Actors Are Passionate People Too...

The Passion of the Costner...

Ok, let's talk film. I like this article. I think it is great. I think this says a lot about the so called decision makers in Hollywood. The LA Times has an article today about A List actors putting their own money into projects. LA Times calls it the Passion of the A list which directly refers to Mel Gibson's self financing of the Passion Of The Christ. A move that was laughed at until Mel made all him money back and of course then some. It seems, Now here we go...I need to say this again I am just a blogger. I know this. I am not a reporter. I am not a journalist. I don't expect to be a journalist anytime soon. I just happen to have a knack for knowing what goes on the business. That's why I write this crap. Cause year after year I can predict how these Hollywood execs think. And I do it year after year. Every year at the Academy Awards time, I can predict what films will get nominated without even seeing one. I just know how these people think. I was, well let's just say away from access to films last holiday season and without seeing one film, predicted 4 out of the 5 nominees. Its documented, ask Kelli. I think she may be the only one who reads this anyway.

Had I seen all the films I would have picked Michael Clayton over Into The Wild. Michael Clayton is one of the best films I have ever seen. I can say that for sure. ANYWAY, enough babble. I think its better that no one reads this anyway, there is more freedom in my voice for such. So many A list actors have thrown their own money into films and/or taken a pay cut so that certain films can get made. Lets quote the article here so that I may save my delicate fingers.

"A-list actors are increasingly willing to defer their multimillion-dollar salaries to help get difficult movies made, usually taking a bigger cut of the film's profits in exchange. George Clooney slashed his fee for "Michael Clayton," Sean Penn worked below his normal rate for the upcoming “Milk” and Julia Roberts hardly got rich costarring in the new independent movie “Fireflies in the Garden.”

There's only a handful of top stars, though, who are willing to go beyond a salary deferral and actually place their own money at risk. Mel Gibson famously pulled $25 million out of his bank account to fund 2004's “The Passion of the Christ,” and Al Pacino spent some of his money to produce 1996's "Looking for Richard.""

Ok so there have you the details. Swing Vote is the catalyst for this article. Kevin Costner dropped 25 mil of his own cash for this film. And I do hope it pays off. I don't think it will do well in theaters. I think it will do well on dvd. It may have that Borne Identity effect. Borne did not get popular until dvd.
Back to actors and their works of passion. I think swing vote will be a late bloomer. I am pretty sure about that..Now what is wonderfully painful about this is that, there are indeed passion projects because these actors have found inspiration. How do execs greenlight projects? Its not passion I can tell you that. Execs that make decisions don't have passion. And this is entire point here I don't know how much I have to hammer this down. Execs look at numbers. They look at focus groups. They have no passion. I don't even know if studio execs have the capacity for passion. I have to totally hand it to the actors here. They are showing Hollywood that films are about the passion of one person.

Execs passionate side

That's what Frank Capra said so many years ago. He said that a film should be the passion and vision of one man. I am para phrasing here, sorry, but THAT IS the JIST. And the above examples show that there have been only a few film that have the passion of actors. Now writers and directors are passionate also. I mean Spielberg with ET, James Cameron with The Abyss, and Jon Favreau and Doug Liman had enormous passion for Swingers. And Kimberly Pierce for Boys Don't Cry. Speaking of her, if you haven't seen Stop-Loss, my gosh, by all means go see it. That is a great film. I will talk about that later.

But there are a couple passionate projects that get made every year. They are out there. But isn't it sad that Passion and Burning creativity is NOT a factor for films being greenlit? Its not even a concern. The factors for Greenlighing are based entirely on Super Heroes and looking for the next Lord of the Rings. This is all that factors greenlighting. It should not surprise any of us. But don't execs wish they had talent. They don't. They have money, but will never be truly original. I would rather be original and talented anyday. That is something money will NEVER buy. Until Tomorrow, let's talk film!