Movie Props and Firearms Expert (and Martin Scorsese’s Daughter) on What Hollywood Has to Do to Be Safe

Posted on November 5, 2021 at 4:47 pm

The daughter of acclaimed movie director Martin Scorsese has been working with props, including firearms, on movie sets for decades, and her conversation about inadequate safety protections in response to the tragic shooting on the set of “Rust” should be required reading for all Hollywood producers and studio executives.

For years, I’ve been saying there’s got to be a better way to make movies, and everybody’s attitude is, “Well, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” but it is broke. It’s very broken, as a matter of fact.

Prop departments are notorious for being the smallest on set and are often asked to cut down on manpower.

Everyone, regardless of department, is overworked. We all work crazy hours for weeks and sometimes months at a time, and it’s hell on our bodies, our minds, our relationships, and our lives.

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Behind the Scenes

Oral History of That Thing You Do: 25 Years Later

Posted on October 6, 2021 at 9:54 am

I can’t count how many times I’ve seen “That Thing You Do,” one of the most purely delightful films of all time. The key may be in one of the comments of writer/director Tom Hanks (who also appears in the film) in this oral history on Ringer: “No bad guys in my movie.” The behind-the scenes stories are wonderful and what really comes through is the appreciation of everyone involved in the movie for Hanks’ talent and his kindness.

Panel on “Worth” with Ken Feinberg, Michael Keaton, Laura Benanti, Max Max Borenstein, Camille Biros, and Caroline Kennedy

Posted on September 2, 2021 at 9:30 pm

It was an honor to serve as moderator for a panel discussion of the Netflix film “Worth,” with Michael Keaton as Ken Feinberg, whose pioneering work on allocating compensation following major national tragedies led to his appointment as Special Master for the fund set up for the victims of 9/11 and their families. The film is a powerful story of the importance and the limitations of justice as Feinberg learns that it is as important for the people he is trying to help to be able to tell their stories as it is to pay their bills. He also learns about the limitations of the law as he has to find a way to compensate undocumented workers and then-not-legally-recognized same sex partners. Our discussion was sponsored by the John F. Kennedy Library, where Feinberg served as board chairman, and we were introduced by Ambassador Caroline Kennedy. The discussion included ethics, empathy, acting, and opera.

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Behind the Scenes Movies for Grown-Ups

Behind the Scenes: Nomadland

Posted on April 14, 2021 at 6:34 pm

Best Picture nominee “Nomadland” has an intimate, documentary tone. In this peek behind the scenes we can see how writer/director Chloe Zhao (also nomainated) and her production team mingled actors and real nomads to let us see the world of people who choose to live their lives on the road.

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Behind the Scenes

Behind the Scenes of Elf and Nightmare Before Christmas

Posted on December 6, 2020 at 10:45 am

Netflix’s entertaining “The Movies that Made Us” series has a new holiday edition called, you guessed it, “The Holiday Movies that Made Us,” with behind-the-scenes episodes about two beloved classics, Elf and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Both movies had the most improbable, even daunting production histories, with inexperienced filmmakers and skeptical studios. Indeed, the stories behind the movies are as magical as the movies themselves.