For somebody so revered in Hollywood, there is something rather deliciously, grottily British about Stephen Frears. A remarkably prolific director for both television and cinema, in the last four years alone he has managed to produce three films that have all scooped major prizes: Dirty Pretty Things, Mrs Henderson Presents and The Queen.
'That's what they said at Belsen, ' Frears deadpans. 'You've taken ten minutes to make this point, ' he goes on. 'Is there a quicker way?' By the end of the session, the rough cut that I watch is markedly better than the one I saw first thing in the morning."They've got to be mindful that they're going to make those mistakes in a new environment, but display the same drive, passion, determination, work ethic that has defined their success on the football field and apply the same assets in the broadcast environment."Giants' Bob Whitfield, who concluded he wants to be behind the scenes as a TV producer or in radio-("let somebody else be pretty on the camera") -said he wouldn't mind putting in the long hours needed to get the job done. "When we're playing football, we spend nine, 10 hours a day at work. We go in early in the morning, whether it's lifting weights or watching film, and practicing and treatment, we're there 10 hours a day ... I'm used to having just one day off a week. So going to a new job and not putting in the hours, I never gave it that thought."I submit to you that we are on the eve of a new American Revolution, perhaps as powerful as the birth of our democracy in the 1700's. What has happened is that the power in this country is in the process of being re-distributed to the people themselves who are the voters. We were born as a Republic, remember the words, "And to the Republic, for which it stands," in the Pledge of Allegiance. We are fast becoming a Democracy based on the information dispersion created by the Internet and cable television as a tool in everybody's home.We are able to filter stories for ourselves. No longer do I have to listen to Dan Rather tell me what's right or wrong. I can listen to Rather, read the NY Times, and go to the Internet and Cable TV to get additional information that the liberals refuse to divulge to me.Does he see an inherent value in such a collaboration? 'I suppose so, ' he shrugs.Did you know from kindergarten through senior year of high school, our education system ranks 16th in the world? On a college level, we rank number one and there is no one even close. Why you ask? It's because the college system is private, and the public system is not. Even on a college level when you have public colleges like the University of California system or State University of New York system, they are world class only because they have to compete against a private system. Our public school system doesn't compete, and therefore it is allowed to remain mediocre in the face of 15 superior systems throughout the world.'We both learn something. I'm just not quite sure what it is.' I suspect Frears, with his grudging charm, is being disingenuous. He holds the David Lean chair in fiction direction at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield and has said elsewhere that he loves to watch young film-makers in action.'Now, the system doesn't create those opportunities for young people. It creates different opportunities, there are more of them, somehow, but they're less valuable.Players listened to tips and instruction and drilled the country's top network executives and producers with questions on how to control emotions when on-air, how to criticize a player (a hot issue because often the player is a friend or former teammate), and how to get a foot in the door without having a "household" name.It's erratic and tough. The government cut funding for the third year of film school, which is basically when students were making films and learning how to do it.' In any case, I point out, if there's no hope of getting their films made once they're out, they're essentially being trained for unemployment. He snorts.Many analysts and producers watch hours and hours of game tape or film, an aspect many of the campers admitted that they did not know.Now the reality is that he was right, and the President was wrong, the CIA was wrong, the military was wrong. How was this guy right, and knew he was right, and a 300 billion dollar a year war machine couldn't get it right? I have never seen or heard from this individual again. Has he been hushed up, why no interview, articles, or books? After all, he got it right, and we all got it wrong.He and many of the other players look up to Brown as a role model and hope to have a "fraction of his talent." Brown, who confessed that he's not an expert at the game, encouraged the guys to pursue jobs in this industry.It is time for the Revolution to continue. By 2012, we will not recognize the political system in the United States as the dispersion of information shifts unfiltered to the people through the Internet's power. We should all welcome it, and thank God for it. What a wonderful thing that we will be alive to see it.
'Yes. The government certainly haven't got the balance right. Last year was a good year for British film, but successes like The Queen, they're freaks. Given the lack of support, for everyone, they're just flukes.' With a last drag on his cigarette before he heads upstairs to sprinkle a little more fairy dust on one lucky Peruvian, Frears, possibly our greatest and least fluky director, shrugs again. 'At the end of the day, it's hard to build an industry on a series of accidents.'
Author: Burton-Hill, Clemency
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