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Michelle Sy - Miramax
Jeff called me soon after Chris told him to come back to L.A. Jeff was in shock, and I couldn't believe it either. Chris's decision took me, as well as everyone else, completely by surprise. Even though there was tension between Jeff and Pat, it was not preventing the work from being done. They were making their days, meaning they were completing what was scheduled for each particular day, and the film dailies being sent to me looked good. Since Chris wasn't able to be in Chicago (because his wife having a baby), he was relying on Jeff to keep him informed of everything that was happening. I think he was frustrated that Jeff wasn't communicating with him properly. However, I don't think Chris had made it clear to Jeff what exactly Jeff should be communicating to him. This was Jeff's first time working on a movie in this capacity, and I think that perhaps Chris should have been giving him more guidance along the way.
While I was in Chicago for pre-production and the first week of shooting, it was clear that Jeff and Pat were only working together because they had to. The root of the tension was the fact that Pat seemed to see himself as more than just the line producer, and what I saw was Pat being frustrated because Jeff's presence was getting in the way of Pat completely running the show. However, whatever differences there may have been between them did not seem especially problematic. Ultimately, they both wanted what they thought was best for the movie.
I wasn't in Chicago when all of this came down. I had left Chicago the same day as Chris-the day it rained (I came back periodically for what I anticipated to be the tougher parts of the shoot, such as the days at the beach). Despite what is depicted on the TV show, I felt comfortable leaving because everything was actually under control. Chris had shaken things up, which was needed. I think it really helped everyone to be more focused on working as one unit. Plus, Pete Jones was starting to get the hang of things, and the crew was starting to find its rhythm. One thing I'd like everyone to know is just how hard the crew worked. They really gave their all the entire time. It was a really tough shoot, but everything worked out fine because the crew was so dedicated. Everyone was passionate about the project, and Pete Jones made for a good leader.
It wasn't until after that fateful phone call from Chris that I learned just how far the tensions had escalated between Pat and Jeff, with Pete stuck in the middle. That said, from my subsequent conversations with Pete, Jeff and Pat, the three of them had already discussed the situation and were starting to work things out amongst themselves before Chris decided to intervene. By that point, however, what Chris was seeing was very much to his dissatisfaction.
So I was back at the Miramax office in New York when Chris called the morning after he told Jeff he wanted him back in L.A. Chris was rethinking his decision, and asked me for my perspective on the situation and whether or not Jeff should stay. I felt very strongly that Jeff should stay. While Jeff may not have been highly experienced, he was a good sounding board for Pete. Part of what Jeff and I do for our respective companies is to try to make sure that a film is on budget and on schedule. However, first and foremost, we are there for creative reasons: to make sure that the story can be effectively told through what is being filmed every day. This is how our jobs differ from Pat's job. As the line producer, Pat's role is to deal with the physical production aspects of a film shoot-the allocation of resources, dealing with the crew, budget, and the shooting schedule.
For Miramax to make a movie with a first time director who won a contest by submitting his screenplay on the internet is a risky proposition. But having a strong producer like Chris Moore, who has worked with us before and produced several successful films, helps to increase the chance that the film will turn out well. Therefore, I felt it was absolutely necessary to have someone on set to represent Chris if he couldn't be there himself. I told Chris I would feel more comfortable if Jeff were there instead of not there, that I thought things were going well with the movie, and that taking Jeff off the set would hurt more than help the film. I trusted Jeff's creative opinion more than Pat's. While there are certainly line producers who have strong creative instincts, I did not feel that Pat's creative instincts were strong enough to be the primary creative opinion Pete would hear. Moreover, I told Chris that it seemed to me that there were communication problems between him and Jeff because Jeff wasn't entirely clear on what Chris expected of him, and that that was something they would have to work out between the two of them. Apparently, Chris agreed. So Jeff remained in Chicago.
A film production is just like any other work situation--there are politics and people who don't always see eye to eye. In order to get things done, you have to move past all of that. No matter what happened behind the scenes, everyone working on "Stolen Summer" had the same goal--to make a really good movie. And I think we achieved that. You can go see the movie and judge for yourselves.
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