by Elizabeth Ellis, Messenger Movie Critic
I had the pleasure of interviewing 1991 Sewanee alumnus Michael Dunaway, editor of the film section of Paste Magazine and founding partner of Gasoline Films and of Poitier & Dunaway Motion Pictures. While in Sewanee in January Dunaway screened his latest film, “21 Years: Richard Linklater,” a documentary that follows the work of the acclaimed filmmaker whose film “Boyhood” is nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture.
Passionate and affable, Dunaway agreed to meet with me in the projection booth of the Sewanee Union Theatre where, as a student, he worked many a night, and answer a few of my burning questions about “21 Years” and why he chose to become a filmmaker.
When filming, there is so much footage to choose from. How do you sort out the best parts?
It is very difficult. There is a lot of stuff that is great and fantastic, just as good as you thought it was, and it doesn’t fit with the story you’re trying to tell. Those are the really difficult parts, because you think, “Wow, no one will ever see this. This is a great moment with a famous person, talking about a really interesting thing on film, and no one will ever see it.” It is a good Zen practice of letting go and trusting that the next great moment will fit into the story you’re trying to tell.
What are your favorite Linklater films? What are some films we should see before we die?Rick’s three best movies are the last three he’s done: “Boyhood,” “Before Midnight” and “Bernie.” That’s completely extraordinary. I’m pretty sure you cannot say that about any other director who has been around as long as Rick has. It makes me excited what the next 21 years are going to hold for Rick and what he’s going to bring us now that he has really hit his stride. Recently, in the last decade, are five American masterpieces: “Boyhood” [by Linklater], “Take Shelter” [2011, directed by Jeff Nichols], “The Tree of Life [2011, by Terence Malick], the director’s cut of “Margaret” [2011, by Kenneth Lonergan] and a little movie, “That Evening Sun” [2009, by Scott Teems] shot in Tennessee near Knoxville and based on a William Gay short story.
There are some great animated shorts in “21 Years: Richard Link-later.” How did you choose the parts to animate?
I have to give a shout-out here to my producing partner and co-director Tara Wood. Among many, many other things she did is find Powerhouse Animation from Austin, Texas … they did “Clerks: The Animated Series.” Everything we threw at them, they said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it, let’s try it,’ which is not always the case. Each animation is in a different style. As for choosing parts to animate, part of it came organically as we thought, oh that story would be great! Also, if there was a long bit on a person’s face, we would throw in some animation for interest.
Tell us about your journey as a filmmaker and why this is such a passion for you.
Rick is such an inspiration for so many other filmmakers, and to me. He captures that punk rock ethos: Don’t ask anybody for permission, don’t wait till the time is right, don’t wait till everything’s perfect and until your skills are perfectly honed, f that, just get out and make something. The idea that you can just pick up your camera and film something and if it was sufficiently interesting people would wanna see it; that’s revolutionary. Rick is revolutionary in that way, and that’s incredibly inspiring and empowering. There is certainly no art form as immersive as the cinema—it is a strong instrument to be wielded carefully. “With great power comes great responsibility,” to quote Uncle Ben [who says this to Peter Parker in “Spiderman”]. Filmmakers like Rick enlarge our possibilities of what can be done.
What is your best advice for up-and-coming filmmakers, people who want to break into the industry?
The first thing is do what Rick teaches: Do it. Don’t plan on it, don’t think it through, don’t wait till you’re ready—just start doing it. Songwriter Johnny Mercer had a great saying about how he wrote so much: You write for the dust bin. You wake up and you write something assuming that it’s going in the dust bin. It’s not for everyone else, it’s for the process. Then one day you start to throw one in the dust bin and you can’t quite do it. You start rewriting and revising and that’s the one to keep. Make your movies now even if you’re the only one that ever sees it. Find the right collaborators and partners, people you share your creative vision with. Find people who still love you and still want you to succeed and will work with you to overcome weaknesses. Once you get to the point where you are taking other people’s money to make a movie, treat money as if it were your own. Make a movie that has a shot of doing right by your investors…don’t create a dream project that takes $3 million to shoot that’s never going to make more than $60,000 at the box office. That’s completely irresponsible. It’s an unromantic thing, but an important thing.
To see Liz’s full conversation with Michael, watch her video interview at <theinsatiablecritic.blogspot.com>.
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