American Movie

I was a failure, and I'd get very sad and depressed about it...

and I can't be that no more,

'cause I really feel like I betrayed myself big time.

I know when I was growing up I had all the potential in the world.

Now I'm back to being Mark who has a beer in his hand...

and is thinking about the great American script and movie.

And this time, I cannot fail. I won't fail. It's not in me.

You don't get second chances and mess 'em up. You'd be a fool to.

Not just finishing films or getting some money, but it's right now.

I feel like it's five, ten, fifteen years ago...

and now I've got the same options again, and this time, I'm not gonna fail.

This time, it's most important not to fail, just to drink and dream...

but rather, to create and complete.

When did you first get involved and how and why?

Well, I think I had done a radio show with Mark first.

As part of the radio show, he mentioned other projects he was doing.

Not the eleventh hour. This is the twelfth hour.

Lisa and Uncle Ed, radio show.

"Dear girl, do you know what you possess in your hand and its capabilities?

Do you have any reasonable semblance... ".

What we're doing right here... It's past 3:00. It's...

Oh, my God, it's twenty after 3:00.

We've got to get these pages printed and get them straight to the copier.

We've got madmen putting scarecrows up front. God knows why.

They have no purpose to this show, but I like to keep the troops motivated.

Idle hands are know to be the devil's workshop, so we wanna keep things along.

Sitting here, you're asking me questions.

I'm trying to get this finished. I've got people walking around.

I wish I could give 'em destinies, but I have to adhere to this keyboard.

He asked me to come over and help him.

He said he needed help. I'm always helping him with his films.

We used to do a lot of partying together, but I don't party anymore.

"Dear girl, do you know what you possess in your hand?

Do you have any idea of its capabilities?

Do you have any inkling, any semblance of understanding whatsoever?"

I just made that up. I wanna write that down. "Do you have any... ".

- Stevens. - He's ready. Step out a minute.

- Kicked out of my own kingdom? - Sorry, I owe you.

- She's such a delightful little girl. - Ken, listen up.

Why, thank you, Lisa. That really makes my day.

- I didn't know you were... - That I was lurking around? Surprise.

Well, we recorded The Creeps...

and while we were recording The Creeps...

I was smoking dope and drinking beer, and it really struck me...

I was no longer paying attention to the actors and performances.

And I thought, "My God, what am I doing this for?" You know?

And I realized also when I was recording...

that I wasn't even a director.

I wasn't. I knew there were stilted performances...

and I did nothing to rectify the situation.

So I think, though, it's good to face things like this...

because then you can deal with them and realize 'em.

And when you're ready to shoot Northwestern...

you've got these emotions and these complexities cornered.

UWM. Amount due, $878.54.

That's funny. I just borrowed gas money from my ma tonight.

This is gonna be interesting. The IRS, Wisconsin.

My God.

Amount delinquent, $81.11. Oh, man.

"Resulting in a lien on any real and personal property you own...

within ten days of this notice."

September 6, and we're October 19.

Luckily, it's just $81. What are they gonna take...

my Night of the Living Dead book?

Oh, my God. "Legal actions."

Unbelievable.

Who wants to be faced with this crap?

"Your AT&T Universal Card has arrived"?

Oh, God. Kick-fucking-ass, I got a MasterCard.

I don't believe it, man. Life is kinda cool sometimes.

Explain what you're doing today, Mark.

Today I'll be handing out flyers saying "Independent Feature Film."

I has the dates, it has the number for casting and the crew.

And we're going to get that out to all of the suburban libraries...

because a lot of people go there, and they'll see that.

Cool. Right there.

I'll move this sucker right there.

I think that he first started...

he was 14, but he said he was 12.

It was quite possible because...

He was always talking filming...

and that he was going to make movies, and so, always.

His bedroom wall used to be plastered...

with movie ads.

Mostly movie horror ads, but movie ads of all kinds.

He got an eight-millimeter camera...

from a guy down the street...

and the focus was terrible, but instant filmmaker.

I'll tell you why films fail or succeed.

I'm going to tell you about this one, Northwestern.

A regular feature film shot on black-and-white negative.

It's gonna look beautiful.

There's your secondary lead right there. What do you think about that?

- You have funding? Everything covered? - Yeah.

You're gonna be in a drive-in with an umbrella of gray over you.

You'll be in a junkyard with thousands of rusted memories laying there.

You'll be among the company of filmmakers this time...

but you'll have something under your belt besides what you throw in the wash.

He's like, "Ken, I'm making a movie.

Will you star in it?" I said, "Of course, I will."

So we went to Valhalla Cemetery...

and shot our first super-8 film.

It was called The More the Scarier.

It was... I was 11 years old at the time.

He was 14.

I was in The More the Scarier III.

What was that about?

That was about...

We were riding into a cemetery...

in the back of a truck, and we were drinking vodka...

and I was playing my guitar.

And it's a silent film, and then we go out into the woods...

and there's this mystery killer that's killing all of us.

This is where the chick, Dawn, runs her haunted house, right?

But it's got to have some killer interiors, right?

'Cause you don't know too many people running haunted houses, right?

In films, it's ad executives or whatever else the hell they do.

But this chick is going to be running, working, doing a haunted house...

so you get some really cool interior stuff there.

You know what I'm saying? You ever see Manhattan?

Ever see The Seventh Seal, where they have great dialogues and backgrounds?

Talking about the plague, and there's a gargoyle in the back...

or talking about life, and there's Jupiter or Saturn in the back.

I mean, this just looks right.

This is perfect, I mean, the way I see it.

And, of course, there'll be a whole crowd of people here...

so we gotta make a line where people can't go.

And have a lot of assistant directors saying, "Step five feet back."

I was reading an interview of him, and he said, "This is my dream...

since I was a little kid filming in a cemetery.

I dreamt of making a feature film."

I was like, "Oh, my God, this is his whole life, making this one film."

I can lose ten weekends to help him.

A synopsis on the story? Okay.

We're gonna go... The film starts... Check it out.

Beautiful, stunning black-and-white shot at the magic hour...

as we float past dilapidated duplexes, worn trailer courts.

I've been location-scouting them...

so when I do this, I've already got what's in between my hands.

Then, at that moment, people say, "My God, I'm glad I'm sitting here...

because I'm actually seeing something for once."

We get to see Americans and American dreams...

and you won't walk away depressed after seeing this, period.

My name is Matthew Weisman.

I'm working on a film entitled Northwestern.

- I'm doing casting for the film. - Okay.

- Do you want to know about the film? - Yeah, I do.

A 186-minute phone call to California at prime rates?

What could you talk to your stupid-ass brother about for that long?

You know he's been having psychological problems lately.

Not on my phone bill, he doesn't.

Take a motherfucking wild guess.

Look here. A 186-minute call to California on prime time? What is that?

They're making a mockery out of my words.

This whole thing is turning into a theatrical mockery. Understand?

- No. - Well, you will.

I'll go in and read this fucker like it should be read 'cause I've had it.

You stupid fucking bitch! There's a 186-fucking-minute phone call...

at goddamn prime time.

I paid the fucking bill!

I'm calling you to let you know that there is a cast meeting tomorrow night.

Looks like there's a lot of work we have to scrape together.

Hopefully everything will collide, and we'll make our deadline.

I come to the airport all the time when I want to work.

There's no phones ringing, there's no people talking to you.

And if you're hungry, it's like, tough shit.

You can't stop and justify your inaction of scriptwriting by making a pizza.

You gotta be in this car. You have no other choice.

Why are we here? Working on the third draft of Northwestern.

I've got to get it so it's not embarrassing to give out, you know?

There's some corny dialogue that'd make the pope weep...

and I've got to resurrect that, so to speak.

"I feel so trapped. You know how long we've been living together?

Since high school. She dropped out. I graduated.

Her dad sold the house. It's almost paid off."

"Why don't you move out? It's a free country."

"I don't know. I guess it's just one of those things."

Who the hell in their right mind would tell the world, "I'm gonna do this"?

And then I think, "Man, I'm broke, I gotta get gas tomorrow...

and dude's talking about making a feature film, shit."

Now we're gonna talk about high-level negotiations...

'cause for the first time in your life, you're gonna make a profit.

Just like that.

No, you haven't even started hardly.

Well, not hardly. You did start somewhat, yeah...

but not very much.

Bill, traditionally...

is quite close to his money...

and it's quite a challenge to pry anything loose from him, money-wise.

And, Mark, on the other hand...

has, if anybody, the ability to pry it loose.

Let me show you something, William.

- Talk to me. That's right. - How about that?

- She wants to be in your film. - Oh, my gosh.

Okay, we can start then.

Tom, why don't you show us what you got in the way of breakdown.

My duties on Northwestern are those of the production manager.

I've gone over the script on a scene-by-scene basis...

and we've got it all color-coded broken down...

so everything from cast to props to atmosphere, stunts...