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A Conversation with director Ash Baron-Cohen
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Oliver Stone once called Ash Baron-Cohen “a young British filmmaker who has undoubtedly flourished to become one of the most gifted directors of his generation.” His award-winning and critically-acclaimed documentary, “Little Warriors,” about a group of 11-year-old children who are born with HIV/AIDS in America has aired worldwide on The Discovery Channel, MTV Europe and other key outlets in Israel, Europe, Latin America and Asia. If you don’t know his work yet…you will.
Mike Parker – I understand you earned a BS degree in Experimental Psychology. Was that an interest of yours prior to your leap into the world of film making, or did that somehow feed the beast?
Ash Baron-Cohen – It was an interest of mine and it has served me well because of all of the strange members that make up the film industry. Sometimes I wonder if I am more of a psychologist than a director; particularly when I deal with actors. If I can generate a performance from an actor that they didn’t know they were capable of, then I’ve done my job.
Parker – You have been called a provocative director, and I note that at one point you got kicked out of film school. Were you just being too provocative?
Baron-Cohen – Actually, I have been called provocative. I’ve never wanted to make people feel totally comfortable. If you can move someone, you’ve done your job. I was on my best behavior in film school, and I still managed to get kicked out. I make a film about a 22 year-old dominatrix, and I made it on 16 mm film instead of Super 8, so I overstepped my bounds. It was a good thing. It pushed me to pursue my career earlier.
Parker – You’re British by birth. Why pursue filmmaking in America?
Baron-Cohen – America is a fascinating place. It is a microcosm of the world, Just in LA alone you have 100 different cultures. A filmmaker is an artist who reflects society and this is such a melting pot that represents so many cultures struggling to survive. It is a rich culture for me to delve into. I like the fact that America is only about 400 years old, and that makes it very like the Eastern Culture, very fresh. I like that things change very quickly here. It is like a culture on steroids, very muscular on one level, but we don’t know what the side effects are.
Parker – You’ve got a couple of big films in various stages of production right now. One, called “Novella,” already has Grammy winner, Lenny Kravitz, cast as the lead in what appears to me to be his film debut. Now, Lenny is a proven commodity when it comes to music, but he’s an unknown quantity when it comes to movies. What compelled you to cast him in the lead?
Baron-Cohen – It was an exciting choice. Just look at the history of musicians who have gone into film - Frank Sinatra, the young Elvis who showed a lot of talent before the commercial machine took over, Justin Timberlake. Lenny had seen my last film, “This Girl’s Life,” and he asked for a meeting. I realized he had a very creative talent; very open, very vulnerable. I thought he had the charisma to play an interesting character on film. He seems to have a very natural acting ability. As a young man he had a choice between going into film or music, and he chose music. Now he has the opportunity to show what he can do with film.
Parker – Another film you’ve go in the works right now is called “RadioActive,” which sounds pretty intriguing. What’s the story on that film?
Baron-Cohen –Many of the filmmakers I looked up to made classic gangster films. I wanted to make a gangster film and I’ve never made one until now. I hope it is not in the same mold as normal gangster films. It is written from a female view point. Gangs have been something that America has been built on in many ways; even the Indian tribes are gangs of a sort. Gangs have always tried to gain power, and then they become legitimate and move the country forward. I come from Britain which seems to have a stable society, but if you look far enough back you find that there was some kind of gang influence in our history. The guy with the most power or the biggest army got his way, and then eventually became the king.
Parker – As near as I can tell, every film you have directed you have also written, which also goes for “Novella” and “RadioActive.” Are there projects you would like to direct that you haven’t written?
Baron-Cohen – Absolutely. I’m actively looking for scripts and stories to direct. Writing is something that I feel compelled to do, but I know there are people out there with great stories, and I’m open to anything, genre wise. I’d love to do a comedy or something based on a true story.
Parker – In “RadioActive” you explore the seemingly symbiotic relationship between love and violence from a female perspective. How did you get that perspective? I mean, you are not a woman.
Baron-Cohen – I’m definitely not female in this lifetime. It’s strange, but since the first script I ever wrote I decided to write from a female perspective. Maybe my pen is a cross-dressing pen. I think all gangster stories are male driven, but we are living in an age where the female consciousness is shifting. I thought it was relevant to look at that world from a female perspective.
Parker – Last words?
Baron-Cohen – I’ve recently done a follow-up documentary “Little Warriors.” Now that these children who were infected with HIV are 18 years old, it is fascinating to explore how they are starting to have sex with HIV negative partners. In my generation and if you went out on a date and if the topic of having sex came up, the idea of AIDS would definitely be a roadblock. But today there are people who don’t seem to have a problem with that. Some are having protected sex with multiple partners. It is a sign of how society is changing.
The Seven Questions
1. What’s your favorite sound?
Baron-Cohen – The word, “Yes.”
2. What makes you happy?
Baron-Cohen – Good question. Inspiration, and when it comes to be able to follow through with it.
3. What makes you angry?
Baron-Cohen – Seeing homeless old ladies on the street. Women are the bearers of life, and I think a culture is defined by how it treats women; particularly its old women.
4. What is the secret of success?
Baron-Cohen – Doing what you love.
5. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, living or dead, who would it be?
Baron-Cohen – Muhammad Ali.
6. What is the epitaph that is written on your tombstone?
Baron-Cohen – “Big surprises come in small packages.”
7. When you get to heaven, what is the first thing you want to hear God say to you?
Baron-Cohen – “Love is the drug of choice here. I’m your dealer and I encourage you to overdose as often as possible.”
Recent Conversations we’ve had:
Dance/Pop Maven Erika Jayne
The Phone's Julia Voth
Cirque du Soleil coach Michael John Ocampo
Miss March’s Alexis Raben
The Script Frontman Danny O'Donaghue
Obsessed Producer Will Packer
Sleepless in Seattle - the Musical Producer David Shor
Broadway Star Megan Hilty
Kings Creator Michael Green
Watchmen's Apollonia Vanova
For more info: Report on Novella
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