LOUISIANA AT
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2010 A YEAR IN PICTURES
FATS DOMINO LOCAL LEGEND
100 MONKEYS ON THE LOOSE
KELLAN LUTZ LOVE, MARRIAGE AND THE KILLING GAME
MARK WAHLBERG BEFORE THE SCENE PLUS
WILLIAM FRIEDKIN DIRECTS A KILLER CAST
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VOL. 2, ISSUE 1 | January/February 2011
A new year is upon us and I’m excited for our readers, who will experience great things to come with Scene Magazine. We have received a tremendous response from our fans and business associates locally and nationally. Our first issue of the new year offers some of the
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Kevin Barraco
EDITOR’S LETTER best Louisiana entertainment coverage with exclusive film and music articles. Exclusive is our new motto and we’ll have plenty to deliver to you for the rest of the year. Celebrities and artists have fallen in love with Scene and Hollywood has accepted us as their southern cousin. In this issue we spent some time with Twilight star Kellan Lutz who is featured in our cover story. Of course as you know, Twilight has been filming in Baton Rouge, but Kellan has worked on two other projects in Louisiana over the last year. Kellan has been a pleasure to work with and certainly one with big things ahead. In addition, Scene offers exclusive interviews with Mark Wahlberg, Jackson
Rathbone of 100 Monkeys and Academy Award-winning director, William Friedkin. I hope everyone is enjoying our Scene Weekly, your weekly digital edition of Scene. If you want to be a member please visit our website today and subscribe. As always stay posted to our website and social network, we’ll have all the latest news and resources. Please read our posts and feel free to comment. As always we want to hear what our readers are thinking.
KEVIN BARRACO EDITOR-IN-CHIEF editor@scenelouisiana.com
CREATIVE DIRECTOR Erin Theriot HEAD WRITER Micah Haley DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING Marcie Dickson CONTROLLER Jessica Dufrene EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT Danielle Tabary SALES Jon Bajon, Jessica Mason CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Ashley Merlin, Mark St. James, Alan Marksfield, Jason Kruppa, Lawles Bourque, Erika Goldring, Eliot Brasseaux, Will Byington, Nathan Olney, Cheryl Gerber, Samantha Fielding, Cheryl Adams GRAPHIC ARTIST Burton Chatelain, Jr. FASHION STYLIST Rachel Adams CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AJ Buckley, Arthur Vandelay, Ben Adams, Brittney Franklin, Greg Milneck, Mark St. James Scene Magazine At Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge 10000 Celtic Drive Suite 201 Baton Rouge, LA 70809 225-361-0701 At Second Line Stages 800 Richard St. Suite 222 New Orleans, LA 70130 504-224-2221 info@scenelouisiana.com www.scenelouisiana.com Published By Louisiana Entertainment Publishers LLC Display Advertising: Call Louisiana Entertainment Publishers for a current rate card or visit www.scenelouisiana.com All submitted materials become the property of Louisiana Entertainment Publishers LLC. For subscriptions or more information visit our website www.scenelouisiana.com Copyright @ 2010 Louisiana Entertainment Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used for solicitation or copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher.
4 | January/February 2011
CONTENTS ON THE COVER
Kellan Lutz ABOVE THE LINE
14
Kellan’s Game
BEHIND THE SCENES
10
Hear from cast and crew and take a look behind the Scenes
BEFORE THE SCENE
16
A Conversation with Mark Wahlberg
PRODUCER’S CORNER
William Friedkin directs a Killer cast
LAST LOOKS
8
26
Box Office Battle - Inside Battle:LA
MUSIC / SOUND SPEED 100 Monkeys Fats Domino
32
FASHION / THE RED CARPET The Fashion Scene - The Best in Bijoux
SCENE EXTRAS
38
22
News, Resources, and Celebrities on the Scene
2010 A YEAR IN PICTURES 28 CREATING THE SCENE 48
Stanton Barrett, Mia Borders and Richie Adams
COLUMNS Today’s Scene 54 Stay the Course by Ben Adams State of the Artist 18 Life Out of Balance by Mark St. James In the Mix 46 Google vs The Man by Greg Milneck
THE UNSCENE
60 www.scenelouisiana.com | 5
FILM |
Killer
DIRECTING A C A S T by Kevin Barraco
“I
’ve always loved New Orleans, even as a visitor,” says one master set for the film. “Working at Second Line Stages has been director William Friedkin. “I love it here. What is wrong wonderful for us,” adds Friedkin. “For this film, we had to build one large with it?” he says with a big smile. “You have the Hornets, key set and this place accommodated our needs marvelously. When Saints and the best grilled oysters: I love the whole ambiance of I was here in 2005 for Bug, we didn’t have an adequate stage facility the city, and I also love that Community Coffee, that’s good too!” available, so we build our main set inside the gymnasium of Grace King The production of Killer Joe recently wrapped in the New Orleans area, High School in Metairie. We wrapped that picture about six days before a project that reunited Hurricane Katrina hit.” director William Friedkin “We haven’t shot and playwright Tracy anything for Louisiana. Letts. The two previously But we’ve shot the collaborated on Friedkin’s outskirts of town that can last film, Bug. Back in play for Dallas. I needed 2005, that film also shot to have locations that in New Orleans with look like Dallas, Texas Ashley Judd, Michael for our exteriors. So why Shannon and Harry not just film in Dallas? Connick, Jr. starring. Well, there is a better tax Like most of his films, credit here in Louisiana,” Friedkin has surrounded he says. “They also have himself with great talent. excellent crews here and Killer Joe stars Matthew a good talent pool. You McConaughey, Emile can find what you need.” Hirsch, Thomas Haden Friedkin began his Church, Gina Gershon career at WGN-TV, and Juno Temple. As we Chicago, where in eight William Friedkin on the set of Killer Joe in New Orleans talk about the incredible years, he directed more cast he’s assembled, Friedkin responds, “We are here because of the than 2,000 live programs. Then in 1968 he started making feature films, script, including me. I don’t find many scripts these days to make films. which lead to his masterworks: The Exorcist, which received ten Academy It’s all about the script and that’s what I look for. I don’t concentrate on Award nominations including one for Best Picture, To Live and Die in L.A. who the actors are I work with, it’s the story. But this cast has embodied and The French Connection, which won him an Oscar for Best Director. their roles completely and they have given me all I wanted and more.” “In the 70s and in the 60s, films didn’t cost as much money,” Letts’ stage incarnation of Killer Joe ran off-Broadway in 1998 continues Friedkin. “They were not as ambitious. Although there for nine months. Like the play, the film is about a Dallas detective were ambitious films, like Lawrence of Arabia and 2001: A Space who doubles as a hired killer. “Letts and I are just on the same page Odyssey. There were more films made for adults then. Today most of in terms of a worldview,” said Friedkin. “I respond to his writing the films are made for young teenage boys or girls. The films that I and his outlook on life more than any other American writer.” made in the 70s were part of the Zeitgeist, as we called it. But today While speaking of the film’s subject, Friedkin opens up about his the Zeitgeist has changed. When I started to make films, all the muses. “I happen to know people who work for police departments in great filmmakers in the past wondered, ‘Why are people watching other cities and they also do contract hits. I met these guys when I was [their] films?’ Guys like Richards Brooks, Billy Wilder, and John doing The French Connection and some of these guys have remained Sturges. Some of the great directors who were around when I came acquaintances of mine. There is a certain personality that they have that into the business watched the Zeitgeist move away from them.” I understand and it’s about the thin line between good and evil in the “I don’t think of the audience when making a film, I make a film same person. That’s the theme of all of my movies. The line between that I want to see. There is a lot of sexuality and violence in Killer good and evil is in all of us. Even the worst hired killers or mercenaries Joe. There is also tenderness and humor. It’s very funny, as it’s a black have a decent side to them. They love their children and wives. Tracy comedy.” Billy, as he’s known to friends, hopes to have this film ready Letts writes brilliantly about the complexity of human nature.” for release sometime this year. “I hope the industry continues to Killer Joe shot many days on stage in New Orleans, which included flourish in Louisiana and I hope to be back to make more films here.” S 8 | January/February 2011
BEHIND THE
SCENES S
THE LUCKY ONE Based on the Nicholas Sparks novel, The Lucky One stars Zac Efron as a U.S. Marine who returns from Iraq looking for the one thing he credits with keeping him alive: the woman in a photo. Taylor Schilling and Blythe Danner co-star.
Above: The Lucky One filmed in and around Ponchatoula, Madisonville, Covington and New Orleans. Left: Zac Efron on set. photos by Alan Markfield
S
DRIVE ANGRY 3-D Shot in Shreveport, Drive Angry 3D stars Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, David Morse and Twilight’s Billy Burke. Cage plays, Milton, a hardened felon who has broken out of hell for one last chance at redemption. The film opens in theaters February 25.
Top: Amber Heard. Left: David Morse and Nicolas Cage. photos courtesy of Summit Entertainment
MORE BEHIND THE SCENES 10 | January/February 2011
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S KILLER JOE Directed by William Friedkin, Killer Joe recently wrapped production in New Orleans. The black comedy stars Matthew McConaughey, Emile Hirsch, Thomas Haden Church, Juno Temple and Gina Gershon. “Louisiana offered us the right feel, tone and locations we wanted for the film and gave Friedkin the exact look he wanted to play for Dallas, Texas,” said producer Patrick Newall. “Also, working at Second Line Stages was a wonderful experience as they have world class stages and top notch personnel that are very helpful and professional.”
top: L to R: Director Friedkin, producer Scott Einbinder, location manager Johnny Mmahat, Jr., and line producer Patrick Newall wait inside Mudbugs Saloon as technicians rig a car to explode. right: Car exploding on the set of Killer Joe. left: Main interior set of Killer Joe built on the stage at Second Line Stages New Orleans. photos by Mark St. James
12 | January/February 2011
FILM |
KELLAN’S GAME by Micah Haley
Kellan Lutz on the set of The Killing Game in Baton Rouge
N
early forty actors of his generation appeared in Generation Kill, David Simon’s war opus that premiered on HBO in 2008. The acclaimed mini-series opens with a Humvee gunbattle in Iraq and a Marine playing dead, something Kellan Lutz wouldn’t be doing for long. “It was definitely a passion project for me, because my older brother was in the Marine Corps,” he told me as we spoke at The Loft in Baton Rouge. “I spent seven months in Africa, but grew up five years. To work with Alex, James Ransone, Billy Lush…a lot of these great guys we built friendships with for life.” Though many from the mini-series’ talented cast would eventually emerge, Generation Kill jumpstarted the careers of both Kellan Lutz and his co-star Alexander Skarsgard. After their seven-month tour of duty, Skarsgard booked True Blood. Kellan booked Twilight. “All we did was work out, eat high protein meals. I was eating sixteen eggs a morning. That’s what helped me transition into Twilight: I was a big guy and that’s what Emmett called for,” Kellan remembers. “It was really funny to work with Alex, then I got Twilight and then he’s doing True Blood. I’m just so proud of him. He’s such a great guy and I was blessed to be a part of that Generation Kill crew.” The success of Twilight rocketed its cast into the stratosphere, making Kellan and company household names overnight. But while the character of Emmett has given Kellan great exposure, he hasn’t been identified with the role in the same way that Christopher Reeve, while a talented actor, 14 | January/February 2011
photo credit: Kimberlee M. Loop and Mark Williams
was forever Superman. The result is a great deal of freedom. “It’s been such an amazing process. I fell into acting and I found a passion for it and it’s really like a hobby to me. I have a great agent, we’ve been best friends, and we have the same dream: to not care about the money and to not care about the fame. We can be cool and collected and really plan my career.” “I’m blessed to be doing the Twilight movies because I know I get to make multiple movies,” Kellan says. “So, let’s go find some independents with meaty parts: let’s find a drama, let’s find a comedy, let’s find a thriller, let’s find a romantic comedy, a love story. I know my strengths and weaknesses. So, I might not take the great paying jobs of playing the frat guy, playing the jock, playing the preppy boy, because that’s what people see me as already. I’d rather do something a little different. It’s very tough for me to be seen as vulnerable or someone who could be beaten up, so its tough to get those roles, but I’m all for it.” The planning has paid off. While Kellan is currently in Baton Rouge filming Breaking Dawn, the two-part finale to The Twilight Saga, it isn’t the first time he’s filmed in Louisiana. Just a few months ago, he was the lead in two films that could not have been more different. While shooting the action-thriller The Killing Game in Baton Rouge, he was also starring in the romantic comedy Love, Wedding, Marriage in New Orleans. “It was really one of the best moments in my acting career: doing two movies at the same time, shooting three days here and driving down to New Orleans with a six-hour turnaround, putting on a
| FILM suit to do Love, Wedding, Marriage for two days. Then, driving back up, putting on prosthetics, getting all bloody and fighting. I didn’t have a single day off for thirty-three days,” he says. “And I was the lead in those two movies. I loved it, because I haven’t had that opportunity. Doing these two completely different projects was so challenging and I thrived on it. I never felt so energetic. A lot of times I only had three hours of sleep.” “Kellan was an absolute delight,” says Lauren Thomas of Illusion Studios, the makeup artist responsible for creating his “wounds” in The Killing Game. “Even though he had another film going on at the same time, he was always first in, last out. He was just such a gentleman throughout the whole process. I know he was exhausted but he never showed it.” “The Killing Game is like The Running Man mixed with Gladiator,” Kellan continues. “Sam Jackson plays this new-age Caesar and I play the gladiator thrown into this Running Man-esque, fight to the death battleground.” In the romantic comedy Love, Wedding, Marriage, he plays Charlie, a newly married husband to Eva, a marriage psychologist played by Mandy Moore. It afforded Kellan an opportunity to work with actor Dermot Mulroney in his directorial debut. “I play a typical, normal newlywed husband, who wants to have that first six months of a relationship, the honeymoon stage. You’re newly married and you just want to be with your wife,” says Kellan. “It was a tough movie for me. My character was just so matter of fact, so I didn’t have to be ‘large’ about it,” he says, indicating his own affable personality. “To have a director like Dermot who you can just go to…he was probably one of my most favorite directors to work with. He was just so nice and so easy going.” In addition to Breaking Dawn, Love, Wedding Marriage and The Killing Game, Kellan also has Meskada, A Warrior’s Heart and Immortals, in which he plays the Greek god Poseidon. And while his career is clearly keeping him busy, he is careful to make time for causes he cares about. “[My assistant] Richard and I just went down to New Orleans and worked with the St. Bernard Project, which is an amazing organization that helps rebuild communities and the homes destroyed by the levees breaking. We got to do some painting and woodwork. And there’s a lot of emotional and psychological trauma that comes with losing a house, so they have a great program to help,” Kellan says. “It’s so great when I do
Kellan Lutz as Emmett Cullen with Nikki Reed in The Twilight Saga: New Moon. photo courtesy of Summit Entertainment
Kellan with a fan, Ginny Dufrene, at a New Orleans Saints home game.
have time. And I’ve been blessed to shoot projects here in Louisiana, some in New Orleans and now some in Baton Rouge, where it’s only an hour drive on a day off to go.“ His work in Africa on Generation Kill also raised his awareness regarding the clean water problems of the developing world. “I’ve started working with Water.org, which was started by Matt Damon. That deals with bringing clean water to Africa
Kellan on the set of Love, Wedding, Marriage. photo courtesy of First Wedding Productions, LLC
so I’m really diving into that as well.” As he pointed out, many actors attach themselves to humanitarian projects for the publicity opportunities. It was clear to me that Kellan’s earnest interest is real, stemming from when he was a boy in a big family. Now, at twentyfive, Kellan Lutz is playing his own game. S www.scenelouisiana.com | 15
by AJ Buckley
Before the Scene is where we all start. In a small town with our families. In front of a mirror with our friends. The days spent sleeping on a couch. The nights working at a bar. Living with the unknown and surrounded by uncertainty. It’s about the times that define us. It’s about the darkness just before the limelight.
MARK WAHLBERG Mark Wahlberg is a veteran film actor and producer, Oscar-nominated for his role as Sgt. Sean Dignam in The Departed. He is also the executive producer of HBO’s Entourage and Boardwalk Empire.
What made you become an actor? I was in the music business before, which glorifies that “sex, drugs, rock & roll” lifestyle and encouraged me to be irresponsible. When I discovered acting, I really came to enjoy the discipline and structure required to make a movie. Penny Marshall asked to meet me for Renaissance Man and I only went because she was “Laverne” from Laverne and Shirley. But then she talked me into auditioning and once I read the scenes for her a few times, I really wanted that part. And once I got the job and made the movie, I truly felt that I’d found my calling. I pretty much quit music then and there to focus on acting.
What was your biggest fear? When I read Boogie Nights, it was still early in my career, and I was concerned about what the guys in my neighborhood would think. Growing up in the area where I did, you constantly had to prove you were a tough guy. Playing a vulnerable character like that was a huge risk for me. But I finally just thought to myself, “If you’re going to be a real actor, you can’t worry about that.” Looking back, it was a pivotal decision for me.
What was your lowest point? I’ve had a lot of low moments. Personally, it was going to prison when I was seventeen years old. It made me realize I didn’t want that life and I needed to do anything I could to change it. Professionally, I’ve had some lulls in my career where a movie hasn’t performed well or I would get offered parts in bad films. For a while, I even considered leaving acting and becoming a professional golfer.
What kept you from walking away? When I started my production company and was able to create my own opportunities. That’s when things really changed. I became the architect of my own destiny. I didn’t enjoy sitting around waiting for good roles to come my way, so I decided to go seek out the material and filmmakers I wanted to make movies with.
What did you walk away from? I’ve said no to a lot of easy paydays. Maintaining your success means making the right choices. Sometimes it’s hard to say no when people are throwing money at you, but I want to be in this business for the long haul and I have to keep the big picture in mind.
Who was your closest ally? I would have to say my manager, Stephen Levinson. He’s been with me since the beginning of my acting career. We have talked almost every day for sixteen years. He’s helped me choose my movies and now he oversees my production company. There have been so many people responsible for my success. David O. Russell has been a close friend and collaborator. We’ve made three films together: Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees and The Fighter.
What were you doing the morning before the audition that changed your life? I’m not sure if there was a single audition that changed my life. There have been many. I would say the most memorable one would be partying in Puerto Rico in the morning and auditioning for Basketball Diaries in New York that afternoon.
What were the words that kept you going? I go to church every morning. It’s a great way to start my day and it reminds me to constantly strive to be a better person. My faith has really gotten me through a lot of dark times. Also, my mom is great at keeping me grounded. She gave me a lot of tough love whenever she thought the success was going to my head. 16 | January/February 2011
Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter
photo courtesy of Paramount Pictures
How have you changed? Well, I’m a husband and a father of four, for starters. Becoming a parent really made me much more responsible and serious. I’ve got mouths to feed now! Plus, just getting older changed me. I’m mellower, more even-tempered. I also listen to K-Earth 101 when I’m in the car. When I’m working out or boxing, it’s still hip-hop, though.
What words do you have to inspire others? I started a charity about ten years ago called The Mark Wahlberg Youth Foundation. Our mission is to provide opportunities to underprivileged kids from the inner cities. We send them to summer camp, fund after-school programs, build gyms…whatever we can. I want kids growing up in similar circumstances to mine to be inspired to dream big and never give up. Over the past six years, AJ has starred as Adam Ross on the hit TV show CSI:NY, now in its new time slot, Friday nights at 9pm. Originally from Dublin, he has spent the past ten years in Los Angeles acting and writing. AJ is also currently writing and starring in the web series Ghostfacers for Warner Bros www.GhostFacers.com., and has the romantic comedy Christmas Mail opening this winter. Find out more at www.ajbuckley.net.
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www.scenelouisiana.com | 17
STATE OF THE ARTIST
LIFE
OUT OF
BALANCE Q&A WITH FILMMAKER GODFREY REGGIO
by Mark St. James Godfrey Reggio photographed by Graham Berry
B
orn in New Orleans, Godfrey Reggio is a legendary filmmaker whose non-narrative feature-length documentary films are nothing short of influential. Since its release in 1982, his first such effort, Koyaanisqatsi, has become recognized internationally as a classic among art films. While his films may be plainly described as time-lapse shots of landscapes set to music, they are emotionally visceral. His career-long collaboration with composer Philip Glass continues with his next film, Once Within A Time. I spoke with the seventy-year-old filmmaker at the Acme Film Productions warehouse in New Orleans.
A: floor to stand on. They are our terra firma. Craig, Adam and
Absolutely. I’m thrilled with the support team. They give us the
Dan are the basis of that. Also, the State will be going with us to the Atchafalaya Basin where I have a crew out there right now. That place has a got a voice so loud it’s like a thousand-piece choir. It’s the most beautiful place that’s under the enormous stress of disappearing because of all the shenanigans about private ownership and the resources there. This is an estuary, valuable not only to Louisiana but also for the whole Gulf. It’s a precious resource that can’t be looked at as a commodity to buy and sell.
it been like returning to your hometown of New Q: How much of the project is being filmed in New Orleans? Q: What’s Orleans to work on Once Within A Time? I came here to film a little less than a third of the film here with from New Orleans, it’s very important for me to come back A: more shooting in New York, Detroit, Vegas, the West Coast, and A: Being here and film. I grew up here as a child, my family’s been here perhaps in Japan. But what happened to me in New Orleans blew my forever. This city has made an indelible impression on me, from living near Oak Street, going to Mater Dolorosa, being in that neighborhood all those young years. While I live in New Mexico, I’m still a part of this place. I’m not in New Orleans but New Orleans is in me. I feel very fortunate to be able to come back and film here. And I guess I’m blown away by the enthusiasm of the crew I have here. Daniel Rector, for example, the chief grip. I’ve worked with grips all over the world in my limited experience and Danny is about the best person I’ve ever run into. He’s got an “internal time” clock. We do a lot of slow moves, like today we did forty-three of these moves. I would say at least half of those, without a clock, Danny gets within three seconds [of the target] time. So that’s amazing to me. And the spirit of the crew: I work with Craig Aspen, who’s my line producer. He took this on as a big challenge and he’s been walking on water with the crew and with me. He’s got a terrific capacity to organize and he’s produced what I wanted so I’m very pleased. And then Adam Brazy with Acme Film Productions is our transportation guy and it’s like a family being with them. especially important for the reputation of the Louisiana Q: It’s film industry when a director like you chooses to work here on a serious artistic project.
18 | January/February 2011
mind. I discovered my film in the flesh here in the first week of shooting. I wasn’t prepared for that. In other words I’ve gained much more than a little less than a third of the film, I’ve gained the whole form of the film. I have not only come to New Orleans to shoot a part of the film, I have come and the film has been revealed to me in the city of my birth and it’s blowing my mind. I expect to shoot, then that all happens, maybe in the edit, but it happened quickly here.
Q: Have you ever filmed anything in New Orleans before? I filmed in 1977 toward the end of the summer in Charity A: Yes. Hospital. There is a shot from that sequence in Koyaanisqatsi. this film, you gained access to the abandoned former site Q: For of Jazzland, the Six Flags Amusement Park, in New Orleans East. Tell me about your experience there.
Flags is beyond expectation. Film is fundamentally about A: Sixan illusion, how in two dimensions you create this illusion of
something real. Hollywood usually creates sets to fill out that illusion. Here we have something that is real, and you don’t have to have
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STATE OF THE ARTIST illusion. I mean who’s going to build you a rollercoaster of that size for a set. It’s not going to happen. They do it with miniatures. This is the real thing. I sound like a mortician picking up the dead but that location was a goldmine for me. It’s better than any backlot that Hollywood could put on. Sadly enough, so are other parts of east New Orleans, the lower ninth ward. These places no longer look like the result of a flood - as bad as that is - they look like the ruins of modernity, as if you’ve gone to Pompeii and you can see with your own eyes how people used to live. It’s got a voice so powerful - talk about Lady Sings the Blues - the voice of our city has such a deep blues right now that it deserves to be heard. In my own little way I’m trying to make that voice available to the world. New Orleans is built on the contradictions of joy and suffering, of justice and inequality, rich and poor, white and black. All of these contradictions together have produced this gumbo that we live in. With all due respect to jazz, the French Quarter and the Saints, I’m not trying to show the part of New Orleans that gets blown out for tourism. It’s not that. What’s happening here is happening in proxy all over the world. So New Orleans has a clarion voice for me: it has a voice that can speak to the rest of the world. films are noted for their technical proficiency. Will Q: Your there be any manipulation of the images you are shooting
here in post-production? This film is principal photography mainly. Having said that, it is being filmed on a RED Camera, which offers all the color correction and options that you can do. But this film is not based on image manipulation as much as the voice of the principal photography. That’s why I have to have this crew in New Orleans. Otherwise I could go to a lab and do this. We’re shooting locations that have a voice so it’s all about photography. It’s about the medium - if you’re a painter, it’s not only about the sensibilities, it’s about the paint. If you’re a sculpture it’s about the stone. If you’re a filmmaker it’s about the medium of making film. This is all about shooting and understanding something that’s actually there, finding the voice of the location.
A:
your career, you have frequently collaborated Q: Throughout with Philip Glass, who is now one of cinema’s most well-
respected composers. Koyaanisqatsi was the first major film project either of you worked on, correct? Yes. It was our baptism, if I may be so bold. Then, we decided that things go better in “3.” I do all my films in a process of “3.” I even have it on my finger. “3” is my number. He and I both decided, “Gee, we’re really getting into this, we’re just starting to learn the language.” Philip said, “Godfrey things go better in 3.” That was music to my ears because “3” is what I’ve been obsessed on since I was a child. Don’t ask my why, but for me “3” has a presence that allows me to produce the most efficacious work that I can do. The structure works well for me.
A:
he involved with this film now or will he score the film Q: Isduring post-production? Philip writes a lot of scores for big time films right now. He A: writes musical cues for most of those films. In other words,
he’s not doing a full musical orchestration for a ninety-minute film. He writes cues that may go to a director or, usually, an editor. They get chopped up, moved around and his job is done. Maybe he gets a few DVDs to look at and talks to the directors a few times. That’s the way it usually works. The music is not usually integrated into the process like in this film where the music is co-equal. He went to the Bronx Zoo while we were filming the gorillas. He’s coming down here to go to the 20 | January/February 2011
Atchafalaya Basin. He’ll come to New Orleans to see the footage we’ve been shooting. He’s implicated in the whole process. In other words he’s being watermarked like we are. He’s also seeing the words made flesh in front of his idea and that inspires him. It gives him his best shot at reaching deep into his bag of notes, as it were.
Q: decide to do creatively during the process? we approach it in a different manner. What I do is write a A: Well, full dramaturgical shaping of the edit and the music as a form. Does what he’s doing musically affect in any way what you
He says how long do you want the piece here, what is the emotion value that you want. I can even talk to him about the instruments that become principal voices in the score. Then we start playing with all those ideas as we shape it with the editor. And once he starts seeing our very roughout in visualization, he’s seen all the dailies, all the selects we’ve made, and as we start doing that dramatic shaping of time and tempo values, emotive values, instrumentation, currents within the score, how one thing can echo several sequences away from the other - then he sees usually fourteen to eighteen discreet pieces of music and he’ll say, “Well, Godfrey… let’s start on piece #7.” So we don’t have to start at #1 and work through them all. Whatever moves him. He works pretty fast. Then I go hear it on the piano, transliterate the keys into instruments in my imagination, which is not the easiest thing at first. And then we lock in on something after we discuss it. The next day it goes through a simulator, I get it in the studio that afternoon and it has the equivalent of musical instruments on it as a scratch track. Then we start throwing it up. One medium motivates the other. We make changes. Sometimes we don’t accept a piece because it’s just not working. He puts it in a closet. Philip is absolutely terrific as collaborator because he doesn’t have vanity of ego. He has ego but he’s not vain - he wants to be in a critical forum. He doesn’t want to hear what he wants to hear. He wants to hear what you are feeling and thinking. That makes it all worth the effort.
Q: into film as a career, or interested in the kind of film work you do? I usually tell people is that when I got involved with A: What film, I could count on one hand the number of film schools Anything you’d want to say to people reading this who are
in the United States. Today every grade school, community center, university, high school, has a media program of some type. Today one of the most desired jobs or professions in the world is image creation. If you are looking to be employed working on other people’s films, that’s different. That’s a professional job. But if you’re a filmmaker, if this is your passion, I say, think - not once, but quadruplet - about that because most films that are written are never begun, most that are begun are never finished, most films that are finished are never seen, and those that are seen are seen for a very short period of time. So in that sense, it’s not something people should do unless they absolutely can do nothing else because that’s the passion it takes to be a filmmaker. You have to be so obsessed that you’re willing to make film your life, not your profession. And if you’re willing to do that, then you’re willing to go through the gauntlet of the probability of failure. I know that doesn’t sound very hopeful. But it’s only people who are willing to risk failure that can actually find something. If something is easy to do then what’s the point? Everybody can do it. If you want to do something then you have to pay the piper. Difficulty is inherent in creating anything of value. S
scene ILLUSION INDUSTRIES by Ben Adams
I
n 2003, Todd Tucker was putting old age makeup on Mel Gibson on the set of The Singing Detective with Robert Downey, Jr. “Hey, I’m thinking about doing this Jesus movie,” says Gibson. “Okay, that sounds cool,” Tucker replies. After working with Gibson on several past projects, including Forever Young and Man Without a Face, Tucker felt confident enough to ask him to be a part of the project in a new capacity: doing computer-generated visual effects in addition to practical makeup effects. “Well, you guys are a makeup effects company,” Gibson responded. “Why should I have you do the visual effects?” Tucker’s response to the star and Oscarwinning director of Braveheart was simple: “Well, because you trust us.” Gibson’s reply was also simple. “Alright fine, you can do it.” Between designing and applying the extensive makeup effects on set and finalizing images with computer-generated visual effects during post-production, the duration of Tucker’s team’s work on The Passion of the Christ was lengthy. “Mel’s great because he’s such a smart filmmaker,” says Tucker. “I remember him saying, ‘Well, Todd, one of two things are going to happen: you’re going to make me a brilliant rich genius or I’m gonna be screwed beyond belief.’” Tucker’s response was, “Well, Mel, let’s hope for the first one.” After its release in February of 2004, The Passion went on to gross nearly $612 million. In 1992, Francis Ford Coppola’s Dracula won three Academy Awards: for best costume design, best sound effects editing and for turning a man into a bat. Behind the horrific transformation of thirty-three year old Gary Oldman was the team of makeup artists that soon formed Drac Studios. The name was an homage to the film that garnered their first golden statue. Now newly rebranded as 22 | January/February 2011
Illusion Industries, special makeup effects veterans Todd Tucker and Ron Halvas are increasing their presence in Louisiana while expanding their company’s mission statement. “Makeup effects and design is still our main focus,” Tucker says. “But we’re definitely trying to do at least one or two in-house projects a year, and actually I think there’s a couple of projects we’re pitching around right now that will most likely if not definitely shoot in Louisiana.” Illusion brings a wealth of experience with them to Louisiana, including Oscarwinning work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which was set and shot in New Orleans. “Brad (Pitt) was great. He put up with a lot because he was in make-up for hours and hours,” says Tucker. “Same with Cate (Blanchett).” “We’re talking to the guys at Raleigh and things are going really well,” Tucker continues. “Right now the plan is for us to come down there with materials and basically we’re going to open a full-fledged effects studio. We’re going to have a lab and an office at Raleigh Studios and we’re going to open up an office in Lafayette and New Orleans.” The company’s bold plans for Louisiana dovetail well with their goal of producing more films, many of which Tucker will write and direct. “When you go [to Louisiana], especially when you’re from California, there’s just all kinds of awesome creepy places there that lends themselves to all kinds of cool stuff,” he says. “It’s a horror writer’s dream to just walk around there and check out some of the history of things that went down.” Look for more from our conversation with Illusion Industries president Todd Tucker at www.scenelouisiana.com and for a reel of the company’s nearly twenty years of incredible work, visit their website at www.illusionindustries.com. S
1) Makeup artist Todd Tucker. 2) Brad Pitt in full character makeup in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. 3) Kellan Lutz in The Killing Game 4) Robert Downey Jr. with Makeup by Illusion Industries in The Singing Detective.
MORE SCENE EXTRAS
SCENE | LOUISIANA AT SUNDANCE 2011
D
uring the recession, while some were declaring the death of independent film, Louisiana’s gamechanging film incentives were allowing indies an opportunity to prosper. As a result, three films shot here last year are screening at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011. In competition is writer/director Matthew Chapman’s The Ledge, starring Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson and Terrance Howard. “I’m sure everybody says this but I really don’t care if I win or not,” says Chapman, who shot the entire film in downtown Baton Rouge. “I’m just really happy to be there.” The much-anticipated emotional thriller is competing against fifteen other narrative films for the festival’s top honors. “It’s very exciting,” Chapman continues. “I thought it would be the kind of film they might like. I thought I was making a really good film. But it’s always gratifying to be perceived in that way.” Lafayette native Zack Godshall will premiere a film at Sundance for the second time with Lord Byron. With a budget of less than a thousand dollars, the film was completely shot in Louisiana starring local actors. “I couldn’t be more excited about premiering Lord Byron at Sundance,” says Godshall. “Ross [Brupbacher] and I made the film with an amazing group of collaborators from the Lafayette area. And now to be invited to premiere the film at the most prestigious film festival in the country is nothing short of astonishing. While we had no budget to speak of, we had the fortune of working with some of the most creative people we’ve ever met. And that is a testament to this region and its culture.” And screening out of competition is Flypaper, director Rob Minkoff’s film about two gangs trying to rip off the same bank at the same time. Flypaper stars Patrick Dempsey, Ashley Judd, Mekhi Phifer, Jeffrey Tambor, Tim Blake Nelson and New Orleans native Pruitt Taylor Vince. S
Patrick Dempsey on the set of Flypaper
Liv Tyler and Charlie Hunnam on the set of The Ledge
BETTER THAN EZRA’S KREWE OF ROCCKUS
B
orn out of love for Mardi Gras and a simple respect for the nonpareil that is the American booze cruise, Krewe of Rocckus is all-American rock group Better Than Ezra’s belated Christmas gift. Starting last November with their nationwide “Road to Mardi Gras” tour, BTE has been recruiting krewe members from across the country to join them in New Orleans for Mardi Gras this March. “Ten years ago the band Sister Hazel got the idea, ‘Why don’t we rent out a cruise ship for five days and do a cruise with all our fans to Cancun?’” says BTE frontman Kevin Griffin while explaining the genesis of the group’s new venture. “Tom (Drummond) and I were like, ‘Why don’t we do a destination event in New Orleans, during Mardi Gras, with Better Than Ezra as your host?’” That event evolved into a three-day Mardi Gras experience that includes parades, a Bourbon Street balcony, a brunch with New Orleans chef John Besh, and live music at the House of Blues with Better Than Ezra, Pat Green and Big Sam’s Funky Nation, plus hotel reservations, all for a cruise-inspired all-inclusive discount price. 24 | January/February 2011
Better Than Ezra
“It’s for all these people who love New Orleans, they love the idea of Mardi Gras, but they don’t know anybody down here, and they don’t know where to go,” says Griffin. “Let Better Than Ezra be your host and show you the cool things to do and places to be during Mardi Gras.” To join the Krewe, visit www.kreweofrocckus.com. S
www.scenelouisiana.com | 25
FILM |
BOX OFFICE
BATTLE by Ben Adams
L
ast year, Scene Magazine was invited to the set of Battle: Los Angeles while filming in Baton Rouge. At that time it was the largest film to have ever shot in Louisiana. With sets constructed at Raleigh Studios at the Celtic Media Centre and filming on location throughout Baton Rouge and Shreveport, the project was certainly a spectacle for locals. Explosions could often be heard and giant mushroom clouds seen for miles, but many residents of both Baton Rouge and Shreveport were happy to welcome the business of Hollywood South. Columbia Pictures will release Battle: Los Angeles on March 11. The film is about a Marine platoon facing off against an alien invasion in post-apocalyptic Los Angeles. The sci-fi blockbuster stars Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Moynahan and Michael Pena, in addition to numerous supporting actors such as Lucas Till, Jim Parrack, Noel Fisher, Ramon Rodrigues and Ne-Yo. I walked on the set as the production took over a section of the Baton Rouge airport, transforming it into Santa Monica airport with a military staging. Dozens of military air and ground vehicles idled on the tarmac as hundreds of military extras ran tight drills in front of the cameras. I knew this would be no ordinary alien movie. “Battle Los Angeles is a war film with aliens,” said director Jonathan Liebesman. “War movies, and that genre, have matured in such an awesome way with films such as Black Hawk Down, Saving Private Ryan, The Hurt Locker: there is a real visual reality and power to those films and bringing that together with aliens is our goal.” Stepping off set still wearing his Marine fatigues and fully in character, leading man Aaron Eckhart told me what he thinks of the film and sold me right away. “This movie is going to be as real as you see on documentary footage and it’s going to blow your f@#ing mind. We are making the most badass f@#ing alien movie you have ever seen in your life.” The production worked hand in hand with top military and Marine advisors, who gave notes on the script and day-to-day filmmaking. “We have real hardcore military advisors,” added Liebesman. “To my knowledge this will be the first real hardcore military film with aliens. There is a good balance of reality and entertainment in this film.” I asked producers about why the production of a film set in Los Angeles was undertaken in Louisiana, and the response was a familiar one: do it in Louisiana or the picture may not be made at all. “Producing movies this size is challenging anywhere,” said producer Jeffery Chernov. “Choosing Louisiana was extremely challenging, but because of Louisiana’s tax incentives, it allows you to bring a movie like this here. I had a lot of confidence in Louisiana. The studio gave us a certain budget to make this and we needed to go somewhere where we get the best bang for our buck.” Battle: Los Angeles certainly gave the Baton Rouge film industry a stamp of approval in 2009, setting the standard for many major studio films to shoot at Raleigh Studios in the future, including Battleship and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. S 26 | January/February 2011
Aaron Eckhart in Battle: Los Angeles
Battle: Los Angeles
photos courtesy of Columbia Pictures
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2010: A YEAR IN PICTURES
photos by: Eliot Brasseaux, Lawles Bourque, Mark St. James, Ashley Merlin, Erika Goldring, Robert Fogarty, Nathan Olney, Skip Bolen and The New Orleans Film Society.
28 | January/February 2011
2010: A YEAR IN PICTURES
photos by: Mark St. James, Ashley Merlin, Will Byington, Nathan Olney, Lawles Bourque, Jeff Vespa, Cheryl Gerber and Samantha Fielding
30 | January/February 2011
MUSIC |
THE FULL MONKEY by Micah Haley
D
ecidedly without ego, their music is hard to describe. A first pass resulted in this: they sound like The Doors if Jim Morrison had spent time in the Caribbean (too bad Rolling Stone beat us to the Jimmy M comparison). But whoever said nailing down a 100 Monkeys would be easy? “We like to say that there’s twenty monkeys in each of our heads,” says Jackson Rathbone, whose parents are from Louisiana. “You see one of us, you see twenty monkeys. I think that’s where our inspiration comes from. We all have really diverse backgrounds in music, but we all really vibe on the same tunes.” The five-man band is comprised of Jackson, Jerad Anderson, Ben Johnson, Ben Graupner and Lawrence Abrams. With terrestrial radio dying a swift death, FM is replete with commercialized clones who can’t write, sing or play instruments. Homogenization is being rewarded. Success apparently no longer requires any musical ability, something that the Monkeys have in spades. “We’ve all been in music all of our lives. We’ve all been in different bands, though I think Lawrence beats us all,” laughs Jackson. “He used to play with Ike and Tina Turner and tour with the USO.” At fifty-eight years old, Lawrence “Uncle Larry” Abrams is by leaps and bounds the group’s patriarch. After several live listens, this is certain: at every 100 Monkeys show, five gifted musicians distill a myriad of musical talents down to funk. A mix of sing-along rock, reggae, bongos, cowbell and baritone vocals aplenty, their raucous shows are pure fun. The stripped down sound of 100 Monkeys is the death knell of disingenuous pop. They are the antidote to Auto-Tune. “We’re music lovers.” Jackson says. “We like to take a little bit of everything. Take our new album, Liquid Zoo. It’s got really soulful numbers and ballads, poppy reggae tunes, punk, hard rock songs: it’s all across the board. We’re really excited about it.” For the last several months, 100 Monkeys has been selling out shows around Louisiana, where they are based due to Rathbone’s commitment to playing vampire Jasper Hale 32 | January/February 2011
100 Monkeys play at Manship Theatre in Baton Rouge.
photos by Beth Gold
Lawrence Abrams
in The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn. It’s a role that has shown a bright light on the band since 2008’s Twilight. “It’s always great to have an audience to draw people to the different things that move us, like the Spencer Bell Memorial Foundation. We’re able to get Spencer’s music heard literally around the entire world and that’s just an incredible feeling,” says Jackson. “Luckily I’ve had a certain success, but I’m definitely not where I want to be yet. We’re always pursuing. That’s the artistic endeavor, to never really be satisfied. And the thing we’re most terrified of
Jackson Rathbone & Ben Graupner
is complacency. We’re always hungry. We’re always fighting it. That’s why none of us sleep, and why 24/7 we’re producing films, albums, acting in films, writing stories for movies, playing on tour, recording. There’s just not one piece of the arts that we don’t enjoy.” Proving that point, band members
MUSIC | LAST OCTOBER, 100 MONKEYS FILMED ITS LATEST MUSIC VIDEO
“The Fair,” set to debut on MTV, at the Louisiana State Fair. Clerks II and Mallrats star Jason Mewes shot scenes for the video while in town filming Zombie Hamlet. The band also played a live show for fair-goers, which was also filmed for the video. Jackson Rathbone also stopped by the set of Zombie Hamlet, and fans who see the movie are in for a surprise.
“It was just a blast.
The state fair was happy to have us, our fans were happy to be there and they were happy to have our fans there. Everything just worked out well for everybody.” – Ben Graupner
“I shot a video for 100 Monkeys, Jackson’s band. The fair itself was pretty interesting. We did a bunch of stuff, there was a lot of food. I had a lot of fun.” – Jason Mewes
Jason Mewes on the set of Zombie Hamlet.
34 | January/February 2011
100 Monkeys backstage at Manship Theatre
photos by Lawles Bourque
Rathbone and Jerad Anderson, along with his He’s been in like four films now. We wife and producing partner Kristina Lauren have a distributor and we’ll probably be Anderson, debuted Girlfriend at the 2010 Toronto coming out in the springtime of [2011].” International Film Fest. The film sold out all of Girlfriend’s gentle, understated score is a far its screenings. “We departure from 100 both acted in it as Monkeys usual onwell, and it was stage antics. Rather only natural to have than a showcase the band score the of keyboard movie,” says Jerad. bravado and guitar “It’s about a small funk, the film’s town single mom original music who is romantically showcases the pursued by this band’s range with kid who has Down calming drums Syndrome. He gets and heartrending in the middle of this strings. A natural love triangle with her extension of the ex-boyfriend, who’s band’s background, played by Jackson, composing for and chaos ensues.” film is something A throwback 100 Monkeys with Micah Haley of Scene Magazine they are looking to the minimalist to do more of, movies that defined independent film in the both for their own projects and others. early 1990s, Girlfriend is a deftly crafted example In addition to Girlfriend’s release, 2011 of character-study cinema. It features standout brings their second studio album, Liquid performances from veteran actress Amanda Zoo, set to debut in late February. And soon, Plummer, Raising Hope’s Shannon Woodward they’ll premiere a new music video for “The and the film’s star, newcomer Evan Schneider. Fair,” shot at the Louisiana State Fair with “He’s been an actor in the theatre for years since Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back star Jason he was a little kid,” says Jackson. “We were lucky Mewes, who was in town filming Zombie enough to put together the first leading role for Hamlet. We can tell you this: the future for an actor with Down Syndrome in a feature film.” 100 Monkeys is filled with promise. And “Evan’s a brilliant actor, actually,” says funk. For more, visit the Monkeys official Jerad. “His life goal is to be an actor. website at www.100monkeysmusic.com. S
www.scenelouisiana.com | 35
MUSIC |
Fats Domino by Brittney Franklin
D
uring Hurricane Katrina, it was feared that an R&B legend had been lost for good. Against the urging of his agent, Al Embry, Fats Domino waited until the last moment to evacuate from his lower Ninth Ward home. He wound up among thousands rescued by boat in the rising waters. Numerous people identified him amongst the masses in a Times-Picayune photograph taken during rescue efforts, but his whereabouts afterward were unknown. Embry reported him as missing. But unbeknownst to his close friends and family, Domino had found shelter in the home of then-LSU starting quarterback, JaMarcus Russell. The football star’s small apartment was refuge to more than fifteen people. Though he had survived the hurricane, its devastation was another matter. “We’ve lost everything,” said Domino in a 2005 interview with the Washington Post. “I don’t know what we’re going to do. I never wanted to leave.” Antoine “Fats” Domino Jr. was always ahead of the game. One of the first musicians to make the transition from rhythm and blues to rock & roll, he was also a major influence of Jamaican ska, a precursor to reggae. Domino, whose first language was French, was born to a musical family in New Orleans on February 26, 1928. He was introduced to the local music scene by his brother-in-law, Harrison Verrett, a wellknown guitarist twenty years his senior. It was Verrett who taught him how to play piano, and at age ten, he performed his first public show. Domino worked numerous odd jobs as he built his career as a New Orleans musician, working in a bedspring factory or hauling ice by day and performing in nightclubs for nearly nothing by night. In 1946, he became a regular performer at the Hideaway Club on Desire Street, where he played piano for bassist Billy Diamond’s band, receiving the nickname “Fats” from Diamond himself. Not only an indicator of his physical appearance, as he weighed over two hundred pounds and stood at five feet tall, but his skill as a pianist: Diamond frequently compared him to jazz pianist Fats Waller. By 1949, Domino had his own set at the club, playing three nights a week and drawing crowds on each. That same year, he was befriended by New Orleans trumpeter Dave Bartholomew, who would become his musical partner and collaborator. He also met Lew Chudd, the founder of Imperial Records. “They call, they call me the fat man ‘cause I weigh two hundred pounds. All the girls they love me ‘cause I know my way around,” sang Domino in his debut single, released on Imperial Records. The song was a reworking of the vice-ridden “Junker’s Blues” by Champion Jack Dupree featuring Domino’s spirited mimicking of a horn mid-song. “Hey La Bas,” a Cajun number about the voodoo god of luck, was the first song he ever recorded. French New Orleans musicians always recorded it as a good luck omen. But it was “The Fat Man” that established Domino’s position in the rhythm and blues world by earning him a number two spot on the national charts. In 1955, he crossed over to the mainstream pop charts with his single,
36 | January/February 2011
Antoine “Fats” Domino
Dr. John and Fats Domino
all photos by Erika Goldring
Fats Domino and Little Richard
“Ain’t That a Shame.” The song reached the number one spot after it was covered by Pat Boone, who released his version a week or two earlier. Domino’s version reached number ten. The song launched both artists into national stardom. His biggest hit came the following year with the release of “Blueberry Hill,” a song originally recorded for the film The Singing Hill by Gene Autry and cut multiple times by a variety of music legends from Louis Armstrong to Elvis Presley. The song became the first in a series of memorable songs by Domino in the late 1950s, followed by “Blue Monday,” “Whole Lotta Loving” and “Walkin’ to New Orleans.” Both Domino and his longtime collaborator Dave Bartholomew were honored for their contribution to rock & roll during the 15th Annual American Music Masters series, which took in November of last year. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Domino made it known that his city has always played a major role in his craft, stating, “Blues, Dixieland, zydeco and other things...my music was a mixture of everything New Orleans.” In 2007, Goin’ Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino was released. Musicians including Paul McCartney, Elton John, Randy Newman and Dr. John came together to record the charity album, the proceeds of which went towards the reconstruction of Domino’s New Orleans home and to aid public school music programs. Since the storm, Domino has been living in Harvey, LA, but still visits his now rebuilt publishing house, constructed inside of shotgun double in the Lower Ninth Ward. S
THE FASHION SCENE
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38 | January/February 2011
THE FASHION SCENE
Jewelry by Dominique Giordano: Earrings: Garnet Cavien, Necklaces: Garnet 36”, 18” Feather Chain, Large Garnet Ring. Dress by Lady Soho. www.scenelouisiana.com | 39
THE FASHION SCENE
Jewelry by John Humpheries Design/ Mignon Faget: V earring, sterling. Aurora V necklace, sterling. Top by Angelique.
40 | January/February 2011
THE FASHION SCENE
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Top: Necklace by Marion Cage Left: Bracelet by Marion Cage, Letters X & O. Heart Necklace and Ring by Dominique Giordano. Dress by Armoire. Right: Diamond Loop Earrings by Symmetry Jewelers. Three Beaded Silver Ring by Dominique Giordano. Fur Jacket by Lady Soho.
www.scenelouisiana.com | 41
ON THE SCENE
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SCENE MAGAZINE PRESENTS BEHIND THE SCENE AT LE PHARE
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IN THE MIX
VS.
THE MAN
by Greg Milneck
T
his column was supposed to be a review of Google TV. It was supposed to compare Google TV to Apple TV and other similar systems. But as I sat down to write my review, I realized that my biggest problem with Google TV isn’t Google TV at all. It wouldn’t be fair of me to write a somewhat harsh review for something that I rather liked, or, more accurately, could have liked. My biggest problem with Google TV is “The Man.” And by that, I mean Big Media. Google TV was created, in the words of Google, to bring “TV, apps, search and the entire web… together at last.” It was supposed to make watching television, browsing the web, watching web video and utilizing various apps a seamless experience. In theory, browsing The Onion would be as second nature as watching 30 Rock off your DVR. And, for the most part, it is. I wouldn’t call it seamless, but it’s a step in the right direction. But the biggest draw for Google TV was the idea of watching web video on your television. It is here that the system has failed us. Today, you can pretty much watch any television show online. Whether you’re watching directly from a network’s website, or through Hulu or other similar platforms, just about everything can be found on the internet. It’s getting to the point where cable and satellite companies are starting to get nervous. After all, at this pace, who’ll need them in a few years? Apparently the networks are sympathetic to the cable and satellite company’s troubles. Because they, along with Hulu, News Corp, Viacom and others have blocked access through Google TV to their online offerings. What does all this mean? It means that Google TV, as it stands today, is little more than an overly complex $300 web browser that
46 | January/February 2011
can’t access the web video most of us would want to watch on our TV. The problem is complex. The reason is not – money. Television is a profitable business. Web video is not. Broadcast and cable networks are just fine with us watching their offerings on our computers, but they get very nervous when the computer is actually our television. Google rocked the boat, so big media just decided to drain the lake. It’s not personal, it’s just business. And, it shouldn’t come as a surprise. Big business, and the shareholders they work for, like consistency. They like predictable profit margins. They like control. Full integration of television and the web is as unpredictable as it comes. Advertisers would demand steeply discounted rates, profit margins would grow slimmer and CEOs would start seeing their golden parachutes drift off in the wind. Here’s the problem though: trying to stand up against the integration of media and the internet in the home is like trying to keep an LSU football fan from throwing his remote when Arkansas scores an eighty yard touchdown with six seconds left in the half. It ain’t gonna happen. Google just has the misfortune of being the first major company to rock this particular boat. Big media can’t and won’t stand for it – at least not right now. They know it’s coming, they’re just trying to figure out how to survive or how to control it once it does. Apparently, they haven’t figured it out yet because they are doing their best to shut Google TV down. And, they just might succeed. Oh, and before I forget about my review – Google TV is an often awkward, sometimes complicated, media integration device that simply costs too much money and can’t offer what I want when I want it. But, it’s an admirable step in the right direction. S
Louisiana’s long tradition of creativity is swiftly emerging as an economic force. Our best and brightest no longer leave, as young professionals are finding the opportunities of their dreams are here. Some have never had to leave. Some are our sons and daughters who have come home. And some are calling Louisiana their new home. These are the entertainment professionals that are Creating the Scene.
STANTON BARRETT STUNTS by Micah Haley
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tanton Barrett is the quietest guy in the room. Given, that room is at Walk-On’s after LSU beat Tennessee last October. He’s one of about a thousand guys there wearing a baseball cap. He’s the only one with Jurassic Park, Spiderman and the NASCAR Sprint Cup on his resume. A household name to NASCAR fans, Stanton is also one of Hollywood’s premier stuntmen, doubling for Leonardo DiCaprio, Paul Newman, James Franco, Eminem, Josh Brolin, William H. Macy and Peter Facinelli. And he just moved to Louisiana. “Between TV series, movies, acting and commercials, it’s just about two hundred [projects],” says Stanton of his film career. “That was split with a full-time racing career, too, for twenty years.” His balancing act between the silver screen and the raceway was well dissected in 2008 when Sports Illustrated had a writer follow him around for seven months. The ten-page feature that resulted was aptly titled “Stanton Barrett Risks His Life So He Can Risk His Life.” For someone only in his midthirties, his resumé is seemingly impossible. The first film to bring Stanton to Louisiana was 2005’s Dukes of Hazzard. He was the guy trying to fly the 1969 Dodge Charger through the air. The Warner Bros comedy shot all over South Louisiana, including in Clinton, New Orleans and LSU. Now Stanton lives near LSU. Some of his most recent work is now in theaters, but Stanton hasn’t had much free time lately. “I haven’t seen 127 Hours nor have I seen The Town. I’ve been working every day since I’ve been in Louisiana. Honestly, I’ve barely stayed in my new place, let alone go watch a movie.” He can also soon be seen doubling for the villainous Christoph Waltz in The Green Hornet. In 127 Hours, Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle’s follow-up to Slumdog Millionaire, Stanton doubled for James Franco. “When I read the script originally, I’d just got done with 48 | January/February 2011
Stanton Barrett
Green Hornet with Christoph Waltz and then James’ manager called me to see if I wanted to do 127 Hours and recommended me to Danny Boyle. [After] doing three months of awesome action and driving and crashing, I read the script and thought, ‘This is going to be boring. There’s one bike crash, a little bit of bike riding and a fall in a canyon.’” Stanton took the job despite his early reluctance. The bike crash he performed is heavily featured in the film’s trailer. And the final product is anything but light on action. “Danny had these visions of dream sequences and he kept adding things to do and cool shots and we ended up just doing tons of fun action.” In The Town, Stanton doubled for director and star, Ben Affleck, and drove many of the vehicles during the film’s excellent chase scenes down narrow Boston side streets. “I did a car crash, Eric Norris and T-boned [a car]. We rode in the van in the shootout where I come out of the van shooting, he takes off and then I had to jump in while he’s driving away.” He points out that coordinating and performing stunts is intricate, intellectually challenging work. “People just think, ‘Oh, you just gotta be crazy.’ There’s a lot more to it. When you’re doubling somebody or playing your own part or you’re doing action, there’s a lot of acting involved. There’s a lot of understanding camera and a lot of engineering and technical stuff, especially to make it look good. You could really help a director out or you can just give a subpar performance because you don’t know better. What we do is extremely complicated and diverse. That’s why the guys that are really good are few.”
top: Stanton crashing a bike in 127 Hours. bottom: Driving the General Lee in Dukes of Hazzard. photos courtesy of Stanton Barrett
Since moving to Louisiana last September, Stanton’s stunt career has been nonstop. “This year, I did Season of the Witch in Shreveport, I coordinated Escapee in Alexandria. I cocoordinated and did second unit directing on The Courier. I’ve also been working on a handful of other films as just a stunt guy or a rigger.” “Louisiana’s an open door and there’s a need for equipment,” says Stanton. “There’s a need for people with experience teaching the stunt guys in order to create a talent pool in Louisiana. I have some great high-speed cars I’ve built that we’ve brought in and we have camera cars, cranes, cars with technocranes on them…technology that Louisiana doesn’t have right now so that’s exciting stuff. Our goal is to bring equipment to build up Louisiana’s resources so we can make great movies here.” With his new company Barcode Entertainment, Stanton intends to do just that. S
Mia Borders performing at Second Line Stages
MIA BORDERS MUSICIAN by Brittney Franklin
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hile some artists have felt compelled to leave Louisiana to start their career, singer-songwriter Mia Borders is not one of them. “I knew that building my career in New Orleans would not only help me gain notoriety as a performer, but it would help me grow as an artist just from being in this incredible pool of talent that we have down here,” says Borders. “I was supposed to go to college out of state, but I chose to stay.” A graduate of Loyola University with a degree in English Lit, Mia Borders was raised in uptown New Orleans. Her own English teachers had a “profound effect” on her personally and creatively, inspiring her to get a degree in the field as a back-up plan to her musical career. It’s a backup plan she won’t need. With her guitar, sunglasses and sex appeal, Mia Borders threatens to dethrone Lenny Kravitz as the multicultural mogul of funk. Bringing spice to soul, she sings of finding love, losing love and even stealing it. On 2010’s Magnolia Blue, New Orleans rhythm weaves through every song, from the down-home titular track, “Magnolia Blue” to the bluesy “Love Song,” in which Borders soft croon start evolves into smooth but powerful pleading reminiscent of the greats of rhythm and blues. It’s a sound that has mass appeal while remaining quintessentially New Orleanian. “The thing about Louisiana music that makes it so great is that it reflects our culture perfectly. No two bands are exactly alike. It’s a 50 | January/February 2011
photo by Kevin Barraco
musical melting pot and that’s why I was so adamant about not leaving New Orleans five years ago when our band first started playing.” Borders plays rhythm guitar and sings lead vocals, backed up by bassist Pablo Gonzalez, drummer Nick Hingel and lead guitarist Kyle Sclafani, who also provides vocals. “Pablo, Nick, and Kyle are my brothers from other mothers. We’re honest with each other no matter what and I think that sincerity comes across in our music,” she says. “We’re also all pretty laid back people and that vibe is definitely something that our fans pick up on. It’s our collective sound that makes us attractive.” After laying a solid foundation for the last few years, Mia Borders is poised for national notoriety. “Playing Jazz Fest has been a goal of mine since my mom took me to see the Neville Bros when I was four or five, so that was pretty cool. I’m definitely looking forward to going back next year and knocking it out of the park (or the Fairgrounds, as it were).” The band also played at the Voodoo Experience in New Orleans last October, along with a fellow New Orleanian on the rise. “I’ve also had the chance to hang out with Troy ‘Trombone Shorty’ Andrews quite a bit, so it’s pretty cool that I know a Grammy nominee. I’ve been bragging on his behalf.” Mia Borders opened for British songstress Corinne Bailey Rae at House of Blues New Orleans last September and Better Than Ezra at The Varsity last November and is looking forward to her continued success in the future. “It’s been a relatively long journey despite the momentum we gained this year alone, but it’s been great. To be recognized as a talented New Orleans artist among the many this city has to offer is really very humbling. It’s also more exciting than words could ever describe.” Catch her next at The Roux House in Baton Rouge on February 3. S
www.scenelouisiana.com | 51
RICHIE ADAMS TITLE DESIGNER & DIRECTOR by Micah Haley
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fter graduating from Catholic High School, eighteen-yearold Richie Adams bolted from his native Baton Rouge. Louisiana simply didn’t have what he was looking for. His meandering college career started in Tuscaloosa, allowed only one semester at LSU and ultimately led him to the University of Colorado. What did Boulder have that Baton Rouge didn’t? “Snowboarding,” says Adams. “That’s it. I just wanted to snowboard.” Snowboard he did. But after several years, his parents back home were gently encouraging him to pick a major and graduate. After earning a degree in advertising, Adams took a position in San Francisco that lasted six months, which was followed by another semester of school where he studied Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, two essential tools of the design world. He also discovered his maturity had eclipsed that of some of his classmates. “While some of the other kids were Photoshopping donkey heads onto broomsticks, I was carefully trying to make a portfolio,” he remembers, “and following that semester, I went to Los Angeles with it.” Adams secured a job at worldwide advertising, marketing and PR agency Ogilvy & Mather. On the first day, he observed the work of a friend and veteran broadcast design artist Bill Wadsworth. “That’s when the light bulb went off. I was like, ‘That’s it. That’s what I want to do, but not for TV,” says Adams. “For film.” He thought of title sequences from movies such as David Fincher’s Seven. The film’s visceral sequence of images and opening credits cut to music by Nine Inch Nails is as memorable as the film itself. “That got me excited about doing title work.” Through past connections in the skate and snowboard industry, Adams did title sequences for skate videos while continuing to work as print production artist in Los Angeles. With confidence and experience under his belt, he felt only one thing was missing: formal design theory. He decided to take some classes at the prestigious Otis School of Art & Design. After an intense year of days filled with work, class and “selfteaching” at night, a visiting professor at Otis looked at Adams’ reel and said, “You have a pretty interesting reel. What do you want to do?” Before he could answer, the whole class blurted out, “Movie titles.” The teacher introduced Adams to Richard Alan Greenberg, the legendary title designer of Superman: The Movie. His company also created groundbreaking visual effects for Alien, Predator and Se7en. “I think I’ve got a project for you,” Greenberg said after reviewing his reel. “I’m thinking it’s his daughter’s wedding video or something,” says Adams. “It ends up being the title sequence for Star Trek: Nemesis.” After Star Trek, Adams would go on to work with Greenberg on Superman director Richard Donner’s Timeline, followed by title sequences for S.W.A.T., Ladder 49, Hide and Seek, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, design of theatrical trailers for The Last Samurai and Terminator 3, and the television series Bones. In just a few years, the Baton Rouge native rose to the heights of his profession, competing for work on the highest profile films in the world. In 2005, Richie Adams moved back to Louisiana. During a 52 | January/February 2011
Richie Adams
photo by Cheryl L. Adams
location scout for Inventing Adam, the film that would become his directorial debut, he saw his home state had changed. “I was moved by the events of Katrina. By the way Louisianans were resilient to what happened,” he says. “When I left, I never thought I’d move back because there wasn’t (in my mind) a creative world here. We didn’t grow up as kids thinking we’d work in film, but I always grew up loving film,” he says. “Now kids here can grow up wanting to work in film.” Through his Louisiana-based company, River Road Creative, Adams has created titles for Babel, Jumper and I Love You Phillip Morris, a Jim Carrey comedy currently in limited theatrical release. Everyday, he works out of his offices in Baton Rouge, located less than three miles from where he graduated high school. While vetting projects for his sophomore effort as a director, Adams continues to land high profile films as a designer of main title sequences. He is currently working on The Devil Wears Prada director David Frankel’s The Big Year and Crazy, Stupid, Love, which stars Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone. His team at River Road Creative is also competing to design the titles for a film based on a best-selling book called Water for Elephants. That film stars Edward Cullen himself, Robert Pattinson. S
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www.scenelouisiana.com | 53
TODAY’S SCENE
STAY THE
COURSE by Ben Adams
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ach year, the film industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars in Louisiana, thanks to a groundbreaking tax incentive program targeted at filmmakers. Almost two years ago, the people of Louisiana lobbied to ensure that program would remain competitive. And for two years, Louisiana has continued to attract films from other states. As another fiscal session of the Louisiana legislature approaches, the film tax credits may again come under some scrutiny. According to State Representative Cameron Henry, whose bill became the current law in 2009 thanks to wide support across party lines both in the
54 | January/February 2011
legislature and the community, the program is working and putting people to work. “The main goal is just to maintain the tax credits that we have now,” says Rep. Henry. “They’ve done very well for the state. We’ve created an industry that we didn’t have before and we are also creating industries that feed that industry.” After a successful experience, producers and production executives often look to repeat it, even when a project is originally scripted for another state. When Warner Bros decided to adapt Nicholas Sparks’ novel The Lucky One into a film, they first looked to North Carolina because the story was, like all of Sparks’ novels, set there. “All the initial budgets were for North Carolina, and [Warner Bros executives] even met with Governor Perdue of North Carolina,” says Ravi Mehta, senior vice president of production at Warner Bros. Mehta previously brought another Warner Bros project, Jonah Hex, to New Orleans. “We consulted and laid out what she’d have to do to compete with Georgia and Louisiana. Their incentive works, but when you [have
a larger budget], there’s a cutoff.” One of the unique aspects of Louisiana’s program is that an arbitrary limit is not placed on how much money the film decides to spend in state. “When we started putting the movie together and putting pencil to paper, it made sense budget-wise to make the movie in Louisiana,” Mehta continues. “Then, the challenge was to convince the creative team. They started wrapping their heads around it creatively, and I took them out to town for a nice meal, and I think that’s what sold it. They were like “Oh yeah, as long as we can base out of New Orleans, we’re done! We’re here!” Laughing, he adds, “I just got assigned another movie and we’re gonna look at Louisiana. I could be back here next year.” While Rep. Henry doesn’t expect a frontal assault on the program, which is very popular, but “sneak attacks don’t really come in advance,” he says. “They don’t advertise them. Anything to attack the film industry will come at the last possible moment.” Look for more on the impact of the film industry in Louisiana in Scene Weekly and at www.scenelouisiana.com. S
www.scenelouisiana.com | 55
FRAMES PER SECOND FRAMES PER SECOND
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BY JAMES SHEPPARD | fpscomics@gmail.com
THE UNSCENE 3-Decline A little over a year ago, the box office dominance of James Cameron’s Avatar began an industry-wide obsession with stereoscopic 3-D. The premium format demanded a premium price from movie-goers, causing studio execs system-wide to call for films going into production to shoot in 3-D and for films soon to be released to be up-converted in post. You know these movies because you’ve seen them. The two highest grossing movies of last year, Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland, were both released in 3-D, ensuring that it is here to stay. The question is this: is a rush to adopt the format good business? Like CG, sound, and even motion pictures before it, 3-D is simply another tool for storytelling. Audiences will sometimes pay to see special effects, but they will pay to see characters they love again. Toy Story 3 may hold the 2010 box office crown, but Woody and Buzz are more responsible than technology. Simply put, there are no bells and whistles that will make a bad movie good. Dollars spent marketing will help to ensure opening weekend success, but the real profits result from repeat customers. More dollars spent in development finding great source material and good writers with a sense of what can be marketed will pay dividends at the end of 2011. Fixing films in development is always more cost effective than praying over computers in post. Technology may enhance an audience’s experience, but at the end of the weekend, premium ticket prices only serve to augment audience reaction. If a 3-D film is terrible, either because of technology or in spite of it, the movie-goer will only be even more disappointed if he spent more to see it. And please, we beg you for the love of all that is good, leave our childhoods be: don’t re-release Mary Poppins in 3-D. - The UnScene Writer
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