Ben out of both detox and involvement with Gwyneth, and slumming by starring in
Pearl Harbor. Matt tanking in The Legend of Bagger Vance
and no longer with Winona or Penélope but dating Ben's publicist.
Typical starry Hollywood sagas, but what happened to the two bright Cambridge
kids with their East Coast integrity and left-wing politics? Has anything from
their roots survived the six years since they got to LA with their Good Will
Hunting script in hand? Judging from HBO's engrossing 12-part Project
Greenlight, I'm thrilled to report that the home boys are good guys, and
much in touch.
This documentary series, the best record of the filmmaking process I've ever
seen, shows us Affleck and Damon -- still firm pals, but infinitely shrewder
and more experienced than in Beantown days -- determined to give back to the
idealist-minded community from which they sprang. They persuaded Miramax Films
to let them sponsor a screenwriting contest, Project Greenlight, for filmmaking
novices, the winner of which would direct his/her indie script in a $1 million
movie paid for and distributed by Miramax.
The HBO series reveals that 10,000 of the bushy-tailed answered the September
2000 call, which must be a record for a screenwriting contest. Bit by bit, the
numbers shrank. One hundred were asked to submit a video bio; 10 were given
cameras and tape to shoot a scene from their script; finally three sweated in
their LA hotel rooms while, in a nearby suite, Ben, Matt, and a coven of
Miramax executives argued over which screenplay would translate into the most
appealing movie, which of the three survivors was most capable of helming an
indie feature.
After a marathon pow-wow of Twelve Angry Men intensity, the judges
selected a winner: Pete Jones, an apple-cheeked Chicagoan (think the Hardy
Boys' pal, Chet) with a wife and baby and a past career as a corporate
insurance salesman. Affleck and Damon would executive-produce, along with their
Fusion Studios partner, Chris Moore. Jones's film to be: Stolen Summer
-- it's set in Chicago 1976 and has to do with the friendship of a little
Jewish lad and a little Catholic lad. A mini Chariots of Fire? The HBO
publicity kit describes it as "the story of an eight-year-old boy's search for
the meaning of life."
The first few episodes of Project Greenlight were deft and entertaining.
But the series became truly amazing and revelatory from the moment we watched
Jones sit down for his first pre-production meeting. Step by step, through two
horrific days of actual shooting, we saw Stolen Summer explode in a
hundred excruciating ways, from casting to money matters to relations with
Miramax, where power-game people vaguely mind the store -- all the psychotic
abnormalities of a low-budget (translate: severely underbudgeted) independent
film.
There is, as I said, no better visual record of the hour-to-hour travails of
making a little movie. This series should be mandatory viewing for all film
students and all I-think-I'll-be-a-director people. "Directors work so hard.
He's going to be fried!," Damon predicts correctly of poor Pete Jones. Our
virgin cinéaste is seen visiting Kevin Smith for advice. "Be prepared to
gain weight," the very portly Clerks director tells Jones of the
filmmaking experience. "And it will never go away."
A Miramax happy ending? Stolen Summer was finished, and Jones, who'd
been regarded with suspicion as a first-time director, kept intact his testy
veteran cast, which included Aidan Quinn, Bonnie Hunt, and Kevin Pollak. The
film was screened at Sundance last month and is scheduled for a March Miramax
release. We'll see.
A fundraiser for the Newport International Film Festival will begin on
Thursday, February 14 at 6 p.m. at the Avon Cinema, 260 Thayer St., Providence.
A reception will precede the screening of Stolen Summer. On Friday,
February 15, a reception will begin at 7 p.m. at the Bank of Newport in
Washington Sq., followed by a screening at 9 p.m. at the Jane Pickens Theatre.
Tickets are $50 ($25 for the screening only). Call (866) 444-NIFF, or go to
www.NewportFilmFestival.com.
Issue Date: February 15 - 21, 2002
