| "If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It" Project Greenlight, Episode 4 |
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| Posted on Fri 08 Apr 2005 (1930 reads) |
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So, I'm glad they told me at the end of episode three that Project Greenlight was being moved to Thursday nights. It would've been nice if this was advertised on television, but nevertheless, I found out by surfing to iWon (www.iwon.com) and checking their television grid for Tuesday night, then, to confirm my doubts, I headed over to Bravo's web site for the show (www.bravotv.com/Project_Greenlight) and lo and behold: Project Greenlight was moved to Thursday night! (I would go into the reasons for the move, but I think it's pretty obvious if you've watched the show since episode one. Ok, I swear, no more commentary [for now, hehe], on to the recap!) Last time, we saw the debacle of Jon wanting to cast his entire family in Feast which caused Chris Moore to threaten to fire him if it was ever brought up again by his fellow producers. "It just sort of encapsulated all my fears from when John won the contest," Moore said, "I just want to fire him and get a director who won't be insane." He comes back and talks to John about the situation; John tries to justify this by citing other directors that did what he wants to do, but unfortunately he's unknown, and these comparisons don't work for him. "You are putting the desire of putting your people in above [the film]," Chris tells him; John tries to rebuttal, but he can't. "If I really wanted to fire you, I can fire you." He promised not use the "f" word anymore when talking to John, it's just he was very angry. Chris explains that many directors want to hire people they know, because it will help them feel comfortable. "I really didn't think he was going to fire me," John smiles, and they leave on good terms, with the director feeling a bit John and the writers head over to Live Planet for a meeting. They are given three new cars so that they can be ensured to get to the set during production. They're hybrid cars that run on electric and gas, and they all hop in and drive off. "Due, you can't tell when the car is on, it's so quiet," John's amazement is shown. With six weeks until shooting begins, sets are being built and casting is still a problem. Ricki Lake auditions for the movie and sits down to read. Michelle believes that John understands the casting process a bit more and praises him for changing his attitude. He gives feedback to the actors as well as to Michelle. They discuss the importance of finding the hero of the movie, that it has to be someone with a name, and it's the most important role. They're looking to read Ben Affleck, Sean Penn and Matthew McConaughey for the role. They bring Navi back in to read for the heroine, because Michelle really feels she is the actress for the role; she gives Navi some tips for the reading as well as telling her to ask for direction and guidance from both her and John. John, however, feels that she came to the second audition with the same attitude as the first one, which doesn't impress him. (In all honesty, she sucks, she shouldn't do horror. Stick to the O.C., lady.) "I just really wasn't sold by her on the Navi thing," John admits to Michelle, who disagrees. "I have a different view of heroine," she says, "I could see her doing it." She decided to go behind John's back to get the tape to be seen by Andrew, without telling anybody involved with the project, this way she can not only cast the roles in the best way possible, but also get Dimension's approval for the cast quicker. The Maloofs have decided to sign on and become partners for Feast which means they will now get the additional funding to be able to pull off the full spectrum of the film. "Thank goodness for the Maloofs, we think we have a fighting chance to make this film," Mike says. "We got an extra week for the show," Joel says. "Starting Monday we're a real movie." They take a trip to the actual set, where it's being built, and three weeks prior to filming. "I walked in, and I got goosebumps," John says. "It was pretty bitching." Mike discusses how amazing it was to watch John on his first real set. "First time I've been on my set, ever," John smiles as he walks around and talks with the workers to evaluate their work. Wes Craven joins them and talks about the script. Craven invites him over to his set to watch him work on a scene for his upcoming film. "I just don't be able to take the time and care that they're taking on Wes' set," he says about his own film. Next, they take a trip to see the monsters and how they've progressed. "This is kind of a case to get the producers and directors to go with what I want," Gary says. Now, they see this "monster genitalia," as Mike calls it, about the monster sex scene that occurs in the film. They are all silent, and to be honest, it's not impressive. Then, they all burst out laughing. "It's just a giant monster package," John laughs, showing you have big it is with his hands. "You're always worried about the rating of your film," Mike says, "I don't think that [genitalia] is going to end up in our movie." With two weeks to go, Dimension gave the thumbs up for the cast. Michelle admits she's taken more liberty than she normally would on a film. "For me, it's good news," Michelle smiles about Navi being approved. "I had no idea she [Navi] was still on the list," Mike admitted. Mike is definitely not happy. "We didn't even know Michelle had submitted it to Dimension," Joel says. "We felt like we were casting a movie that didn't please the producers or the director," Mike sighs. "I felt Michelle was gaming the system a bit, I think she might have gone through some back channels to get that done," Joel explains. They go to watch her second audition tape, and they're still unimpressed. "If she ramped it up 20 percent," Joel sighs. "She's gets there with a good director," Michelle tells her. Now, they head off to tell John. Chris comes in to visit in the middle of the casting debacle. Michelle explains the history and casting to Chris when he has questions about Krista Allen. "I was pretty shocked," John can't believe. "I'm a little perturbed," Mike says, "I feel like I've lost. Even though I don't want Navi in the movie, the studio's behind her, so, she's going to be in the movie." So, the casting is set with the exception of hero:
The next day, Michelle comes in to take to Mike and asks, "Are you going to talk to me today?" "She didn't consider my desires," Mike admits, "You made Navi." They get into a discussion about Navi. "I think you guys felt a little backdoored by it. I am friendly with some actors," Michelle explains, "I know she can do it." She talks about being proud of the cast, because they're with her name, and says that people will judge her in the future based on who her name is associated with in this film. "I feel like I've got what I wanted," she smirks, and that's the end of it. "Besides me pushing, she totally earned it," she tells a friend over the phone. She told Navi, "I can't wait until you prove me right and everyone else wrong." John and Michelle discuss the role of hero, and they both are short with one another. "I'm just stewing about everything that'd happen over the week," John says. "It's so unfair," Michelle whines. "You undermined me," John rebukes. Michelle begins defending herself. "I, for not one minute, misrepresented myself or you," she argues. "She's supposed to fight for my opinions," John explains where he's coming from to the cameras. "If you want to believe I was malicious, I'm really sorry for that," she continues to whine about how he was upset about it and how he handled it. "I'm sorry it's different than what you thought it was going to be." She whines more, "I shouldn't have to deal with people's moods and attitudes. How old are we? It's just ridiculous." A few days later, they go through the script to discuss his vision for specific parts of the film. There cast has really come together and John's girlfriend and father will be playing two roles in Feast, Harley Mom and the Bartender, respectively. They show his dad in the bar learning his role to "make it his own," John notes. "I think a lot of people can learn something from that." They cut to his father and the camera, "He wants his father to be in his first film had he wanted his mother in his first film," Clu his father says. "It lightens the load of this crummy life." They still don't have the hero role cast, and they want to talk to Jean-Claude van Damme, but some aren't that convinced he will work. Since they have nothing to go on right now, they're strapped for time. Mark Wahlberg's name is thrown around as well. They go to Panavision to do a monster screen test and see what they will look like on camera. "I have to say I felt a wave of relief. It just looked really good. Gary did a really good job," John is relieved. He gives some feedback on what he wants to see and what he wants to see more of as well. One week to go and the sets are almost done as is the script; they are now moving their offices to the set. "We saw the next script and there were changes made that we didn't make," Marcus says, angrily. They want to work on one important scene, scene 74, which is an ensemble scene with the entire cast. "These are the scenes they [audience] get bored with," John admits, "We kind of decided to cut it." However, before they cut it, John and the writers sit down to try and fix it. "We're at that very critical point," Joel says, where the table read begins with everyone involved. "It's a very important part of the movie." Then, a green package has been found on the set and everyone is evacuated with the bomb squad comes in to check it out. He jokes that he's being Punk'd by Ashton Kutcher. "I don't know how long we're going to stand out here," John is bummed. Joel is very concerned, because now he has no time to rehearse with the cast, because the day is lost and shooting begins, even without the role of hero. They are still working on casting hero, and they think Mark Wahlberg will take on the role as he dug the script. "It's just so overwhelming," John says, "That you stop being nervous." He's taken home video of the set as well as the process for his own records. "It feels like it's been so long since the contest. Here I am on the set, and it's pretty exciting. It's actually taken a long time for this to actually sink in." It's 1 A.M., and he's still not asleep. "I think we've done everything to support John's vision of Feast," Mike says, "Will he survive the first week [of shooting]? I don't know." Joel explains that many things could go wrong and the movie could bomb if all the circumstances go the way of Murphy's Law. "We could have meltdowns on several different fronts," Joel points out. Carpesomediem is an aspiring freelance writer from Lancaster, Pa. who enjoys music, movies and writing about the way the world works; you can contact her at carpesomediem@realityshack.com to talk about this week's episode or anything at all. |
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