Thursday, February 26, 1998
Fanning the flames
FILM: Joe Ezsterhas’ new mockumentary of the film industry,
‘Burn Hollywood Burn,’ may be even truer to life than the
screenwriter himself would like to admit
By Matthew Schmid
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
From the ashes of the most heavily criticized film of the decade
was born a movie lashing out to burn the film industry in a way
that no other Hollywood production has done in recent years.
Writer Joe Ezsterhas began working on his latest project, "An
Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn" while faced with the
aftermath of his now infamous movie "Showgirls."
"I had such welts on my back and ‘Showgirls’ had been chainsawed
to death," Ezsterhas told a UCLA Extension film class earlier this
month. "I was reading all of these reviews but I thought it was
time to have some fun with my writing life."
Looking to do something more flippant and free-spirited, the
notorious writer of "Basic Instinct" and "Jade" started work on his
latest film.
"Burn Hollywood Burn" is a mockumentary which explains a
little-known La-la Land tidbit. The Directors Guild of America has
dedicated a pseudonym to be used by movie directors who no longer
wish to be associated with projects that they have started: Alan
Smithee.
Projects which have used the pseudonym include the horror flick
"Stitches" (1985) and the TV pilot for "McGyver" (1985).
"Burn Hollywood Burn" features an eager director (Eric Idle) who
is selected by the fictitious movie studio Challenger Films more
for his passive temperament than for his directing
capabilities.
Having lost creative control of the film to studio president
Jerry Glover (Richard Jeni) and egotistical producer James Edmunds
(Ryan O’Neal), the director decides that he simply cannot put his
name on a movie which is no longer representative of his work.
Unfortunately for the director, his name actually is Alan
Smithee.
"I thought it would be fun to depict a director whose name
really is Alan Smithee, with the irony being that he could never
truly remove his name from any of his films," Ezsterhas says.
Left with no out, Smithee steals the film’s final negative, now
the most expensive in motion picture history, and instigates the
greatest Hollywood scandal ever.
"People who like it really like it, and people who don’t really
don’t," Ezsterhas says.
Ezsterhas says that the movie is "the greatest scam I ever
pulled in my life in Hollywood." That may not be far from the
truth.
At first, not even his agent, Arnold Rifkin, would back him.
Ezsterhas’ wife Naomi, who was involved in the making of the
film from its earliest stages, recalls, "(Rifkin) said ‘I think you
should put this in a draw and forget about it because it’s bad for
your career and it’s bad for my career. You don’t want to make this
movie.’" Rifkin refused to comment.
Ever persistent, Ezsterhas was determined to make a go of his
film, later marketed as "The movie Hollywood doesn’t want you to
see." He and producer Ben Myron made hundreds of copies of the
script, distributing them to everyone.
"If we sent this to enough people, it couldn’t be stopped,"
Ezsterhas says. It seems to have paid off, because industry
response was overwhelmingly positive.
Once the town’s verdict came in, the screenwriter’s agent became
committed to making the movie happen. Incidentally, Ezsterhas now
has a new agent.
"There was no shortage of people wanting to be in the film,"
Myron says. "People were calling almost on a daily basis saying ‘I
want to be in the film,’"
The film features a diverse cast, including Coolio, Chuck D and
Sandra Bernhard. And the list of cameos looks like the guest list
to a congressional funeral. Most notable are Sylvester Stallone,
Jackie Chan and Whoopi Goldberg, who play themselves. Subtitles
identify them as the rocket scientist, the linguist and the Ted
Danson fan, respectively. Even Lt. Gov. Gray Davis agreed to shoot
a cameo, although it was ultimately left on the cutting room
floor.
If anybody was going to get this movie made his own way, it was
Ezsterhas. In an industry where screenwriters are typically
dismissed after selling off the rights to their initial work, only
to hope the producers and directors will portray it the way they
would have it portrayed, Ezsterhas has clout. He is one of the most
outspoken – and highly paid – screenwriters around.
In fact, when he and director Arthur Hiller disagreed about the
final editing, the studio backed the screenwriter over the
director.
"That’s virtually unheard of in Hollywood," says Stephen Farber,
moderator of the UCLA Extension class "Contemporary Films and
Filmmakers."
Hiller chose to walk out of film.
That’s right, Ezsterhas’ film about a Smithee film is, in fact,
a Smithee film. But it wasn’t the producers and studio execs who
forced him out.
Hiller left because of a disagreement with the man who is
supposed to be the littlest of little guys in Hollywood – the
screenwriter.
Ezsterhas did choose to include in the final edit, which was
left to his discretion, what turns out to be the most ironic scene
in the movie.
It is a scene in which both Ezsterhas and Hiller make cameos,
and Hiller tells Ezsterhas, "The last thing any director needs is
you of all people to stick up for us."
FILM: "An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn" opens in
theaters on Friday.
Photos by Buena Vista Pictures
(Left) Director Alan Smithee (Eric Idle), distraught at the way
his film has turned out, ponders whether to burn the master
negative. (Below) Coolio (left) and Chuck D (right) star as Dion
and Leon Brothers, respectively, independent filmmakers who help
Smithee (Idle, center), run away with his master negative.
Buena Vista Pictures
Director Alan Smithee (Eric Idle), distraught at the way his
film has turned out, ponders whether to burn the master
negative.
Screenwriter Joe Ezsterhas satirizes pricey films.
Screenwriter Joe Ezsterhas satirizes pricey films.