Producedby CaseStudy I "",,,! r { ,,-^ ', A classic film noir once posited of New York that there were "eight million stories in the naked city." And until recently, there were roughly the same number of reasons a producer could find not to shoot a movie there: It's '4 ri too expensive. It's too cumbersome. There's no place to n :* *l park. Having two baseball teams damages crew unity. i.$ I I Several years ago, the Producers Guild put itself at the forefront of a coalition of groups lobbying for legislation to make producing \ Il entertainment in New York 3 i'" more affordable. And as the PG.{s representative on the Nelr,'York Production i Alliance, Lydia Dean Pilcher, can rightly claim a measure of creclit for the incen- tl ,-,s tives that have helped to jump-start the New York production sphere. Pilcher was in a unique position to press for such change. As a thoroughly , independent producer with both close ties to the Ner.r'York producing commu- nity and a range of experience that's taken her around the country and around > the world, she brings a genuinely global perspective to local issues. What's more, I as the long-serving Vice Chair of the PGA East - until this summer when her second term expired - Pilcher could speak with the institutional strength of a t: national organization behind her. Thanks to her work and that of the New York a Production Alliance, production in Neu'York is booming, with an aggressive tax a- t incentive program and a vigorous and proactive film office. (As for bridging the Mets/Yankees divide, you're still on your own.) Pilcher's work in addressing the problems facing her profession is a natural extension of her creative work, which has never shied away from tackling provocative subjects such as gender equality, cultural identity and political and social injustice. Over the course of her career, she's lent her skills to sup- porting the distinctively independent voices of such directors as Wes Anderson (Tlrc Darjeeling Limited), Tim Robbins (Cradle Will Rock), Alison Maclean (Jesus'Son), Jane Anderson (Normal\ and particularly Mira Nair, with whom she has collaborated on eight different projects, including The Namesake, Vanity Fqir and the upcoming adventure filrn Antelia, starring Hilary Su'ank as Amelia Earhart. It was from the Toronto set of Antelia that Lydia Dean Pilcher spoke to Produced by editor Chris Green for the 37th interview in this magazine's ongoing series of Case Studies of successful producers and their work. Over the course of several phone calls (only occasionally broken up by the need to, say, pro- duce a movie), she shared her thoughts on such topics as developing inter- national financing models, the comparative challenges of shooting in India and New York, and the difficulties involved in selling a film rvith a main character named "Fuckhead." Summer2O0B Produced by I 3 How did you find your way into the industry, and into pro- out o[ school rvas a script, Alter Hour-s, clirected br Martin ducing specifically? Everybody's path is different ... what Scorsese and rvritten by one of'our classnr:rtes,Joe Mignon. did yours turn out to be? After graduation I u'orkcd a bit ir-rdocument:iries but I alrvavs lo'r'cd movies, but grou,ing up in Atlanta I never became lrustrated u'ith the lack of opportr-rnities; it uasn'tas thought of it as a career.At Antioch College I [ocused on polit- vibrant a ficld as it is todav. So I began u'orking on f'eatures, ical science and journalism, and I worked as a film critic for like Alier Hours, ancl .just reallv f'ell in love rvith dramatic sto- the college newspaper. Sitting in the Little Arts Cinema of rvtelling. I believcd in the po\\'er of film to opcn up the Yellou'Springs, Ohio, I discovered filmmakers I'd never knou,n u,orld, inspire, to make us laugh and crr'- markeus feel o[ before ... Bertolucci, Bergman, Godard.... When I got to that things. Feeling that mv talents Lveremore in the l'inancial point of "u,hat am I going to do u,ith mv life?" I felt I should do and organizational areas, I decided to focus on a production u'hatever the thing u'as that I reallv loved the most. And the track. I u'olked as a location assistant and a location man- thing I loved the most \vas movies. I u'orked in radio and video ager (Pluttes,Traitts aud Atttorrtobile.s),then became a pro- documentary but the only film course at Antioch u'as experi- dr-rction manager- (QtLiz S/rorr,),and a line producer mental film. The primarv instructions, as I remember it, rvere (Mlssrs-sl1-r7.riMasala).I u'orked on both studio moviesand not to take a shon'er rvith vour camera or throu' it dorvn the independent films, and found thartvou tend to move up more stairs as votr createdroul images. qr-rickll-in the independent arena than vou do on a studio track. In those davs, we \rrere making indie featurcs in New Good advice at any stage of a career. York for $ .5 million to $2 million. Having said that, the first Al'ter Antioch, I applied to NYU f'or the graduate film pro- feature I produced u'as in 1989 for $200,0001 gram. At NYU rvhile most of the others were on more of a Hollvrvood track, I continued to make docs. I loved the post- Wow. What was the title? punk East Village and it u'as a ,qreattime to be at NYU. Mv Tlrc Kill-Oll, based on a Jim Thon.rpson novel. It t'as aclaptedand classmatesincluded Ang Lee, Jim Jarmusch, and Spike Lee. directed bv Maggie Greenu'ald. We shot it in l8 davs. I producd In iact, one of the first features that I workcd on when I got it and I drove the canrcra truck! Uarglzsl I 4 Produced by Summer2O0B .X:: On focation tor Amelia: (from left) Hilary Swank, Ewan McGregor, Pilcher, Mira Nair. (Photo:KenWoroner) S. -\\'*] t\ "-t Pifcher (right) on location tor The Namesake with lead actress Tabu. (Photo:Abbot Genser) f,Rffi & Pilcher {right} on location for Amelia with -. lrcr ^rr x -i'. director of f photography *- ' !"-o.t{: Stuart Dryburgh. (Phato:Ken Woroner) So in those early days, who were some of the people that That's a perfect transition, since when you talk about work- you learned from, and what were some of the lessons that ing with directors with a personal vision, Mira Nair's obvi- you still find yourself employing today? ously in that category. I understand, Amelia is your eighth RoberfColesbelrv \vas one ol mv first ntentors. He u,as a f:Lntas- movie together. Given your strong collaborative track tic persor-rin or-rrbusiness. Hc u,as the kind of person r,r'hokneu, record, I was wondering if you could talk about that collab- production inside and or-rtand then partncred, rc:rllv parlnercd, oration, and how it grew? rvith the director to realize their vision. We did Alier Hout's rvitl.r Well,I think that first of all, ri,eboth har.ca passionfor the dir.cr. Arnt Robinson also pt'odr-rcing.And I u,:rs a Llntr ntanaqer on sitr.'o[ the u'orld. Wc sharea slron-qsensc of soci:il jr_rsticeancl :r .'1,1r.s.si.s-rrpprBtLntittg riith Bob and Alan P:rr-ker.Wc did a nunrbcr strongl'randnr:ide artislic zrcstlretic.We love to tr-:ilel.We lor.c ol other filnts together, :u-rdhc \\ras someonc u'ho u'as alu.avs it people.Wc lor,'ecultut'c. We lor,eideers. We lot.eart and be:iutr,. lert stronginspiration Ior me. Welove politics... We.lust lor,e iill'. Honcstlt;I think that all of us u'ho lorreri'hat rvc do arc gvpsicsat hc:ir1bec:tuse vou havc to producer, As a what was it about his approach that res- lor.cbeing r-oollessand creatinga home u,her-cverr'<tu are. Mira you? onated with and I havegiven birth and raisedour.kids tosether:rnd it! been He rvas pztssion:rteabor-rt f ilrr-rn'rakinganci l-rereaih,got it-r the a lriendshipand partnersl'ripth:rt is r,crr special. trenchesn,ith the direcloI; understood u,hat it rl,as thev u,antcclto achievc,ar-rcl then hacl the skills and the cr-ealiricenergv to m:rke What seemsparticularly gratifying is how the scope of your it happer-r.When r,otr u,ork as zrploducing parlner ri,ith a clir.ector films together has expanded, from smaller films like lith a pcrsonal r.ision, 1.ou'rc zrleaclcr, and zi big parl of the crc- Mississippi Masala and.Kama Sutra to more expansive sto- atile le:rm in actualizit'rg that r,isior-r.For me, that'.sevcr-r,thing, ries like Vanity Fair and, Amelia. becauscI get the most pleasure fr<tm n-iaking the mor.ic. And rr,ego b:ickand forth. The Narttesukecost S I 0 n-rillion.ar-rd Summer2OOB Produced by I 7 I Left: Pilcher (right) with writer- director Wes Anderson on the set of The Darjeeling Limited. Photo:James Hamilton) \-' ln na' t'Nl \- r .ry,?{ r .r"./ .,1 -- , i*M Above: Pilcher (right)with Mira Nair in India. Artrclia is :r S-15n'rillior-r movie. Mira never \\'ants to lose touclr I nriide a movie in Hong Kong rvith Gong Li ancl Jclcnrr Irons uith her im:rgination.