What Really Lies Beneath

It’s been a down and up year in Hollywood.

Downside: Washington gave the movie industry a thorough bashing for marketing violent movies to kids, and so few films captured widespread praise that nobody can figure out five movies for Oscar’s best picture candidates.

Upside: The box office will set new records this year, and exciting things are happening with digital technology that could change the way movies are made.

We asked people in the industry--both creative talent and studio executives--about the most significant events and changes that shaped the year 2000 in Hollywood. Interestingly, the political fallout was mentioned by many, but potential strikes by writers and actors, as well as the changing nature of filmmaking because of new technology came up just as often.

Industry representatives also took a moment to reflect on some of the important films released this year and to gaze into their crystal balls to talk about what the year 2001 will bring.

Brett Ratner, director, “Family Man”

Most significant event: The idea that there is going to be a strike will affect a lot of movies. As a filmmaker, I’m rushing [to start “Rush Hour 2”] and I’m afraid for the movies coming out next year. It’s made the studios a little desperate, and they’ve gone into production with scripts that aren’t ready yet. I know because I was offered some of them.

Most important movie: I loved “Almost Famous”--Cameron Crowe is such a cool filmmaker. I really enjoyed “Meet the Parents” as a comedy and in drama, “Erin Brockovich.”

Biggest change: There’s been a change in more movies dealing with moral issues and life choices. They’re like the movies I grew up with, such as “Terms of Endearment” and “Kramer vs. Kramer,” entertaining as well as being thought-provoking.

What’s ahead for 2001: More story-driven movies will be made. The rash of effects-driven movies seemed somewhat soulless. We’ve gone through that period and now we’re going back to simpler movies.

Peter Schneider, chairman of Walt Disney Studios

Most significant event: The convergence of the Internet and the movie studios as a result of the [possible] AOL-Time Warner merger.

Most important movie: “Requiem for a Dream” was my favorite movie in terms of filmmaking, style and content. Drug use, both illegal and legal drugs, is the most emotional social issue we have today, and I found this movie’s treatment of the subject gut-wrenching.

Biggest change: The question of what role the Internet will play in the distribution of our movies. Will it cause distribution mechanisms to change, or is it just another venue? Because it’s interactive, will it have an effect on content for the audience that wants to participate?

What’s ahead for 2001: Next year the fundamental issues will all be about economics, when it should be about the quality of the art. We’ll spend the first six months focusing on the possible SAG [Screen Actors Guild] and Writers Guild strikes rather than what will make the business healthy over the long term.

Leonard Goldberg, producer, “Charlie’s Angels”

Most significant event: If it proves to be long-lasting, the attention focused on Hollywood by the government, vis-a-vis the marketing of R-rated movies. It’s interesting that since all that focus went on, of the movies that are doing really good business, hardly any are R-rated.

Most important movie: I loved “Erin Brockovich” because I loved Julia Roberts. Through the force of her acting and personality, she transformed a small movie into a major motion picture.

Biggest change: I’d like to say the studios were more daring, but I don’t know about that.

What’s ahead for 2001: Ever the optimist, I believe there won’t be a strike. If the [producers and the writers and actors] can get together in a room, they can settle their differences.

John Calley, chairman and CEO, Sony Pictures Entertainment

Most significant event: The reemerging interest in the movie business by Washington. It’s significant because we’re in a world where the youth market is the most potent segment of the filmgoing audience and we’re in the tenuous position of having to market films that are designed for them, which is like walking a terrible tightrope. It has affected how we advertise our films and the films we make. There are films I was excited about doing last year that I won’t do next year as a result.

Most important movie: “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” was startling, demonstrating the power of young people and families, a clear delineation of an overpowering segment of the market we must respond to.

Biggest change: A real potency among filmmakers who come out of music videos, be it Spike Jonze, David Fincher or McG, whose “Charlie’s Angels” [for Sony] is the most successful first film ever. It’s become a fertile new breeding ground where they learn to work with precision and skill and are now demonstrating the ability to expand this concise vision into full-length films.

What’s ahead for 2001: Digital movie-making will create an enormous change in the process of filmmaking. George Lucas has embraced it, as has Mike Figgis. Jim Cameron will use digital on his next film. For us it means that we could save $11 million on prints for a major movie like “Godzilla” by sending out the film digitally. Theaters will have to be reequipped, but once that’s done, it will make a significant impact on what is technically possible and even on the way we work.

Ron Howard, director of “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas”

Most significant event: Maybe because I had such a personal interest in the matter, the Vivendi-Universal merger. The fact that Canal Plus and Pierre Lescure [co-CEO of Vivendi-Universal] love entertainment, movies and television, is an exciting prospect.

Most important movie: “Gladiator” was wildly entertaining. I also really liked “Almost Famous.”

Biggest change: The disappointment of the dot-com companies let a little of the excitement out of the entertainment balloon. It remained fringe and experimental, though I think it’s still interesting and worthy of continued exploration.

What’s ahead for 2001: Maybe the reemergence of dot-coms as a viable medium. They’re not going away. The upshot of the discussions in Washington. At the end of the day there was a lot of political posturing and headline-grabbing. But I think it was interesting and could continue [next year].

Joe Roth, head of Revolution Studios

Most significant event: The AOL-Time Warner merger will have a significant impact on the way entertainment companies compete and the way movies get made. If it’s successful, all the other companies will rush to increase in size. The bigger the companies get, the less meaningful the film divisions get and less impact they have. Independent operators will be the only ones who will be making movies they’re passionate about.

Most important movie: “Gladiator” and “Billy Elliot.” “Gladiator,” because I was astonished that Ridley Scott could get me interested in that arena, no pun intended. “Billy” is an extraordinary work. What could have been a BBC piece was the most exciting film of the year.

Biggest change: The fear of the strike has impacted on the day-to-day business and cast a cloud over the entire industry.

What’s ahead for 2001: From a film standpoint, titles like “Hannibal,” “Pearl Harbor” and the sequel to “The Mummy” jump out pretty quickly. With the success of “Grinch,” it’s hard to imagine that the Harry Potter film won’t be an enormous franchise at the end of next year.

Stacey Snider, chairman, Universal Pictures

Most significant event: The most significant event may have been the presidential election because it prompted a scrutiny of our business that wasn’t only politically based. From a personal level, the [Washington] challenged us to think of our business in a more thoughtful way and the responsibility we have to consider a different approach to marketing certain movies.

Most important movie: I loved Kenneth Lonergan’s movie “You Can Count on Me” and I was shattered [in a good way] by “Requiem for a Dream.”

Biggest change: An acceptance of and a new comfort level with [intra-studio] partnerships and risk-sharing, That includes the influx of international money into companies like Intermedia, Revolution and Village Roadshow.

What’s ahead for 2001: What I see coming is a mad dash in preparing for the possibility of a work shutdown. And if it doesn’t happen, there’ll be another mad dash to gear up again once we get the green light. We’re used to a grueling pace, but this fall was more hectic and stressful than we’re used to. That doesn’t necessarily mean a drop in quality, but it could also lead to some reckless decision-making. Hopefully it will be the former.

Kevin Smith, director, “Dogma”

Most significant event: Because of the impending strike, a ton of movies are being green-lit that wouldn’t otherwise have been made. It’s unprecedented. It’s good for the acting community because there’s tons of work; whether it’s good for audiences remains to be seen. The real winners will be low-budget independent films that don’t use SAG actors. At Sundance, distributors will be picking up films that are rolling ahead despite the possibility of a strike.

Most important movie: “Dancer in the Dark” took the musical back from the animated arena where it’s been for the past 10 years. It’s quite brilliant.

Biggest change: Since “Blair Witch Project,” there was a rush to market films on the Internet and then it was abandoned when it didn’t pan out.

What’s ahead for 2001: Hopefully next year will be more about comic book movies, based on the success of “X-Men” and “Unbreakable.” The resurgence started with “Blade” and made them viable again. “Mage” is being made into a movie as well as “Spider-Man,” and now that Marvel Comics is out of bankruptcy there are a lot of movie-friendly sci-fi titles that could be very cinematic.

Susannah Grant, screenwriter, “Erin Brockovich”

Most significant event: This year’s commercial actor’s strike got everyone very conscious and nervous about the upcoming potential strikes next year.

Most important movie: “Jesus’ Son.”

Biggest change: The emergence of shooting on digital video. It hasn’t actually made its way to the screens in a big way yet, so audiences haven’t felt its impact, but it has changed the way people are approaching the making of movies.

What’s ahead for 2001: They rushed all those movies into production for a strike that never happened.

Amir Malin, CEO, Artisan Entertainment

Most significant event: From an industry perspective, the increased expenditures on prints and advertising. More movies reached $100 million this year, but I’m not sure many were profitable. It’s insanity when studios spend well over $50 million just to open an event-type movie. It doesn’t make any economic sense and could be a harbinger of disaster in 2001.

Most important movie: “Billy Elliot” impressed me a great deal. It showed that great production values and star power don’t determine the quality of a film. You only have to tell a wonderful story to get exemplary results.

Biggest change: Further consolidation of the business, especially on the independent side. That and the combination of new money flowing into companies to make product to be distributed by studios, in the hands of producers like Eli Samaha, Joe Roth and Arnold Kopelson.

What’s ahead for 2001: There’s going to be further consolidation.

Roger Donaldson, director, “Thirteen Days”

Most significant event: The revolution in digital filmmaking. I clap my hands for joy. Five years ago I thought, how are movies going to keep the public involved--it seemed old-fashioned. Suddenly anyone who wants to make a film can. That’s how new talent gets to surface.

Most important movie: I haven’t seen anything that inspired me. I don’t see that many films.

Biggest change: Again, the digital filmmaking revolution.

What’s ahead for 2001: I think we’re going to be seeing more digital screens, which means better quality on the screen.

Stacey Sher and Michael Shamberg, producers, Jersey Films

Most significant event: The Vivendi purchase of Universal is the first time a foreign company has come in that understands the business, which could help fertilize the creative environment in Hollywood.

Most important movie: “405: The Movie” [https://www.405themovie.com]. It’s an indie film that debuted on the Internet made by two guys [Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt] working on old PCs, and they show a 747 landing on a Jeep on the 405 freeway--all of it computer-generated. It’s a democratization of special effects creating a potential for high-end special effects from low-budget filmmakers--the movie equivalent of punk rock.

Biggest change: The 24 P digital camera [from Panavision and Sony] that shoots digitally at 24 frames per second. With filmmakers like George Lucas and Jim Cameron shooting in digital and a new generation of digital effects that were only hinted at in “The Matrix” now possible, we’re on the brink of a new kind of storytelling, a 360-degree way of looking at action.

What’s ahead for 2001: A year from now we’ll be discussing whether there was or wasn’t a strike and the fallout of the movies that were put into production.

Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, president of worldwide theatrical production for Warner Bros. Pictures

Most significant event: The impending potential strike was the most impactful event in terms of our daily stress levels. There’s been a compression of the production schedules and development schedules, and we can’t green-light anything after March 15.

Most important movie: “Requiem for a Dream” is a staggering movie. It’s directed and acted exceptionally well.

Biggest change: The number of mergers--AOL-Time Warner, Vivendi buying Universal and Viacom-CBS. I can’t tell you how they’ll work out.

What’s ahead for 2001: A year from now we’ll be talking about how we solved this strike situation.

Tom Rothman, chairman, Fox Filmed Entertainment

Most significant event: In an odd way, a significant event was something that didn’t happen this year at all: the attention on the possible labor difficulties strongly influenced the tenor of the second half of the year from a movie-making point of view. We made a clear decision not to make any movie we wouldn’t otherwise make. That wouldn’t be smart. The movies will come out and they’ve gotta be great now. There’s very little room in the business for good anymore.

Most important movie: Two impressive independent films, “You Can Count on Me” and “Croupier.” Both are significant because they’re really character-based, not about style or flash, and very compelling and encouraging for that reason. Significantly, a number of new acting talents emerged and the business was desperate for that: Clive Owen in “Croupier,” Mark Ruffalo in “You Can Count on Me,” Kate Hudson in “Almost Famous,” Hugh Jackman in “X-Men” and Colin Farrell in “Tigerland.”

Biggest change: A reckoning in the exhibition community. Overbuilding has been a problem for some time. Another thing is the renewed focus on bottom line issues, that profitability is the issue more than market share and appearances.

What’s ahead for 2001: Movies that impacted the culture--movies that are original and daring, movies that moved the form. We have to stop the cycle of giving the audiences the same old, same old.

Walter Parkes, co-head of the motion picture division, DreamWorks

Most significant event: Two things, the biggest issue on a day-to-day basis is the shadow of the potential strike--nothing undermines the quality of a movie than working under arbitrary time pressure. The [Washington] were significant as well. Despite any self-serving political overtones, the hearings made us take a moment to look at our marketing plans and the green-lighting of any excessively violent movie, and I think that’s a good thing.

Most important movie: In terms of a movie that shakes up the way we think about movies, “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.”

Biggest change: In a way, I see this year as a bit of a retrenchment. When you look at the top movies, just about all of them were pre-branded properties or ones that relied on star power. What we didn’t have was the little movie that came out of nowhere, that was independent or felt independent, like “American Beauty” or “Blair Witch.”

What’s ahead for 2001: I hope that there’s a silver lining to the potential strike in the hiring of new directors who wouldn’t have otherwise gotten a shot.

Russell Schwartz, president, USA Films

Most significant event: The demise of the dot-coms and the panic about new start-up companies.

Most important movie: My two favorite films were “You Can Count on Me” and “Girlfight.” The other highlight is the recent burst of Asian cinema, the most significant area in terms of new films.

Biggest change: The discovery that the Internet world is not a panacea of marketing as was thought last year. Even though a lot of studios created Web sites, they’re not being looked upon as something that sells tickets and therefore won’t take over the marketing process.

What’s ahead for 2001: I would like to think that 2001 showed that independent cinema is alive and well, which was not the case this year. I would also like to think it would be a year of more varied programming from the studios, but I doubt that.