 2000 film Almost Famous—for Rolling Stone magazine. His intense love of music drips off the page of that teenage writing and bursts out of every frame in Almost Famous. It’s why the movie Singles— completed before the Seattle-grunge boom, thank you very much—became a perfect time capsule for the musical sound that defined a decade. It’s why, despite having only made eight feature films so far, Crowe is responsible for not one, but two of the most memorable movie musical moments of all time. You only have to see Lloyd Dobbler thrust that boom box over his head or watch the hungover members of Stillwater joyfully belting out Elton John to feel a newfound love for the power of lyric, bridge, and chorus.
In Almost Famous, Philip Seymour Hoffman as Crowe’s real-life mentor, Lester Bangs, tells his young protégé, “The only true currency in this bankrupt world is what you share with someone else when you’re uncool.” It’s this philosophy, seemingly, that has driven Crowe’s entire career. Despite his famous rock-star friends, collaborations with cool movie stars like Tom Cruise, and official Hollywood stamp of approval in the shape of a screenwriting Oscar, the shaggy, affable Crowe remains unapologetically uncool. In that way, every passing soundtrack feels like a mix your untrendy friend or family member would make for you. Crowe’s not trying to impress, but he is giving fresh takes on enduring classics and handpicking new, rare gems for us to love and treasure as much as he does. In anticipation of his latest film, Aloha, we asked the director to take a look back at his body of work through the lens of the passion that started it all: music. Read on to find out why that famous boom-box scene originally had a much creepier vibe, what music Scarlett Johansson prefers to put on a mix, and what the original ending of Almost Famous was.
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A road trip film festival which stops in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle.
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SCHEDULE & LOCATION
July 13–20, 2016
JULY 13-14
JULY 17
FIRST STOP: San Diego, CA Opening with the film Almost Famous Showing the film Fast Time at Ridgemont High Location: University of San Diego High School, San Diego and San Diego Bollba Park Local tour of movie setting and free time
THIRD STOP: San Francisco, CA Showing the film Elizabethtown Location: Balboa Park Local tour of movie setting and free time Experience one of the chief music and multi culture cities, San Francisco. Rolling Stone Magazine Offices (former location) 746 Brannan Street & 645 Third Street Haight & Ashbury area, enjoy 70’s - 80’s rock music
CAMERON CROWE will be speaking
JULY 15-16
JULY 18-20
SECOND STOP: Los Angeles, CA Showing the film Fast Time at Ridgemont High Jerry Maguire Location: The auditorium of Van Nuys High School A cocktail party will be held at the Hyatt West Hollywood Local tour of movie setting and free time Enjoy the world full of celebrities
FINAL STOP: Los Angeles, CA Showing the film Singles Say Anything Location: Key Arena, Seattle Center Local tour of movie setting and free time CAMERON CROWE will speak at the closing ceremony
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JULY 13
09:00 AM
Board the shuttle bus from San Diego International Airpoart
10:00 AM
Opening ceremony at University of San Diego High School, Cameron Crowe will be speaking
12:20 PM
Lunch time
01:00 PM
Local tour of movie settings > Balboa Park, San Diego > San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego > San Diego downtown area
06:00 PM
Music dinner party will be held at Balboa Park Clubing Building
08:00 PM
Watch Almost Famous
10:00 PM
The end of the day Back to hotel
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“One day you’ll be cool” — Anita Miller
TRANSPORTATION
> The Transit Store 1st Ave. at Broadway, San Diego, CA 92110 Phone: (619) 234-1060 / 08:30 AM to 05:30 PM Day Tripper Pass: one day $5, two days $8 > Trolley / $1.25-2.50 Phone: (619) 233-3004 / 05:00 AM to 02:00 PM Every 8-30min > Old Town Trolley / one day $24 Phone: (619) 233-3004 / 09:00 AM to 06:00 PM Every 30min
LOCAL INFORMATION
> University of San Diego High School 5998 Alcala Park, San Diego, CA 92110 Phone: (619) 260-4600 > Balboa Park Visitors Center 1549 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: (619) 239-0512 > The Bristol Hotel 1055 1st Ave, San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: (619) 232-6141
JULY 14
09:00 AM
Flexible schedule all day Travel by yourself
Suggested scenic spots: > Museums in Balboa Park > San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego > San Diego downtown area > Old Town San Diego State Historic Park (Bus Line at Old
Town
Transit Center stop, Bus 5, 6, 8, 9, 26, 34, 35, 44, 81) > Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala (Blue Line at Old
Mission
stop, Bus 13) > Seaport Village (Orange Line at Seaport Village stop, Bus 7)
08:00 PM
Watch Fast Time at Ridgemont High
10:00 PM
The end of the day Back to hotel
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“I don’t know what the hell happened.” — Mike Damone
SHOPPING AND EATING
> BBOKansas City BBQ / (619) 231-9680 610 West Market St. / 11:00 AM to 01:00 AM Day Tripper Pass: one day $5, two days $8 > Royal Thai Cuisine / (619) 230-8424 467 5TH Ave. / 11:00 AM to 10:00 PM > Blue Point Coastal Cuisine / (619) 233-6623 565 5th Ave. / 05:00 PM to 10:00 PM > Horton Plaza / (619)238-1596 324 Horton Plaza / 10:00 AM to 09:00 PM
JULY 15
06:00 AM
Get up early and we will take you to the next destinaton, Los Angeles
09:30 AM
Checking in at the hotel Hyatt West Hollywood (In the late 1960’s and 1970’s the hotel became the preferred accommodation in LA for travelling rock bands and the movie Almost Famous was also filmed here.)
12:30 PM
Local tour of movie settings > San Fernando Valley > Van Nuys High School > Canoga Park High School
08:30 PM
Watch Fast Time at Ridgemont High at Van Nuys High School
10:30 PM
The end of the day Back to the hotel
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“Hey, Bud, let’s party!” — Jeff Spicoli
LOCAL INFORMATION
> Hyatt West Hollywood 8401 W Sunset Blvd., West Hollywood, CA Phone: (323) 656-1234 > Van Nuys High School 1549 El Prado, San Diego, CA 92101 Phone: (818) 778-6800 > Canoga Park High School 6850 Topanga Canyon bLVD., CA 91303 Phone: (818) 702-8942 > Santa Monica Place 4th St. & Santa Monica Pl. & Broadway, Santa Monica, CA 90401
JULY 16
09:00 AM
Discovering the movie timeline, past, present and future through our bus tour Scenic spots: > West Hollywood > Hollywood > Beverly Hills > Santa Monica
07:30 PM
A cocktail party will be held at the Hyatt West Hollywood. Enjoy the world full of celebrities.
08:45 PM
Watch Jerry Maguire at Hyatt West Hollywood
10:30 PM
The end of the day Back to the hotel
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“Help me... help you. Help me, help you.” — Jerry Maguire
TRANSPORTATION
> MTA / (810) 266-6883 1 Gateway Plaza / 08:00 AM to 04:15 PM / Mon-Fri 515 South Flower St. level C / 07:30 AM to 15:30 PM > DASH 4th Fl., Cashiers Office / 09:00 AM to 17:00 PM 221 N. Figueroa St. > BBB, Santa Monica Municipal Bus lines / (310) 451-5444 1660 7th St. / 08:00 PM to 17:00 PM > Horton Plaza / (619)238-1596 324 Horton Plaza / 10:00 AM to 09:00 PM
JULY 17
06:00 AM
Get up early and we will take you to the next destination, San Francisco
01:00 PM
Scenic spots: > Rolling Stone Magazine Offices (Former locations) 746 Brannan St. & 645 Third St. > Haight Ashbury area, enjoy 70’s and 80’s rock music > Union Square > Golden Gate Bridge > Fishermen’s Wharf
08:45 PM
Watch Elizabethtown at Balboa Park
11:00 PM
The end of the day Back to Carl hotel
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“If it wasn’t this, it’d be something else.” — Brakelight Religion
LOCAL INFORMATION
> Carl Hotel / (415) 661-5679 198 Carl St., San Francisco 94117 > San Francisco Visitor Information Center Lower Level, Hallidie Plaza, 900 Market St. 09:00 AM to 17:00 PM / (415) 391-2000 / Mon-Fri 221 N. Figueroa St. > Muni Bus / (415) 673-6864 Bart / (415) 989-2278 Street Car / (415) 673-6884 >Recycle Records / (415) 626-4095 137 Haight St., San Francisco, CA 94102 10:00 AM to 08:00 PM / Mon-Fri 10:00 AM to 09:00 PM / Sat.
JULY 18
04:30 AM
Get up early and we will take you to the next destination, Seattle
11:00 AM
Lunch time Local tour of movie settings: > Capitol Hill > Jimi Hendix’s grave at Greenwood Memorial Park in Renton > Pike Place Market > Gas Works Park
07:30 PM
Musical dinner party will be held at Gas Works Park
08:45 PM
Watch Singles at Hyatt West Hollywood
10:30 PM
The end of the day Back to the OK hotel (In the movie Singles, the central coffee shop featured in the film is in the now-demolished OK Hotel)
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“Have fun, stay single.” — Singles
LOCAL INFORMATION
> OK Hotel Apartments / (206) 264-1688 212 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98103 > Seattle Visitor Information Center 8th Ave. at Pike St., Convention Center 1F (206) 461-5840 > Gas Works Park / (206) 264-4075 2101 N Northlake Way, Seattle, WA 98103 > Seattle Center / (206) 625-7200 305 Harrison St., Seattle, WA > Experience Music Project / (206) 367-5483 325 5th Ave. N, Seattle, WA
JULY 19
09:00 AM
Flexible schedule all day Discover romantic Seattle in Cameron Crowe’s films Suggested scenic spots: > Seattle Center > Experience Music Project > The Seattle Aquarium > Pacific Science Center > Pioneer Square > Seattle Art Museum > University of Washington
08:00 PM
Watch Say Anything at Seattle Center Key Arena
10:00 PM
Acocktail party will be held at Mayflower Park Hotel (Today’s accommodation)
“She’s gone. She gave me a pen. I gave her my heart, she gave me a pen.” — Lloyd Dobler
LOCAL INFORMATION
> Mayflower Park Hotel / (206) 382-6990 405 Olive Way, Seattle, WA 98101 > Pike Place Market / (206) 682-7453 85 Pike St. #500, Seattle, WA 98101 > Metro Bus, Tunnel Bus, Street Car (206) 553-3000 / transit.metrokc.gov/busl/ > Washington State Ferry / (206) 464-6400 wsdot.wa.gov/ferries
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JULY 20
10:30 AM
Closing ceremony at Seattle Center Key Arena Cameron Crowe will be speaking
12:30 PM
The end of the film festival Bus ride home (San Diego)
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“It’s all happening.” — Dick Roswell
SHOPPING AND EATING
> Westlake Center / (206) 467-3044 405 Pine St. / 09:00AM to 08:00PM / Mon-Fri > Pacific Place / (206) 405-2655 600 Pike St. / 09:00 AM to 09:00 PM > The Bon Marche / (509) 783-6111 1901 3rd Ave. / 10:00 AM-08:00 PM > Mading in Washington / (206) 623-9753 2nd Fl. 400 Pine St., #206 / 09:30 AM to 08:00 PM
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CONCERT
An additional rock concert on the last day of road trip. Includes all the music from movies. Celebrate the film festival of Cameron Crowe.
Ling Li