DINA EASTWOOD TALKS WITH... l l e n n u T y d n a R : o t o h P R O B E R T R E D F O R D If it wasn’t for a lucky break in a Southern California, World when, as his second act, he chose the prestigious Pratt Institute War II era classroom, the world might not know Robert of Art. Art school led to acting classes at the American Redford. As a young boy, “Little Robby” used art to satisfy his Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. And you most likely boredom during long school hours. Like helium to a balloon, know the rest of the story, or, at least, much of it. Robert his head filled with images that a teacher forced him to share Redford became the great American actor with brains, brawn, with his third grade peers in an attempt at humiliating him. The talent and charm. He hit the big time in 1969 with “Butch attempt backfired. Everyone in class ended up enjoying art- Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” alongside the late Paul filled journeys with Robby, as he held court with his fellow Newman. He amassed dozens of hit films, and all the notoriety eight-year-olds. By the time he was a teenager, there was no and success a person could stand. He became a man who got denying that Robert had the desire and skills, athletic and artis- bored with the banality of the mainstream and sought out the tic, of an amateur Early Wynn with a splash of Pablo Picasso. tributaries in life. Stepping off the beaten path took him to what And he had the looks of, well, Robert Redford. would become the headwaters of his legacy – founding the Sundance Institute, which has changed the TYPE of films that It was impressive to all but his father. A one-time milkman by are available around the world. trade, Redford Senior was hopeful his son would become something sensible, like a lawyer. Robert’s first attempt at the Redford will always be thought of as a heartthrob, an arts mainstream – a baseball scholarship to the University of activist, a leading man, and a Renaissance man, all rolled into Colorado – didn’t work out. So it wasn’t looked upon fondly one. But perhaps the most important part of his many-pieced 52 ARTWORKS ARTWORKSMAGAZINE.COM a i g g o L a n i t s i r K : o t o h P ARTWORKSMAGAZINE.COM ARTWORKS 53 R O B E R T R E D F O R D ART FOR SOCIAL CHANGE puzzle is that of preservationist, from the land he loves so much in Utah to the ideas that will con- tinue to give “small” films a firm place in our culture. Based primarily in Napa Valley, California, but as a doting father and grandfather, Redford fre- quents the Carmel area and other parts of the West. He works tirelessly to weave art into our daily tapestry, whether by supporting Slam Poetry or bare bones movie making. Through his Sundance Institute and programs at the newly formed Sundance Preserve, he is making change happen – one word and one frame at a time. At the age of 72, he knows slow and steady wins the race. There is nothing slow about his pace in conversation, though. Redford is genial and passionate. He talks with enthusiasm about using art for social change. But before we really get rolling with our conversation, I admit I am fumbling with my tape recorder that never seems to work correct- ly, and it brings something to mind for Mr. Redford. It’s an example of one of those consequences of being a celebrity, or in his case, an icon, which causes him momentary regret. ROBERT REDFORD: This recurring thing happens, which is kind of ventional, commercial film. By being in those films, I was able to ask to comic, but also very annoying. You’re in public somewhere, someone make a smaller film, on the side, below a two million dollar budget. comes up, and you want to be respectful, you want to be polite. They That’s how it started. It went on for about ten years. Then 1980 came say, “Oh, can I have a picture? This would mean everything. It’s for about, and it led to me directing my first film. All the films that I had been my grandmother.” They take a camera, and you wait, and they can’t involved in that were very, very personal were all smaller independent get it going. And you stand there, and stand there and stand there. films. But I was able to do it within the mainstream because there was People start looking and wonder, “What’s going on?” Then THEY come no independent film category except in the educational arena. The NEH over. And that’s how it all begins. You have to stand there, and you (National Endowment for the Humanities), or NEA (National become a statue. And it all begins with somebody who can’t work their Endowment for the Arts), would sometimes sponsor low budgets, you camera. know – ten, twenty thousand dollars – they would give somebody to make a small film. But those films would usually end up in the education- DINA EASTWOOD: Yes, I’ve been there, but it’s me who is tak- al circuit. The category was very small. When 1980 came, I realized ing a photo of someone with Clint, and I can’t work their camera! the industry was starting to move toward more centralization. It was (I have now worked out my issues with the tape recorder so we going to begin to lose its focus on smaller films. Through the 1970’s you can continue our conversation about art and its impact). could do both. But when I saw this happening, I realized a lot of young filmmakers were not going to have a chance. You have single-handedly changed our exposure to independent film. Can you tell me what the climate was at the time, internal- I decided in 1980 I was going to stop for a year. I had worked hard ly and with your career, that made you feel you needed to make for over a decade and filled my life with a lot of work. I decided I was a change and create The Sundance Film Festival? going to take a year off and think about what I could do to put some- thing back. That’s how it came about. The idea of putting something REDFORD: When I first got into the business of being able to produce back was creating a mechanism where young filmmakers, new voices, my own films, that was 1970, I had worked through the regular process would have a place to work and rehearse, like they do in the theater. of starting out as an actor on the New York stage, and from there to live That didn’t exist in film. So I took the land I had in Utah and made that television, and then on to film. When I got into film, I labored as an available, and I spent about a year designing the process. I decided it “actor for hire” for five years, six years, and then I got antsy. Because would be kind of like the theater, that filmmakers would have a place to I had started my career as an artist, as a painter, I missed being able rehearse, and we would use tape because film was too expensive. I to have more control over the story that would be told. So that led to would have artists come and I would ask colleagues of mine to give up me producing. When I started to produce, I was interested in films that their time. Would they be willing, remembering that we all started at one didn’t fit easily into a box office formula. They were more independent point from scratch, to put something back with me, and help these new in nature. They were more like “The Candidate,” “Downhill Racer,” or filmmakers? That was the Sundance Institute, and it was non-profit, and “Jeremiah Johnson.” They were not accepted as regular fare. So I had that was in 1980. to push hard by balancing it out by doing a large film – a more con- 54 ARTWORKS ARTWORKSMAGAZINE.COM So we started this lab where we would take scripts from new filmmak- it would be risky because there would be a lot of films that people did- ers. We would choose the scripts based on how original or how fresh n’t want to see. And I said, “Well, that’s the point?” The point is to the ideas, and how this process could help them. Finally, in 1985, I keep diversity alive because that’s what, I think, really makes this coun- could see that we were starting to get films coming through. The first try work. So let’s show that. Let’s let people decide. We’re not going one to break through was a film called “El Norte.” That was by the to decide about the films. We’ll just put them out there, let the audi- Navas – Gregory Nava and his wife – their film broke through into the ence come and decide for themselves. But at least they’re going to mainstream. That was the first sign that this COULD work. have a broad menu to choose from as opposed to what’s going on in the mainstream.