#44. A Conversation with Bill D'Elia

Bill D'Elia is an Emmy award winning screenwriter, producer and director of film and television known for his work on Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, Northern Exposure, The West Wing, Glee and The Crazy Ones.

Jason Anders: What originally served as your inspiration to become a storyteller?

Bill D'Elia:  Ever since I can remember I have been interested in listening to stories well told, and from the time I could read have gotten lost in novels, films, and television shows. I always had a book in my hand as a child, and am still surrounded by them in my adult life. I grew up in a large extended family where there was always an aunt, uncle, or cousin around- we constantly entertained each other with observations of daily life.

At some point I became fascinated simply by the art of storytelling, and spent quite a bit of time reading novels and watching movies based on those novels, after trying to visualize them myself. I suppose that was the earliest form of directing for me: Visualizing what the writer put on paper. I was a great daydreamer. So, very early on, what I wanted to do was write. I am enamored of the written word. Only as an adult did I realize that my stronger talent was as a director. The solitary existence of the writer could not compare with the chaos of directing. It turns out that part of what I liked as a child was being surrounded by people telling the stories and I was always more comfortable telling stories spontaneously in the middle of a lot of people.

Because I wanted to work in N.Y., I never considered moving to L.A. after college to get into the business. So I wound up in advertising since there was not much of a film business in N.Y. back then, other than commercials. I became an ad agency producer, which led to directing and eventually leaving the agency business to start my own commercial production company.

JA: Tell me about the challenges you faced while independently producing the 1989 film The Feud, which was based on the novel by Thomas Berger- one critic said that it was "like David Lynch doing American Graffiti"; was your final film the result of your original vision, and how did releasing the picture impact your career?

BD: Well, this may sound strange, but the truth is that I woke up one morning, almost a year after reading The Feud and thought "I bet that would make a good movie". It was silly almost how the thought popped into my head fully formed. I was a commercial director and had been trying to figure out how to get into a form of storytelling that was longer than thirty seconds and did not involve selling something, when Berger's novel just woke me up one day. And it was not right after I had read it, but a year later. I became obsessed with the idea. I convinced my partners at the time to option the novel as a company. I really thought back then that it would be the beginning of us being more than a commercial production company. I worked every night on the screenplay until I thought I had something interesting, and I had never adapted anything before, nor did I ever learn how from anyone. I just started doing it.

As an interesting aside to this, I had begun to think I could be a film director after watching and falling in love with a couple of Robert Altman movies. I thought "that's the kind of director I would like to be". When I tried to option the book I found out that it was not available because Robert Altman had the option! I was so happy to be right about myself. We were indeed interested in the same types of stories. The first actor I tried to secure (Paul Dooley) told me of course he would do the picture, Altman had offered him the same role when he had the rights to the book! I sort of felt, "guess I'm on the right track". Kismet. Then came the hard part. I closed my company and tried to find financing. Again, I knew nothing about this and I knew no one in Hollywood. I lived in Montclair, N.J. at the time.

At a friend's house one day, playing cards, I was asked what I was up to. I told my friend I was trying to make a movie. "How much do you need", asked my friend. I told him $1.5 million. He said he could get it for me. I thought it was card game talk.

A few days later he asked me to come to a meeting. He had assembled a group of investors. The meeting was on the 103rd floor of the World Trade Center. This was in April of 1988. By July he raised $2 million for me because, as he told me then: "nobody can make a movie for 1.5 million!" That was Frank Scaraggi and he and I are best friends to this day, even though the movie never made a dime. It became my calling card in Hollywood. Everyone loved the picture. And I have to say that the film turned out exactly as I had envisioned when I woke up that morning. It was a fully formed idea from the start.

JA: You went on to direct episodes of Northern Exposure, Chicago Hope and The Practice- do you remember what your first meetings with David E. Kelley were like?

BD:  I remember my first meetings with David very well.  Picket Fences was the first show we did together.  Northern Exposure was a Josh Brand/John Falsey show that I did after directing my first TV show Doogie Howser for Steven Bochco (created by David Kelley). David at first meeting was an intimidating guy. I always had the impression back then that he was constantly twirling stories around in his head and that if you said the wrong thing at the wrong time, the story would get messed up. I was wrong of course. He has a wicked sense of humor and is a great practical joker with a mind like a steel trap. He forgets nothing, has the analytical mind of a great lawyer, the insight of a great psychiatrist, and the soul of an artist. I can't say enough about his talent.

My first meeting with him scared the crap out of me. It was a Picket episode that I was directing for the first time. We were having our tone meeting where you discuss the way the story and scenes should be played. The ending of the episode was very emotional and heart wrenching. David finished the meeting by looking at me, a guy he had never worked with before and he said "Well, go ahead and make us cry.... but for the right reasons". It made me laugh, but like I said, intimidating. That was the beginning of a great relationship. He made me laugh, I made him cry, but for the right reasons. I always felt though, from the beginning of our working together, that he didn't have to tell me anything really. I just got his stuff, understood it.

JA: Let's talk about a few episodes of Ally McBeal, a series where you not only directed but served as executive producer as well.  Your first episode to direct was Ally McBeal: The Musical, Almost- where did the idea to make a musical with Randy Newman come from?

BD:  I had just joined the show as Executive Producer several episodes before the season finale that was The Musical. David called me and said that he wanted to be sure that I directed the finale because it was going to be a complete musical. I had received an Emmy nomination for the musical episode of Chicago Hope I directed, and he and I had a shared love of musical theater and movies. David contacted Randy Newman and we used all his songs and he appeared in the episode as well. It was a bit scary because, in theory, the Executive Producer/ Director of a series should need less prep and post time than another director because he is a part of the show. He or she knows it better than anyone else. But in my case I had just gotten to the show and was still learning the sets, the characters, and the actors. I was thrown immediately into this daunting task with very little prep and virtually no post. Creating music for an episode, getting the music and tone right for the characters, getting the actors to a studio to pre-record, or deciding to do it live, requires a lot of thought and time.

We had no time and had to think quickly. The logistics of getting it done were enormous. I remember getting the recordings the night before shooting them, listening to the songs in my car on the way home and on the way back to work. I would visualize the scenes in my head, kind of a mental story board to the music. By the time I got to work, I had the scenes figured out. It was all done on the fly. I had one day to final cut the episode and David was not available to see it before it was done. So it was up to me to approve the final cut and send it out- on a show I had just joined. I will never forget the faith that David had in me for that episode. And I received another Emmy nomination for directing that one.
JA: A lot of great directors worked on this show, including Kenny Ortega, Jack Bender, Arlene Sanford, and even Peter MacNicol.  Do you have a favorite episode of the series, and also, which filmmakers inspire you as a director?

BD: If I had to pick a favorite, I guess it would have to be The Musical, although there was an episode with Robert Downey, Jr. that I loved called The Last Virgin. Those are two that come to mind because they are the favorites of the ones I directed, but the episodes with Sting or with Elton John were pretty spectacular. And every Christmas show was a killer. As far as favorite directors, there are too many to mention, but I take particular inspiration from three feature guys: Robert Altman, Martin Scorsese, and Bob Fosse.

JA: Another episode that stands out in the series is one called "The Getaway" which you directed- was the idea for this episode difficult to pitch since it did not feature Calista and most of the main cast?

BD: Not difficult to pitch at all. The network wanted extra episodes and we pitched to David that the only way to do it would be if he was able to write an episode that did not have the whole cast in it. Then we could shoot two episodes at the same time, which is what we did. The other trick to it was to send them away, off the sets that we normally shoot in. So the boys went to L.A. and we were able to still shoot an episode at the same time back on the stages. And Bernadette Peters is a delight to work with. We hired her again for Boston Legal to play a judge.

JA: What are your fondest memories of being on the set of Ally McBeal?

BD: Well, they were all a lovely bunch of coconuts. Calista is one of the most talented actresses I've worked with. The rest of the cast was like catching lightning in a bottle. To get that many talented people on one show is extraordinary. That was one amazing ensemble. Every one of them was capable of being the lead in their own show. And some of my fondest, enduring memories on that show are from that season with Robert Downey, Jr. I have a habit, when I'm directing, of getting to the set very early, before anyone else. I like to sit in the space quietly the day of, and imagine the scene. The only time I ever got to a set and found someone else there before me was that year on Ally. It was Robert. Doing the same thing I was. Trying to imagine the space before we inhabited it on the day.

One of the other stand out moments for me was directing the legendary Carl Reiner in the Bygones episode. During a rehearsal, Carl asked me which way was a funnier way to play a particular scene. Carl Reiner turned to me and asked "Bill, which is funnier, this way? Or this way?" I almost couldn't answer. Carl Reiner asking me which is funnier? That's like Frank Sinatra asking you how he should sing. Well I did answer, and Carl agreed. A real lasting memory for me. A comic genius asking me what's funny. Taye Diggs was a regular on Ally for a while and he is a real professional. Easy going and fun to work with.

Josh Groban's story is interesting. David was at a charity function and he heard Josh sing, he was unknown at the time. He wrote a part in that Wedding episode for Josh based on that one charity performance. It was an episode that I directed. The role required some real acting from Josh, everything from emotional scenes to slapstick comedy. I thought David was nuts asking so much from a kid that never acted. I was wrong of course. Josh was a natural at every aspect of the craft right from the start and was terrific in the episode. Of course, when I heard him sing... well, that was that- the whole world knows that now, but he was a real discovery then. And as a post script to all that, in the liner notes on Josh's first CD, he thanked David and I.

JA: You would go on to produce and direct Boston Legal with David E. Kelley, which brought together yet another amazing ensemble cast with James Spader, Candice Bergen, and William Shatner; one of the unique aspects of the characters in the series is their tendency to break the fourth wall with the audience, examples being Denny Crane saying to another character "I've hardly seen you this episode", or Jerry Espenson singing the opening music to Candice Bergen. What have been a few of your favorite experiences on the set of Boston Legal, and do you have a favorite episode of the series?

BD: Well it's tough talking about Boston Legal as it is so recent an experience and I miss the show. All shows are tough to do, especially in the first year. This one was nuts. We didn't know how funny we were going to be. We didn't know how serious we were going to be. We had a hard time finding the right balance. The scripts were totally all over the place: funny, ridiculous, serious, emotional, over the top, melodramatic. The answer, of course, came when we realized we could be all those things. And sometimes all at once. Then it became a unique show, one unlike any on TV. And stylistically I took my lumps from many people that balked at the camera work. I held firm as I believed it supported the wackiness that was going on at Crane, Poole, and Schmidt. And George Bush helped us find way too many stories that we never could have planned on when the show started. I felt that we became a descendant of The Smothers Brothers or All in The Family.

We were as topical now as they were back then. We suddenly realized we were the only show left on network television that dared to speak out on real issues. On cable there's John Stewart's and Stephen Colbert's topical shows. On network now there are none. We were very proud of that, and more Emmy nominations followed, also a Peabody. And a special Emmy for "television with a conscience". I received another directing nomination for the episode Son of the Defender. By the time it ended we had somehow become part of the cultural landscape. People yell "Denny Crane' when they see Bill Shatner now, not "Captain Kirk". So it became more than a job to be at the helm of all that. It was a blast.

David Kelley's scripts? Well, I've been involved in a lot of television over the years. His scripts are the only ones I've ever gotten that were shooting scripts from the first draft. Most writers give you a draft and it means it's a work in progress. David's drafts are shootable. I've had scripts from him that I haven't liked that shoot better than I ever imagined they would. He has an ear for dialog, pace, and timing that is unparalleled.

One scary thing for a director is that his scripts tell you nothing except dialog. Hardly any screen direction. Just "LAW OFFICE: DAY. ALAN AND DENNY", then dialog. No description of what they are doing. Go work it out. Very interesting for me as I only read the dialog the first time I read a script to glean information about character. I skip the screen direction on a first read because I want to see if the characters voices speak to me in a way that lets me I understand their motivation. Quite often the way a person is written makes it easy for me to determine what he or she should be physically doing in a scene. In that way I can find real behavior. You can always find a shot that supports the actor, but not always the other way around.

One other thing about Boston Legal: It was the best job I ever had. On Boston Legal, David ceded all day-to-day creative decisions to me. I ran the show. Of course I spoke to him every day. And of course he let me know when he disagreed. That's the most fun part of a collaboration. But we were on the same page so often. Over the years we have developed a real short hand way of communicating. Most of the time we agreed when something worked or it didn't. He of course created the unique characters and settings, but I created the distinctive look of the show. He let me run with my ideas on how the show should look and feel.

David lives and has an office in Northern California and the show was shot in Southern California. He had just moved up north when the show started. So, although he would occasionally fly down to the studio, he was away most of the time. He would of course look at dailies and call me with his notes on everything from casting to final cuts. But day-to-day, I took care of everything. That's the way David set it up, the way he wanted it. And that's rare in television.

JA: Will you be involved on David E. Kelley's newest series Legally Mad?

BD: If it gets picked up, I'll be directing. But I'm not producing that one with him.

JA: Finally, tell me about your work on Judging Amy, a show which you not only co-created but were a writer for as well.

BD: Judging Amy is a show I co-created with John Tinker, a great writer. John and I created the characters and the template for the show and then moved on. We wrote the story of the pilot and left the show before it went on the air. All credit past that belongs to Barbara Hall, who ran the writing staff on that show and made it the successful series it was.

JA: Are there other shows that you would like to develop into your own series?

BD: I have several things in development right now and you never know what will get the green light, but I am always in there pitching. You know, I've been lucky in television. So much of what I'm good at depends on tone and character. You can't always find a lot of that on TV, but somehow it has found me.

Follow Bill D'Elia on Twitter: @BillDElia

"Hooray for Captain Spaulding: A Conversation with Sid Haig" by Jason Anders

In a career spanning over 50 years, Sid Haig has appeared in over 70 films and 350 television shows, all beginning with Jack Hill's student film at UCLA, The Host, in 1960. Known for his work with Hill (for a real good time, see Spider Baby) and Roger Corman, Haig also appeared in George Lucas' THX 1138 and the 1971 James Bond film, Diamonds Are Forever. In 1997 he played the judge in Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown, reuniting him with Pam Grier (whom he starred alongside in films such as Coffy and Foxy Brown) and went on to star in Rob Zombie vehicles such as House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects. In 2010, Sid was awarded the Premi Maria Honorifica at the esteemed Sitgas Film Festival as well as a Universal Eyesore Award for lifetime achievement. He was kind enough to let me interview him about his incredibly rich career. 

Jason Anders: What do you feel is the role that first defined you as an actor?

Sid Haig: I really don't know what defining oneself as an actor means, but if it means stretching oneself to a place where you have never gone before... that role would have to be Ralph in Spider Baby. There was no reference to go by, he just was whatever I wanted to make him. There was never a conscious decision on my part to become a professional actor, it was something that just evolved. As an only child and the only kid my age in a four-block radius, I had to entertain myself by making up situations and people to interact with. So, you see, I was acting from the time I was just able to imagine. I started dancing at the age of six, playing drums by the time I was nine and acting in plays as a teenager. So it just happened.

What prompted your decision to temporarily retire from acting in 1992?

My decision to retire at the time, I didn't feel, was temporary. I had had it with playing the same dumb heavies time after time, so I just said to myself, "If these guys can't get that I have more to offer than to just point a gun at somebody, then I'm out of here."

All of this happened about the same time as Pulp Fiction was in development. I made so many TV appearances doing the same character, with no thought other than getting whatever number of setups a day, that I just didn't want to do that anymore. When I went in to read for Quentin, I fell in love with the part. I wanted to play that character. Quentin wanted me to play that character. When I was offered the role I was told it would be one day's work. There were four different locations that the character would be seen in through the course of the the film. That just reminded me so much of how TV shows were shot that I turned it down. My agents never mentioned the fact that Quentin didn't work that way. He would take as much time as was needed to get what he wanted. If I had known that, my life would have changed for the better. The real shame is that I've never had the chance to sit down with Quentin and tell him why I turned it down.

In 1997, Quentin Tarantino wrote a role specifically for you in Jackie Brown...

I think Quentin cast me in that role just to see if people were paying attention, because Pam and I did five films together previous to Jackie Brown. He never told Pam that I was doing the part, so when she showed up on the set her reaction was great. Quentin proved himself to be a real film buff, because for the whole day he was quoting lines from films that I had done. Also, his energy is over the top. He gives you so much of himself that you can't help but want to give him everything you've got in every scene. As far as Kill Bill is concerned - I showed up, I did my thing, and I left. It was fun, if brief.

What was it like to work with Jack Hill and Pam Grier?

I've always said that there are three directors that I would work with any time, and Jack Hill heads that list. The other two are Quentin and Rob Zombie. The reason is that they are very clear in what their vision is and can relate that to you, and then they just get out of the way and let you do your work. Pam and I became friends right away. When you're working in conditions like we were you have to form a bond, and we did.

You're also closely associated with the films of Roger Corman...

The first film I did for Roger was Blood Bath (aka Track of the Vampire), directed by who else but Jack Hill. I never really counted, but I think I've done about ten films for Roger, and I would do that many more for him. He's just so smart about everything that he does. As far as favorite projects ... I don't have any. I have fond remembrances about almost all of them.

What are your thoughts on popular cinema today?

Popular cinema today is a mixed bag of tricks. There are some really great films and then there are the films that are made just because somebody had enough money to by a camera. Some of my all-time faves I was able to see at the New Beverly in Hollywood, such as Lawrence of Arabia and House of Wax (1953).

Haig in Batman (1966)

Do you have a fondest memory of working in television?

I was in the "Return of the Archons" episode of Star Trek as the First Lawgiver. That was crazy, because everybody on the show was trying to quit smoking. As a result there was a lot of gum chewing going on. Joe Pevney, the director, was pulling his hair out because he had to stop almost every scene because somebody was chewing gum. One day of shooting, we were on location with about 80 extras. When we broke for lunch, Bill Shatner handed out bubble gum to the cast and crew with the instructions to blow a bubble in the first scene after lunch when the director said action. The director said action and about a hundred and fifty people turned to the camera and blew a bubble.

You also appeared in Batman...

Batman was much more tame. The thing that was interesting about that show was that everybody in Hollywood was trying to get on that show. I was cast because the producer, Howie Horwitz, saw an add in Variety that pointed to the fact that I was guest staring in a different show every night of the coming week. He called me in and said ... "Read the script and any part you want besides King Tut is yours."

What advice do you offer to aspiring actors?

Study your craft, don't just say the words. Learn how to build a character using the only tool you have... yourself. Every personality trait there is rests inside of you. You have to find it and make it come to life for each character. If you really want to become an actor, you can't have a backup plan. If you do, you will back up. No one chooses a backup that's more difficult than what their primary goal is.

What is next for you as an actor?

You tell me, because I have no idea. I'm waiting for another good project as far as new work, but at the moment I'm very excited about where that's going.

In closing, if you had to sum up your career thus far with one word, what would it be?

Kaleidoscopic.

#42. A Conversation with Elizabeth Ito

Jason Anders: So let's talk about your time spent in school at CalArts majoring in Character Animation; what originally inspired you to want to become an artist and what were your four years in college like?

Elizabeth Ito: I'm not really sure what the first thing was to inspire me to be an artist. I was always drawing as a kid, mostly because it was the best way I knew to express my feelings, both good and bad. The first thing I remember wanting to be was a children's book author and illustrator. My parents read to me a lot, so a lot of my early influences were children's book artists, like Richard Scarry, William Steig, Beatrix Potter, and too many more to list. I also always strive be a better artist... I'm not trying to sound like the Stuart Smalley of art, I've just always been my biggest critic. For example, when I was a very small child, my mom enrolled me in a Monart class, which she probably regretted in the end, because I would constantly compare my artwork to the teacher's example. I could see that mine clearly didn't look as good. I thought I sucked. I didn't really understand that maybe, for my age, I had done an OK job.

Regardless of feeling inadequate at a young age, the truth is, no matter what, I don't think I would've stopped drawing, or creating stories. A lot of times it was an outlet for anything I was feeling. I remember being in tears about random kid drama, but needing to get bad feelings out, and the only way I knew how was to draw a picture. On the positive side of that, there were lots of times I would lose track of time, happily drawing diagrams of mice in their houses.

The first thing to make me want to work in animation as a profession was my experience in the California State Summer School for the Arts (CSSSA, now going under the name of Innerspark) in the summer of 1996. I had to fill out an application, and remember thinking, "I guess I'll try animation, I've never really tried that before." I was accepted, but only really decided to go because all my friends from my high school were going away for the summer. It was probably one of the luckiest random decisions I ever made in my life, I really fell in love with animation during that summer. It was only about a month long program, and it sounds like I'm talking about a religious conversion, but the effect it had on my goals, and my life in general, was indescribable. The program really changed my life.

JA: Which cartoons did you grow up watching, and do you have an all-time favorite piece of animation?

EI: I watched a lot of Sesame Street, Silly Symphonies, Merrie Melodies, Looney Tunes, Garfield and Friends, Muppet Babies, random Saturday morning cartoons, and various Disney movies. I broke a VHS tape of Disney's Robin Hood that we had taped off the television because I watched it so much. When I was still in grade school I remember going to an animation festival screening at a theater in West LA, which gave me a good perspective on everything you could do, beyond the Disney realm, with animation. I remember a friend of the family went to Japan, and came back with a VHS tape of My Neighbor Totoro, which I loved instantly. I'm surprised I didn't break that tape, too.

My brother is eight years younger than me, so I wound up watching a lot of shows because of him. I would say that Nickelodeon was one of our favorite channels, and I remember seeing Creature Comforts for the first time, as an interstitial on that channel. When I was older I was a big fan of Rocko's Modern Life. Even when I was in college, I was still watching Nicktoons in my spare time. As far as an all-time favorite, it's really hard for me to say, because there are so many that I could watch over and over again. I think right now, it's a toss up between Creature Comforts, My Neighbor Totoro, Rocko's Modern Life (the Wacky Deli episodes) and... probably Disney's Robin Hood for nostalgia's sake.

JA: Tell me about your line of toys and how you got started in creating plush dolls- also tell me about Mister Monster Doll and Flavas Dolls.

EI: I started working as an intern at Mattel during the summer of my sophomore year at Cal Arts, and was the only Cal Arts student in their internship program that summer. Most of the other students who were interns came from Otis's toy design program. The internship came as a result of being noticed for my work in a scholarship program. Three Cal Arts Character Animation students were selected for a scholarship during the school year. We all came in a program at Mattel called, "Project Platypus." Sounds like a joke, but it was actually pretty cool. Twelve employees were chosen from different departments inside Mattel, and brought together to learn new ways to work together, with the common goal of creating a new toy line. Me and my fellow Cal Artians each came up with our own toy line ideas, and at the end of the scholarship program, we presented our ideas, along with the Mattel employees. A few executives at the presentation really liked my work, and my ideas, so they singled me out, and offered me an internship for the summer, with the Girls New Brands division. I got to work in their design center in El Segundo. It was a big privilege, because a lot of people who work at Mattel aren't allowed access to the design center if they aren't working as artists/designers.

At the time, Girls New Brands were making the Flavas dolls, and they gave me a pretty cool assignment, that was very much suited to my strengths. I'm not sure how much I'm allowed to say, so I'll leave it at that. Mattel is a huge place, and it was incredible to see how things work in their design center. It was a great experience for me to work there, as it gave me a much better idea of how toy design, and production, works.... I guess that leads me to Mister Monster...

Mister Monster was a character in my junior year film at Cal Arts. He appears on the desk of the main character, to inspire him, and remind him that once in a while you need to break out, to do your own thing. I randomly showed a sketch of the character to a toy producer when I was out at a party. I had been telling him about my internship from the previous summer, at Mattel, and showed him my sketchbook. He immediately singled out the character who would become Mister Monster, and said he wanted to make a toy of that. I said that would be fun, and to my amazement, it actually happened, and it happened while I was still in school, which was pretty rad. Eventually we made three other paint variations on the toy: a Cal Arts edition (that was sent out to donors to Cal Arts), a Comicon edition (who looked like a ninja), and an edition for Polysics (a Japanese, Devo-like band).

JA: You would eventually work for Dreamworks Animation as a storyboard artist on Bee Movie; tell me about your memories of being involved with this motion picture, and what it was like to work on such a big project for talents like Steve Hickner and Jerry Seinfeld.

EI: Working at Dreamworks was quite an experience. They have a huge pool of very talented artists working there, so it was a little intimidating. After a while the intimidation stops affecting you, and it's easier to get comfortable with the job. Specifically for Bee Movie, it was pretty exciting to pitch my boards to Jerry Seinfeld. I remember I was really nervous, because I was hoping for a good reaction from him, but wasn't sure what to expect. The sequence I pitched went really well, and it was really easy to tell that he liked it, because he had a very loud laugh. It was flattering to have a guy known globally for his comedy, laughing at your storyboards. Luckily, it was supposed to be a funny sequence.

JA: During that same year you would also work at Disney as a storyboard artist on Katbot, and for Fred Wolfe Films on Zula Patrol; tell me about the work you did on these projects.

EI: Katbot and Zula Patrol were both freelance storyboarding jobs. I don't think Katbot ended up making it on the air, though I could be wrong. I never actually got to see the episodes of Zula Patrol that I worked on, but I know that it is still on television. For both these jobs, I enjoyed getting the experience of working fast, and making my own hours- but I think I've found storyboarding to be easier when done in house, because I like having people around to talk to, and to bounce my ideas off.

JA: Tell me about your original pilot for ABC, My Family As Monsters.

EI: I was initially very taken off guard by getting the opportunity to do this. Disney had tried to contact me, but after some failed attempts, a secretary at Cal Arts actually called me, and told me that Disney had been trying to get a hold of me, and she told me who I needed to call. When I went in for a meeting, I was under the impression it was a normal "meet & greet," a kind of meeting where they just want to meet you to tell you they like your work, and see if you would be interested in pitching or working there in the future. I came in, and probably not more than ten minutes into the meeting, I found out they wanted to option my short film, Welcome to My Life, for a prime time series on ABC Family. It took quite a while to get through all the legal contract writing stuff, about a year, and I ended up spending only about half that time actually working on the pilot. I came up with ideas about how to get the same improv/ documentary feeling of my short into a series, and at first it was really cool. It took a lot of time to come up with a format for how to debut the show in a way that both Disney and ABC Family would be happy with, but eventually we decided to do a 22 minute pilot.

I auditioned about 45 actors and actresses for the non-family parts over the course of one day, wrote a bunch of questions out for the record session, recorded my family and actors over the course of two days in a fancy sound studio, built a radio play with a sound designer, and was ready to storyboard an animatic. Then everything ground to a halt. Within the "waiting for permission to storyboard" phase, the executive who had originally brought me and my short to Disney, left the company. Shortly after that my pilot left the company as well. In the end I think it was for the best, because I learned that ABC Family would've wanted to script the show, and use actors for the voices of my family, which I'm certain would remove all of what makes the original short appealing to people in the first place. I was sad about losing the opportunity to make my own show, but happy that my original idea was left undamaged, and uncompromising.

JA: You would go back to storyboard for Disney on the series The Emperor's New School, and also on Phineas and Ferb; what is it like to work on such a popular series with a director like Dan Povenmire, who has come from working on such shows as Family Guy, Rocko's Modern Life, and Spongebob Squarepants?

EI: It was really fun to work on an outline based TV series like Phineas and Ferb. A lot of popular shows, like Simpsons, and Family Guy, are script based. Everything that happens in the show is planned by a writer. On Family Guy, a storyboard artist is given a script that is very specific as to location, action, and dialogue. On outline based shows, the board artist is given a few basic paragraphs, summarizing what needs to happen in the show. The board artist is responsible for writing all the dialogue, and usually has much more freedom to insert their own humor, through both action and dialogue, into the episode.

When working from an outline, essentially you learn to be a comedy writer, since all the dialogue, and gag ideas, come from you. I had never worked on an outline based show like that before, but most TV shows that I was a big fan of, like Spongebob and Rocko, had been (and still are) made that way. I had a blast working this way, and actually found that I prefer working off an outline. It was really great to work with Dan Povenmire, and Swampy Marsh, they are both very funny guys, and sort of heroes of mine, because of my love of Rocko. It's also very important that I mention my storyboarding partners, Kim Roberson, and Aliki Theofilopoulos. They were both a big help to me in learning the ins and outs of boarding from an outline, and working as a team. Also my friend Zac Moncrief was great as a director of one of the episodes that I boarded, and was really good at coming up with funny ideas.

JA: Let's talk about Welcome to My Life, a short film you made which is an animated documentary about a family of monsters trying to lead a normal American life. This film is a brilliant piece of comedy, with great animation and character design- so great, in fact, that it not only won you a nomination for the Student Academy Award in 2004, but also won the Producer's Choice Award in the first Nicktoons Film Festival; what was it like for you to receive so much recognition for a project this early in your career, and did you have any idea that the film would gain the attention and positive feedback that it did?

EI: Thank you very much for your kind words about Welcome to My Life. It's always a big honor to win an award for something you've made (unless it's a Razzie Award, or a Darwin Award), so I was very happy that people liked my film enough to feel it was a winner for anything. Unfortunately I didn't end up winning the Student Academy Award, but I was in the top ten contenders that year. Even though I didn't win, I was really honored to be in the top ten. There were a lot of people who entered, and about two or three elimination rounds that I had to make it through to get that far... so I still felt like I could give myself a high five for making it to the last round.

The funny thing is that I almost didn't make Welcome to My Life, because I had intended to graduate a year early from Cal Arts. At the last minute I changed my mind. I think part of it was because I started getting this new film idea, and I knew I would be disappointed if I never got to make it. For me, this film started from wanting to shine a bit of light on my brother, because I think he is a great writer, and a very funny person. He had written an autobiography of himself for his high school English class, and I found it to be very funny, in a heartfelt and honest kind of way. I really wanted to capture the feeling his writing had. As I started to work on it, I realized that feeling kind of defined my whole family's existence: funny, yet honest and heartfelt.

As my film started to come together, I felt that this was different than the other films I had made at Cal Arts. It made me feel something when I watched it, like when you hear a song you really like- there's a kind of wave that goes through you, where you feel warm, and like your scalp is relaxing... Or at least, that's how I feel, I'm not sure if it's a universal feeling. As a filmmaker, you always hope for a certain reaction from your audience, for me I always want people to connect to my work, to like it, and to remember it. That said, I don't think I expected my film to gain the attention it did, but I certainly hoped people would like it. It was one of the rare moments when I made something personal for myself, that thankfully ended up being personal for a lot of other people, too, while also making them laugh. I'm glad that the world can appreciate my family, and our eccentric way of thinking and joking, the same way that I appreciate it.

JA: Finally, let's talk about your work as a storyboard artist on the new film Astro Boy; tell me about your experiences of being involved on this picture, and what has it been like to work for the director, David Bowers, who has worked on such films as Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Flushed Away, and An American Tail: Fievel Goes West. Also, what is next for you in your career, and where do you ultimately see yourself in the world of art and animation?

EI: I had a really great time working on Astro Boy. We had to work a lot with Tezuka's company to make sure they were happy with the direction the movie was going, down to something as minute as how many eyelashes Astro should have, or whether he should have them at all. Astro Boy is such an iconic figure, they wanted to make sure we were portraying him correctly. It was tricky, but hopefully the public, both fans and those new to Astro Boy, will like the movie. Dave was a pleasure to work with, and I'm glad I got the chance to get to know him, and work with him. In general, there were so many talented people I got to meet, and work with on that movie, I feel very fortunate. I can't wait to see the movie in October.

As far as my future, there were some temporary financial hang ups at Imagi, and I ended up getting a job story-boarding at Cartoon Network, on Adventure Time. Pendleton Ward is a good friend of mine, and I am a big fan of his work, so I'm very excited and happy to be working on his show. It's a lot of fun, and probably the best show I could ask to work on. I can't wait to see it on the air. As far as the future beyond that... I'm not sure yet, hopefully I have a while to do a lot of different things, and work with a lot of different people... but probably world domination is still at the top of my list. Join my army! Ito out!

#41. A Conversation with Lana McKissack

Jason Anders: In 1995 you starred in Robert Rodriguez's segment of the film Four Rooms- how did you arrive at being cast in this picture, and how much do you remember of the audition process?

Lana McKissack: I remember it well. I was told that Robert was looking for a Latina actress, so I couldn't help but wonder why my agent was sending me out for the part. I also had a hard time with the dialogue because I was quite a good kid and felt uncomfortable saying bad words. My parents informed me that cursing doesn't count if you're being paid to do it. I actually had to go through about four callbacks before I finally got cast. From what I recall, Salma Hayek was originally supposed to play the role of the mother and they ended up going with the gorgeous Tamlyn Tomita. I think it's hilarious that an Asian woman and a Latino man produced one Asian child and one Latino child.

JA: Do you remember what originally inspired you to act?

LM: I was a very outgoing child so my parents got me started early on. I did my first commercial when I was two years old- I think it was for Toys "R" Us. I really loved acting so my mom and dad enrolled me at the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute when I was five. I had a blast! After taking some classes, I got cast in several more commercials and had a few guest starring roles before Four Rooms came along.

The day that the script was sent to my house, my dad had just come back from a business trip and had no idea that I had gotten the part. He was walking by my room when he heard me yelling at the top of my lungs and cursing up a storm. I was reading the whole script out loud and had just gotten through the second segment when he burst through the door wondering what was going on. Nothing freaks a father out more than hearing his ten-year-old daughter screaming about guns and hypodermic needles.

(EXCERPT FROM ROGER EBERT'S REVIEW OF THE FILM)-

"The best of the four films - and it's very funny - is Rodriguez's The Misbehavers. It opens as Ted (Roth), the bellboy, checks in a Latino tough guy (Antonio Banderas), his wife (Tamlyn Tomita), and their two small kids. Banderas is hilarious in a parody of his usual macho stud role (I like the way he kicks the elevator button and folds his wife into his arms in the same smooth motion). But the fun starts after the couple head out to celebrate New Year's Eve and ask Ted to baby-sit. He is stern with the children, uttering dire threats if they do not behave. Not only do they misbehave, but they do it so comprehensively that there's one shot (I won't say more) in which they seem to have gotten into all possible varieties of trouble simultaneously. And that's before the dead body turns up. This is slapstick on a grand scale, acted and edited with perfect comic timing, and it makes me want to see a Rodriguez comedy."

JA: How did being involved in this movie impact your life, and how much of being on the set do you remember as a child?

LM: Filming this movie was one of the best experiences I've had so far. It only took two or three weeks to shoot and yet I learned so much from being on that set. Can you imagine doing your first feature film and working with Antonio Banderas and Tim Roth? Not to mention all of the other huge actors that were involved. What can I say? I got really lucky.

I have a lot of memories of being on that set. Danny Verduzco and I spent several hours a day with our tutor and several hours shooting. All of it was ridiculously fun. We would play around and Robert would incorporate our little mannerisms into the movie. The quick shots of me cracking my toes and Danny sucking on his were actually things that we did in real life that Robert edited in. I just remembered the first time I saw Danny sucking on his big toe while we were waiting for a scene to be set up. I thought it was so disgusting. Ah, the memories!

Robert was an amazing director. He comes from a family of nine siblings, so he was really incredible with kids. He was always very clear about what he wanted, but he also gave us so much room to play around. And he was extremely generous. After we wrapped, Robert and his now ex-wife Elizabeth (who is the kindest person you will ever meet), took Danny, his brother (who played the little kid in Desperado) and me on a huge toy-shopping spree. Nothing was off-limits! Let me reiterate... I was a very lucky kid.

JA: Do you have a personal favorite moment working so far working in the entertainment industry?

LM: Hmm... I've actually had a lot of favorite moments in my life thus far. I suppose one that sticks out is singing an entire solo song for thousands of people inside the Sydney Opera House for the 2000 Olympics. That was pretty damn cool.

JA: Do you feel like your time spent at UCLA has helped you improve as an actress?

LM: I was in the Ray Bolger Musical Theater Program for four glorious, strenuous years! UCLA was amazing. I can't say enough good things about my experience there. I stayed on campus for my first two years and literally lived and breathed theater. When you're in that program, you start your day with 8 a.m. Tai Chi and have class continuously through 6 p.m., at which point you get an hour break before rehearsal starts for whatever show you are involved in. By the time you get home at 11:30, you want to crawl into bed but you can't because you're in college and someone is always dragging you to a party. And then you still have to study for that stupid Anthropology midterm. I didn't sleep much in college.

The theater program at UCLA is a BA program, not a BFA, so you are still required to take a million GE's in addition to all of your theater classes. And let me tell you- theater classes are much more rigorous than people think. Our week consisted of daily dance classes (in ballet, tap, jazz and music theater forms), voice lessons, six hours of acting class (which didn't include the rehearsal time that we had to fit in somehow), sight-reading classes, music theory, theater history, voice and speech, tai chi, movement, audition preparation and many more that I'm forgetting. Yes, we received an unbelievable amount of training, but the most valuable thing that I learned in college was self-confidence. I've never had a huge problem with that, but being in such a supportive environment with the ten other people in my graduating class really made me understand how unique and valuable each of us is. Getting my degree was the most challenging thing I have ever done, but also the most rewarding. I look at my diploma every single day and I'm really proud of what I accomplished. Okay, I'm getting really nostalgic. Time to move on...

JA: Your most recent project was Exit in 2003, do you have any aspirations to return to acting in film or television?

LM: I do, actually. I stopped acting for a little while to focus on school, but then I ended up getting a recording contract in Japan with Sony Records, which pulled me into the music scene for a few years. Since college, I've mainly been doing musical theater, but I recently re-signed with my childhood agency (Coast to Coast Talent Group) and I'm working my way back into film and TV. I'm actually going to be shooting a short film next month. Also, I'm keeping my fingers crossed on a couple of projects that my voice-over agent is trying to work me into. She rocks!

JA: Who inspires you as a performer?

LM: Mariah Carey. Don't judge me. I love her.

In terms of actors, I love Kate Winslet, Rachel McAdams, Edward Norton, Johnny Depp, Paul Rudd, Ewan McGregor and Leonardo Dicaprio. I think that each of them is unbelievably talented and versatile. Oh, and the cast of Arrested Development really inspires me. That show is absolutely perfect.

JA: What are your favorite movies AND musicals?

LM: I absolutely adore all of the following: Moulin Rouge, Memento, Pan's Labyrinth, Big Fish, In Bruges, Zoolander, Mean Girls, Wedding Crashers, Liar Liar, and I've seen Independence Day about 45 times. I'm not exaggerating.

My favorite musicals are Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, The Last Five Years and Wicked.

JA: So what is next for you?

LM: I'm working on that short film and hopefully some voice-overs. I also am writing a lot of music these days, both for myself and for other artists. I'll probably post some more originals on my YouTube channel as soon as they are finished. I'm taking a hiatus from musical theater to focus on film and television at the moment, but at some point I will definitely be going back to my theater roots.

JA: What are your thoughts on Four Rooms looking back at it today?

I actually haven't seen Four Rooms in a very long time. I watched part of my segment when I was putting my reel together recently, but I really should watch the whole movie again. I think it's very interesting how much of a cult classic the film has become. As you can tell from my list of favorites, it isn't really the type of movie that I would typically be into, but I do enjoy receiving random Facebook messages from people who really liked it. I can always tell when Four Rooms has aired on TV because I get a sudden influx of MySpace comments from people who want to know what I look like now that I'm all grown up. Occasionally I get requests from those with foot-fetishes who want to see if my feet have aged well. Yes, I'm serious.

JA: What is it you love most about acting, and what do you feel is the most valuable lesson you have learned so far in the business?

LM: I love having the freedom to indulge in my creative fantasies. I find acting to be really cathartic. If I'm having a rough day, sometimes I pull out a dramatic play or monologue and I scream and cry out my anger and sadness. It bleeds over into my every-day life as well. If you were to sit and listen to a conversation I'm having with my friends, you'd probably be incredibly confused because we rarely ever say anything serious. Even when we aren't meaning to, we are almost always acting.

The most valuable lesson I've learned is one that every UCLA theater graduate will have heard a million times: "Trust that you are enough." Trust that your instincts and training will be enough to get you to wherever you need to go. Being an actor can be incredibly scary. You have a million people competing to be successful in an industry that only has room for a handful of steadily working actors. You are constantly making yourself vulnerable and exposing the most intimate facets of your personality, and having to be judged all the while. I try to remind myself that at the end of the day, it is just me out there so I'd better be my own biggest supporter and trust that I am enough.

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