The most anticipated movie event of the year are the Academy Awards®. Sunday February 26, 2012 on ABC-TV will be the 84th Academy Awards® when the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognizes the excellence of professionals in the film industry.
Throughout the year, I had conversations with producers, directors, production persons, and actors who’s film projects have garnered recognition with an Oscar® nomination. The insight from each of these persons provides a ‘behind-the-scenes’ view of their dedication to the art of filmmaking.
In this seven part series excerpts from those interviews include
Part 1- Director Simon Curtis interview: film ‘My Week With Marilyn’ Best Actress nominee Michelle Williams.
Part 2- Director Cary Fukunaga interview: film ‘Jane Eyre’ Best Costume Design nomination.
Part 3- Director Chris Miller interview: film ‘Puss in Boots’ Best Animated Feature Film nominee.
Part 4- Director Chris Weitz interview: film ‘A Better Life’ Best Actor nominee Demian Bichir.
Part 5- Director Jennifer Yuh interview: film ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ Best Animated Feature Film nominee.
Part 6- Director Wim Wenders interview: film ‘Pina’ Best Documentary Feature Film.
Part 7- Stunt Coordinator Ken Bates interview: film ‘Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon’ Best Visual Effects nomination.
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‘Conversations With Oscar® Nominees’ – Part 4 of 7 – Director Chris Weitz (‘A Better Life’)
This heartwarming story centers on a gardener (Demian Bichir) in East L.A. who struggles to keep his son (Jose Julian) away from gangs and immigration agents while trying to give his son the opportunities he never had. Demian Bichir received a Best Actor nomination.
As production persons in the industry, we work on various film projects. On some, we’re drawn to a project, while others find us.
Chris tells me… “It found me! Actually they had been trying to make this film for twenty years! It’s based on an incident that happened to a friend of one of the producers. About three years ago a friend brought me this script that Eric Eason had written who’s an amazing writer, and its really the best thing I had read the whole time I’d been working in movies.
Aside from that, I have Mexican family heritage, my grandmother came to the States when she was 17, and I grew up not speaking Spanish, so it was an opportunity to get back into that aspect of the culture, to start learning Spanish because I knew we were going to make the movie with a bilingual crew! And as well, ‘A Better Life’ was a chance to get back to making films without green screen and without CGI, and a film with real emotional impact!” – Chris Weitz
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