Costco Connection - February 2009

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arts & entertainment

Inset, left to right: Robert De Niro, Barry Levinson and writer Art Linson confer on the set of What Just Happened.

CC: You once said, “It gets harder and harder to make movies about human beings … they’re like an endangered species.” How tough is it today? BL: Almost impossible. Hollywood’s completely different. Some people make their careers now on sequels. We”re talking about a startling change. It”s a new time, but you can”t just stand there and howl at the moon.

Director

Barry Levinson explains

What Just Happened

MAGNOLIA PICTURES

CC: Many ofyour pictures focus onpersonal relationshipsand everyday drama. Is everyone”s life a story waiting to be told? BL: To a certain degree. “Kitchen dramas” can be drab and dreary. But that”s not to say that you couldn”t do a piece that people can relate to. [People who watch] What Just Happened say it”s interesting to see that De Niro is living in a different world, but struggling with the same issues.

By Scott Steinberg

WITH ALL DUE RESPECT to TNT, nobody really knows drama quite like Academy Award–winning director Barry Levinson. Writing, producing and helming dozens of hit films and TV shows, including Rain Man, Diner and Good Morning, Vietnam, he’s touched millions of hearts throughout a storied four-decade career. His background uniquely suits his latest picture, What Just Happened. Based on Art Linson’s bestselling memoir (subtitled Bitter Hollywood Tales from the Front Line), the film presents an uproarious account of behind-the-scenes life in show biz. Robert De Niro stars as embattled producer Ben, who is forced to reconcile his personal and professional lives over two weeks of cringe-inducing moviemaking mishaps.

Here, Levinson discusses with The Costco Connection the future of cinema, viewers’ enduring love for the human condition and why, in

Tinseltown, truth really is stranger than fiction.

The Costco Connection What Just Happened is available on Costco.co m.

YVONNE FERRIS

CC: As a sendup of the Hollywood machine, how close to home does What Just Happened hit? BL: I wouldn’t call it a sendup: It’s the way things work. You can never satirize Hollywood, because it’s as crazy as any story you could make up. Take our scene where the 30 most powerful producers are having their picture taken. They’re complaining about where they’re standing. We originally thought we’d get real producers in there. Then we’d get calls like “I’d love to be in it—who will I be standing next to?”

CC: How has the industry changed
over the last four decades?

BL: It lacks executives willing to take risks. In the past, L.B. Mayer or Darryl Zanuck didn’t go to their marketing people first. They made the movie and told the marketing people to find a way to sell it. That sensibility has died. [Now] you have to go through layers of bureaucracy.

CC: What about the overall
quality of cinema itself?

BL: What you’re seeing is the nature of selling—anything you can sell in 30 seconds will be popular; anything that you can’t won’t. Nothing disappears. But only when marketing finds new ways to sell will we see more variety in films.

CC: What’s the secret to your longevity then—finding the right tales to tell? BL: [Laughs] I don’t have a clue. I’ve only dealt with my own instincts and personal interests. Sometimes, you’re connected to what interests people not only in your area or country, but internationally too.

CC: Are there any actors left you haven’t worked with, with whom you’d like to partner still? BL: Robert Downey Jr.—he’s very talented and has a huge range. And Johnny Depp: He’s one of those great character actors that’s also a leading man.

CC: You’ve done quite a bit of TV work. What kind of opportunities do you see there going forward? BL: You’re seeing some very strong outlets that are doing alternate programming. AMC has Mad Men. FX is doing interesting work. Showtime has really come into its own, and you also have HBO. The more daring stuff is happening on cable, and the more old-fashioned kind of stuff is happening on networks.

CC: The one true-life lesson we might learn from What Just Happened would be? BL: We live in a mad world, for real. The question is how best to navigate through it. C