I got a chance to work with Mel Brooks on two of his films: Silent Movie and High Anxiety.
BARRY LEVINSONI got a chance to work with Mel Brooks on two of his films: Silent Movie and High Anxiety.
BARRY LEVINSONI got involved with an acting school and studied for a couple years. They used to have improv exercises that you would work on and you would do improvs.
BARRY LEVINSONI think we are seeing a radical shift in the business in general. The studios are making much more of the real big extravaganzas and there are other kinds of films that are coming out. I think you are going to begin to see more diversification that we’ve seen in the past.
BARRY LEVINSONWe’re never going to be the ultimate-insider look. You can do 50 insider looks at this Hollywood business, and the satire didn’t intrigue me. I think others can do that.
BARRY LEVINSONI would give the cameras to the kids in the swimming pools and they would play with them, and then I would collect them and we would upload it. If you’re in the process, you’re there.
BARRY LEVINSONI worked at a local television station and I got a chance to direct and do all those things – worked kiddie shows, Ranger House show with the hand puppets and things like that.
BARRY LEVINSONI think when Sarah Palin opened her mouth and started talking, the more she talked, the less appealing she became.
BARRY LEVINSONYou do understand that you can’t force the situation, but in terms of how you edit, you can define that to take the audience along, whether it be a storyline or a character moment that we can play out. The more experience you’ve had, the more beneficial it is, period.
BARRY LEVINSONI’ve had a lot of movies that didn’t get great numbers on test screening, but a lot of times the film was able to survive, or the studio still stayed and supported it.
BARRY LEVINSONI never really wanted to be an actor. And that was the beginning of it, I began to write things down and eventually became a writer on a television show.
BARRY LEVINSONA lot of time mistakes are very interesting – you look for the behaviour that’s not the one you expect.
BARRY LEVINSONThere’s no downside to having too much experience.
BARRY LEVINSONI don’t know that you can do it as a satire. I mean, the business is crazy enough as it is. It’s like doing Wag The Dog – we took a thing that was almost completely absurd on one level, and then ultimately those things came about.
BARRY LEVINSONSome actors are supposed to be very difficult, but I’ve not found that to be the situation.
BARRY LEVINSONI thought a great line in the What Just Happened movie said, “We’re just the mayonnaise.”
BARRY LEVINSONYou don’t always have to have the ending, but you want to have a satisfactory conclusion.
BARRY LEVINSON