Given her hypocrisy, of which I’m sure she is oblivious, I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that she’s a friend or relative of someone from the studio. As far as Navi, if her auditions were a clue, she is a talentless B-movie hack. She will rob the film of its soul. And the writers? They appear to have gotten quite uppity now that they’ve whored themselves out for a couple of other projects. Funny thing is, when this all began, I thought Gulager was the only clueless dumbass in the midst of savvy professionals. Now I realize I had it all backwards.
I don’t know about totally backward, he’s plenty clueless in his own right. He did look uncharacteristically competent this week. Appears to be another step back for him on the horizon though.
But yes, most of the rest do look worse now. I’ll have to pay more attention to the replay to see if the editors gave her any musical cues to illustrate her evil. If not, they should have. Figure her part on the show is done now. I still think they should have brought back Joseph Middleton, he was fun.
This show does highlight the differences between who is really in charge (the money) versus those who think they are in charge (the Director et al).
Liberal wrote
Ain’t that the truth. I don’t know much about the movie business, but I’m guessing once the casting is done, she’s on to a new project. So, since the casting is mostly complete, it’s best to make a note for next time and move on.
BigDummy wrote
I’ve never seen the OC or heard of Navi. Who knows, maybe she’s got some weight with the kids today. But if you’ve got a good choice, you sell others on your choice and make it their choice. You don’t go around them.
Man, what a crack-up that was.
Gangster Octopus wrote
That’s true. However, people are in charge because the put themselves in charge and they sell everyone else that their ideas are best. Gulager could have a hell of a lot more influence if he would speak up and motivate people. He’s more to blame for people not listening to him than the system. The producers are good examples of guys who create their own influence. They listen to other view points and they sell their own. And they create new choices that further their position, like when they brought in the second investor.
I know everyone will disagree with me, but I like that Andrew more every time I see him. He has the best interest of the movie at heart, and that includes artistically. Yeah, it’s all about money for him, but part of that is getting the most people in to see it, and that means making a great movie. And he’s not afraid to tell people to stop sucking. As opposed to Gulager who lets people walk on him.
Also, I don’t know why Gulager couldn’t have spent time with the actors out in the parking lot while the bomb thing was going on. Even without the set, it seems like a lot could’ve been accomplished.
I wondered about that too. I mean, all you need for a read-around is a big banquet table. For that matter, let 'em hold the scripts in their laps.
I do take your point about Gulager’s wimpiness, though. And his inability or unwillingness to communicate, whichever it is, is maddening. But one thing that has always bothered me about Project Greenlight is sort of like the one thing that bothers me about Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. A fish out of water is expected to do more than he should be expected to do using tools he has never seen before. So directors on PG go down the tubes, and straight guys on QE drop eggshells in the batter. Granted, Gulager has directing experience, but it is limited, and not on the scale of PG. I never understood why there wasn’t some sort of class or training or at least a few day’s orientation teaching the basics of directing from the broader big picture aspect of studio people, crew, logistics, planning, schedules, and all that. Why do the principles always seem so surprised? “Oh wow, this guy acts like he’s lost! How can that be!?”
Only thing I could figure is that maybe those guys were inside the perimeter when it went down and security was turning everyone else away?
I won’t suggest you shouldn’t like Andrew Rona, but how could he possibly have the best interests of the movie at heart? They as much as admitted they picked a sub-standard script just on the concept (similar to a property that had made money for them before, From Dusk Til Dawn), and he won’t give them the money to actually do the one he picked. The money thing alone is a pretty strong indictment. And really, it’s a little easier to dictate to people when you’re the Co-President of the studio than when you’re the director who won a contest. It’s not like Rona was bravely going out on a limb or anything.
Look at the track record of the company formerly known as Dimension. They’re much more about taking a successful property and running it into the ground than just making a good movie.
Robert Rodriguez has made a ton of money for them, and at this point is one of the few people working for them that are allowed to do things his way. Wes Craven also did pretty well for them; there’s an argument that Scream built them. I know someone who maintains that Craven has revolutionized the Horror genre at least 3 and probably 4 times, and now they’re second-guessing him. We’ll never know what Wes’ version of Cursed might have been because Dimension forced a lot of changes he didn’t want (saw that going on in this show).
To a large degree, Dimension hasn’t been about making the good movie, it’s been about throwing stuff out similar to what they’ve done before & hoping the marketing can create a big opening weekend. If it does anything after that, great; if not, they’ll make money on the DVD’s. The Weinsteins basically kept Dimension in the divorce, but they’re changing the name because of all the baggage. I hope Harvey coming back will bode well for their future projects.
The more I see of PG, the more I suspect the TV show is the real point of the enterprise, and if they wind up with a decent movie at the end it’s just a bonus. If they were really, honestly, truly interested in making a marketable movie the way they said they were, they never, ever would have hired Gulager.
I don’t know how far the TV revenue goes to offset the cost of the movie, but as I look at the way the project is organized, and especially at the way the program is edited, I grow suspicious of the motives behind everything. It just seems too obvious that they’re trying to create conflict that will make a compelling show, at the expense of the movie.
Maybe after so many years watching how Hollywood does business, I’ve become incapable of viewing anything they do without cynicism.
I gotta say, I’ve been working really hard to try to see Gulager’s point of view and sympathize with him at least a little, but he lost me on this latest episode. He’s like the poster child for passive-aggressiveness, and the footage being produced looks as though it’ll be nigh unwatchable when cut together.
The really heartbreaking thing, though, is the unremarked subplot that’s developing around the relationship between Gulager and his father. You have to wonder how this old-school man’s-man perceives his poor panicky son, but how can you not admire him for the stand-up way he’s trying to support his kid? Who, of course, is obviously trying so hard to measure up to the strength of his father, but he just doesn’t have it.
But that goes only so far for me, and it doesn’t outweigh the obvious fact that Gulager is, and I hate to say it, a terrible director. I will be frankly astonished if the final film rates more than a couple of notches above Manos.
I have loved watching this show. I am an aspiring editor and I love seeing all the behind-the-scenes footage. I’ve also been able to use Gulager as model of what not to do. Seems like the biggest issue here is Gulager’s complete lack of organization and self-confidence. There were a few shots of him talking loudly and telling people what he needed. That was when the producers were saying “I think we have a director”. But as soon as Gulager was challenged he acted like a frightened turtle. Looks like next week only gets worse.
I agree with the point of view that the show is the real money maker. There’s no way this guy should still be around. He may have an eye for what looks good, but he completely lacks all the other components that make a director what he is. That said, I hope they continue to produce this show. I have really enjoyed watching it.
Anyone else notice that the 2 writers didn’t want to be involved in this any more and then were shocked when changes were made to their script?
This show is just so pointless. First time director plus jaded crew plus insane schedule plus genre film. No way that will work. Doesn’t matter if it’s Gulager or anyone else.
Actual first time directors follow two much easier routes:
- Work their way up through all the other positions, so they know how things work.
- Work outside of LA with green crew and cast and don’t pay anyone and take as long as they want to film.
Everyone keeps pointing out Gulager’s passiveness, and I agree. However, remember last year’s PG where you had two aggressive directors, and what a disaster that turned out to be? The difference that I saw this year was in the script meeting with the writers and crew. Gulager had very specific, scene by scene, changes he wanted. This tells me that he has a vision (for good or ill) and is able to communicate that vision. In the the previous seasons of PG, the directors didn’t have a clue.
And if it had been in my power to fire the casting director, she’d have been out on her ass. Even in Hollywood, I like to think that if you screw (metaphorically, of course) enough people, eventually your reputation will precede you, and know one will hire you. Unless, of course, you become a studio Vice President.
As for directing styles, I can’t help but to think of Woody Allen. I’m not comparing him to Gulager artistically by any means, but everything I’ve read says that Allen has an extremely difficult time communicating with the cast and crew. Actors seem to like him because “He lets me act.” So, in this case, Allen is a directorial genius. The trick is getting the right actors. So poor Gulager is screwed.
I don’t think it matters so much whether Gulager might have an amazing directorial vision accompanied by an unfortunate lack of communication skills; what’s of major concern to the producers is the fact that his inability to say what he wants when he wants it wastes time and money. His personality tics are costing the production money, and sadly making Gulager look like a total ass in the process. The producers don’t really care about making a film with artistic vision (this is pretty much clear from the script selection); they want a film that’ll make money. And Gulager is becoming a major obstacle to that end.
I haven’t seen the most recent episode, but I have to say that the way the TV show itself is edited is at least as important as they way the film is made. For example, we all think Gulager is a total whack job, and the casting wench was a ball breaker, but why? Because the editor of the TV show put it together to suggest it, or to emphasize that aspect of their personality. And those reaction shots of Chris Moore? What was he really reacting to? You never really know.
There’s so much meta-editing, meta-filming, meta-viewing here that you have to wonder if it is all a backwards DVD where the “special features” menu is really the main point.
Yet, I think it’s about the most interesting television there is to watch.
Yep. I agree completely. I mentioned above that certain of the show’s editing choices have raised nagging suspicions, and it’s one of the reasons I’m having trouble enjoying the current run: As educational as it is about filmmaking under a studio microscope, it still feels sort of like they hired Gulager with the deliberate intention of hanging him out to dry. I don’t watch any other reality TV because I intensely dislike Humiliation Television, and I’m concerned that Greenlight may have decided to go that route for the sake of ratings and viewer interest. Gulager may be a shitty director, but he’s still a human being.
I completely agree. I don’t understand how she was able to do that… she was complaining about Gulager only wanting to work with his known associates (i.e. family and friends) and then she goes and pulls the same thing. Even though the studio got what they considered a better choice than what everyone else submitted, the fact that she did an end run would have left me, if I were a studio person, with the need to fire her.
Wasn’t she also responsible for promising the part of Hero to Eric Dane, when the Producers told her not to guarantee anything b/c they were trying to get Mark Wahlberg, so Eric was pissed b/c he didn’t know they were going with someone else and they almost lost him too?
Yep, that was her. She kinda sucked. It wasn’t just editing, she really was a bit of a weasel about the whole thing. All the editing is likely to have done was make her seem even more self-satisfied about it.
The main thing that keeps me from thinking that way is that it would be awful expensive for a limited-run series on basic cable. 3.5 mil just for the movie part, and that may go higher. The TV production company, Live Planet, isn’t doing it for free, even with all the product placement. And I don’t think Matt, Ben, Chris, or Wes is doing this to satisfy any community service requirements, they probably expect some cash. I don’t know if 200-300K per episode is a bad estimate, and Bravo has popular shows that don’t cost that much.
They messed with the directors plenty in the first two seasons, but it didn’t help the ratings enough for HBO to want to keep it around. Haven’t they already moved its timeslot, I believe in favor of Show Dog Moms & Dads?
I do think they picked Gulager because he had the potential to make the best movie. They’re gambling on him being able to do it. The other choices were all more outgoing and seemed, but they’d never worked with a crew before either so we don’t know how they would have done and honestly they weren’t quite as talented as John. In season 1 Pete was pretty communicative, but he still let his DP have his way too much, probably to the point of costing the movie. Like PoorYorick said, the guys from last season didn’t work smoothly either.
I could be wrong though.
Something I found interesting is that last year they had the guys interview DP’s, but his year they didn’t, or at least didn’t show it. If the studio didn’t just assign somebody, I’d be interested to see what the interview between those guys looked like this time.
This is getting so frustrating, especially since shooting has started. Gimme the wheel, GIMME THE WHEEL!
I watched a couple of the shows last night. I think the most telling moment was when Gulager said, “Well, I made up all these storyboards; did anybody look at them?” It’s obvious he has a vision, but the crew isn’t ready to trust him enough to do what he wants.
Later on, there was a big work slowdown because the crew didn’t want to give him the camera shot that he wanted. There was lots of gnashing of the teeth about how much time was being wasted, and just who was to blame for that, and blah, blah, blah, and in the end Gulager walked away, and told the AD, “Just shoot the motherfucker. Do what you want. Just shoot it.” And after they did, it turns out that they used exactly the camera shot they were digging their heels in against, and saying it couldn’t/shouldn’t be done.
Gulager is not being forceful enough, because it’s not in his nature. I don’t think that makes him incompetent at all. It’s who he is, and I am sure there are other directors out there just as hard to communicate with. I hope that the film vindicates him a bit, because I think he’s got talent.