Selling at Sundance; Jeff Bridges' Stand-In

from KCRW in Santa Monica and kcrw.com I'm Kim Masters and this is the business you listen if you listen and learn then you're going to be able to do anything you want this time all Bri light what with him oh I'm afraid he's gone Hollywood this week on the business one of the Sundance Film festivals most seasoned players talks about selling movies as the independent film World struggles to regain its footing plus how an aspiring actor has made it in the business as the stand in for Jeff Bridges for 40 years but first the Hollywood news banter stick around it's the business from KCRW can imagine Hollywood everything is really driven by making money what's with him oh I'm afraid he's G Hollywood Hollywood I'm joined by my co- Baner John Horn of the Los Angeles Times and John finally Comcast has sewed up its deal for NBC Universal with the fcc's partial blessing a vote of 4 to one and it closes a $30 billion merger that I think a lot of people had serious objections to but it sounds as if Comcast got pretty much what they wanted yes there are some measures that are meant to protect competition in video online but even Comcast says it doesn't seem to be tremendously restricting and of course people have been kind of waiting for this I think that however much anxiety they have about this giant cable company taking over NBC Universal things have been so dreary for Hollywood in the GE era I think that they're just ready for the devil they don't know because they're so over it with GE which just seemed you know kind of at se for certainly in the recent years with what to do with this studio and and television network and cable networks now GE will retain a 49% interest in the new company but I think it's important and I think from where NBC and Universal that they are now owned by a Content company as opposed to a company that ran a credit facility and Made jet engines and nuclear reactors so I think in some ways it's a better marriage the real question it's something that FCC commissioner Michael cop said in voting against it is whether or not this deal puts too much power in one company's hands and I think that is going to play out over the next couple of years and there are a lot of people who are very concerned about whether or not this would be an anti-competitive merger but meanwhile we have some practical effect you know one of which will be of course the most high-profile even though it's hardly the most important from a financial point of view is NBC and poor old NBC has been just struggling along for a long time now and they've brought in Bob greenblat who's been waiting in the wings he ran Showtime when it became far more successful than it had been with shows as we've talked about like Dexter and weeds and now you know people are almost expecting this guy to walk on water his first move was putting a Law and Order LA on the bench but he there will be others and people are waiting to see certainly the USA Network that ain't broke and they don't need to fix it but in terms of sports I think a lot of people feel that Comcast will take its various entities and possibly launch a a challenger to ESPN which would be you know a big dramatic fight for a huge piece of business so there will be moves I think Comcast also has some work to do with Universal Studios which has struggled at the box office and Focus Features that may or may not be on the Block I mean both those companies have not done particularly well over the last couple of years even though Focus did have the kids are all right Universal just had the Dilemma which didn't do very well so there's a lot of work that needs to be done I think on the movie side as well and because Comcast is a cable company they may figure out a new way for Universal if not all movie studios to create a viable video OnDemand platform for films and make some money yeah speaking of money uh the in the film world you are packing as we speak to go to Sundance I think by the time this airs you will have already Frozen all your extremities at Sundance but meanwhile uh what are we looking forward to this time I think we're we're looking forward to the emergence of two potential new buyers relativity media and CBS films which are coming to the festival I hear agents say with money to spend I think uh I mean a lot of Distributors of special I film have kind of Gone by the wayside they vanished so the fact that relativity and CBS are in the market is a piece of good news but these films do require special and and very distinct kinds of marketing campaigns and you can't just throw one of these films onto your schedule and think it's going to do well they require a lot of loving care and uh CBS films is kind of very had a very hard time of it with Extraordinary Measures with Harrison Ford kind of Vanishing in this JLo movie the backup plan which failed also relativity meanwhile has just been all over the map co-financing all sorts of things obviously some with much better luck than others the fighter it financed and it has been quite a success story as well as I believe the social network right John yes I think what's interesting for both these companies is they're clearly trying to round out their slate and Sundance can be a good place to do that I think we're going to see a fair amount of caution but if you look back at last year's Festival even though Barry did not do well the kids of all R did Blue Valentine did uh Winter's Bone did I think you're see some pretty good deals the real question is the wobblers those movies that audiences tend to like but may not be commercial and where are they're going to end up are they going to end up on some video on demand channel like IFC or Magnolia or are they going to make it to theaters I think the Dynamics of or neither really right or neither unfortunately I mean there's hund some odd movies that are going to be at the festival and those are called from thousands of submissions so the winnowing down is incredibly dramatic but a number of films that get into Sundance are never seen outside of Park City Utah some of that deservedly so what about uh I know you've seen a couple movies that are going to be hoping for luck at Sundance John what what have you seen that uh seems worthy to you uh Salvation Boulevard which is a feature about a charismatic uh preacher played by Pierce Brazen and one of his uh Wayward disciples played by gray caner and their their attempts to cover up a crime I've also seen a movie called The Ledge which is again interestingly enough about Christianity and about a very devout Christian played by Patrick Wilson and a love triangle and involving another man and and somebody standing on the ledge of a high-rise building threatening to jump if things don't go as they're supposed to O sounds fun a thriller a Sundance Thriller in the dumb comedy category I'm I'm curious about my Idiot Brother which has Paul Rudd in it and it sounds like you know your your basic brainless comedy I really hope so because that's what I enjoy those I'm not I'm not to admit in many ways the studios that go to Sundance looking to buy movies are looking to do the same things that their bigger companies are doing when they put together a film in development in Hollywood they're looking for a movie that can be sold with a trailer uh something that stars a recognizable actor and something that you can cut a commercial for and will draw audiences in well John I think we'll probably follow up with you after you've been in Sundance and we've had a little bit of time to see how things unfold but meanwhile I hope you stay warm I will try to protect my extremities all right thank you John thank you Kim John Horn of the Los Angeles Times John Sloss wears many hats in the independent film world and historically at least Sundance was the place where he did most of his business sloth is an entertainment lawyer representing people like filmmaker Todd Haynes comedian Lou CK and director Gary Winnick his company also manages talent and he runs cinetic media a consulting firm that works with producers and film financiers to set up and sell independent movies SLO established himself as a force at Sundance in 2004 when he sold Napoleon Dynamite and suiz me for big dollars after that he enjoyed a number of Glory years going to Sundance to sell a clutch of films and playing hard ball with Studios that bit against each other furiously often in heated auctions that went into the we hours I met John SLO at Sundance during the Glory Days in January 2008 before the economic crisis hit sloth's company cinetic media had rented two condos in the Hills above Park City and buyers trekked up there prepared for battle then the bottom fell out of the economy and the independent film World took a big hit the studios wiped out their art film divisions and those million dooll auctions were largely a thing of the past still sloth has stayed in the game two years ago he sold precious and last year he sold the comedy the kids are all right this year he has nine films for sale at the festival including the new Kevin Smith movie Red State I called John SLO to check in as he headed to Park City we caught up with him in Texas where he was visiting his old friend and client filmmaker Richard Linkletter I asked loss whether he thinks the day of the intense auctions are coming back and he said not exactly you know we get our share of films that that get bought and then get into the marketplace and succeed but yes I mean those days of of people reflexively paying millions of dollars for films are not these days and what do you expect the market to be like it's hard to say the most attractive films at Toronto went for almost no money you know there are films that are genre films uh that sell and video driven deals that can sell for you know seven multiple seven figures but the films you know it's a rare film like the kids are all right that it gets an all rights deal with a real release commitment and still a significant advaned deal I hope there are several of those at Sundance this year and I hope we get our fair share of them so this year you have nine films do you have any that you feel are like the one that you could possibly I mean is it a dream about setting up an auction for you know they're all they're they're all like my children Kim so of course and you love them all the same but love them all the same I I don't know I don't know this there's no I mean last year I would have said the kids are all right is you know a super a-level specialized movie I don't know that you know there's a there's a there's a company that we consult to big beach which did Little Miss Sunshine and we're you know we we work very closely with them and they have a film this year that we're not officially selling called my Idiot Brother with Paul Rudd and a that Jesse Pet's did that that I think could be pretty commercial and you're not officially selling it nope but UT is officially selling it but why are you involved with it because we consult to the people who financed it and we're very close to them I see so you would you'll take that one as a win when because I know that we have we have lists here of what people think will sell and my Idiot Brother made both the list of The Hollywood Reporter and the LA Times I take that one and you know Kevin Smith is someone I've worked with since clerks and so I'm involved with red State uh and that's going to be something very interesting on Sunday night at Sundance what's the pitch for a movie like that red State the pitch is Kevin's a remarkably inventive and smart filmmaker and he has one almost 1.8 million followers on uh Twitter and the movie what what it's about that's not part of of the pitch uh the movie the movie I I'm constrained not to talk about what the movie is about I think you just have to show up and see it well I can tell you that John Goodman and Melissa Leo are in it and that's about all I can I can see Michael Parks and Michael Parks it's unlike anything Kevin Smith has done but it Bears his indelible unmistakable imprint in terms of the writing so uh in terms of a game plan you're not looking to do to auction so how do you work when you're not auctioning you know you have to uh you have to tailor the situation to the film and to when it's scheduled and what it's playing against and who is coming and some films create urgency immediately and some films take their fourth screening before they really hit critical mass but you know I mean I think canny sellers can maybe do multiple deals on a film and and window those films I mean part of the reason we we chose to release we you know we released our first film this past year exit through the gift shop and we did very well with it and we did that because we needed another alternative in the marketplace did you did you work as a producer or did you sell it I was hired to sell it and I ended up being the distributor we started our own Distribution Company to distribute it and we we distributed it on April 16th and it played 19 weeks at the sunshine and it outg grossed kickass at the arkite and it ended up grossing $3.5 million if you're just joining us we're talking with lawyer manager and film sales agent John soss about selling movies at Sundance he's telling us about his decision to do something he hadn't done before distribute a movie himself rather than sell it he did it last year with a documentary exit through the gift shop the movie was made by the famously secretive British street artist Banky Banky appears throughout the film in silhouette with his voice distorted to help tell an improbable Story how he took over a documentary that was supposed to be about him and turned it into a movie or really an expose about the wouldbe filmmaker the film is the story of what happened when this guy tried to make a documentary about me but he was actually a lot more interesting than I am so um now the film is kind of about him so let me just for make sure I got this exit to the gift shop thing right you you went to Sundance with exit through the gift shop hoping to sell it and and feeling that it was a great movie and then decided I'm just going to distribute it myself because it nobody bought it um there were seven figure offers on it but we fell in love with it we had a situation where we have a filmmaker who's a who is very controlling and is in charge of all the marketing yet won't have a conversation with you so that would be Banksy so so I've worked for Banky for 14 months and never had a conversation with him all email uh not even an email no direct communication how what do you do send up smoke signals exactly I mean well seriously how do you communicate with the guy through his through his gallerist a woman named Holly kushen who is amazing oh interesting and um but the fact of the matter is he he controlled every aspect of the release and um to be in the middle between you know Distributors who all think their marketing Geniuses and and a guy who wants to control everything but won't communicate seemed like an unenviable possibility so we just decided to do it ourselves and let him control you let us let him control us and uh you know we he trusted us after a while and we got our we got our influence around the margins um so we it was it but it was a blast was this the first movie you distributed the only one you've distributed the only one we've distributed we're looking at our second possible one now which will make an announcement about soon but you know our primary um job is selling movies okay John Sloss is an entertainment lawyer sales agent and manager who represents movies and talent thank you John my pleasure while Sundance is underway in Utah the Oscar nominations will be announced on Tuesday in Los Angeles one movie that's sure to feel some Oscar love is True Grit the Cohen Brothers Western starring Matt Damon newcomer Haley Steinfeld and the inimitable Jeff Bridges won't be stopping at boarding houses where there's warm beds and hot grub on the table I'll be traveling fast eating light little sleeping it's done to take place on the ground well I have slept out at night before papa took me a little frankon hun last summer on the petty Jean we were in the woods all night we s around a big F and y' and all told ghost stories we had a good time cool honey this ain't no Co today we talk not to Bridges but to an actor who has played bridges on movie sets ever since the two met in 1971 Lloyd catlet is Bridges longtime standin stunt double sometime assistant and full-time buddy catlet and bridges first met on the set of the 1971 movie The Last Picture Show catl got a bit part in the film and because he's a native Texan director Peter bonovich had him hang out with the lead actors so they could pick up his accent catlet soon became the go-to guy to be the stunt double and standin for Jeff Bridges if you look at catlett's filmography it's almost a carbon copy of bridges the business producer Darby Maloney reached catlet at his home in San Diego to talk about his life as Jeff Bridges doppelganger how would you characterize what it is that's made you guys you know sympatico for so long we feel like brothers so it's just like having you're working with your best friend and there's a great level of respect that takes place and also in this business you know there's a certain Peck in order that comes with the job titles so you know he's the star and I'm there to support the star so the Friendship is always there but also once on the set he's the boss and I'm there to make the boss better and that's a comfortable place for you yeah especially with JB to see photos of Lloyd catlet with Jeff Bridges go to our web page kcrw.com theeus coming up after a short break more with Lloyd catlet Jeff Bridges longtime standin and stunt double you're listening to the business from KCRW and kcrw.com if you haven't yet do go to our Facebook page and like us at facebook.com/ KCRW thee bus [Music] oh yeah yeah this is the business and I'm Kim Masters Jeff Bridges has been on quite a role in the last couple of years he won the best actor Oscar last year for crazy heart and then he was in Tron legacy many years after starring in the original 1982 film Tron Bridges is also in the Cohen Brothers movie True Grit which is raking in big bucks at the box office and appears poised to get some recognition when the Oscar nominations are announced early Tuesday morning if there were an Oscar category for standin and stunt doubles Lloyd catlet would be well situated for 40 plus years he's played those roles for Bridges and the two men are the best of friends the business producer Derby Maloney reached catlet by phone and asked him what it's like to work with a big star who isn't exactly known for his eagerness to work you know he gets scripts coming to him all the time and he's you know like he's stated so many times he has a lot of resistance and so he goes through them and he's always trying to find the reason not to do it but when he finds one that actually pushes his acting button then you know it's like a dog with a bone out there he'll Circle it and sniff it and then if it really keeps exciting him then that's the one but otherwise he's a hard dog to get out from under the porch and how's that for you I mean if your sort of income is dependent on whether he takes the gig are you ever like come on dude I don't put any pressure on him that's where 50 years of friendship or 40 something years friendship I work on his Pace whenever it comes along that's cool it definitely seems like it takes a certain kind of personality to have the position that you have I mean you've done some acting was there a point where you kind of decide to put your own acting ambition on the back burner or did you know like how how did that change for you where you weren't the one so much going for the parts as the Buddy who's you know working with the big star there's kind of a thing that happens in this business when you get a reputation as being a stand in or a stunt person just for this actor the casting people and the producers and the directors kind of just see you in the that mold and they don't uh you know it's a hard mold to break I mean it's a hard you know this business often puts people in boxes or you are this guy you know that's it so it's either I can continuously be frustrated trying to break the mold mhm or I can relax like the dude and just let it come to me and Float through and find that spot Within Myself where happiness you know happiness is a choice so you just got to make the choice to be happy or to be cynical and frustrated and condemning because you're not being taken seriously or given the opportunities uh just another question on the logistic front of things like when Jeff Bridges gets cast in something are you like part of his deal is it just automatic you will also be hired yes everybody who casts him they know that they know in negotiating the deal now these are more things for Rick curtzman and David schift and Bob wallerstein they pound out the paper right and the deal but they make sure that it's included because I've heard over the years through them the business end of it he isn't doing it without you so that's again Another Blessing one way it's a blessing is that it's a level of security and the business where there's none yes there's a lot of Comforts that come with knowing that when the next show arrives that I'll be there yeah I I would wish that on all aspiring actors and actresses do you have to you know grow the same facial hair gain or lose the same weight yes yeah we do that often I check with him before we start shooting us usually about a month before he will tell me that he's you know he says yeah I'm going to do this one with a go te and I'm going to leave my hair a little long or I'm going to cut it a little short and as in the case with Iron Man he says uh I might do this one bald and then few days later he sends me this email and it's a picture of him totally bald and I went holy so I went out and had him shave my head then I sent a picture back to him and he went oh no I was joking that was a bald cap we were just testing things in the makeup trailer you didn't really shave your head did you and I said well yeah yeah I don't have a bald cap laying around my office so and then after that he I think he felt a wee bit forced to instead wearing a bald cap throughout the show to have to shave his head so he did yeah he got a better shaved head than I do now what about the fact that this business is a lot about sort of networking and trying to get to people through other people do you find people try to get to Jeff Bridges through you yes yes it happens constantly they come forth and and um and say you know hey it's great to meet you I've been wanting to to meet you but after a few minutes of the conversation and the salutations then they go now I've got this script oh jeez so but now I I got a lot of compassion for those who are struggling to pursue their Ambitions and Inspirations and and finding that they can't get the doors open and who knows maybe that perfect script that didn't get through through the doors will come through my door so you're open to it sometimes yes yes as long as they've got a script whether it's perfect or not at that point it kind of I can't devote you know hours on in listening to an idea that but I can devote time to taking a look at the script you're going to get some scripts this is going to go on the air people are going to be knocking on your door trying to send you scripts oh well bless their heart that's great you know uh now please people just send me the good ones and remember that that 99% get turned down by Jeff have you brought him scripts before that you thought were good yes yes he's not picked one of them he's found the interesting things and he said I see why you like like this but I just don't feel it's that I feel like we've played this character just in a different time frame or I feel like you know the dialogue is not totally truthful to the soul is there a uh that use of we yes well I've been there you know 50 whatever shows so I mean once we go we know that we are the team we're in cahoots right I said to monitor throughout every scene and every setup and he often comes to me and says Lloyd all but it's usually after the second or third take and he goes you got any tweaks and I give him little tweaks that you know work for me as watching it so if you're sitting at the monitor then you're probably next to the director right yes either that or unless the director wants to not have the vibe then they set up a separate monitor they just know when they cast Jeff Bridges that there's going to be an entity that's there I think the word's out well Lloyd catlet thank you so much for talking with us Darby thank you for having me Lloyd catlet is an actor a stuntman a standin and longtime collaborator with Jeff Bridges and that's the business Darby Maloney produced an editting to today's program with production assistance from Ray Gua the executive producer is Matt Holzman to leave a comment about today's show go to kcrw.com theeus where you can also stream and podcast the show and check out past episodes and you can always subscribe to the podcast through iTunes the business is produced and distributed by KCRW Santa Monica I'm Kim Masters we'll see you next week on the business [Music]