I was very excited to talk top Brian Grazer. Not only has he worked on some of my favorite films such as Night Shift, Armed and Dangerous and Bowfinger but its just so rare to get to talk to a person that only produces. I get to talk to actors, writers and directors everyday but a powerful producer on par with Joel Silver and Jerry Bruckheimer, almost never.
Its to be expected that Grazer would come out to promote the documentary Inside Deep Throat because its been a passion project of his for many years. In fact at one point he had the rights to do a biopic on Linda Lovelace, but that didnt work out.
Check out the official website for Inside Deep Throat
Daniel Robert Epstein: When you approached Universal about this film what did they say?
Brian Grazer: I approached them about releasing this film because I already had financing from HBO then I was prepared to augment the balance with my own money. HBO had given me a million dollars and I was prepared to spend whatever I had to make it myself. I talked to Universal about releasing it and they spent a week thinking about it. They came back and they were comfortable with it. I dont think they were aware that it was going to end up being rated NC-17.
DRE: You would think that since you produced so many huge movies for Universal that it wouldnt take them very long to say yes. You could always go to Sony with another Ron Howard movie.
BG:But they did say yes and Im used to their process. I really respect them because [Universal executives] Stacy Snider and Ron Meyer are thoughtful not emotional. So if they say yes then there is no equivocation that will stop that. I dont mind the wait as long as they say yes.
DRE: I read that your grandmother was the inspiration for this.
BG:My grandmother was a person that brought it to my attention. She is represented in some way by the older woman in the movie that says I just wanted the right to see a dirty picture. My grandmother, like the woman in the movie, was a 60 plus year old woman that was quite conservative but like all Americans she has that gene of defiance. She wanted to see Deep Throat so they stood in line in 1972. She told me they saw Deep Throat and I was like, okay. It left a very strong memory with me.
DRE: Was there ever a question that it would not be an NC-17?
BG:That would have been impossible for me. It would have been impossible in the same way when we made Splash and the studio said that Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks were not allowed to kiss at the end. The whole point of that movie was for them to be together.
The whole point of Inside Deep Throat is to show how our cultural zeitgeist works. There was a lot of noise about this movie, almost inescapable. So to not show the sexually graphic scenes that made such a big stir wouldnt make sense. I always intended on showing those scenes but we didnt think about the rating.
DRE: This film may take some heat due to our repressive culture right now.
BG:It may if people are reductive. They will be reductive with this film if they dont see it because if they see it they will know that its a study of how our cultural zeitgeist works. Its not a movie about pornography but how our individual sensibilities get formed. I started it to see how trends begin. I didnt realize it would intersect with todays views about censorship.
DRE: What did you think of Deep Throat when you first saw it?
BG:I saw it about two years after my grandmother brought it to my attention. It was at a party and it was a barbecue. It became a Deep Throat party. I didnt know a lot about it but I was just interested in the cultural dimensions.
What I didnt know about the history of the movie is that organized crimes pushed everyone out of the way so they could get the proceeds. Its a cautionary tale because even the most famous pornographic actress, Linda Lovelace, had a bad end. I think there is just a bad ending to being involved with pornography.
DRE: A lot of the porn stars in the movie said they thought that commercial film would eventually intersect with pornography. Do you ever see that happening?
BG: I dont think that will happen. I think there have been opportunities but it hasnt worked. I guess when filmmakers look to create sexual impact they utilize the barriers that have been brought down by Deep Throat.
DRE: What do you think Linda Lovelace would think of Inside Deep Throat?
BG:I think she would love it. Its a cautionary tale because clearly Linda was the most famous pornographic actress on the planet and she had a bad ending. Its also not a favorable portrait of pornography.
DRE: Obviously this film is very important to you but we all know this film wont make as much money as other films youve produced. How do you split your time up?
BG:My tastes as a motion picture producer have narrowed over the years. It took me 15 years to get Friday Night Lights made. Ive become more obsessive with the things I am passionate about. On this movie I spent hundreds of hours making it because it became a compelling mystery about the journey this film had, including the people involved.
As a filmmaker almost all of my movies have redemption and happy endings. Thats been my choice as a filmmaker. I like movies that have a message. I loath how retail business in our country has become so sexualized so that anything worth selling is sexualized. On one hand my personal views are very much against all that but on the other hand our constitutional rights allow that. I didnt get into this to express my political views but to understand the mind of the individual.
DRE: Can we assume President Bush wont watch this?
BG:I dont think we can because I think hes liked a lot of the movies Ive produced. Ive been told that Friday Night Lights was his favorite movie from last year. I think he would like Inside Deep Throat. Its not pornographic and its not favorable to pornography.
DRE: Since you produce Arrested Development I think it would be prudent to ask you this, has there ever been a half hour comedy show on television that won the Emmy for best comedy series but still has such very low ratings?
BG:I dont know. I know Seinfeld and Cheers did very poorly their first year then they took off. Arrested Development gets such critical praise and it doesnt get the audience it deserves.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Its to be expected that Grazer would come out to promote the documentary Inside Deep Throat because its been a passion project of his for many years. In fact at one point he had the rights to do a biopic on Linda Lovelace, but that didnt work out.
Check out the official website for Inside Deep Throat
Daniel Robert Epstein: When you approached Universal about this film what did they say?
Brian Grazer: I approached them about releasing this film because I already had financing from HBO then I was prepared to augment the balance with my own money. HBO had given me a million dollars and I was prepared to spend whatever I had to make it myself. I talked to Universal about releasing it and they spent a week thinking about it. They came back and they were comfortable with it. I dont think they were aware that it was going to end up being rated NC-17.
DRE: You would think that since you produced so many huge movies for Universal that it wouldnt take them very long to say yes. You could always go to Sony with another Ron Howard movie.
BG:But they did say yes and Im used to their process. I really respect them because [Universal executives] Stacy Snider and Ron Meyer are thoughtful not emotional. So if they say yes then there is no equivocation that will stop that. I dont mind the wait as long as they say yes.
DRE: I read that your grandmother was the inspiration for this.
BG:My grandmother was a person that brought it to my attention. She is represented in some way by the older woman in the movie that says I just wanted the right to see a dirty picture. My grandmother, like the woman in the movie, was a 60 plus year old woman that was quite conservative but like all Americans she has that gene of defiance. She wanted to see Deep Throat so they stood in line in 1972. She told me they saw Deep Throat and I was like, okay. It left a very strong memory with me.
DRE: Was there ever a question that it would not be an NC-17?
BG:That would have been impossible for me. It would have been impossible in the same way when we made Splash and the studio said that Daryl Hannah and Tom Hanks were not allowed to kiss at the end. The whole point of that movie was for them to be together.
The whole point of Inside Deep Throat is to show how our cultural zeitgeist works. There was a lot of noise about this movie, almost inescapable. So to not show the sexually graphic scenes that made such a big stir wouldnt make sense. I always intended on showing those scenes but we didnt think about the rating.
DRE: This film may take some heat due to our repressive culture right now.
BG:It may if people are reductive. They will be reductive with this film if they dont see it because if they see it they will know that its a study of how our cultural zeitgeist works. Its not a movie about pornography but how our individual sensibilities get formed. I started it to see how trends begin. I didnt realize it would intersect with todays views about censorship.
DRE: What did you think of Deep Throat when you first saw it?
BG:I saw it about two years after my grandmother brought it to my attention. It was at a party and it was a barbecue. It became a Deep Throat party. I didnt know a lot about it but I was just interested in the cultural dimensions.
What I didnt know about the history of the movie is that organized crimes pushed everyone out of the way so they could get the proceeds. Its a cautionary tale because even the most famous pornographic actress, Linda Lovelace, had a bad end. I think there is just a bad ending to being involved with pornography.
DRE: A lot of the porn stars in the movie said they thought that commercial film would eventually intersect with pornography. Do you ever see that happening?
BG: I dont think that will happen. I think there have been opportunities but it hasnt worked. I guess when filmmakers look to create sexual impact they utilize the barriers that have been brought down by Deep Throat.
DRE: What do you think Linda Lovelace would think of Inside Deep Throat?
BG:I think she would love it. Its a cautionary tale because clearly Linda was the most famous pornographic actress on the planet and she had a bad ending. Its also not a favorable portrait of pornography.
DRE: Obviously this film is very important to you but we all know this film wont make as much money as other films youve produced. How do you split your time up?
BG:My tastes as a motion picture producer have narrowed over the years. It took me 15 years to get Friday Night Lights made. Ive become more obsessive with the things I am passionate about. On this movie I spent hundreds of hours making it because it became a compelling mystery about the journey this film had, including the people involved.
As a filmmaker almost all of my movies have redemption and happy endings. Thats been my choice as a filmmaker. I like movies that have a message. I loath how retail business in our country has become so sexualized so that anything worth selling is sexualized. On one hand my personal views are very much against all that but on the other hand our constitutional rights allow that. I didnt get into this to express my political views but to understand the mind of the individual.
DRE: Can we assume President Bush wont watch this?
BG:I dont think we can because I think hes liked a lot of the movies Ive produced. Ive been told that Friday Night Lights was his favorite movie from last year. I think he would like Inside Deep Throat. Its not pornographic and its not favorable to pornography.
DRE: Since you produce Arrested Development I think it would be prudent to ask you this, has there ever been a half hour comedy show on television that won the Emmy for best comedy series but still has such very low ratings?
BG:I dont know. I know Seinfeld and Cheers did very poorly their first year then they took off. Arrested Development gets such critical praise and it doesnt get the audience it deserves.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
missy:
I was very excited to talk top Brian Grazer. Not only has he worked on some of my favorite films such as Night Shift, Armed and Dangerous and Bowfinger but its just so rare to get to talk to a person that only produces. I get to talk to actors, writers and directors everyday but a powerful producer...
xtx:
Interersting all-around, particularly for such a commercial film producer.