Interview, Fireside Chat
Barry Sonnenfeld, Filmmaker and Author of "Call Your Mother"
- Sonnenfeld projects that a $15,000 investment in Blood Simple would likely have yielded returns between $75,000 and $85,000, a performance he characterizes as highly atypical for the film industry.
- He anticipates The Addams Family achieved significant commercial success by generating box office revenue approximately double the studio's initial projections.
- Sonnenfeld plans to direct a subsequent film following The Addams Family, contingent upon the studio's willingness to wait for his involvement in Forrest Gump.
- Regarding Forrest Gump, he asserts that a hypothetical version he directed might have been shorter, better, or worse, and speculates that the production team likely feared a delay could cause Tom Hanks to age or be overshadowed by a competing film.
- He recalls that his agent warned him that refusing to relinquish Forrest Gump could result in a total ban from working within the industry.
- Sonnenfeld expects that his hiring of Eric Roth and Tom Hanks for Forrest Gump remains unpublicized unless he claims a producing credit, despite the production facing the possibility of him being fired at the last minute or choosing to quit.
- He intends for his future work to focus on educational messaging, specifically telling students in Philadelphia that success in big-budget directing is attainable by anyone.
- Sonnenfeld outlines specific directorial strategies for comedy, including the belief that close-ups hinder humor, the need for actors to avoid being overtly funny, and a preference for two-shot sequences to capture action and reaction.
- He expects that casting a "straight man" opposite a lead actor is essential for comedy success, citing Wild Wild West as an instance where this dynamic might be forced upon Will Smith.
- He mentions that his mother's philosophy regarding happiness and support systems influenced his decision to accept the Forrest Gump directing credit and that her advice about defending the weak was a guiding principle during his early career.
- Sonnenfeld describes his past financial state as being broke for a single day after The Addams Family due to earning one-fifth of his potential cameraman salary, a situation arising because no other prominent director wanted to helm the project.
- He recalls being hired by Joel Cohen to shoot the Blood Simple trailer based on his ownership of a 16mm camera and his self-identification as a cameraman rather than a dilettante.
- He notes that his mother suggested film school after his graduation from NYU, where he had been attending classes three days a week for a possible 30-credit load while living in Washington Heights in a Barca lounger for three years.
- He suggests that a pessimistic outlook could be advantageous if predicting events like plane crashes, and he expects to be rehired for Men in Black if he actively requests the position.
- Sonnenfeld mentions arranging a meeting between Will Smith and Steven Spielberg in East Hampton to facilitate Smith's casting for Men in Black, anticipating that Spielberg might have convinced Chris O'Donnell had they met.
- He expects that Will Smith wished to visit schools in Philadelphia to share the message of career success, mirroring Sonnenfeld's own intention to visit schools.
- He states that Scott Rudin frequently secured directing opportunities for others, noting Rudin had another director's chair ready for a famous director every third or fourth day.
- Sonnenfeld speculates that a remake of Big starring Robert De Niro would be desirable now that De Niro is in his 70s.