a film by Ira Deutchman
Oscar-winning filmmaker Sarah Kernochan
Sarah Kernochan is a screenwriter, director, author, songwriter, performer and two-time Oscar winning documentarian, and a friend. I saw her first doc “Marjoe” as a young cinephile, not realizing that years later, I would end up producing her first fiction feature as director, “All I Wanna Do.” In this outtake clip Sarah talks about why she thinks Don Rugoff, who distributed “Marjoe,” is a significant figure in the history of independent film.
Bob Shaye, Founder of New Line Cinema
Bob Shaye was in the early stages of starting up what became New Line Cinema when Don Rugoff was at the height of his success, and he refers to Rugoff in the film as his nemesis. This outtake clip has Bob telling the story of how he got into the business, which started with his realization that film distribution was not that different from his father’s business–wholesale groceries.
Costa-Gavras on turning down “The Godfather”
Meeting Costa-Gavras was one of the real treats that came out of the making of “Searching for Mr. Rugoff.” The interview was arranged through Unifrance (thank you!) and was done in his apartment in Paris. I could tell that he was a bit suspicious of my intent at first, but when I explained what the film was about, he immediately brightened up. Don Rugoff was clearly a huge influence in his life and he told me wonderful stories, only a small portion of which made it into the film. This particular outtake is about how after the success of “Z” he was offered to direct “The Godfather.” Instead, he ended up working with Rugoff again on “State of Siege,” another masterpiece.
Robert Downey (RIP)
With news of the passing of Robert Downey today, it seemed appropriate to share a bit of the interview I did with him for “Searching for Mr. Rugoff.” There are lots of great moments with him in the film, but this particular one didn’t make it to the final cut. It’s a great example of how affable he was and what a great storyteller! I’m glad I had the chance to spend time with him.
Roger Corman Outtake
It was 7 years ago this week that I heard Roger Corman was being honored at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival, an event that I have attended yearly for quite some time. It dawned on me that this was an opportunity to capture one of those interviews for my yet to be defined project. I reached out to Michael and asked if I could interview Roger at the festival. The resulting interview was just as informative and colorful as I had hoped, but as my project took shape, it turned out that Roger did not make the final cut.
In any case, below is a small portion of that interview.
In Memory of Meyer Ackerman
In memory of the late Meyer Ackerman, here is a little piece of an interview I did with him. Meyer was one the great art film impresarios, and I booked many a film with him at the 68th Street Playhouse and the Fine Arts in Scarsdale. He left a major imprint on our cinephile world.