Scene Magazine April/May 2012

JASON MEWES

& ZOMBIE HAMLET

CAGE THE ELEPHANT THANKS YOU

TYLER LABINE CODE FOR COLLABORATOR

DAVID

MORSE

BEFORE THE SCENE

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VOL. 3, ISSUE 3 | April/May 2012 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Micah Haley CREATIVE DIRECTOR Erin Theriot STAFF WRITER Brittney Franklin COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR Elizabeth Glauser EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Jenny Bravo, Jillian Aubin GRAPHIC ARTIST Burton Chatelain, Jr. DESIGN ASSISTANT Kandice Champagne

EDITOR’S LETTER

S

pring brings new things. Putting together this issue has been tremendously exciting for us because so much of it portends great things. For starters, two big films shot in Louisiana premiere this spring. First on April 20, Zac Efron stars in The Lucky One, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks.

Next is director Peter Berg’s Battleship, which opens wide on May 18, one of the first box office contenders of the summer slate. One of the biggest films ever to shoot in Louisiana, it was great to have Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgard and Brooklyn Decker on the lot for months. More than one phone call was interrupted by the sound of dual fifty caliber guns firing nearby.

As we go to press on this issue, we’re already deep into planning another huge party that will close out the inaugural Mode Fashion Week. It’s great to

8 | April/May 2012

see another premier fashion event start up, proving that like film, fashion is also a statewide phenomenon.

Anthony Ryan Auld is sewing like a madman in preparation for the runway show. If you’re in Baton Rouge, swing by Perkins Rowe and look for the Mode Fashion Week storefront.

It’s located between Anthropologie and Paris Parker Aveda. Stop by and you can actually watch Auld as he designs his fall/winter collection.

But don’t feed the designer.

I also want to thank David Morse and his family for being so generous with their time. From the cover photo shoot to the intimate look inside his work on Treme, this has been one of the most thoroughly enjoyable, and ultimately excellent, issues I’ve ever worked on.

Hopefully you enjoy it as well.

MICAH HALEY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

editor@scenelouisiana.com

DIRECTOR OF SALES Gene Jones SALES Brinkley Maginnis, Sean Beauvais, Amanda Ducorbier EVENT COORDINATOR Ashley Russo FASHION STYLISTS Tessa Rowe, Heather Savoy COVER PHOTO Teddy Smith CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Teddy Smith, Eliza Morse, Paul Schiraldi, Caitlin Barry, Jeff Heusser, Todd Williamson, Rachel Juino, Robby Klein, Elizabeth Shaw, Alan Markfield, Helen Sloan, Dale Robinette, Frank Masi, John P. Johnson, Timothy White, Francois Duhamel, Matthew Rolston, Mark St. James, Erika Goldring, Steve Gullick, Danny Clinch, Matthias Clamer,Tina Korhonen, Mark Weiss, Kurt Heinecke CONTRIBUTING WRITERS AJ Buckley, James Napper, III, Andi Eaton, Kasey Emas, Jenny Bravo, Arthur Vandelay, Jillian Aubin Jacob Peterman, Elizabeth Glauser, Barry Jude Landry Scene Magazine At Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge 10000 Celtic Drive • Suite 201 • Baton Rouge, LA 70809 - 225-361-0701 At Second Line Stages 800 Richard St. • Suite 222 • New Orleans, LA 70130 - 504-224-2221 info@scenelouisiana.com • www.scenelouisiana.com Published By Louisiana Entertainment Publishers LLC CEO, Andre Champagne President, AJ Buckley Vice President, Micah Haley Display Advertising: Call Scene Magazine for a current rate card or visit www.scenelouisiana.com All submitted materials become the property of Louisiana Entertainment Publishers LLC. For subscriptions or more information visit our website www.scenelouisiana.com Copyright @ 2011 Louisiana Entertainment Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be used for solicitation or copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher.

CONTENTS ON THE COVER

David Morse

10 | April/May 2012

SCENE ON

Chances are, the famous faces below are some you’ve scene on television and on the big screen recently. With over 100 films and television shows shot in Louisiana each year, well-known actors are now working throughout the state. Next time you see a familiar face around town, you’ll know right away where you’ve seen it before.

GAME OF THRONES Winter is coming, but The actor is perhaps best hit HBO series Game of Freeman in Baton Rouge

NICKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU is already here. known for his portrayal of Jaime Lannister on the Thrones. Now he joins Tom Cruise and Morgan on director Joseph Kosinski’s sci fi epic, Oblivion.

Nickolaj Coster-Waldau as Jaime Lannister photo by Helen Sloan

Tom Cruise as Roy Miller photo by Frank Masi

KNIGHT AND DAY Unstoppable box office star TOM CRUISE has yet to slow down, scaling buildings in Mission Impossible 4 after fending off bad guys in Knight and Day. The next lap has Cruise upping the action ante in a fight for earth in the futuristic feature Oblivion, now filming on the lot at Raleigh Studios in Baton Rouge.

THE EXPENDABLES

Viola Davis as Aibileen Clark photo by Dale Robinette

THE HELP Starring in not one, but two films nominated for this year’s Academy Award for Best Picture, The Help and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close have VIOLA DAVIS ascending to Hollywood’s A-list. The busy actress is in New Orleans working double duty filming both Ender’s Game and Beautiful Creatures.

Sylvester Stallone as Barney Ross

SYLVESTER STALLONE is the man responsible for bringing us the New Orleans-shot testosterone fest that was The Expendables and later this year, The Expendables 2. Sly returns to the Crescent City for The Tomb, now filming alongside co-stars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Caviezel.

MORE SCENE ON 12 | April/May 2012

SCENE ON COWBOYS & ALIENS Star Wars made him an icon, Blade Runner made him a cult classic, and Cowboys & Aliens proved HARRISON FORD’s still got it. Next up is the postapocalyptic, space age flick Ender’s Game. Also featuring Oscar-nominated teen Hailee Steinfeld, Ender’s Game is currently filming in New Orleans.

Harrison Ford as Woodrow Dolarhyde photo by Timothy White

Jamie Foxx as Dean “MF” Jones photo by John P. Johnson

HORRIBLE BOSSES After hilarious supporting roles in the 2011 comedies Due Date and Horrible Bosses, JAMIE FOXX is back in the lead for Django Unchained. The next entry in director Quentin Tarantino’s eccentric film library, Django Unchained is now filming in New Orleans.

INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS A blonde beauty that actually has the acting chops to carry a film, DIANE KRUGER thrilled audiences alongside Brad Pitt in 2009’s Inglourious Basterds.

Now the flaxen-haired thesp is in Baton Rouge filming the big screen adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight follow up, The Host.

Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury

THE AVENGERS

Appearing alongside comic book legends like Thor, Captain America and Iron Man in The Avengers this summer, SAMUEL L. JACKSON stars as Nick Fury, the man responsible for assembling the super team. Jackson is currently shooting another highly anticipated film in New Orleans, the latest from Quentin Tarantino: Django Unchained.

14 | April/May 2012

Diane Kruger as Bridget von Hammersmark photo by Francois Duhamel

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by AJ Buckley

Before the Scene is where we all start. In a small town with our families. In front of a mirror with our friends.

The days spent sleeping on a couch. The nights working at a bar. Living with the unknown and surrounded by uncertainty. It’s about the times that define us. It’s about the darkness just before the limelight.

TYLER LABINE Tyler Labine is a Canadian actor best known for his work in the indie hit Tucker & Dale vs Evil and the box office smash Rise of the Planet of the Apes. He can next be seen in Rapturepalooza with Anna Kendrick and Ken Jeong, and in Cottage Country with Malin Akerman and Lucy Punch.

What made you become an actor?

I think initially, it was probably all the things that I got in trouble for in elementary school. The things teachers would write on your report card, like, “Tyler is too busy staring out the window to…” or “He would rather make jokes than do math.” Yeah, no s***. When I turned into the quintessential class clown, I realized that there was something to it. I was like, “Man, this is rad! I’m making people laugh!” I got popular because of it, even though I was this short fat kid that wasn’t exactly a good-looking kid. But I was funny, and I could hold the attention of the class. It seemed like the more I got kicked out of the class for being funny, the cooler I got. I would get in trouble and get suspended, but I didn’t care because it was fun for me. And then my dad bought a video camera. He had one of those giant VHS tape, like Kyocera giant fifty-pound camcorders. And me and my brothers started scripting movies and auditioning kids in the neighborhood. We were just like, “Yeah, we wanna do this.” And my mom was intuitive enough to be like, “Hey, maybe you guys can make some money at this for college.” And she was like, “Do you guys wanna be actors? Do you wanna be in the movies?” And we were like, “What are you talking about? We are actors, we make movies!” And she took us downtown and signed us up with an agent and that was sort of it.

What was your biggest fear?

It’s the same fear I still have. It’s the same fear I’ve brought up in therapy.

When are they gonna figure me out? That I’m a complete phony, I’m a fake, I don’t know what I’m doing. There’s this intangible fear that I have all the time where I’m like, “This is the gig where they figure me out.

This is the last gig ‘cause they’re gonna figure out that I had everyone fooled up till this point.” It’s become such a consistent fear in my life that it’s become part of my process now. I know that “freak out” that I have is part of whatever is working for me and I just have to let myself freak out and let these fears wash over me and then just go into it.

What kept you from walking away?

I know that I would be miserable without it. Even if it makes me miserable doing it sometimes. There are times when it feels like it’s complete and utter bull****. I should be out there helping homeless people and handing out blankets and missions to Africa and so many things I could be doing that just seem so much more important. Then I realize, “Well, I can do that but I also know that without this creative outlet and without acting, I just know I’d be miserable.” I’d go insane without the craft—this craft that we’ve all grown to love, you know? It’s hard to live without it.

What did you walk away from?

There’s always things in the back of your head. Where you turn down some 18 | April/May 2012

auditions or turn down a couple roles and a couple offers that have come your way that you’ll just regret forever. But you can’t, you know what I mean? You can’t. We all have those things we like, “Oh man, that could have changed my life or changed my career,” but it just wasn’t the path that you were meant to take.

Who is your closest ally?

Well, I’m banking on the fact that my mom won’t read this article. I’m gonna say that it’s gotta be my wife. I’ve been with my wife for fourteen years now.

I met her when I was nineteen, and I met her at a pretty critical time in my career when things were upside down and not great for me. She’s been a real sort of sounding board and the voice of reason for me for almost fifteen years now. Every script that I read, every project that comes my way, I have to get her to read it because I just value her opinion so much. You know how much selfdoubt comes into play. You forget sometimes to trust yourself. It’s just nice to have someone there that, not only do you trust them, but they’re just there to remind you that you can trust yourself. That’s what my wife has done for me.

What were you doing the morning before the audition that changed your life?

I thought about this one. I’d flown out to L.A. to test for the Nikki Cox show. I had auditioned a bunch in Vancouver, and I thought I had this thing in the bag. It was nerve-wracking, but I was like, “Whatever!” And I didn’t get the part. But fortunately, that evening, after the test, they were like, “These other guys that we have deals with at the network, we want you to meet a few of them. There’s three other shows.” I woke up the next morning. I had just gotten a Dictaphone, which was, like, cutting edge technology in ’99. I thought it was really cool to rap into it. And so I went back onto the lot and was waiting to meet these guys, and I remember just pacing back and forth, and I came up with this amazing rhyme that I still have.

I actually have it recorded. That’s what I did. Then I went in and I met with Steve Pink and D.V. DeVincentis and Patrick O’Neill, and I ended up booking this show called Dead Last that moved me to L.A.

What were the words that kept you going?

When I was doing that show, Dead Last, I’d become notorious on set for being the guy who was always like, “I need another one, I need another one!” Meaning another take. But one day Kevin Dowling, who had directed the lion’s share of the episodes, was like, “C’mere. You’re good.

I just want you to know you’re good. We don’t need to do this over and over again.” And I was like, “I don’t understand. It’s okay, lemme do it, lemme do it.” And he was like, “Alright, but I’m just telling you …you’re good.” The next day, he comes to work with this little clip, this laminated quote, and it’s from Agnes de Mille, of all people, to this ingénue she was

working with at the time. She wrote her a letter, and there’s this one part of it that says, “For the artist, there is no satisfaction. There is only a queer divine dissatisfaction.” Those words forever for me, have just stuck with me. I just think it’s such a cool quote, man, it’s true. You never finish a scene or see what you’ve done and feel like, “Nailed it! Got it! That’s, like, the best I’m ever gonna be!” There’s always just this odd feeling of, “I want more, I wanna do more. Give me another shot.” But that is part of the satisfaction. I think that’s for artists across the board.

How have you changed?

Lost a lot of hair. About those fears, which are very real for me, and had from time to time, gotten the better of me. Fortunately, I made it out the other end without, hopefully, too many people noticing, but learning to harness the nervous energy and the fear and the doubt and the self-deprecation, and all the things that go along with being what I think people would consider a funny guy. Those are the things I think that eventually could have eaten me up. The things that can kill somebody. And I think I learned, hopefully, at the right time in my life, with a little bit of help from my wife and from just wanting to gain a better understanding of myself, that those things are okay. I guess learning to be okay with all the flaws and the fears and all that stuff.

That’s what I think has changed. It’s okay to be crazy.

That’s why we’re doing this thing anyway, right?

What words would you have to inspire others?

There’s always a fear of going way too cliché here, but genuinely, one of these clichés you hear a lot that I think is very, very true is nothing worth having is worth having for free. And I just think that with whatever you’re endeavors are, whatever your goals are, whatever your dreams and hopes are, just know that it’s going to be a rocky road getting there. And would you really enjoy it if it didn’t suck half the time? Would the victory be as sweet? And that’s from the bottom of the heart, truth. Nothing worth having is worth having for free. And I don’t mean going out there and paying for it. I just mean go out there and sweat for it. Give it all you got. S

A partner in Scene Magazine and the president of Louisiana Entertainment Publishers, AJ has starred for the last seven years as Adam Ross on the hit TV show CSI:NY, now on Friday nights at 9pm.

Originally from Dublin and raised in Vancouver, he has spent the past twelve years in Los Angeles acting, writing and directing. He is currently in preproduction in Louisiana on North of Hell, in which he will star and produce. Find out more on Twitter at @AJohnBuckley and at www.ajbuckley.net.

BEFORE THE SCENE TYLER LABINE www.scenelouisiana.com | 19

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STATE OF THE ARTIST

The Rock Violinist

AN INTERVIEW WITH TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA’S

RODDY CHONG

by Micah Haley

R

photo by Mark Weiss

oddy Chong is Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s resident rock song with that girl you heard on the radio.’ So I went down to Tower violinist. “I’ve been with them for five years. The group has Records - which sadly doesn’t exist anymore - and I sang the song to been in existence for thirteen years,” he says. “It was birthed the cash register guy. He took a wild guess that it was Celine Dion. It out of the rock band called Sabotage and it was Paul O’Neill’s vision as was called ‘To Love You More’ on a CD called Let’s Talk About Love.

I learned the song just in case.” our creator, producer, lyricist and With no connections to speak composer. He’s kind of like our of in Nashville, Chong got a call Walt Disney.” On March 7, Chong from a guitarist named Brent arrived in Baton Rouge for one Barkus, who said he was playing of the many stops on the show’s with a country band. “I didn’t like Spring Tour. We spoke about that, because here I am, Chinese what drives his career over lunch guy, and country music to me is at the original Raising Cane’s kind of like, big pickup trucks on Highland Road near LSU. with teeth in the grill and antlers “I originally toured with this and guns. I kind of gave the vibe band called Jars of Clay and I had that I wasn’t interested. At the a great experience with them,” end, he mentioned Shania Twain. says Chong. After leaving the I didn’t know who that was.” tour, Chong headed to the music Chong auditioned to join mecca of Nashville to continue Shania Twain on tour. “Our his career. “In my dark, depressed first show was this TV show time driving in my car, I heard a Roddy Chong on tour with Kevin Costner photo by Kurt Heinecke called Divas Live, on VH1. It song at two in the morning. It was a girl singing about the one she loved who was in love with somebody had Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Gloria Estefan, Shania Twain else. I usually like rock music, but as I was listening to this song, I and then Celine was there,” recalls Chong. “And it was there that actually started to cry and it really just moved me. I kind of had this I also had another strong, compelling, convicting thought that convicting thought in my mind that, ‘Someday you’re going to play that said, ‘Go and move stage right.’ So I went there and there was 22 | April/May 2012

STATE OF THE ARTIST nobody there. Except for an older gentleman with his cell phone.”

The gentleman was René Angélil, Celine Dion’s husband and manager. Roddy recognized him and waited for the call to end. “When he hung up the phone and I stuck my hand out and said, ‘That song, “To Love You More.” I can play it anytime.’”

Angélil took him at his word, introducing Chong to Dion. But after speaking with his father, Chong was concerned that it might look like he was jumping ship from Shania Twain. “The following two years I just kept on, I would run into Celine and René at different award shows and stuff. Then one day, they gave me a phone call and they asked if I would play that song. The playing was where it needed to be because I already learned it. They checked it out with Shania’s people, and so I toured with Shania and Celine at the same time.

Whenever the shows were on the same night, Shania got precedence and they would show a video of me playing the violin with Celine.”

The unlikely arrangement is an example of the out-of-thebox thinking Chong speaks to a variety of diverse audiences about. “Who would have ever thought? A Chinese man in a country music band? There’s a little lesson there and people young and old are inspired by that. I was inspired by other stories that were kind of like that. They definitely happen.”

After touring with two of the biggest acts of the last twenty years, Roddy Chong moved to Los Angeles. In each town, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) hires seven local string players to fill out the group’s sound and look. “I lead that rehearsal every afternoon before the show,” he says. “Brings in a local flavor wherever we go.” Chong’s first interaction with TSO was as a part of the Los Angeles unit of local string players.

“I had moved to Los Angeles to join a very intense Meisner acting program at the Baron Brown School of Dramatic Arts. I met a cello player who told me that their violinist was not able to attend this Trans-Siberian Orchestra thing,” says Chong. While eating one day, he decided to sit next to a guy with long hair, guessing that he was also a musician and they would have common ground. It was guitarist Al Pitrelli. “We got to talking about rock music and little did I know, he was one of the music directors of Trans-Siberian Orchestra.” Little did he know, Chong’s reputation playing with Shania Twain and Celine Dion had followed him. “He had heard that I had toured with Shania Twain, whose ex-husband is [rock music producer] Mutt Lange.

We had a great conversation about rock and roll and some of our favorite bands. We had a few mutual friends.” Pitrelli brought up the idea of adding two violinists to the show in a brainstorming session with the band. Chong auditioned, and was soon a part of the tour.

“Now I tour with Trans-Siberian Orchestra every winter and spring. They do so many shows that they split into two identical bands, one goes east and one goes west, for a total of about 140 arena shows in two months. The spring tour is one main band and we’re doing sixty shows in ten weeks,” he says. “We went to Europe last year, but this year we’re going to stay within the United States and go to a lot more markets that are medium sized with the spring tour to help get the word out, allow locally for people to come to the show and get an idea of what Trans-Siberian Orchestra is all about.”

In addition to hiring location musicians, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra also gives one dollar from every ticket to a local charity. “It definitely has giving back in the DNA,” he says. “We’re also really big on giving back support and inspiration to the military simply because we hit a lot of these towns that have a lot of military folks there.”

24 | April/May 2012

Speaking to a corporate audience

When not on tour with Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Chong tours with Kevin Costner and his band Modern West in the summer and fall. He also travels as a speaker, sharing his experiences with corporate and faith-based audiences. For more information, visit his website, www.roddychong.com. S

FILM |

JASON MEWES DEAD & LOVING IT

by Jenny Bravo Jason Mewes as “Zack” in Zombie Hamlet

ason Mewes loses the tuque for some zombie makeup in director John Murlowski’s Zombie Hamlet. “There’s been a couple of movies I’ve done in the last couple of years that aren’t great,” he says. “It had been a few months and I was getting antsy. I just wanted to work, wanted to make a movie, and I wasn’t in love with the script. But this is the first script in a little while that I really actually liked. I really, really liked it, actually.”

Shot in Louisiana, Zombie Hamlet’s plot focuses on filmmaker Osric Taylor, who is close to completing funding on a Civil War adaptation of Shakespear’s Hamlet. When funding quickly disappears, Osric makes a deal with the remaining financier, Hester Beauchamps. But without all of the money needed to make an expensive period piece, Osric retools the plot to include the undead.

Widely recognized as the vocal member of crude duo Jay and Silent Bob, Mewes has appeared as Jay in Clerks, Mallrats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. In Zombie Hamlet, Mewes cuts the comedy. He sheers the stringy blonde locks for a gelled do with some dead paint to match.

“The Zombie make-up’s been ok,” Mewes explains. “It takes a little while to get on and I’m pretty antsy so it’s more about the sitting in there waiting to get it put on. But I only have the prosthetic over the eyes

and around the forehead. So it’s been pulling but it’s not too irritating.”

“For Feast, I had the full prosthetic and that was pretty annoying because they had to do it to my lips. When I ate or when I wanted to smoke it was hard and there was fake blood. So that was a little [aggravating], but this wasn’t bad at all honestly.” When asked about a role preference, he told director Murlowski, “I liked the three characters, all three – Lester, Zack and Osric. So yeah, I wound up playing Zack, which was Travis at the time, pretty confusing. So now I’m Zack Buckley.”

Apart from acting, Mewes hosts a podcast with pal Kevin Smith, and while in town for Zombie Hamlet, directed a music video. He partnered with funk rockers 100 Monkeys, featuring Twilight’s Jackson Rathbone, to record their video at the Louisiana State Fair in Baton Rouge. “The fair itself was pretty interesting,” he says to Scene. “I had fun that day. We went around, we did a bunch of stuff. We went and saw the USS Kidd.

I was going to go to the casino but didn’t go inside; they have the ferry there, which I thought was interesting. I’ve never seen one of those.”

Ferry casinos aren’t the only Southern rarity Mewes enjoys. “I love some Sonic, you know, I mean they don’t have Sonic. They might have it somewhere but not anywhere close to where I live in Hollywood, in LA,” says Mewes. “It’s interesting to come to these small towns.

J

26 | April/May 2012

photo by Rachel Juino

| FILM

photo by Rachel Juino

www.scenelouisiana.com | 27

FILM | I couldn’t believe how many people owned those little Rascals,” he says, referring to the motorized scooters sold on late-night television.

“Like I’m not exaggerating, there’d be like twenty of them cruising around the street and they were saying it’s because [they’re all] free, it gives them free medical and all that.”

Mewes’ observations of Louisiana’s finest assets didn’t stop there. “I feel like a lot of women here are built a little thicker in the butt and they’re full on top,” he says in true Jay fashion. “You know, like, solid.” Not that he’s looking – he’s a man married two years to Jordan Monsanto. Mewes reveals that she’s a loyal visitor to set. “My wife is just so kind and beautiful. Really. And she’s so smart,” he dotes.

“I got so lucky with her. I don’t know what I’d do without her.” She’s not the only smart one in the family. “Her cousin lives in Houston and was like, ‘This is going to be the new Hollywood, this area.’ Texas and New Orleans.”

During our time with him, Mewes lets Scene in on his secret TV crush: True Blood. He explains, “Yeah, True Blood is amazing. Do you cast for True Blood?” he asked, turning to Scene team member and True Blood casting director Brinkley Maginnis. “Hook me up, bro. I’d love to.

I’d love to get in on it, man. We watch a lot of TV shows, I was just talking to AJ [Buckley] about that, matter of fact. He was saying ‘Why haven’t you gotten on it?’ Kevin and I were talking about that too and Kevin had some really good shows, like Law & Order he loves, and Veronica Mars, and he’s calling up Phil, his agent, and said, ‘Call them and tell them I love the show,’ and they put him on as a guest spot.” Another Mewes secret?

He’s a Scene reader. “I went sunglass shopping with Annie, and they had the magazine in their store, so I snagged it. Anyway, I was looking through it. It’s great. It’s really great.”

Mewes’ podcast with Kevin Smith, Jay and Silent Bob Get Old, will possibly bring him back to the area soon. “We’ll be on tour for our podcast,” he says. “Our podcast is doing so well, we’re getting all of these offers to do tour dates, we have like nine that are confirmed and we might get more. Yeah, I’m hoping to come here or close to here, so people have been asking.” The show features Mewes and Smith talking candidly about their adventures with drugs, sex, Vancouver and Ben Affleck. The tagline? “No trench coats.

No hair extensions. Bound for the grave.”

Zombie Hamlet premieres at the Palm Beach International Film Festival on April 14. For screening times, visit www.pbifilmfest.org. S 28 | April/May 2012

Jason Mewes with his wife, Jordan Monsanto

photo by Todd Williamson

Mewes with his wife, Jordan Monsanto

photo by Todd Williamson

Jason Mewes with Kevin Smith in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back

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TODAY’S SCENE

Pixomondo visual effects created for Martin Scorsese’s Hugo

The Wonderful Worlds of

Pixomondo

by Elizabeth Glauser

R

ight when the lights go down in the theater, anticipation to experience another world peaks. If you’re lucky, reality walks right out the door. Film can take the audience to entirely new places, whether flying alongside a superhero, visiting new planets or taking a look at Paris in the 1930s. The artists at Pixomondo have played a major role in creating these magic moments, helping add new layers to the stories playing out in theaters across the world.

The international visual effects company has now opened up offices in Baton Rouge at Raleigh Studios at the Celtic Media Centre.

“I think Baton Rouge, much like our other divisions, is going to play an integral role in the entire network of Pixomondo,” says John Parenteau, managing producer for the Oscar-winning crew. “We are going to be pretty much building a full service division, perhaps a slightly smaller one initially, just to get it ramped up. But over time, we’ll be building into a full crew of seventy-five members, or maybe even more, depending on the demand of the work that’s down there.”

The announcement of Pixomondo’s Louisiana presence came just days after the visual effects house won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for their work on Martin Scorsese’s Hugo.

Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and Baton Rouge’s Mayor-

32 | April/May 2012

President Melvin “Kip” Holden held the press conference at Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge at the Celtic Media Centre. The film marked Scorsese’s first foray into 3D effects, a move that paid off creatively with the help of Pixomondo’s stunning postproduction additions. “I think the enthusiasm from the artistry

TODAY’S SCENE

A Big Deal: The Pixomondo Press Conference at Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge Pixomondo CEO Thilo Kuther:

Pixomondo CEO Thilo Kuther (right) speaks with Gov. Jindal

“We’ve learned to share the work between these places. I’ve opened up in Frankfurt, Stuttgard, Berlin, Los Angeles…and then China came along. Everyone was convinced that China was a bad idea! I opened up Shanghai, Beijing, London, Toronto and the new one is Baton Rouge. I’m very excited about this. We’ve learned that every time we start sharing the work — and Hugo was actually a perfect example of this — when you share the work across nine facilities, everyone benefits. We would have never finished the work without sharing. And it’s important that the work that’s being done everywhere is high quality.”

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal:

Governor Bobby Jindal

“Instead of just letting other states beat us and take our jobs, we make a commitment to strengthen our entertainment industry. To make it bigger and better. For the digital media sector that supports film and TV, I signed a law that gives Louisiana the strongest digital media tax credit in the entire country. Because of these incentives, Louisiana is reaping tremendous benefits. For every dollar we spend on film production, we get more than five dollars of economic activity back. For every dollar we spend on digital media tax credits, we get six dollars of economic activity back.”

BATON ROUGE, much like our other divisions, is going to play an integral role in the entire network of Pixomondo. definitely comes out when working on something that they found inspiring, and I don’t just mean in Hugo,” says Parenteau.

“Like Fast Five, we had a couple artists that just loved the Fast Five series. They begged to be on that show. Of course, we want to put them on the show because they’re enthused about it. It doesn’t have to be profound in some artistic, crazy way, but if it’s inspiring, then the artists definitely can find their own passion to put into the project and that makes it that much better. I think it just makes the experience for them just that much better, too.”

Pixomondo came to Los Angeles only a few years ago for work on Roland Emmerich’s apocalyptic actioner 2012 but quickly grew because of its international presence. “We provided a different paradigm in that, you give us the work, we are here in Santa Monica or Los Angeles,” says Parenteau. “We may send work out internationally, but that’s really our issue. We’ll take care of that.

Mayor-President Melvin “Kip” Holden of Baton Rouge “All of us sit here today as a family. And we want to say ‘thank you’ for thrusting us toward new heights, Thilo.

He’s already planning on the future of Baton Rouge.”

photos by Caitlin Barry

www.scenelouisiana.com | 33

TODAY’S SCENE

You don’t have to worry about that. The only benefit you get is access to an international group of artists, but also a break, at times, on price because of international exchange rates and things like that.”

“The price and cost of doing work in other parts of the world, that became very attractive to the studios very quickly. We still had to spend time establishing who we were and proving that we could do the work. We did 2012, and that went well,” says Parenteau. “Sucker Punch came in, and they quizzed us excessively, ‘Are you sure you can do this? Are you sure you can do this?’ ‘Yes, yes, we can do it.’ So they awarded us that, and I always felt that that was sort of a test bed that the studios would be watching to see how well we did on that project. Luckily, that came off very well, and then other projects at other studios started rolling in.”

The company quickly became a go-to for California’s film elite, working on some of the 2011’s biggest movies. “This time last year we were doing Green Lantern, Fast Five, Red Tails, Hugo and Super 8, but major films and major parts of films, some of them or all of them, like Hugo,” says Parenteau. “We definitely had to evolve into that part where they could trust not only that we’d do their show, but that if we had other shows, their shows would not suffer, and I believe we’ve made it past that section, now.”

After proving themselves in L.A. in only a few years, Pixomondo has already signed on for a Louisiana-based production after only a few weeks in the Capital City. Pixomondo’s first work done in Baton Rouge will be for the Tom Cruise sci-fi flick Oblivion, with other projects sure to follow. To be a part of Pixomondo’s team of artists, send resumes to batonrouge@pixomondo.com. S 34 | April/May 2012

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38 | April/May 2012

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SCENE |

BATTLESHIP SETS SAIL

by Brittany Franklin

T

he popular Hasbro military game gets an extra-terrestrial spin this spring with the release of Battleship, starring Taylor Kitsch (John Carter), True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgard and Liam Neeson (Wrath of the Titans). Music superstar Rihanna and Brooklyn Decker (What to Expect When You’re Expecting) also appear in the film. An alien race known as The Regents sets its sights on Earth to build a new power source in the ocean, where they come into contact with the naval fleet led by Alex Hopper (Kitsch). The film will unfold from the perspectives of both the fleet and the aliens so viewers can see the positioning of the ships. During his stay in Louisiana while filming Battleship at the Raleigh Studios at the Celtic Media Centre in Baton Rouge, Kitsch attended an LSU football game with the Scene team. He

Taylor Kitsch as Alex Hopper

can next be seen in director Oliver Stone’s crime-drama Savages, a role he landed after the filmmaker had a chance to see the first half hour of the film, casting the thirty-one-

photo courtesy of Universal

year-old actor the next day. Savages also stars Kick-Ass’ Aaron Johnson and Blake Lively (Gossip Girl). Directed by Peter Berg, Battleship sails into theaters May 18. S

THE LUCKY ONE IN THEATERS

by Brittany Franklin

T

hey say a picture is worth a thousand words, but in The Lucky One, the seventh film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, it’s worth so much more. U.S Marine Logan Thibault (Zac Efron) credits a photo of a mysterious woman as his motivation to survive while on tour in Iraq, deciding to track her down when he returns to North Carolina. The woman, who he discovers is named Beth (played by Mercy’s Taylor Schilling), is rightfully wary of Thibault initially, but he gains her trust over time and as in any Sparksinspired film, the pair strikes up a heated romance.

The Lucky One was shot at Second Line Stages in New Orleans in 2010. In December of that year, Efron had time to take in a Saints game with The Twilight Saga’s Kellan Lutz, who was filming Breaking Dawn at Raleigh Studios in Baton Rouge. The star of Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax recently filmed The Paperboy with John Cusack and Nicole Kidman in the Big Easy. Also starring Blythe Danner (Up All Night), Jay Ferguson (Mad Men) and Riley Thomas Stewart (How I Met Your Mother), The Lucky One hits theaters April 20. S

Taylor Schilling and Zac Efron in The Lucky One

photo by Alan Markfield

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SCENE |

ANTHONY RYAN AULD’S MODE FASHION WEEK

by Elizabeth Glauser

Anthony Ryan Auld walks the walk at Mode Fashion Week casting callbacks

H

undreds of Louisiana’s most beautiful gathered at Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge for an open casting call. This meeting of the models was the beginning of Mode Fashion Week, a new fashion creation of Project Runway alum Anthony Ryan Auld. The Capital City’s resident fashion maven attended the casting, just a small part in his grand plan to bring Louisiana to the forefront of fashion.

“I definitely want to be able to bring more things back here,” says Auld. “I think it’s important and I think at the same time it’s my responsibility. I’m the first one from Louisiana to be on the show and with all the support I’ve gotten from the state, I think it is important to bring it back.”

With the help of producer Drew Langhart and presented by Scene Magazine, the

42 | April/May 2012

twenty-eight-year-old Auld is launching Baton Rouge’s first foray into international fashion, all while creating his own collection.

“I’ve done so much fashion show production that I know how I want things and how they’re supposed to go. Drew’s really good and he has taken a lot off of me, but at the same time it’s so hard for me to relinquish these reigns so I can focus on the collection,” admits Auld. “But it’s crazy. My schedule’s busy as far as that goes. I haven’t started sewing and we’re looking at a month and a half now. And I’m looking to do five men’s and fifteen to twenty women’s [outfits].”

Though time constraints may be of concern, the reality TV vet put together ten looks for the show’s fashion week finale in just a few weeks. The plans for Mode are moving along, with tickets for the weeklong fashion

photo by Elizabeth Shaw

event already in high demand. Bringing in fellow Project Runway contestants Laura Kathleen and Joshua McKinley (and possibly more surprise guests from the series), the show promises to be a spectacular fashion fete, with an even more elaborate event to follow. Hosted by Scene, the after-party is what Auld calls “The Big Kahuna,” with free food, drinks and entertainment for ticketholders and for Scene’s exclusive list of invitees.

Tickets for Mode Fashion Week are $100 and include access to all of the events, workshops and after-parties, including The Fashion Scene, presented by Scene Magazine. The sales benefit Auld’s own Rockone1 Movement, an organization committed to helping those directly affected by cancer. Tickets are available by emailing info@modefashionweek.com. S

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ABOVE THE LINE

Treme’s

DAVID MORSE

by Micah Haley

A

veteran actor of film, television and the stage, David Morse has appeared in films such as 16 Blocks, The Hurt Locker, 12 Monkeys and Frank

Darabont’s The Green Mile. On television, he starred in the seminal 1980s hit St. Elsewhere, and recently garnered Emmy nominations for his roles as Detective Michael Tritter on House, and for his portrayal of President George Washington in HBO’s lauded mini-series, John Adams.

Now in New Orleans shooting the third season of David Simon’s post-Katrina opus, Treme, Morse sat down with me on the terrace of Second Line Stages near the Mississippi River. As the sun set, we discussed his work as Lieutenant Terry Colson on Treme, directors Frank Darabont and Richard “Dick” Donner, and the best places to golf in New Orleans.

46 | April/May 2012

ABOVE THE LINE

photo by: Teddy Smith stylist: Tessa Rowe clothing provided by Rubensteins

www.scenelouisiana.com | 47

ABOVE THE LINE MH: How did you become a part of Treme?

DM: Actually when they were originally casting it, I was considered for

John Goodman’s role that he did in the first season. I went in and met them. Eric Overmeyer and I were on a show called St. Elsewhere, and I hadn’t seen him in a long time. So just getting to go in and see him was great. I had never met David before – the David Simon, you know. It was just a great opportunity to meet them. My people who represent me thought I was going to be doing the role that John Goodman did and it didn’t work out. We never heard from them. There were positive things at first. Then, we found out that [Goodman] was doing it. I kind of felt bad about it. The Wire was just amazing and Eric, I think, is terrific.

Then, I was doing a movie up in Canada and David Simon called and said they were creating a character that was only going to appear at the end of the first season. He didn’t really have much to show me, just a scene that he could show me, but they really wanted me to do the show. It was a cop and I had done a lot of cops. Not that I was in a real hurry to do another cop, but he wasn’t going to be a bad cop, which was kind of appealing to me. I’ve been a few too many bad cops, I think! I looked and saw two scenes. I didn’t know anything about the character, and I don’t think he really knew a lot about the character. It was really going on faith that these two people, these two extremely creative people, were doing this show. And I thought, “Well, how often is David Simon gonna ask you to do a show? Why not give it a shot?” So, that’s basically how it happened.

MH: They didn’t tell you any of their plans for the second season or for, now, the third season?

DM: When he asked me to do the end of the first season, he said I probably wouldn’t be in the beginning of the second season. The character really kicked in, and at this point most people have seen, there’s something going on with me and Melissa Leo and I don’t think either of us know what it is but there’s something going on there. We know as much as everybody knows. He said he wanted the character for Melissa’s character. But also because there’s a lot of the police story in New Orleans that they needed access to. They needed a cop to have access to that story, so that was gonna be my purpose.

MH: What has the dialogue been like with the actual New Orleans Police Department?

DM: They were incredibly generous with me and I am very grateful

to them. Before we started shooting, I spent some time with them.

But also we were shooting in the 8th District office there, right down in the French Quarter, and I literally was in the office of Lieutenant Frick. He’d move out and I’d move in. The captain was right across the hall and I got to, while I was there, just talk to these guys, go out with them. Obviously, things have happened since then. Their lives have become more complicated, but just in terms of my relationship with them, it was really invaluable getting a sense of what they went through during Katrina, seeing what happened to the people they worked with, what they went through and how much they really were defined by the outside world by what happened with Katrina, but also with their own personal world. It’s amazing how deep it struck them and everybody else. Obviously me coming into it, I had seen it from the outside perspective. It’s always interesting to get to the inside with anybody, whether it’s the police or anybody you’re trying to represent, to get to the heart of those people. It was great.

48 | April/May 2012

MH: The film industry has been a healing thing that, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, people can be proud of.

Have you sensed any of that?

DM: I absolutely have gotten that. The more the show has gone on,

the more I’ve gotten that. There are some people who live here, whose response was, “Why did we have to show that part of New Orleans?

Why did we have to have that represent us?” Those people are in the minority. Most people are so grateful to be represented in the way the show portrays the city. And I’ve actually had people thank me.

I’ve had, I don’t want to get too specific, but a policeman who’s done everything in the NOPD, probably my age and in his 50s, seen it all, and he was very grateful for what we’re doing with the show, [that we’re] doing it in a fair way. We’ve got a show, at this point everybody knows what happened, most of the people in this world have read about all the stuff that happened with the police, but what you don’t see is the other part. We’re doing the best we can to show both.

MH: Can you talk about working with Melissa Leo and what that’s been like?

DM: Well I did Homicide with her. You’re smiling, why’re you smiling?

MH: I just have fond memories. We interviewed her during the first season, before you came on. In Scene’s first year, she was one of our first really big “gets.”

DM: Well I did Homicide so I’ve been aware of her for a long time.

I’ve kind of watched her career and I’m thrilled for what’s happening for her in her career now. She really got the bad end of things when she was on Homicide and I just thought she was brilliant on that show. I still think she’s brilliant and amazing in a lot of the work she does. Just getting to be with her and be around her, getting to work off her and be in her presence, kind of knock things back and forth.

MH: I understand that because of the way Treme is shot, you don’t get to work with many of the other actors.

DM: Don’t even see them. Literally, the only other regular actor that

I’ve worked with on the show was at the end of the first season. That was Clarke Peters and I haven’t worked with another regular actor. We’re in the third season almost at the end, and Melissa’s the only regular on the show I’ve worked with. We see each other at the beginning of the year at a read-through, probably at the wrap party we’ll see each other. It’s weird, it’s really weird. I visit the set sometimes just to watch a little bit, you know, to go watch Wendell [Pierce] work. I still have not seen Khandi [Alexander] work, I can’t wait for that day.

MH: Can you say anything about what happens with Melissa Leo’s character in the third season?

DM: I… no because, no I can’t.

MH: Good things?

DM: This is Treme, for crying out loud! You gotta balance the good

things with the bad things!

ABOVE THE LINE

Morse near Jackson Square in New Orleans

MH: You also just finished a film called Collaborator that just got picked up. Can you tell me a little about your part in that film?

DM: Do you know [actor] Martin Donovan? It’s his first film that

he wrote and directed and he stars in it. He grew up in the Valley in Los Angeles and across the street from him was a guy who never left home, who was in trouble all his life and wound up taking some people hostage one afternoon and ended up getting killed. It always stuck with him ‘cause he knew this guy. Was kind a victim of his life.

He plays the character of a writer and I play the guy who lives across the street who’s a real Valley guy, been in and out of prison, who’s kind of sweet but been in a lot of trouble. And it’s a comedy, but it’s very… I guess you’d call it a dramatic comedy? I guess that’s what they’re calling it. And I couldn’t believe that Martin was asking me

photo by Eliza Morse

to play this role. Nobody really thinks of me for roles that are funny, obviously. It’s pretty clear from the work I do. But when he wrote it he was doing Weeds with Mary Louise Parker and he was just talking to her about me and she said, “You have to work with him, you have to work with him.” And it always stuck with him, so he decided when he was doing the movie that he would see if I was interested.

That was the movie we were doing when David Simon called.

MH: You also recently played a great role in Drive Angry 3D, which starred Nicolas Cage and shot in Shreveport.

DM: I was really entertained by the script. If you’re gonna do

a 3D B-movie, this would be a pretty fun one to do. I like the character, I like Nicolas…I’d worked with him before. I like the guys who did it. And I got to go there and be around fast cars. www.scenelouisiana.com | 49

ABOVE THE LINE MH: Unlike other states with film incentives, film is truly a statewide phenomenon in Louisiana. When Katrina hit, the films preparing to shoot in New Orleans had to evacuate, too. Luckily, Shreveport was ready and waiting to host them.

DM: We’re living up in Philadelphia and there’ve really been struggles with

whether the film tax credits could be guaranteed or not because there was always that battle in Harrisburg. And I think for a long time, Harrisburg just thought of it as something just benefitting Philadelphia and nobody else.

They feel like Philadelphia just gets way too much in that state and they didn’t want to give them any more. When we were doing this series called Hack up there, we did not have any tax credits at that time. The city did a lot but it was expensive. It was I guess two and a half million dollars an episode and I guess if we’d gone up to Toronto - which Paramount and the producers kept asking me to do - we could have done it for a million and a half instead of two and a half. That’s a lot of money and of course it went for two years and at the end of two years, they said, “We’ll renew it if you go to Toronto. I said, “No, I won’t go there because Philadelphia is a part of this.” They cancelled the show. The governor said, “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have done something to help keep you there.” But they still didn’t have the tax credits.

I just did a movie called World War Z with Brad Pitt and the whole opening of the movie takes place in Philadelphia. The situation was the same. This is a $200 million dollar movie and it was cheaper for them to go create Philadelphia in Glasgow, Scotland than to do it in Philadelphia. That’s pretty sad. Now the governor has guaranteed it and it’s great for the state and it’s good for Philadelphia. So, people in Louisiana, it’s very smart to spread it around in Shreveport. It really is something that benefits everybody. For that opening scene they hired a thousand people for zombies, you know, they had a thousand people they were feeding and on the crew and you just think about all those jobs and it’s a shame that it all went overseas.

MH: Are you a fan of AMC’s The Walking Dead?

DM: Frank Darabont’s show, except it’s not his show anymore.

MH: Yes, he left the show. What he managed to do in the first season was amazing! Everything Darabont writes is just so smart. The second season hasn’t quite stayed the course, but in general, AMC has really managed to bring feature-quality material to television.

DM: That’s one of the things I like about AMC. Breaking Bad is the one I really watch. It’s a lot of smart characters. It really keeps the audience, the writers, everybody on their toes if you’re writing smart people and putting them in tough situations. That’s part of the fun of all of it.

MH: Breaking Bad’s amazing. Have you watched it the whole time or are you a latecomer to it?

DM: I’m a latecomer. My wife was nuts about it and she finally got me to watch it.

MH: All of television seems to have made a great leap in production values, becoming much more cinematic. A big part of that transition of course is that feature directors like Frank Darabont are now working in television. Tell me about your collaborations with him.

50 | April/May 2012

DM: I first worked with Frank Darabont, there was a series called Two-Fisted

Tales and [Richard] Dick Donner was one of the directors on that. Tales from the Crypt was their earlier show. They started this kind of spin off, this western called Two-Fisted Tales. They were ghost stories. Dick Donner who I did Inside Moves with, asked if I’d do the episode that he was directing and a guy named Frank Darabont was writing the script. He hadn’t done Shawshank yet. We got along on that. It was fun to be with him on there because he wrote a really fun, smart little episode. I met him [during casting on] Shawshank and I was very disappointed not to be in that movie. But when he did Green Mile, I was the first person he called to ask if I would be a part of it. He sent me the script and I thought, “This script is absolutely beautiful.” He called me and said, “I’d like you to do this but I need to know you won’t improvise.” He was so afraid…he felt the script was so perfect.

And he was really afraid of having actors who were going to go off in their own direction and start improvising. So always, always you tell directors what they want to hear and I said, “No, no I will never improvise on this.”

MH: [laughs] Is that an acting pro tip?

DM: Yeah, I recommend it. It’s how you get the job. I’ve discovered in

meetings, when you actually are honest with people and talking about a script and you really tell them what you think of the script…it’s over.

Forget that job. They don’t really wanna hear it. They really wanna hear how great it is and how much you wanna do it. The thing that got Frank into trouble is, he had a brilliant script, he had a movie that everybody loved and wanted to be a part of, he had Tom Hanks, and he felt like that gave him the license to shoot that script with no attention to the budget or the amount of time it took. And it was a movie that was meant to be three months. It turned into five months and was millions and millions of dollars over budget and it was a three hour movie and it didn’t make [money].

Obviously, over time it’s done well, but it didn’t make the kind of money it should’ve made given the kind of movie it is and the love that people have for that movie. So it hurt him kind of having that attitude of the movie will take the amount of time it takes and the money it takes and when it’s done, it’s done. It’s come back to haunt him I think because he’s wanted to do Fahrenheit 451. He has a script for that and I think people are afraid that he’s gonna go do it again with that. But he could make a brilliant movie.

MH: Do you find that the extremely fast paced shooting of Treme is beneficial to you as an actor?

DM: I don’t see it as being insanely fast. I have been on things that are.

They have to do an amazing amount of work in a short amount of time, that’s for sure. I’ve done independent movies that, you know, really have no money and you really have no time. I’ve done TV movies and it’s the same thing. You have eighteen days for a two-hour movie. That’s pretty ridiculous because you want the quality of television production without spending the time or money on it. I think there’s something to the energy of, and “no thinking” in a way, of going in and doing something. You can really get worn down. You know Frank, when he did The Green Mile, he was extremely meticulous because he wrote it and he had it all and saw it all in his head and he was really trying to get us to recreate what he saw in his head and for some people just over and over and over again…it gets hard. For me, that’s what the job was and that’s what you help him do. I was fine with it, that was more time that we all got to be together. But for someone like Clint Eastwood, it’s like one or two takes and you’ve got to be ready, set and go and if it’s not there…

ABOVE THE LINE

Morse as Lt. Terry Colson on Treme

photo by Paul Schiraldi www.scenelouisiana.com | 51

ABOVE THE LINE MH: I’ve heard that he shoots eight-hour days. That’s insane. I have no idea how he does that.

DM: Just talking about Dick Donner, when I did Inside Moves, he was fifty

years old when we did that and the next time I worked with him, aside from Two-Fisted Tales, was when I did 16 Blocks with him with Bruce Willis. He was seventy-five when he did that and at seventy-five years old, he didn’t want to be shooting fourteen-hour days. He didn’t even want to be shooting twelve-hour days. And if you watch that movie, the amount of action that’s in that movie, and he was shooting ten hour days which is almost inconceivable. But he, and the amount of coverage, the amount of footage you need for that stuff, the performances were all there, really good performances, and he had Bruce Willis in it. And Bruce Willis, you know, he’s good and I love watching him in the role, but his process can be a couple hours talking before the scene. Before you actually start shooting it. Dick was trying to do these days so he’s really got only eight hours to make his day. And he’s incredibly efficient, I imagine Clint is the same way, and when you spend all that time making movies, you know what’s gonna work and you know what’s not gonna work and you go for the stuff that’s gonna work.

MH: I’ve also heard he’s just the nicest guy in the business.

A friend of mine named Richie Adams was given a big break by Donner when he was just starting out. Now he does main titles for some very big movies.

DM: It’s nice to hear about Dick Donner. He gave me a big break in

terms of the business. There were a lot of movie stars he could have got for that role. John Travolta wanted to do that role in Inside Moves.

I’ve talked to him since then, he’s gotten over the grudge against me but he really wanted a role in that. I’d never done a movie in my life, never been in TV, just done theater. And he took a chance and put me in a movie so I’m one of the people that benefitted from him as well.

MH: He seems like someone who pays it forward to a lot of people.

DM: He does that for sure and people adore him. He’s just the proof that

you don’t have to be a bastard to make good movies. You don’t have to yell at people, you just have to be smart and care about everybody and they’ll want to make it happen for you. You have fun on the set but when it comes to doing the work, you do the work and it’s good work and people are there for you.

MH: Have you returned to the theater recently?

DM: The last thing I did was Seafarer on Broadway with uh, it

was a Conor McPherson play with a bunch of Irishmen and…I was an Irishmen as well, but the only non-Irish Irishman. Which was great. Did that with the actor Ciaran Hinds. He’s amazing.

MH: He was amazing on HBO’s Rome.

DM: And Conleth Hill, who’s in Game of Thrones now. He’s the bald

character. He was in the play. Seeing him in that role you really get what an amazing actor he is because he was so not that role in the play. It was another one of those things that just I felt blessed to be asked, because it was Irishmen, it was comedy. Not all comedy, but not a dramatic comedy. I got to be a part of that so anybody who sees me in a little different light, I’m attracted to work with them.

52 | April/May 2012

MH: How long have you been playing golf?

DM: I didn’t start playing ‘til I was fifty. Because I was away from

home, and I had all these friends who were playing it and asking me to play it and once a year I’d try and go out there and keep them company and hit some golf balls horribly, but I was away from home so much. The idea of going home after being away for three months and going to the golf course for four hours or five hours, that was kind of obscene to me with these kids, who never got to see me, and my wife. So at fifty, when I was fifty, they all started having their own lives and I had enough friends who were still willing to ask me to play that I thought, “I’m actually gonna learn how to play this game.” Eight years later I’m still trying to learn how to play that game.

MH: I’ve started playing, but I’m terrible. However, I’ve found you don’t have to be good to enjoy it.

DM: Yeah. The problem is you want to be good and you work at

being good. That’s when it gets bad. I grew up with such a stigma about it. It was the rich, gross, white guy game. And that’s all it was…

MH: That’s how it’s depicted in movies!

DM: Yeah, yeah.

MH: Have you found anywhere to play here?

DM: Oh sure.

MH: Where do you play?

DM: Well Audubon is great, you know, in the park. But also

Lakewood there, DPC, now over Ponchartrain, that Bartholomew Course I like a lot. Wendell is very involved and that was his community so I went over there a bunch of times and rode my bike around before it was open and when I came back for the show this year, I was really happy that they opened it up and did a great job. So it’s one of my favorite places to go by myself.

MH: I also hear that you are a writer. Do you find New Orleans as inspiring as, say, Tennessee Williams did?

DM: I just finished a novel and I work with screenplays. I just like to

write. When I first came back last year, there’s a Japanese restaurant that I went to and I was sitting at the sushi bar. I didn’t know anybody and I started talking to the person next to me, and they talked about how they lost their house and how they lived not far from there. Of course this person started talking about what they lost and who they lost and the sushi chef starts talking about it. Literally, everybody around me starts talking about everything they lost. I don’t think there is a city, unless you go to Japan at the moment or someplace like that, that has that bond. There’s so many people bonded by an event and it may not feel that way so much anymore the further you get away from it, but I just don’t think there’s a place like it in the country and I think it’s amazing to be a part of that and to be able to tell the story of a place like that. S David Morse stars in Season 2 of HBO’s critically lauded series Treme and in Drive Angry 3D, both now available on DVD. Season 3 of Treme is now filming in New Orleans, expected to return to television this fall.

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MUSIC |

Cagethe Elephant Shakes Down New Orleans

by Barry Jude Landry

K

54 | April/May 2012

nown worldwide for good-sipping Bourbon whiskey and fast-running thoroughbreds, Kentucky has at least one more claim to fame: good music. A little city in southern Kentucky named Bowling Green has produced several toptier musical groups over the last few years. The hottest among them is Cage the Elephant.

When the band first started out, a bald-headed, goateed, mentally unstable man outside a bar verbally accosted lead singer Matt Shultz. He declared, they must “Cage the elephant! Cage the elephant! Cage the elephant!” The late-night rants of a frenzied man led to their band name, and it’s gotten even crazier since that fateful night. For those who haven’t yet seen Cage live, Matt Schultz puts his own spin on Shakespeare at every show, living out the bard’s famous words: all the world’s a stage.

| MUSIC The five guys from Bowling Green continue to perform in the studio BJL: Let’s Wrestle. Great band name. and on the stage. Cage the Elephant’s last studio album, Thank You, Happy BS: Let’s Wrestle, yeah. They have a song of the same name. They’re a Birthday, charted at #2 on the Billboard charts when it released in early lot of fun.

2011. And their 2012 release, Live from the Vic in Chicago, has proven an excellent complement to their BJL: It’s been a fun ride, I’m high-energy live-show reputation. sure. And five years later, Lauded by Rolling Stone’s readers here you are. Tell us a little as the “Best New Artist of 2011,” about what kind of music Rolling Stone magazine also praised Thank You, Happy Birthday as the the band’s moving toward. fifteenth best album of last year.

Any new things happening Cage the Elephant plays the with your music?

House of Blues New Orleans in BS: Yeah, there are some cool April, fueled with a spirit and fire that things going down. We’ve been have made them a must-see show. traveling a lot, getting a feel for They’ve opened for super-group what the band’s going to do next.

Stone Temple Pilots and indieI really like some of the changes darlings Silversun Pickups. Currently – the progression, I guess – that touring with Lollapalooza, they the band is going through. Lots of recently traveled below the equator new stuff. to Argentina, Chile and Brazil before returning for the rest of their U.S. tour.

BJL: Y’all are putting Bassist and band member Brad together some new material Shultz is the brother of Cage the Elephant’s front man and singer, for the next album?

Matt. On a recent break from BS: Yeah, more of our own Austin’s South by Southwest music thing. Doing it on our own. We’re festival, Brad took a moment to really getting into our individual speak with Scene to discuss their writing. Each of us has a little music, their origins and their future. Crowd surfing at Voodoo Music Experience 2010 photo by Erika Goldring something we’re working on.

Getting some ideas down on paper. You know? When we finally settle BJL: Cage the Elephant got its big break by signing with down into it, and get a little time – in fact, we’re looking at taking a Relentless Records after a South by Southwest showcase little time here at the end of March to get into some of our new stuff. in 2007. Must be great returning five years later to the We have these special places, these Kentucky cabins around a lake Austin music festival to play a show. where we go to create and make music. It’s a kind of homey, good vibe.

BS: Man, that’s true. Driving into Austin yesterday, I was thinking

about the first time we were playing here. South by Southwest…what, five years ago? Right here’s where it started, yep. What a great ride it’s been from where it all began. We’ve been lucky to have that start to get where we are, no doubt, man. South by Southwest is just a good place for bands like us to get noticed. And we pretty much went straight from Austin to London.

BJL: I find that an interesting part of the band’s history as well. Tell me what it was like going from Bowling Green, Kentucky, to London, England as a young band?

Must’ve been kind of strange?

BS: When we first arrived in London, you know, we thought we were gonna be greeted by this cool, hip rock-n-roll vibe. We thought we would be in some kind of rock-n-roll utopia. Well, it didn’t really happen that way for us. We kinda landed in this time period of synthpop-new-wave music, which is cool. But it took us some time to get situated with the music scene there – to find our place. We ended up meeting some great bands and made some cool friends. Let’s Wrestle is one band we really dig and continue to hang with.

BJL: Strange, but I’ve got to relate something I discovered about Bowling Green when I was researching cottonmouth snakes for some other writing. I discovered the swamps around Bowling Green have the densest population of cottonmouths in the entire United States.

Did you know that?

BS: Yeah, definitely. You know, it’s funny you say that. [laughs] Wow, because I remember as a kid, my grandpa had some property out in the, I guess, out in the country. And these government people would come by. I remember this, they would come to my grandfather’s property to tell him about this special, I don’t know, government study that determined his property was the… had the densest concentration of snakes, like you said, in the United States…

BJL: …of cottonmouths, no less. They’re known as water moccasins in Louisiana. Those things are nasty mean.

BS: That’s crazy, man. But I remember that, and it was true. www.scenelouisiana.com | 55

MUSIC | There were a lot of snakes there, around his land. And, you know, the horror director John Carpenter [Halloween] grew up there [Bowling Green], too. So maybe there’s something to that. [laughs] Maybe he had some weird inspiration or something from that.

BJL: On a lighter note, Bowling Green is making a name for itself as a starting point for some great music. Quite a few bands are coming out of there?

BS: Yeah, that’s true. I think that’s great.

Bowling Green is being talked about as the new Athens from back in the 80s.

BJL: Like the Athens scene with the B-52s, R.E.M., Widespread Panic?

mean, that song really comes from two different places – we pieced together two different songs. In fact, it kind of taught us a few things about writing music, the way we write music now.

I mean, our sounds are different, somewhat changed now, and different than back then. But it changed our outlook on what we’re doing with our music, and how to write songs. We can speed it up and slow it down, take a more paced, or patient approach. But they heard that when we were done with the album and told us, “Yeah, man, this is the one y’all should release as a single.” So we did.

And that’s how it came to be, you know, what it is.

BJL: Y’all are about to hit the road and take on South America.

This is quite the tour you’re having fun with? Are you looking forward to traveling to Argentina, Brazil, Chile?

BS: Sure, yeah. Where all these great little Thank You, Happy Birthday cover bands come out of this local roots music scene. You know, in most towns, there’s a punk scene, a rock scene, I guess, and a hip-hop scene. Right? But, BS: We love it. I mean, it’s Lollapalooza, man – in South what we like and dig is the way Bowling Green has a scene where America! How great is that?! This has been so cool. We’ve been the musicians just play music. It’s just whatever you got, bring it. to Australia, Japan, even China for a day or so. The fans have been Whatever you’re into, come and play it, man. great, and we like it.

BJL: And the bands are able to do whatever they want, just making music. What are some of the bands you’re hanging with and supporting?

BJL: And you’re going to end up in New Orleans to celebrate 4.20 with your fans. You’ve played New Orleans before, huh?

BS: Sleeper Agent are doing well, getting their music out there and getting noticed. They’re playing the Jimmy Fallon Show and touring.

Morning Teleportation is another Bowling Green band that are just really, really cool, with a crazy, different kind of sound – kind of this psychedelic rock sound. Yeah, man, they’re something to hear. Also, Schools, who will be at South by Southwest. And we’re into their sound, representing Bowling Green in Austin.

BS: Aw, man, New Orleans has always been good to us. It’s a good town for us. We’ve had some great times in New Orleans. Such a great town for the arts and music, all that. And the food, too.

BJL: The band’s hit song, “Shake Me Down,” has become a kind of inspirational, or positive tune for fans. It’s got a good feeling and message. Can you tell us what the lyrics are about?

BS: Yeah, well, Matt writes all the lyrics, so it’s more of his song

in that sense. The meaning is maybe just not letting life beat you down. Everything is temporary, and it takes believing in yourself.

I don’t wanna seem like I’m talking outta my ass [laughs], but that’s what I get from it. What it means.

BJL: Well, it was and is a huge hit, and probably my favorite Cage the Elephant single. Where’d the song’s music come from?

BS: The funny thing is we had no idea. That’s really our manager and producer [ Jay Joyce] who called it out and said, ‘We really think that should be the single.’ We weren’t sure, you know. I 56 | April/May 2012

BJL: Some good memories from New Orleans?

BS: Yeah, definitely. I remember this one club, and I can’t remember the name – probably better that way. But this one club, with a late-night, reggae vibe, was so cool. There are so many of these kinds of places, so many places, where the music’s just everywhere. You know? New Orleans is such a musical town.

BJL: Anything to say to your fans in New Orleans?

BS: We’re really looking forward to rocking the House of Blues— showing the people of New Orleans a good time. Looking to celebrate, so c’mon out and join the fun.

What could be next for two brothers and their three bandmates from Kentucky? Just a group of good ole boys from the land of Bourbon and thoroughbreds? Well, they’ll be working on their next album as you read this, and we can expect nothing short of solid entertainment and heart-thumping sonic goodness. And crowd surfing.

Cage the Elephant takes over the House of Blues New Orleans on April 20. For tickets, visit www.houseofblues.com/neworleans. S

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MUSIC |

COUNTRY COMES BACK:

BAYOU COUNTRY SUPER FEST 2012

CARRIE UNDERWOOD PHOTO BY MATTHEW ROLSTON

C

ountry comes back to Baton Rouge for the 3 rd Annual Bayou Country Superfest. The new favorite Memorial Day music event entices concertgoers countrywide to hear their favorite superstars in Tiger territory, complete with game day traditions like tailgating and Mike the Tiger sightings. Combining music sensations, spicy food and sounds that lift the crowd out of their cowboy boots, the 2012 Superfest promises the best yet.

Festival alum Keith Urban grabs his guitar for a second time in Tiger Stadium, returning as a headliner from the 2010 starter show.

Saturday night also features belting beauty Carrie Underwood, winner of five Grammy awards and renowned worldwide as one of the best female vocalists in country music. Also appearing on May 26 are Eric Church, Little Big Town and up-and-comer Jerrod Niemann.

Closing day combines the record-shattering Rascal Flatts with live show master Jason Aldean. Rascal Flatts remains the band to beat with over six million concert tickets sold, claiming the title of highest venue attendance in country. Jason Aldean, with the top selling country album of 2011 and eight topranked radio singles, can’t help but draw crowds. Joining the Sunday lineup are Dierks Bentley, Sara Evans and Joe Nichols.

Ticketholders are encouraged to arrive early for the Fan Fest & Tailgate Party outside the stadium for pre-show tunes and food. For more information and to purchase tickets before they sell out, visit www.bayoucountrysuperfest.com. S

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KEITH URBAN 58 | April/May 2012

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MUSIC |

J

FOLLOW US TO

AZZ FEST

2012

CEE LO GREEN

PHOTO BY MATTHIAS CLAMER

W

ith the coming of spring, so comes the biggest live music event in Louisiana. World famous, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival will hit the Crescent City at the end of April, spanning over the course of two weekends: April 27-29 and May 3-6. The Fair Grounds Race Course will play host to the iconic music festival. The festival boasts an eclectic lineup set to please hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers.

The Wall Street Journal praises that New Orleans’ Jazz Fest “showcases a wider, deeper lineup of essential American musical styles than any festival in the nation.” Throwback artists at this year’s fest include Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, the Eagles, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, the Neville Brothers and the Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Reunion. Foo Fighters, Ne-Yo, Florence + the Machine, Cee Lo Green and My Morning Jacket will bring in the kids. The Rev. Al Green will bring in everyone with taste. Bon Iver, Feist, Iron & Wine, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Pete Fountain, Rodrigo y Gabriela and C.U.B.A. and Steel Pulse will also perform alongside South Louisiana’s own peerless roster of local talent, including the Krewe of Rocckus kings, Better Than Ezra.

For our friends traveling in from Los Angeles, New York and Nashville, get ready for some great shows. Know that the best food in the world will be plentiful, sold throughout the festival grounds, and there will be beer. We never forget the beer.

Tickets for the 2012 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival may be purchased through nojazzfast.com and ticketmaster.com. S 60 | April/May 2012

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN PHOTO BY DANNY CLINCH

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MUSIC |

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FASHION |

MUSES NOLA FASHION WEEK A/W 2012

by Andi Eaton photos by Robby Klein

T

oday’s version is the eyeglass versus the sunglass, and they’ve become a serious part of my go-to style. I wear my Ray-Ban Wayfarers. They’re the glasses my dad wore when I was seven. He’d leave the house at five in the morning with a briefcase, a stack of those grid-style notepads engineers always carry, a handful of black felt tip pins, and always, always those thick-rimmed, ever so slightly-nerdy glasses.

Was my inventor dad, with his seven micro-particle cellulose acetate and loop material patents - yes, those are real things - channeling Woody Allen?

Or perhaps, Andy Warhol? Both being men of avid Wayfarer admiration.

Surely my dad wasn’t a trendsetting artist beatnik type in disguise. But maybe he had inspiration. Now that I think about it, on the weekend he was all about a rock 'n’ roll track with a dose of guitar. And there it is: my dad had a fashion muse and his name was Springsteen. Or maybe Dylan.

And it was the 80s, so add a dash of Don Johnson for good measure.

So, back to my eyeglasses of choice. The heavy black frames are fully reflective of my fashion musings of the day. The day’s inspiration: librarian chic meets Holly Golightly. And which of the fashion darlings do it best? Chloe Sevigny (the indie princess) and Tennessee Thomas (of The Like, who’s dad was drummer for Elvis Costello) tie for the win, both equally my of-this-very-second favorites. You’ll notice my muses aren’t the Oscar and Grammy types, but more of the it-girls-on-therise-that-you-definitely-should-watch set. My muses are musicians and writers and models and actresses and artists. All at the same time.

Their version of librarian chic meets Holly: an over-exaggerated button up collar, a subdued sheath dress, or maybe leather panel detailing, and the tightest chignon with a slightly off-kilter side swept bang. I imagine they get dressed to a mix of Blakroc and Bon Iver sans Kanye. Every great outfit starts with a soundtrack.

My outfit is a bit different: it starts with David Byrne and Bryan 66 | April/May 2012

| FASHION

AMANDA deLEON Eno “Strange Overtones.” I add the highest of pointy toe heels to a sweet high-neck bow tie blouse plus a super slim pencil skirt; then mix a pop of pink to my jet black ensemble and voila! I’m heading to the office in my perfect, all-day strategy meeting attire.

And while I’m totally feeling librarian chic-meets-Holly today, tomorrow I’ll undoubtedly have a whole new inspiration. And I can assure you, my Dad’s vibe changed just like the fashion seasons. His spring/summer Hunter S. Thompson-wacky cool was my favorite: a tennis short, Hawaiian print and mirrored amber vision aviators.

On a Saturday, surely there was rum involved, but I digress…

Admittedly, my last few months were full of musing opportunities. I work with brilliant creatives - hairdressers, make-up artists, photographers, designers and artists - all day long. And the inspiration runs deep. In the salons, Aveda’s Spring/Summer hair color and make-up trend collections are a technicolor neon coral reef dream. I’m also lucky to have spent many of my spring days prepping for the NOLA Fashion Week A/W season.

In the case of NOLAFW, the event sparked it’s own level of daily artistic motivation. The week came to life across six different venues: The historic, newly renovated and reopened Joy Theatre, a variation of remarkably distinct galleries in the Warehouse and Arts District of New Orleans and Washington Artillery Park (with a ridiculously amazing backdrop, the St. Louis Cathedral) for Aveda’s Eco-Fashion Day. The success (and obvious inspiration of each designer) was fully felt in the music, the art and the surroundings of the venues. For me, every show throughout the week called upon a distinctly different mood and muse: www.scenelouisiana.com | 67

FASHION |

LORETTA JANE

68 | April/May 2012

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FASHION | from the 40s-inspired lady-like seductress at Loretta Jane (muse: The Clarins sisters) to the Canal Street Greenwood cemetery somber at Amanda deLeon at Martine Chaisson (muse: The Lisbon girls) to habit-forming hype at dope.

And Baby Bee at the Joy Theatre (muse: Zoe Kravitz and Harley Newton).

This adventure through multiple expressions of beauty and art, design and music, catwalk and street style provokes me to explore and channel my classic and current favorites. In literature, I’m Hemingway’s ex-pats in The Sun Also Rises. In Pamplona, I’d be in a wide-brimmed hat, a structured-textured jacket, the chunkiest artisan accessories from locals like Heavy Metal by LW or Saint Claude and a 20s ankle boot.

In music, I’m the sugarcoated and summery breeze of the Cults, or local soul/ electronic/pop band, Big History. And that look? A 60s-inspired patchwork velvet babydoll dress, lacy little accents, with the highest of topknots and electric blue eyeliner. Or possibly full on gypsy jetsetter in a vintage maxidress, a tied up plaid button down and bangles and waves. It’s so terrifically me and fully reflected in every single thing Baton Rouge’s Josh Holder and Amy Strother styled for the NOLAFW Time Warp and H.I.P. Vintage runway event.

Of course, Louisiana herself proves to be a muse to stand against any. Creative-loving, culture-rich and intensely entrepreneurial, if you want to try something new with your personal style, it’s as simple as finding your own beauty or fashion muse and allowing her to inspire you. Look beyond the glossy pages, the red carpet and the runway and dig deep. You know what you love, and you’re your own canvas. S

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SAM SULLIVAN SCRIPT SUPERVISOR

by Jillian Aubin

A

labama-born script supervisor Sam Sullivan was not immune to the hype surrounding the burgeoning film industry in Louisiana. “I was lured initially by the film work and, also, a curiosity about working in the city my mother grew up in.

It felt familiar and new. Because of the tax incentives, my family moved here in 2003,” says Sullivan of New Orleans. Since relocating, his career has thrived, working intimately with prominent filmmakers, including director Rian Johnson, sound mixer Steve Aaron, cinematographer Roberto Shaefer, and actors Bryce Dallas Howard and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. “Besides the work and the wonder of New Orleans, the deep friendships I’ve developed with my fellow crew members, and the level of professionalism and excellence they bring every day convinces me that Louisiana is the place to make great movies,” he says of his new home.

Sullivan took an active interest in film during his time at Howard University in Washington, D.C. There, he earned his B.A. in English and an M.F.A. in Film. “I jumped into film production in college, working summers and taking off semesters to P.A. on films like The Long Walk Home and Malcolm X,” says Sullivan.

“If I wasn’t making or working on films, I’d be teaching filmmaking in college.” Sullivan writes and directs as much as possible on the side.

He and local filmmaker Jodie Jones co-wrote Mutants, shot in Baton Rouge, for SyFy in 2008.

As a script supervisor, Sullivan has the responsibility of ensuring that the production of a film or television show maintains its continuity. “Because movies and TV shows are shot out of scene order, I make sure the actors are saying the right words, that they are wearing the right clothes, have appropriate hair and makeup, possess the correct props and the set is dressed properly. Basically, I’m the blooper guy,” he says. “I make a ton of notes, take pictures and check with every department to make sure we’re all on the same page. The script supervisor is there to ensure the work is 82 | April/May 2012

photo by Caitlin Barry

in continuity with the script, is faithful to the director’s vision, and that the editor will have the pieces needed to cut the scene together.”

Throughout his career, Sullivan has worked on projects such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Guardian, and the recently released 21 Jump Street, starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill.

He has script supervised over sixty projects, including Disney’s The Imagination Movers and the feature film Looper, director Rian Johnson’s time travel epic set to be released later this fall.

After recently finishing work on Snitch

with Dwayne Johnson, Susan Sarandon and Barry Pepper, Sullivan is currently working on The Host. Starring Saoirse Ronan, Diane Kruger and William Hurt and based on a novel by Twilight author Stephenie Meyer, the film is now shooting on the lot at Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge. “Making a movie is sometimes incredibly hectic, but it makes the long days race by,” says Sullivan of his work schedule. “It’s great to be part of a filmmaking team.” Well-known in Louisiana as the nicest guy working on any set, we believe him. S

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letters OF THE law

by James Napper, III

James Napper, III discusses legal topics and answers legal questions submitted by Scene Magazine readers, both entertainment professionals and the general public.

Q

GOT A QUESTION FOR JAMES?

Submit your legal questions to

lettersoflaw@scenelouisiana.com.

To contact James Napper directly, email jnapper@napperlaw.com or visit www.napperlaw.com A Louisiana-based attorney who specializes in intellectual property and entertainment law, James Napper, III, J.D., LL.M. is a graduate of The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., where he studied intellectual property law. He is a recipient of the Stephen T. Victory Memorial Award for “Who Dat: The NFL, New Orleans, and the Implications of LSU v. Smack Apparel,” and the author of “Life as Art: How Technology and the Infusion of Music Into Daily Life Spurred the Sound Recordings Act of 1971,” which was selected for inclusion in the 2010 Entertainment, Publishing and Arts Legal Handbook.

The term “option agreement” is thrown around a lot. What is it and why is it so seemingly important in the film industry?

Many in the business are familiar with the term “option agreement,” but not all understand what exactly an option agreement is, and why it is crucial for producers and those on the acquisition side of the business.

Simply put, an option agreement is a contractual agreement formed between a producer, studio or production company (“interested party”) with a writer or a third party that owns the rights to a screenplay, literary work or other property (“underlying work”) which the interested party desires to potentially develop for a motion picture or television production. An option agreement contains exclusive rights allowing the producer to take steps towards developing the property for production before agreeing to an outright purchase of the work. Any producer, studio or production company that aspires to make a motion picture or television production based off an underlying work owned by another party must first obtain the necessary rights associated with such underlying work as the first step in the process; without the appropriate rights to an underlying work the project can never get off the ground. This is where the option agreement becomes indispensable.

Generally, a producer wants to guarantee that the film will in fact be made prior to actually purchasing the underlying work outright. In an attempt to limit the up-front risk, a producer will option the property for a specified period of time with the hopes of establishing capital to fund the project, attaching actors and directors, and/or securing distribution for the production prior to actually purchasing the underlying work they are seeking to develop. The option agreement grants the interested party the exclusive right to purchase the property within the term contained within the contract. Should the producer decide to pursue the project further, the producer will “exercise the option,” and now has the right to purchase the work in

accordance with the terms of the option agreement. If the producer does not exercise the option during the term of the agreement or seek an extension of the term, the option expires and the right to sell the property reverts back to the writer or third party.

This leads to the most vital element of the option agreement: the purchase agreement.

It is essential for a producer negotiating an option agreement to simultaneously negotiate the purchase agreement. Ideally, the option agreement will contain a detailed purchase agreement attached as an Exhibit to the option contract. The purchase agreement should contain previously negotiated terms, including such items as: purchase price, medium rights, geography, compensation for the writer, and merchandising, as well as many other critical deal points. Once the option is exercised, the terms of the purchase agreement should become binding. The simultaneous negotiation of the purchase agreement is necessary because without such an agreement in place the producer is left with a worthless option. The option is worthless because instead of holding a contract guaranteeing the producer a right to purchase the underlying work for a pre-determined price, the agreement only guarantees the producer the right to negotiate with the owner of the work, as the owner is not obligated to sell for an agreed upon price and potentially may now demand a higher price.

For the above reasons, the option agreement is a vital tool in the production and acquisition side of the business. Any producers seeking to develop a property based off a third party’s work should seek out a qualified entertainment attorney to assist in the formation of an option agreement to ensure the project is properly protected.

Additionally, any writers approached by a producer interested in their work should also be aware of these principles and consult with a qualified entertainment attorney. S

Disclaimer: The information contained herein is intended to provide general information and does not constitute legal advice. The content is not guaranteed to be correct, complete, or up-to-date. This information is not intended to create an attorney-client relationship between you and James Napper, Scene Magazine, or any associated companies, and you should not act or rely on any information in this publication without seeking the advice of an attorney. In reading this article, please note that the information provided is not a substitute for consulting with an experienced attorney and receiving counsel based on the facts and circumstances of a particular transaction. Many of the legal principles mentioned are subject to exceptions and qualifications, which may not be noted. Furthermore, case law and statutes are subject to revision and may not apply in every state. Because of the quick pace of technological change, some of the information in these articles may be outdated by the time you read it.

86 | April/May 2012

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IN THE MIX

SILVERDRAFTING THE POWER OF FILMMAKING WITH A SUPERCOMPUTER

by Jacob Peterman photos by Caitlin Barry & Jeff Heusser Silverdraft Mobileviz parked on the lot at Raleigh Studios Baton Rouge

A

s stereoscopic 3D and high-end visual effects become increasingly in demand, and while film and television production transitions from celluloid to digital capture, the need for high-end computing horsepower in modern content creation grows. The first digital visual effects studio-on-wheels, with the breakneck speed of a true supercomputer, Silverdraft Mobileviz is purpose-built on one level, to unite production and post-production teams so they can work efficiently together, either on or near set.

“Because we’re mobile, and can be physically close by the set, and because of the power of our system, filmmakers have greater immediacy to view and manipulate results,” says Silverdraft CEO Amy Gile. “With Mobileviz, everyone involved in a production – from the director, producer, cinematographer, editors and VFX supervisors, through to make-up and wardrobe – can review material immediately after it has been shot, and can start making informed creative choices and practical decisions from there. The production team can see how material is cutting together, and get an early idea of what pick-ups or reshoots are required. It is a fabulously efficient way to work.”

88 | April/May 2012

photo by Caitlin Barry

Along with on-set capture and data management for digital productions - 2K and 4K data, HD video - the multi-purpose utility of Silverdraft Mobileviz also includes pre-visualization and the real-time, high-res visualisation of VFX shots, performance and motion capture recording, as well as superfast rendering for 2D, 3D stereo and CGI-based productions. These powerful tools are packaged into a self-contained, ergonomicallydesigned, eco-friendly trailer that can travel anywhere a Teamster can drive it. And as any line producer will gladly tell you, because the Mobileviz allows the work to be done in Louisiana, it is eligible for a 30-35% tax credit on labor.

The game-changing leap in

photo by Jeff Heusser efficiency offered by Silverdraft was made possible by Dr. Srinidhi Varadarajan, brought in by Gile at the company’s inception to be the systems architect of Silverdraft Mobileviz. A world-leading pioneer in supercomputing technologies, Dr. Varadarajan is the director for the Center of High-End Computing Systems and an associate professor in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech University. He is singularly responsible for the design, build, functionality and revolutionary speed of the supercomputer at the heart of Mobileviz.

IN THE MIX

Silverdraft CEO Amy Gile

photo by Caitlin Barry

And the speed is indeed considerable. The first in the fleet of Mobileviz trailers offers thirty teraflops of processing power.

That’s 30 trillion floating point operations per second. Higher-end Mobileviz systems can be scaled to process at up to 350 teraflops, placing the performance among the top fifty supercomputers in the world. That’s on par with the world’s most advanced postproduction facilities, of which there are only a small number.

Parked near set, Mobileviz ingests high-resolution digital footage from the cameras, and other recording devices, allowing the production team to make creative adjustments instantly, as well as spot problems that might cost hundreds The Mobileviz Supercomputer of thousands to reshoot, or to fix in post-production, at some later date in the future.

“On a greenscreen VFX shoot, the typical current turnaround would involve shooting plates on set and then receiving a rendered composite a day or two later,” says Gile. “Mobileviz can render the same composite on set in about ten minutes.”

In its design, Mobileviz was created to be open, including an array of industry-standard software and hardware technologies that cater to a full spectrum of production and post-production

preferences. “You can think of Mobileviz as a four-wall experience.

We provide production with the workspace and the technology – the backroom and backbone – so that they can move in and operate as their own. They work with whatever software packages they are used to working with.

They work with the dailies company that they want to work with. The cinematographer uses their colorist of choice. They have their own editorial staff.

They have whichever visual effects vendors they want and those vendors work with the software platforms they choose.

We provide the facility for all of those people to come together, and make sure that they can all communicate well with each

photo by Jeff Heusser other, exchanging files. The assets are totally secure too, even if they need to go outside of the trailer to other systems, wherever they may be.”

Mobileviz comes with a base level of 20TB of Micron superfast solid-state storage, incorporated into a cluster of 1,536 compute cores, but this can be expanded up to 100TB or more as required.

Clever engineering allows for cores to be securely partitioned, so that Mobileviz can handle multiple projects at once. For example, if a feature shooting in Baton Rouge required the Mobileviz www.scenelouisiana.com | 89

IN THE MIX trailer to be parked on-set at Raleigh Studios, a film shooting in Shreveport could also use the service for rendering or processing digital dailies at the same time.

Those who have seen ‘making of ’ footage from behind the scenes of James Cameron’s Avatar have witnessed the pioneering ability the filmmakers had on that movie had to combine and manipulate live CG elements with live action material incamera on-set. With Mobileviz, Silverdraft has packaged this same sort of pre-visualizationmeets-production capability into a portable form.

“The production crew can line-up shots as if those CG characters or CG assets were real and tangible, live on set,” explains Gile. “You can even move the CG elements around in the frame, or you can move the framing around with the actors. The means the actors can work on their eye lines a lot easier because they can see the real characters, instead of working with a tennis ball on a c-stand. It’s also good for the overall budget. As the VFX team can do prepost compositing, it takes away much of the guesswork, and the potential for expensive fix-its in post.”

Along with creative applications, Mobileviz also provides productions and post-production facilities with the same enormous rendering power that only a small number of the high-end, brick-and-mortar, facilities are able to offer. “Some large studios today are operating what, in essence, look like mid-scale to large-scale supercomputers on brick and mortar premises, just for rendering actions. This sheer power is clearly beyond the reach of many smaller productions and post-production facilities, and this is where Mobileviz also comes in,” says Gile. “You can even hire Mobileviz as a cloud computing resource on wheels.”

The Mobileviz system overcomes speed issues by providing up to 40 gigabits per second connectivity.

The trailer can be locked up securely, and dedicated to an IT network for maximum security so that intellectual properties (IP), rendered assets and production material remain private and secure.

“Mobileviz can also provide an additional service to facilities when they face a ‘peak load’ on a production with their existing infrastructure,” Gile adds. “Our Mobileviz trailer can be delivered and parked wherever it’s needed, and you can simply hire-in the additional computing rendering resources from us.”

In addition to market-leading supercomputing technology, Mobileviz has been constructed, where possible, with eco-friendly products, and has been designed to be as power efficient as possible. And with all that supercomputing power onboard, the air-conditioning has to be good. On a hot and humid Louisiana day, it’s the coolest place to hang out.

For more information on Silverdraft's Mobileviz trailer, visit www.silverdraft.com. S

90 | April/May 2012

photo by Caitlin Barry

Know about every film, every week.

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THE UNSCENE Pixel Power With film production rolling full throttle, the demand for digital is palpable. Mega-budget productions like director Joseph Kosinski's oncetitled Oblivion aren't shooting in Baton Rouge because it resembles earth in the year 2440. They need tax credits. They need stage space. Massive sets backed by greenscreens are being constructed on stages at Raleigh Studios.

The need for visual effects infrastructure is immediate, and companies both local and international are answering the call. Local commercial companies like Digital FX are catering their assets to the feature world. International companies like Pixomondo are opening up shop, seeing the potential for work in Louisiana. Support companies like Silverdraft are bringing muchneeded computing superpower to the state, as it draws an increasing amount of post-production work. The work is here. But, what about the workers?

Ten years ago, the educated fled Louisiana for greener post-production pastures. Now, graduates and the self-taught alike have an opportunity to work for some of the most prestigious companies in the world. Pixomondo, which is looking to hire seventy-five Louisiana employees for it's Baton Rouge branch, recently received an Oscar for its work on Martin Scorsese's Hugo. In Shreveport, William Joyce's Moonbot Studios also won an Oscar for its animated short, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. These pedigrees are more than interesting headlines. The prestige of these pixel powerhouses promises locals the opportunity to learn professions that come with passports. That is, the skills they are learning have value that transcends the local marketplace. In fact, they have such value, they promise to make Louisiana a pixel power: an international force in the digital marketplace.

- The UnScene Writer Submit tips to unscene@scenelouisiana.com.

Anonymity guaranteed.

92 | April/May 2012