EAST LA REP invites you to:
by appointment with Chris Weitz
April 17, 2013 @ 8pm pst
@ EAST LA REP’s office, 1350 San Pablo St. LA CA 90033
by appointment, is held on select dates during EAST LA REP’s Office Hours, and features a special guest(s) discussing topics of particular interest. It is moderated by Juan E. Carrillo, Creative Director.
It is open and free to the public and streamed live with Cindy Marie Jenkins beginning at 8pm pst.
We are not able to live stream at this time, but I will live blog and post the video soon!
On his acting:
- “I had to play someone who felt out of his skin, and being in front of the camera was really nerve-wracking for me.”
- “I don’t have tough enough skin to be an actor.”
- “I was dating someone who was cast in ‘Mr. & Mrs. Smith’ and they thought it would be funny to cast Chris as her husband. Then my girlfriend dropped out of the film, and I didn’t.”
On working with his brother:
- “Whatever movie I make, I want it to be OK if it’s the last movie I ever do.”
On working with children:
- Children often don’t have pre-conceived ideas of how it should work.
- “Working w/ kids is dangerous because you don’t know what you’ve got.”
On his process:
- “A lot of the process is getting the money to make the movie.”
- “You try to always work with the people who you’ve trusted and who you worked with before…and they’re not always available.”
- “And then it just becomes a logistical nightmare of your own making…” (said a wry smile)
- “And if you’re not careful, those aspects overtake the whole process.”
- “The great thing about writing something you direct is that in theory people can’t say “Oh, I think this is what the writer meant.’ “
- “There’s more of a mystique with a writer/director vs a hired gun director.”
- “Part of the joy for me was to meet the writer of a book I loved and try to do right by them”
- “As I start writing my own stuff, I start to not believe my own characters because…I made them up.”
On Community:
- “It didn’t feel right to say we’re doing a movie about your neighborhood, will you please stay away? It would have been unethical.”
- ” I realized I had to engage to make the film we were talking about.”
- “The idea that there are people from other places and other backgrounds was natural to me.”
On working with composers:
- “I don’t read music, so I don’t know how to ask for what I’m asking for.”
- “The more movies I make, the more I want to make sure all songs are new songs….it feels so much better to me than using a song people are really familiar with.”
On challenges in his career and the industry:
- “There’s very little space for medium-sized movies.”
- “The outlets….what was laughable before….putting up a movie on YouTube is going to become a calling card.”
- “Be somebody they think would be a reasonable person to work with…the script is the point of the sword.”
- “The problem of ‘how do you get a script in front of somebody?’ – It never stops.”
On writing:
- “I actually think it’s harder to write a play.”
On American Pie:
For our upcoming appointment we are proud to present:
Chris Weitz, writer, director, producer, husband and father.
Chris will be sharing his stories and thoughts on:
1. Growing up in a creative family.
2. Working side-by-side with his brother.
3. Young people have been prevalent in his work, why?
4. A Better Life: working with community
EAST LA REP is collaborating with Cindy Marie Jenkins and streaming live by appointment with Chris Weitz on her site, Beyond the Blurb @ 8pm pst. If the tech Gods are not on our side, we promise to record and post the appointment on Beyond the Blurb and it will be included on the EAST LA REP YouTube channel.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCMJstories
http://www.youtube.com/user/EASTLAREP
About Chris Weitz:
Writer/Director Chris Weitz helmed the drama “A Better Life” for Summit Entertainment starring Demian Bichir.
Chris also directed New Moon, based on the second novel in the best-selling Twilight series. He previously adapted and directed, the Oscar-winning epic fantasy adventure, The Golden Compass, based on Philip Pullman’s best-selling and award-winning first novel in the His Dark Materials trilogy, The Golden Compass was released by New Line Cinema.
Chris previously co-directed, with his brother, Paul, the award winning hit film About a Boy, adapting the screenplay from the Nick Hornby novel. The screenplay received an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay, as well as similar nominations from BAFTA, Writers Guild, Chicago Film Critics and Humanities; the film was named one of AFI’s Movies of the Year and was nominated for the Golden Globe award for Best Comedy, winning Best Studio Comedy Feature at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. His first directorial collaboration with Paul was on American Pie.
Prior to their screenwriting work on About a Boy, the brothers collaborated on several screenplays, including Antz and Madeline (adapting the popular children’s book).
In 1999, Chris and his brother formed the production company, Depth of Field and have produced the critically acclaimed film, In Good Company, also, American Dreamz, Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist, and Tom Ford’s award-winning drama A Single Man. Depth of Field’s diverse slate of upcoming projects include: The Game, based on Neil Strauss’ dating tome, and the feature adaptation of Michael Moorcock’s fantasy epic The Elric Saga.
Chris made his acting debut in the Sundance Film Festival hit Chuck & Buck.
