Friday, August 25, 1995
Writer-director wants to maintain personal approach in his
filmsBy Melissa Altman
Summer Bruin Contributor
So, how does a 26-year-old former coffee boy get a film into
Sundance and win top honors, get Robert Redford to executive
produce his next script, and go from a measly self-earned $25,000
movie on recycled film to a $3.5 million budget motion picture?
"I have no idea," says Ed Burns, writer, director, producer and
star of the new film "She’s the One."
And these aren’t the only aspects of his success that baffle
him. The director recently met Tom Petty, who wrote the score and
seven additional songs for Burns’ latest work.
"I was shitting in my pants," Burns says. "The coolest part of
the whole thing is that I got my face on the cover of a Tom Petty
album. That beats any director’s crap."
Burns is remembered as the kid (as he likes to call himself) who
made "The Brothers McMullen," which won him accolades at Sundance
and boosted his career. Robert Redford urged him to "just give me a
call," and Tom Petty solicited him to score "She’s the One."
The film, featuring Jennifer Aniston ("Friends") and Cameron
Diaz ("The Mask") centers on Irish boys again. This time Francis
(Mike McGlone) won’t have sex with his wife (Aniston) because he
claims to be experiencing a "down cycle." She reverts to the
household vibrator while Fran secretly embarks on his sex-driven
affair with Lauren (Diaz). Meanwhile, the cynical taxi driver
Mickey (Burns) elopes with a bartending university student, played
by his real-life girlfriend, Maxine Bahns.
Some of the cast  Burns, McGlone and Bahns  were
held over from "McMullen" because Burns drafted "She’s the One"
with another small budget in mind.
But he got lucky.
"All of a sudden Sundance happened and the movie took off and I
was going to be given the opportunity to make the film with a real
budget."
For Burns, "a real budget" meant more flexibility, a way to
relax and create and concentrate on the honesty of the product.
More money allowed him to use different locations rather than use
the repetitive walks around Central Park that characterized
"McMullen."
"With ‘McMullen’ we didn’t have any lights, we didn’t have a
dolly, no one was getting paid. Everyone wore their own clothes. We
only took locations we knew we could get for free," Burns
recalls.
He seems like the kind of guy that is up for anything, but he
won’t compromise his passion for money.
"(A studio) wanted to do a multi-picture deal, but that isn’t
for me," Burns says. "I write all my own stuff. I am really
passionate about the characters I create. My scripts are my
babies."
Burns borrows many of his stories from his Irish New Yorker
background.
"I try and tell honest stories. What I am doing is holding up a
mirror to the people I know and saying here they are, this is what
they look like, how they speak, how they think, and what they
do."
But he notes that the parallels end there  after the set
up he fictionalizes the rest. Perhaps the honest self-disclosure
and autobiographical nature of Burns’ films is what appealed to
Redford. He called Burns to congratulate him on the Sundance
Festival and offer the young filmmaker his help in the future.
Burns took him up on his offer.
"When I finished the script for ‘She’s the One,’ I sent it to
him just to say, ‘What do you think of this?’" says Burns. "He
liked it enough to get involved as executive producer."
With an ideal cast, a seasoned executive producer and a budget
he never expected, Burns definitely has something to be excited
about with "She’s the One."
"I am convinced I am the luckiest kid in America," he says.
FILM: "She’s the One," written and directed by Edward Burns,
opened Aug. 23.
Edward Burns directs Cameron Diaz and Mike McGlone.