It is obvious from the first frame that a tremendous amount of work went into this film, even by the high standards of feature animation. Can you discuss the seven year process?
Tomm Moore: The story development went hand in hand with the art development.
How did this project manifest?
Leo Scott: I was editing a half hour comedy where Val Kilmer was playing himself as a motivational speaker in this sort of parallel universe. It was such a great performance, so bonkers and I wanted to tell him that.
Can you talk about that decision, and how you thought about the various meta elements of the project?
Theo Anthony: That idea of accounting for the act of observation in observing is something that I’ve always been drawn to, as a big science nerd!
What was your original artistic challenge when you were approached with this project? A profile of one person is quite different than your previous work.
Ted Braun: The previous films I’ve done, feature documentaries I’ve done (Betting on Zero, which looked at allegations of global economic criminality, and Darfur Now, which looked at allegations of massive, systemic violent crimes in Sudan) were, in different ways, ensemble stories about people trying to expose wrongdoing.
The following questions and answers are excerpted from a conversation that followed the NBR screening of Hold Your Fire. The film took place in my old neighborhood—I lived a block and a half from where those events took place, right on the J line. It’s a major intersection, a very busy hub. To me, this is […]
How did you find this story?
David Lowery: It was a true story about this guy whose life was too good to be true in terms of a narrative.
you take us to the beginning of this process, when you had bits and fragments of the story?
Shia LaBeouf: I was in an emotional rehab facility. It was court ordered that I go to a mental institution in Connecticut.
Can you describe your approach to adapting the novel, and to making the story so cinematic?
Sarah Polley: I think I always thought of the story as somewhat of an epic.
How did you shape the story of the documentary?
Sam Feder: It’s such a dance, when telling any story.
What were your first thoughts, after reading the script?
Simon Rex: I was just like… whoa. Whoa. WHOA!
You said that your biggest talent was in the casting of the film.
Linklater: I think the movie speaks for itself in that way.
This is a huge movie. What was it like to begin this process and how did your relationships to each other develop?
Linklater: It was just like setting sail for uncharted territory. There was a plan there. We were going to see this kid grow up from first to twelfth grade.
When did you first conceive of this film?
Rian Johnson: The idea for this film came very very early, even when we were still making the first one.
Can you talk about the research that you did, and about the consultants that you brought in to make sure you got it right? I was so impressed with how authentic this story was.
Reinaldo Marcus Green: So, I’ll start with the consultants. We had a gentleman by the name of Neville Garrick, who we represent in the film. He had done the album art work, and he also did the lighting for all of the shows.
There’s an incredible attention to detail throughout the film, from the dialog to the set decoration. Could you describe how you approached these aspects of the film?
Robert Eggers: New England was the most literate part of the Western World; you had to teach your children how to read– it was against the law if you didn’t, because you had to read the bible in English.