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Chris Moore - The Final Episode
Wow, I cannot believe the show is over. But hey, Project Greenlight is not over; the movie is just beginning its life. Miramax will be releasing the film on the 22nd of March in LA, New York, Chicago, and Boston. Over time, the film will move around the country and have a bigger release, but for now this is where it will be opening weekend.
The film turned out so well and I am really excited to have the world be able to see it. So please go see the movie when you can.
Boy, this last episode was full of emotion for me. From the argument Pete and I have at the beginning, through the joy of watching audiences watch the film at Sundance. First, let me spend a little time on Sundance. It is a big deal. Sundance is the biggest film festival in America, both in terms of prestige and attention. I have tried five times to get a film accepted, and have been turned down each time. So, first of all, thank you to Pete, Jeff and Pat for making a movie that was accepted by Sundance. It is the best place for an unknown movie to get discovered. Now, we were far from unknown. The Project Greenlight show made sure we were known, but it was a great place to show the movie to its first paying audience.
There were real risks in coming to Sundance, as that audience has an appreciation for films that are truly independent. The possibility of Pete being considered the luckiest guy on earth and everyone hating him for it was real. The possibility that everyone was rooting against the film due to the attention from the HBO show was also real. I was not nervous about the movie, but was concerned about people's expectations before the screening. I am never nervous when I am showing a good movie; but then again, I have never had a show document the making of a film, so I was nervous.
The premiere went great as you saw, and the festival actually added screenings because so many people wanted to see it, and those screenings went great as well. I have to say I am proud of this movie and I am so happy that this is the first Project Greenlight movie. There is always a risk when you make a movie that it will not turn out as well as you had hoped. It is an even greater risk when you pick the script and the director off the Internet. So to have this good of a movie be delivered is awesome.
So Sundance was a real blast for the movie and me, and I think people finally seeing the movie was a real relief to Pete. The show proves to everyone what Ben says, good sets do not guarantee good movies and bad on-set experiences do not mean bad movies. There are no formulas for making good movies. If it were that easy we would only see good movies in the theaters.
There was one unsettling thing about Sundance for me, and that was being recognized. I have you all and the show to blame for that. I never wanted to be in front of the camera. I think I lose my temper and do crazy shit on the show, and I am just embarrassed by my actions. I feel Pete and Jeff made this movie in spite of me. But no matter what I think people definitely recognize me and boy is that a strange feeling -- some of it not good. People called me names and thought I was mean. Jeff got a lot of sympathy from people because I was so hard on him. I just wish people could either contain their opinions or could understand they do not see everything in the show.
Unfortunately, I must admit I did the things seen on the show and that makes it even harder because I cannot say it did not happen. The show does a great job of showing how hard it is to navigate the politics, the creative, and the intensity of your first movie. I think Pete did an awesome job, and I look forward to working with him in the future.
The fight between Pete and I near the beginning of this episode is another hard fact of filmmaking, evaluation after the movie is finished. What was happening here was that I went to Pete, far after the movie was shot and pretty close to the movie being finished, and apologized to him. I apologized for Pat and Jeff and the producing side of this film. I was not apologizing because the film was bad, but because it could have been a much better experience for Pete. I did this because I believe a producer's job is to take care of all the BS of filmmaking, make sure all the necessary resources, cameras, film, locations, money, actors, and time are organized and set up in an efficient fashion. This way, the director has the time to just focus on the creative of the script and visuals of the camera and the performances of the actors. Believe me this is a lot. I think successful partnerships are where the director lets the producer know what he or she needs after designing the shots and finishing a script and the producer gets it done.
So my apology was from the point of after the fact saying to Pete, do not think this was a well-run operation. Do not think it cannot be better when you get to make your next movie. I felt it was my fault because I was the Producer. So I was apologizing. I was not trying to get Pete to say Pat or Jeff did anything wrong and I was not trying to instigate that debate.
Pete's reaction really surprised me. He said you do not shoot at the men who you went to battle with. He got very defensive and said he would never blame anyone but himself. Well I respect this about Pete, but I think he needs to learn that loyalty for loyalty's sake is not good. At the end of every movie I go through the cast and crew and I look at those involved and keep a list of the people I would work with again. This is what I was doing with Pete: trying to get him to think about whom he would work with again. This is just good business, and I am sure after a mission in the Army they look at their team and weed out those who put the mission at risk.
I do feel my own ego about being able to produce the movie myself from LA caused most of the producing problems. I so wanted to be there that I sent a guy to be my eyes and ears so I could make all decisions from LA. I then did a dreadful job of communicating with Jeff that that was his mission. I also completely confused Pat with what Jeff's mission was. This is all because I just hated the idea that what was happening on set would be beyond my control. So I was trying to apologize to Pete for that. Pete and I have not spoken about this really since that day. I just hope he does evaluate the people around him after the missions are completed. It means you and your team keep getting better over time. We are all only as good as the people around us.
I certainly would work with Pete and Jeff again. There were cast members and crewmembers who were awesome in a tough situation and I hope I will work with them again as well. I am not going to say whom I may not work with, and I guess my biggest fear is that my bad decisions and behavior on this movie have driven people to think they won't work with me again either.
In conclusion, thank you to the crew and the cast who made a great movie in spite of me and my ego. I feel lucky to be associated with "Stolen Summer" and Project Greenlight. When you work, as I do, to get projects off the ground it is always a humbling and completely joyous moment when they turn out as well as this project has. There is no way any of that would have been possible without the great people around me, on the movie, on the television program, and on the website. Thank you again to all of you. And to all aspiring producers out there, please do not do as I did, but do as I wish: respect your people and support your people.
There is one more update of the Television section coming next week where I plan to sum up much of the experience for me. But now that the show is over and the movie has premiered, I could not be more psyched that we pulled off this crazy thing called Project Greenlight.
As always thanks for reading . . .
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