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Chris Moore - I'm Sorry
Well this is the week I am most embarrassed by. I lost my temper at the people managing the movie. Pat the Line Producer, Jeff the Co-Producer, Christina the Unit Production Manager, and Bruce, the First AD are the people in charge of the scheduling, communication, planning and money spending on this movie. These four people are the ones that Ben, Matt, Miramax, and I entrusted with this movie, which we worked so hard to get going. These four people were the ones given the responsibility to make sure Pete Jones had all the things our budget could buy him to make the best movie possible. They were also responsible for making sure Pete did not waste any of the money he was given. And finally these four people were entrusted with the duty of making sure Pete did not lose track of his story creatively.
When I showed up on set, given the description of the previous day I had heard from Jeff and Pete, I was shocked and dismayed and completely anxious about what I was seeing. I was also having a hard time figuring out how I could help so that the rest of the movie did not go like the first two days were going. My job was to make sure the four people mentioned above were fulfilling their responsibilities. When I realized they were not, I lost it.
I am sorry to Jeff, Pat, Christina, and Bruce for my temper. I am sorry to Pete for the fact that my temper kept me from building a working relationship with these four people so that we all could live up to our responsibilities toward his movie. I am sorry to all those watching who had to see me tear into those people on HBO. So please everyone affected, accept my apology for my temper.
I am not proud of my temper or my reputation as a bully. And although many have said, "Chris, you were right they were not doing their job," it does not matter. My only goal was to try and be helpful to these people and try and make sure we all made the best movie that we could. My temper did not accomplish that. Screaming and threatening and storming around like a bull only gets you short-term half solutions. I have learned this from watching myself on the show. It sucks. I did not help them get their production problems solved. I did not make sure every minute on the set was shooting, not talking or waiting. I did not give Pete more time to shoot scenes or more angles to cover scenes thus giving him more choices in the editing room. I did not keep Pete focused on giving himself more choices in the editing room. I did not keep Jeff, Bruce, Pat and Christina focused on more efficient uses of our time.
This is my failure as a producer. This episode you just watched is my first step into the production and it was not pretty. I want to breakdown the politics on a set for you so you understand. In my view, the co-producer, producer, line producer, and unit production manager are the people working for the efficient allocation of resources to get the director and the financier the necessary images on film. Basically shoot the best version of the movie possible while staying on time and on budget. The DP and Production Designer are working for the director making sure the look and feel is what he or she wants the movie to be. These two teams are always pitted against each other. It starts with the producer versus the director. Producer is responsible for the story and the money and the director is responsible for the story and the footage.
Levels of experience and skill go into who gets the final say. But mostly it is the director making their movie who gets the final say. I strongly believe film is a director's medium. The team on the production side of the fence basically works for me. And in this episode, they were not doing a good job. Little things like not enough bathrooms or no lunch showing up are unacceptable. But big things like letting Pete shoot under the El with the two kids on day one or using the process trailer for day two was just not good judgment or use of resources. At this time I could not tell if it was Pete run amuck or Pete, the DP and the Production Designer. But I knew my staff was not keeping them in check.
The person most in the firing line is Bruce, the 1st AD. He is the communication between the two groups and he is the guy supposed to making the schedule run smoothly with no wasted time. He was doing his best in a world where there was no support from production. Another thing I wish I had realized earlier. My attack on these people during lunch was a direct panic on their inability to manage the situation effectively. I saw the movie running out of control.
It is so hard to keep anything on track, but a movie is even harder. I was panicking because the only way I saw to fix it was by being there myself and I knew this was not possible. I knew that I had to be back soon for the birth of my baby daughter. So I panicked because I did not believe those in charge of the production could do it without me. Well I guess we will never know since I continued to be a bully and never gave them a chance to do it without me. But those first two days were as bad as any first two days I have ever seen.
As you will all see, I wish I could have done better in bringing it back around and making sure the movie stayed on course, but all in all a good movie came out of it and that is all that matters. Please no one should decide after watching me that losing one's temper is a way to accomplish anything.
Thanks for reading . . .
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